The Florentine

We dined here last month at the recommendation of my mother in law. It’s not in the best part of town. The interior is outdated. So I thought that maybe this is one of those hole in the wall restaurants that has food that’s so amazing that it continues to stay in business despite everything else that’s going against it. I am sad to report that this is not the case. The food here is thoroughly mediocre.
I ordered their seafood fettuccini while my wife ordered their chicken alfredo. My sister in law got the meatball spaghetti, and my brother in law got their veal piccata.
The service was ok. Our server was friendly and quick to fulfill all of our requests, but was not particularly proactive with the drink refills.
The meals came with a side salad. But the greens were wilted. They still looked fresh and tasted fine, so my guess is that they let the greens sit in the dressing for too long prior to serving. Either way, not ideal.
The meals also come with bread sticks, which was ok in my opinion, but was very similar in shape and texture to Olive Garden’s. Just with less garlic salt on it. So your experience here will vary depending on how you feel about Olive Garden’s bread sticks.
Now for the main dish… What killed their dishes is the sauce. The sauce on everything was lacking in flavor and very bland. The alfredo sauce was especially egregious. It had the bland flavor of a hospital cardiac diet, minus the actual health benefits of a hospital cardiac diet. Which is too bad, because their home made pasta is pretty solid.
Personally, if I wanted an inexpensive but mediocre Italian food in Columbus, I prefer The Spaghetti Warehouse which is only a few blocks away. If I wanted pricy but excellent home made Italian food, I would probably go to Moretti’s in UA. The Florentine, unfortunately, is pricey and mediocre. Not a good combo.

We came here for our group Christmas lunch and I was very impressed. Very good Italian food. The pasta is made homemade daily. And the atmosphere is very pleasant for a lunch hour; not too crowded. I would recommend stopping in here. We had the Chicken Alfredo, salad and cheese bread

Columbus’ hidden gem! Hands down my favorite Italian joint locally, maybe even stateside. After spending 2 weeks in Italy, I thought that American Italian restaurants would be ruined for me but The Florentine proved me wrong! The homemade spaghetti noodles are incredible and Tuesdays are all you can eat spaghetti! I’ve only ever made it through one bowl and maybe a few bites into bowl #2. The ambience is perfect for those who don’t prefer large crowded restaurants and this is our go-​to for special occasions.

The best spaghetti outside my grandmothers kitchen I have ever had… The house salad is a pile of delicious garlic perfection and there is just something about that dark out dated ambience that I love! Maybe it’s because I grew up going to this restaurant or just due to the simple fact that I love the food each time I visit… Long story short, you will either love it or hate it! I love it and will go out on a limb to mark it as one of Columbus’s little hidden gems #yum
PS…All you can eat spaghetti on Tuesdays & Thursdays equal a great reason to venture down and try it out! Great value & great food!

Was treated to lunch by a customer today. They suggested the Florentine which I was more than happy with since I had never been there.
I ordered the Chicken Marsala (a personal favorite).
I had my choice of soup or salad, she mentioned they had wedding soup… I don’t pass up wedding soup. So of course I got a cup.
It was very good. Broth was flavorful and hot. loaded with pasta and a decent amount of meatballs and spinach. And that’s it. Perfect wedding soup. No need to clog it with vegetables. Those ingredients by themselves are delicious.
The Marsala was also delicious. The chicken was extremely tender and juicy. The sauce had a very deep flavor. It was a little overboard on the mushrooms, they were piled high. The pasta was a tad overcooked. Didn’t have that tooth to it. Was hard to keep on the fork.
All in all I would return and order the dish again.

Unfortunately Florentine is not what its cracked up to be. The restaurant décor is dirty and outdated… the parmesan cheese shakers on the table were so dirty and looked like they hadn’t been filled with fresh for a month. My mother and I both got spaghetti and meatballs w/​salad and bread sticks. The salad was a handful of dirty old bagged lettuce with NO TOPPINGS!!! The entrees took almost 30mins and were very disappointing. The pasta was not drained properly and full of water. I could tell the meatballs were microwaved and they had a layer of jelly fat all over them. The red sauce was tasty but thrown off by the stale, watery, mealy tasting pasta. I know that Florentine has a long history in Columbus but it may be time for an over haul!!! I can’t see how any of these good reviews could possibly be true. The dinning room is so dirty I am left wondering if the kitchen is in the same condition? I’m sure it is! FLORENTINE PLEASE LISTEN UP!!! SOMEONE WILL GET SICK IF U CONTINUE SERVING FOOD IN THIS MANNER!!! I will not return. if Tommy’s diner across the street was open for dinner Florentine would be out of business! Do something to save your restaurant, call Chef Ramsey, hire a new chef??? I don’t give u another year in business if you don’t change!!! You could start with some soapy water and a scrub brush… followed by a bucket of paint. YOU NEED A NEW CHEF to lead your kitchen!!! I am left feeling like you robbed me! Thank god we had a gift card if we had paid $ 31.00 out of pocket I would have been furious!!! If u want to continue making history in Columbus make changes!!! Lola’s in Gahanna is blowing u out the water!!!

I will give it a 1 star for service. The food was awful. The homemade spaghetti was a mound of dry cardboard with some good sauce on top. Can’t believe this place has been around so long. We are from out of town and found this restaurant on top 10 Italian restaurants in Columbus… Wow did they ever get it wrong.

This experience was disappointing. For the price of the meal, droopy ice berg lettuce was not even close to good. I got spaghetti with marinara sauce and mushrooms. They use canned mushrooms. The bread sticks were dry and tasteless. Homemade pasta was really nice but topped off with canned mushrooms and a mediocre salad at an above average cost?
The service was very good. Wait staff attentive.

