Opinions SABATINI Florence - Firenze

TLDR: Avoid this place. Not only are they overpriced but they will overcharge you.
Review: This restaurant was recommended to us by our hotel concierge because we wanted to have a good Florentine steak. It is a historic restaurant. We saw the negative reviews but there were some good reviews too and we chose to believe the concierge. All I can say is we were wrong!
This turned out to be the worst experience of our trip and despite some redeeming dishes, the worst food we had in Italy. The restaurant is upscale and centrally located. The prices reflect that (and are way higher than any other place we dined at in Tuscany). The wait staff were very pleasant and we were happy with our welcome. But that didn't last long. As soon as we got to the ordering, the upsell started. Our waiter tried to upsell us on every thing from the wine and cocktails to the food. Despite us politely pushing back, he was insistent and persistent. After a while we made a remark about this and then, for much of the rest of the meal, our table was ignored.
Like many others have stated, we got some additional appetizers (two of each despite us only ordering one) that we sent back because we recognized the tactics. We ordered the steak (it is based on weight) based on the waiter's recommendation. I don't know how it is usually served but this one came pre-sliced so we didn't know the actual weight. The quality of the steak left a lot to be desired - it was full of fat (not the marbled, Wagyu kind) and gristle, hard to cut. I left quite a bit on my plate as I couldn't cut it even with the steak knife. Desserts were the saving grace of the meal and we enjoyed those immensely.
By this point, we had come to believe the negative reviews that talked about overcharging thanks to the behavior and so, gave the bill a thorough check. Sure enough - we found egregious overcharging. Cocktails we hadn't ordered, the extra appetizers we sent back all made an appearance. When we called the waiter over to ask, he didn't even listen to our entire list of what was incorrect and immediately took the bill away saying he would check. When he brought the bill back, we still had overcharges on it - a couple of cocktails plus higher charges for their premium alcohol which had not been used in our cocktails. But most egregious was that they had blatantly overcharged us for the steak. The menu price was EUR8.90 per hundred grams and we were charged over EUR11 per hundred grams. When we questioned it, the waiter blamed the computer system. Wow!! Do they type in the price every time someone orders a steak? Isn't the system pre-programmed? The difference between our first bill and the final one was over EUR160.
And the waiter had the audacity to say that service charge wasn't included. After ignoring us for half the meal and us having to ask other wait-staff for water refills and forgotten dishes.
We were very disappointed with this experience. It felt like they were trying to fleece tourists and while that is a feature of many destinations, we certainly did not expect it from a storied restaurant like Sabatini.

Lù was the best part of the experience! She recommended everything from the wine, spaghetti and steak, and even made the spaghetti flambé at the table! Highly recommend!

It’s was really a good experience, the food was really good i had a beef stake it was extremely fresh the Green pepper sauce was sooo delicious the waiter Alessio was so helpful and polite and professional ????????

I recommand this restaurant, romantic, good steak, good music, excellent service with Sebastien, good place, very sympatic in Firenze

Sébastien is excellent !

Non posso andare a Firenze senza pranzare da Sabatini,: un nome, una garanzia. Location elegante e rilassante, cibo sempre ottimo e raffinato, come il risotto al tartufo con tartare di chianina consigliato ieri dal cameriere Alessio, molto gentile. Gentile e simpatico anche il cameriere Giampiero, è sempre un piacere mangiare qui.

Alessio is the best!!!

First time in Florence and what a great way to end it at a steakhouse! Alessio was an excellent in every aspect. Recommended some great options & was willing to grant us anything that we asked for. It’s the little things that separate the good from the great & Alessio is great!

Steak & wine recommendation were ????????

Grazie mille Alessio!
Hasta la próxima!
- Danny

Ben consigliato per alessio lo pranzo exstato opttimo

Siamo venuti a cena io e mio marito in questo splendido ristorante,cibo eccellente,e ottimo servizio di alessio,ragazzo molto professionale e simpatico,consigliatissimo

Grazie Miguel e il resto dello staff

Sono stato servito da un cameriere di nome Michele, un ragazzo davvero simpatico che mi ha esposto il menù alla perfezione ed aiutato con i piatti. Complimenti.

Amazing food. I have not had a steak as
good as what we had at Sabatini's in a long
time. Beautiful historical building
atmosphere and of course best service by
Miguel. Very attentive to details and
excellent recommendations.

Hicimos la reserva por la web, bastante fácil y pese a llevar varias maletas nos recibieron muy bien haciendo lugar para las maletas. La comida buena pero sin duda lo mejor el servicio.

Michele is very cute.. great host for our dinner.. good recommendation of wine to pair with our meal..

Ho avuto il piacere di assaggiare la vera cucina toscana. Consiglio la Fiorentina che si scioglieva in bocca. Nulla da dire anche sul servizio, in particolare Alessio che è stato impeccabile. Consiglio vivamente

È stata un ottima scelta venire a mangiare da Sabatini.
Il cibo era squisito e grazie ad Alessio,molto professionale e simpatico che ci ha servito
In modo eccellente. Consigliatissimo

Sono stato in questo ristorante con alcuni amici, cibo ottimo e servizio impeccabile!!
Abbiamo avuto il piacere di farci servire da Alessio, ragazzo carino, gentile e molto professionale nonostante la sua giovane età!!!
Cinque stelle, ci torneremo sicuramente!!

Sono stato benissimo, ottima la cucina, locale bellissimo. Notevole il servizio, grazie Alessio per la simpatia.

Atmosfera tranquilla e rilassante, ravvivata dalla presenza del cameriere Gianpiero. Servizio veramente piacevole.

Giampiero gentilissimo

Esperienza suggestiva e piacevole!
Cibo e vino deliziosi, cenare in un ambiente del genere diventa memorabile. Il ristorante gode anche di un'ottima posizione.
Ciliegina sulla torta: la gentilezza e l'attenzione di Alessio, è stato impeccabile.

tutto super , i camerieri super gentili e competenti specialmente Valentina che ci ha accompagnato per ogni scelta grazie

The meal was first rate. Don't be put off by the exterior of the establishment this was a wonderful restaurant. Michele & the lady serving us were so helpful. They switched from Italian to English to Spanish easily! Very meat heavy menu but delicious beef stew. Wine excellent. Hope to go again.

Anita nuestra mesera excelente!
Bello lugar

Une belle découverte, nous avons passé un excellent repas. Cadre et ambiance très sympa, service au top, cuisine raffinée. L'entrecôte flambée à recommander.

clientèle réserve avec Thé Fork sont placer dans l’endroit le plus mauvaise (devant bar du service). Antipasto commande était oublié sans excuses. Était chez Sabatini 9 mois avant et nous sommes placé dans la beau , salon du restaurant et reçu le service attentif et professionnel. Cet fois Nous avons l’impression était discriminé depuis. notre arrivât parce que nous avons réservé par Thé Fork

Cuisine parfaite avec beaucoup de saveurs dans une ambiance agréable les tables sont bien espacées et l’arrière salle est belle. Nous étions idéalement placés.
Originalité avec la”flambé cuisine “
Le prix moyen est plus 45/50€ que 30€
Je recommande pour une soirée entre amoureux.

Pas mal mais nous avons été mal placé.

C’était très bon mais franchement cher pour ce que c’est… les prix ont été grandement augmentés dernièrement… Les serveurs sympathiques mais on avait un peu l’impression d’être mis à l’écart. Bref… c’était bon et c’est le principal.