Trattoria Mario, Florence

This is a wonderful bustling restaurant right around the corner from the mercato centrale. You do not have to be in the neighborhood to make this worth your while. The day we went, we visited the mercato, and bought so many food items to take home with us that we needed to return to our apartment in order to not end the day feeling like pack mules. No problem, it is less than a ten minute walk back to the neighborhood, and after several days in Italy, it is a very good idea to have an excuse to walk around the block a few times. Even then, it is tough to off set the calories that every meal presents. So many choices! At Mario's you will definitely be at a full table. It is jam packed with tables, and when we walked in about 15 minutes after it had opened for lunch (and it is only open for lunch) and we couldn't see an open table. Fortunately the wait staff are used to this--they pointed to a table in the back of the trattoria, and we sat down at a table for six. We wedged our way into the back corner, and as soon as we had ordered we had three Germans sitting with us, and a minute after that we added a woman from China and we were full up. Our waitress presented the items from the handwritten menu (it changes every day) that she thought would meet our needs. Joel had a Florentine steak (which when translated means 'huge 2 pound steak) and I had ravioli filled with mashed potato and covered in a ragu meat sauce. Delicious! I really love good ravioli and mashed potatoes are a personal favorite, so I was bound to enjoy it. The meat sauce was flavored with Tuscan red wine and I savored every bite. My entree was 6.5 euros. If I had wanted wine, I could have gotten the house chianti for 4 euros a liter. This place is well worth searching out at Via Rosina 2r in Florence.