The food was five star… But the restrooms were really bad and the carpet was really dirty.
Our waitress was a sweetheart and very attentive.
They played big band music in the background and you felt a very relaxed vibe going on.
I would have given it a five star if not for the bathrooms and floor in the dining room.
I really enjoyed my self and had a great gluten free meal.

This is really a four star place for the food, but I’m docking a star for relative uncleanliness (e.g. walls could use a solid wipe; on a recent visit, my booth had crumbs all over it). The Florentine has been my below-​the-​radar, solid mom-​and-​pop, red sauce, old-​school Italian go-​to for years. I’ve had the lasagna and picnic salad before (good), but my perennial favorite is the Rich Boy sandwich: crusty Italian bread, melty cheese, banana peppers, iceberg dressed in a tart house vinaigrette, meat sauce, capicola, and salami. A marriage of amazing flavors and a solid sandwich. Also, huge, so you can easily make this two meals. Service is always good (sweetest waitstaff, ever) and friendly. While some comments note slow service, I always ask for my check soon after ordering if I’m on lunch (and therefore in a rush). It’s never really been a problem. Overall, if they did some deep cleaning in the future, I would definitely upgrade a star. In any case, I’ll still be doing my quarterly visits for the Rich Boy.

The salad was warm, mushy, and overly oily. The breadsticks worse than Olive Garden pretty bland. Ordered Chicken Marsala, sauce was decent, and chicken was decent. The noodles however, were quite flavorful and al dentè.
Dessert was tiramisu, which was moist and tasty, but everything else just wasn’t that memorable to justify a $ 30 tab. I was expecting a better experience at this price.

I had heard good things about the Florentine but was left very underwhelmed after our visit. The ambiance is more outdated than it is old school. Everything on the interior seems old and worn out. The menu is old school Americanized Italian food, which I totally appreciate. There’s a good number of options for vegetarians and meat eaters alike. The problem seems to be in the execution. Most dishes we ordered were flavorless and under seasoned. The mozzarella sticks were made from frozen, but the side of marinara that it came with was good. The fried zucchini seemed to be homemade but was lacking in flavor. The pizza was okay. The sausage on the pizza came in the form of small pellets… not good. We ordered extra cheese on the pizza which was a mistake because it was way too cheesy (and I rarely say that). The crust was okay and tasted handmade. The house made spaghetti was very good. The chicken parmesan and baked manicotti were both okay. The salad was okay and the house italian dressing was very garlicy and good. The breadstick were very undercooked and not edible. The prices were average, certainly not a bargain. We certainly won’t seek out another visit to the Florentine but might eat here again if we happen to the in the area. In my opinion, Villa Nova in Worthington have much better food, better prices, and and better ambiance.

Short review: I will be going back! The food is very good with friendly but slow service.
Long review: I will be going back! I was a little put off by the location of the restaurant because it is out of the way but I was pleasantly surprised by the dining experience. Homemade pasta! What a treat! The marinara is delicious! The salads were crisp and fresh. The bread sticks were plentiful, warm, lightly seasoned and perfectly chewy! I enjoyed the lobster ravioli with a house made vodka pasta sauce while hubby savored the Eggplant Veronese. Our other dining partners feasted on a sampler that included ravioli, penne and spaghetti. Generous portions of everything!
Best advice: Take a cooler for leftovers!

This place has been a favorite of mine ever since I was little. Their ravioli is by far the best I’ve ever had. Great salad and breadsticks. My only issue is that they have raised the prices in the last few years and I really don’t like the location but it is my favorite Italian place.

I had gone past The Florentine countless times over the years, but never had an opportunity to give it a shot. A few weeks ago, I finally got a chance to try it, and I could not have been more impressed. I am not even a fan of salad, but their dressing was the best I have ever had. Plenty of garlic in it, but it was not overpowering. The portion sizes for their entrees are quite plentiful. I had more than enough to fill me up, and still some for lunch the next day. This was the best italian food I have ever had!

I have been goong here since I was a kid. I am now 35. Even though I no longer live in the area I make it a point to stop in and have dinner. My favorite and my fathers favorite is the ravioli florentine. This is now my sons favorite. My mother loves their spaghetti with meat sauce. Love their house dressing… garlicy yum!

The Florentine is classic its to bad there aren’t still more places like this it brings back memories of places like the jai lai, Kahiki, and the old Milanos when restaurants were called supper clubs and weren’t located at the mall. Im sure this place has seen it’s better day but the food is good, very good and so is the price. I love the Meatball salsa, (basically its 3 or 4 meatballs with melted cheese over the top) and the wedding soup (get the bowel or you will want more) If you’re on the west side give them a try lots of parking and nice people.

Fabulous, authentic home-​made spaghetti and meatballs. Less than remarkable side salad. Wonderful service. Run-​down, 70’s ambience. Dirty and partially out-​of-​order men’s room. But they get four out of five because I’m here for the food… not to use the restroom (just make sure you use it AFTER you eat, not before).

I first ate at the Florentine in 1964, but my wife came with her parents many years before that. Since then, we have been making the 40 mile round-​trip from Madison County roughly once a month for the last 44 years. Why? Because it is consistently wonderful.
Over the years the menu has been adjusted to accommodate more modern tastes, but we don’t bother with that. We come for pasta, whenever the mood calls.
We dined here today, and again the food was outstanding and the service (Victoria) was above and beyond. Thank you Florentine, and best wishes for another 69 years.

Such a great little family friendly restaurant! The garlic cheesy bread is worth it. Excellent service.