The Fat Tuscan Cafe

I’ve been here once for a friend’s birthday and I loved it! We had a peach sangria pitcher to drink, which was really refreshing. I’m not a big fan of pasta, so I was worried about what I would get here, but they had a ton of other options like an antipasti spread, salads, and artichoke hummus. I had the eggplant stack: eggplant slices stuffed with marinara, goat cheese, and herbs. Despite sounding so simple, it was sooooo yummy! And it still felt very light. If you are looking for a heartier dish all my friends who had the pasta were very pleased with their orders, and had plenty to take home with them.
The best part of it is the outside seating area. It has cute twinkling lights, greenery, and a fountain — like a little piece of Tuscany.
They also have a $ 40 cooking class. I have not been, but I think it would be a cool date idea, where you get to participate in the cooking, drink, and then eat! Who wouldn’t love that. I hope to come back again soon.
The service was a little slow, despite the place being almost empty, but I guess that is all part of the Italian flare.

Came here on a recommendation from a friend and am so glad we did. The restaurant has so much character, which is noticeable right when you walk up to it; it looks like you’re heading into someone’s home. When we were seated, our table was a cozy one by a candle lit fireplace. Ordered the eggplant stack which was full of texture and flavor. It came with a side salad an piece of Italian bread. Really recommend this on the menu, but the 3 other people I went with also enjoyed their orders too (Mediterranean pasta, spicy shrimp pasta, & shrimp scampi). Don’t live in the Gainesville area, but would definitely go back with friends and family when I’m in town again. When you’re there, ask your server for information on the building, they’ll give you a scrapbook showing its transformation to what it is today.

I finally got to eat at this really cool restaurant. Everything is great from the first time you see the old house to the dessert. The service is really friendly, nice and competent. The food is really good, the fresh baked goods and the salads are awesome. You can either eat inside the old ‘home’ or on the brick patio in the back around a fountain. I only wish it was closer to my home!

Having a restaurant in an old Florida style home is super cool to me! It gives it so much character. The menu changes often which I love! They also hold cooking classes and are always doing something fun. Love this place. :) Their outdoor seating is really pretty too with a fountain and lots of trees and plants.

Great service, food, and atmosphere.
My absolute favorites are the arugula pesto pasta and the hummus platter.

Great food and beautiful setting inside and out. Super high quality ingredients, lots of care and thought given to every menu item. Wish there were more places like this in town.

Great place for a nice evening out. The pasta was perfectly cooked and fresh and the wine was excellent. My girlfriend had a white sangria and that was great too, probably one of the best I’ve ever tasted. I would definitely recommend this place, the atmosphere is great and the outdoor area is very nice if the weather is right. The restaurant itself is in a large house in the downtown Gainesville area which adds to its charm. We were definitely missing a good Italian restaurant in Gainesville.

Ham & cheese sandwich is awesome!!! Caprese salad is inconsistently seasoned throughout the plate. Broccoli & cheese soup is incredible! Michelle, the owner, is an awesome chef and absolutely loves to create in the kitchen. I’ll probably come for cooking classes which she puts on twice a month.

Excellent little local restaurant. $ instead of 5 due to service being a tad slow — but it was a Sunday (not normally open) and they were trying to get some traffic from the Spring Art Festival in Gainesville.
We started with the shrimp gazpacho — a seasonal item that is worth it. Most places offer soup in a «cup» and a «bowl». Their cup was bigger than most bowls and was only $ 3.50! A load of shrimp and the cold soup broth was awesome. Made from scratch inhouse, this is worth the visit by itself.
SWMBO had the roast beef panini with a curried cous cous and raisins side that was very tasty. Nice touch of curry that was NOT overpowering.
I had the Tuscan roasted chicken salad that came with spinach, chicken breast, almonds, cranberries, raisins, blue cheese and a light vinaigrette. Housed in a historical building near Sante Fe college downtown it is definitely worth a stop — ESPECIALLY if that soup is available.

I agree with several other posts I’ve read here. The place has potential with the outdoor seating and delicious menu. However, the service was extremly lacking. The waiter was very new and there was no one to assist. Our food took too long to arrive, and was never asked for a refill.

Owning a business is hard and I don’t want to trash someone’s hard work– but the service here is really awful. I’ve been here three different times and it has been progressively worse. I highly recommend the owner come down from upstairs and train them more. The last time we were there we sat around in an empty place for 10 minutes before anyone took our drink order. Then another 15 for our food order… Then our food was dropped off and the woman– our waiter (who also described herself as a manager) disappeared inside again to chat. I had to go searching for forks. FORKS.

Amazing! Great atmosphere, great food. The eggplant dish is to die for. The patio area has a fire pit and heaters. So cute and yummy!

