Antica Trattoria da Tito dal 1913 is in a much quieter part of the city than all of the other restaurants I have reviewed. You can find this gem in the northern part of the city in the San Marco area. Even though the area is quiet, it is almost always busy at this establishment, and for good reason. When you walk in, you will immediately be greeted by the energetic, awesome staff. They make you feel welcome right away. You can sit in the front of the restaurant, but the back room is an experience. There are names written all over the walls from former guests, and if you sit here, you can leave your legacy.
Onto the food. I had been here multiple times because (1) it was really good, and (2) it was close to where I lived.
*One of the first pastas I had in Florence was a pesto tagliatelle. It was fantastic. The pasta was covered in a thin pesto sauce sprinkled with pine nuts. The pesto was a little herby, and went great with some parmesan on top. I really enjoyed it. The other pasta I had here was the pappardelle con cinghiale. It was an excellent dish. It was a good pappardelle with a classic cinghiale ragu. If you want a good pappardelle con cinghiale you can get it here.
The time I got a segundi piatti, I went with the “polpette della nonna al sugo”. These are grandma’s meatballs. They were so good. First, I want to make the distinction between a polpette and an American meatball. The American meatball is usually very big and is known to go with spaghetti. However, I got news for you, spaghetti and meatballs aren’t a true Italian dish. This meatball dish came with 4-5 golf ball sized polpette in a red sauce that is in an oven baked dish. They were super tender, and the flavor was right on. They were also covered in a juicy red sauce that just made it even better. If I were to come back here, I would totally get this again and again.
Even though the food was great, as I mentioned earlier, the service is just amazing. We became friendly with the staff each time we went here, and heck, they even gave us a full bottle of limoncello to take for the walk home. They also will encourage you to take a limoncello shot in the front with all of them before you leave. You may even get lucky and they will give you a shot of grappa and a bay leaf liquor as well! The staff is super high energy and they make you want to come back.
Takeaways: The thing I love most about Antica Trattoria da Tito dal 1913, is that you will always leave there with a smile. The employees here are just flat out awesome. To top it off, the food is great as well. I’d recommend everything I ate, especially the meatballs. You will have a great dining experience here guaranteed.
Score: 8.3/10
*I do not know if this pasta is a regular dish on the menu, check with staff.
a dude eats abroad 