We went here over the holidays. It was a terrific date for my wife and I.
House is lovely and was decorated for Christmas. There was a fire outside on the patio (it was cold!) and the heat was on inside but not oppressive. There was a folk singer– she wasn’t that good but she wasn’t that loud and live music almost always is preferable to whatever is on the speakers in the restaurant.
We had read complaints about the service on Unilocal and can of course only speak to our own experience, but we felt like the service was outstanding. Even a/​the chef came by to see how everything was.
My wife had the veggie lasagna which she said was among the best she’d had– high praise from a Carroll Gardens Brooklyn couple. I had a meat pasta– it was spicy and rich and cooked perhaps a bit too long but still full of flavor. Very good meal.
Sangria looked amazing and tasted almost as good.
I recommend. Off the beaten path in Gainesville a bit but if they advertise well among the date-​night university crowd they’ll do well. Affordable cuisine in a great atmosphere.

Great place! This is a perfect place for a date, groups or even just to fill your belly! The food is amazing and worth the wait, and yes there is sometimes a «wait» but know that this is not a fast food restaurant but they make food from the heart which doesn’t happen at the snap of a finger. My advice is get the Sangria, maybe the best I’ve had, and enjoy your company. Get an app, I think the bruschetta is the best! This is definitely a great place to relax and enjoy great food.

My $ 12 grilled cheese and her $ 14 frozen ravioli were a perfectly edible waste of money. The ambience is beautiful, but don’t think you’re paying for skilled cooks or authentic recipes.

Five stars for food and atmosphere, two stars for service.
Completely loved the house and the patio. For some reason, the other reviews made me think it was a bit of a kitchy place– cute and odd. Instead, it was lovely and romantic. We were here for a birthday dinner and the atmosphere was awesome. We sat on the patio, which was well landscaped (at least in the dark) with strung lights, flowers and a fountain. Classics. The interior was a bunch of smaller rooms, leading to a very intimate feel.
I also loved that there was a big board in the bathroom with previous desserts. Great idea. Definitely made me want one.
The hostess was very nice– two stars for her and her alone. She was quick and friendly.
Service was not so great. She had the basics down, unlike the others unhappy with service. Instead, she had the worst personality ever. Not just server personality, but she seemed like the human incarnation of Grumpy Cat. We ordered red sangria (chai and pear?! Want!) and they were out, and her way of communicating that was very brisk and accusingly, like we should have known, and then a, «So… you want the white, then?» Not really. Not big white wine fans. We did get it (and it was good– sangria isn’t really wine) but she could have upsold the crap out of us on a bottle of red wine if she had any desire to do so. Oh, and when the sangria came, I was shocked at the size of the pitcher (totally generous) and remarked about it being a whole bottle of wine… question… eh? And she just stared at me. Awkward. She also kept stepping in the flowers… might be a design issue, but it just added to my perception that she hated all things in the universe. Grumpy Cat.
Wait, let me go back for those scanning: Sangria is like $ 19 a pitcher and it’s definitely a whole bottle of wine. White was tasty with lots of fruit (orange, lime, apple) and not overly sweetened. Bomb option if you’re looking for a nice place to get tipsy.
Food took a while to come out, but I did hear an explanation for slow service: they’re working with a modified house-​sized kitchen with limited space and infrastructure. Totally fair. I’d rather wait 10 extra minutes for something homemade and quality. And if you like the old house thing, you can’t be mad that the kitchen also exists in that old house.
Had the chicken, ham and cheese in a bechamel sauce (some of those words were in French on the menu, but not all, forget what it was actually called) and the eggplant roll thingy. Both were awesome. Happy as clams with our choices.
Could have sold us on dessert, too, but no effort.

On a thursday night, it was empty, which was nice a we got one of the rooms in the house to ourselves. All the food was tasty, the sangria was delicious, and the service was attentive. It was a nice intimate experience. The service was a little slow, but the food and service made up for it.
As for what food we had; two glasses of the red sangria with peach and chai, hot artichoke dip as the starter, and two pasta entrees that came with a salad. I made my own pasta, penne with rose sauce and chicken, and my boyfriend had the special, an orzo dish with shrimp and Mediterranean veggies.

Okay. I’m going to start my review before I get my meal now mind you the sandwiches are the main feature on the menu as well since solids I’ve been sitting here for 15 minutes but with my wife and me of you to receive either napkins forks for our meal I find that to be a discouraging. I really can’t believe they ran out of prosciutto since it dominates their menu and that they haven’t run down to Sam’s or some other store to take care of the problem. Maybe they are a bit overwhelmed. Maybe my last stop here I would definitely recommend not trying this place.
The food looks tasty and it tastes fine I just don’t see the need to wait Persaud long to get proper service.
The main reason I give it two stars is because of the complete lack of organization and the long waiting time for such a simple entrée.
— — — —
On my second visit with friends the other day for dinner service was better. But the food is bland overall.
I have a Groupon (expired) so I will go in to get my $ 10 sandwich …

Don’t choose if you are in a hurry. Slow service.
The food is good when it finally gets to you but the service is TERRIBLE.

We really wanted to give this place 3 or more stars.
We’ve been wanting to try this place for a while. Parking is non-​existent only 4 or 5 spots available. So plan to park on the street.
The location is nice and the building/​house they are in is a nice atmosphere. But that only goes so far.
Service was from in experienced staff. Not knowing they should have napkins available, and they were slow.
We saw the kitchen and had hopes some good food would come out of it. But alas the food was just average. Everyone at our table said their food was average at best.
So needless to say we won’t be back anytime soon. So much potential, but such a let down.