Florence’s Italian Restaurant

Local fresh and original food. Great service and food. Enjoyed the mushroom porcini ravioli.

Florence we will miss having dinner at your restaurant and seeing you!
I hope you enjoy retirement! Food was always great, loved you and your staff and we have great memories!
Loved seeing all the regulars who gathered at the bar on Saturday evenings, to enjoy good conversation, great drink and great Italian food.

Sadly, I have to report that Florence has left the building. After many years in business, Florence has retired. Her great food will be missed by many. At least I can run into her in town. The restaurant closed for good on November 7, 2015. Enjoy your retirement Florence and enjoy being a Nonni!

Just wanted peeps to know that this restaurant closed… Florence retired… we will miss them dearly.

MY REVIEW WAS OF PREVIOUS ESTABLISHMENT.
I’ve lived I town for almost 20 years. Only gone here 3 times. Every time with a long break In between. Tonight was no exception. Long wait time for service. After about 20 – 30 min I got my soup.(Italian wedding soup) Was lacking. Flavorless hot water with meatballs. Meal shows. And it is one of the most overdone chicken parm dinners ($ 19)I’ve ever tried. Could only eat about half. Gave up. Daughter had haddock. ($ 23) and also overdone. Wife had eggplant parm ($ 19). «mushy». Nobody had a meal that they were satisfied with. Not sure I’ll give it a 4^th try. $ 105 dollars with wine and a kids meal and I could have made it all better at home. A shame. We all had looked forward to going out. I didn’t bother asking for a manager. We watched the owner go around and visit every table around us. We had been there long enough and I just wanted to leave.

Well I was shocked at how fresh and good my food was. Literally in over two weeks of being east I have only had 3 meals worth mentioning and this is one. Friendly waitstaff and fresh not bagged lettuce for the tasty salad. I recommend this family restaurant.

Absolutely love the place and adore Florence the owner of this family owned local reataurant. I surprisingly find out Florence is originally from Somerville Massachusetts where I grew up and come to find out we have multiple friends in common. I always order the chicken Marsala on my many visits which I believe is delicious and would recommend to anyone. I have had other items on the menu which were very good also. Love the family oriented atmosphere there.

I don’t know how this place is low rated. It is the best food, hands down, in the area! All made to order, fresh and delicious. Try the tortellini con pana. You won’t be disappointed. So so so delicious!

Went once. Never again. There was a huge bug in my salad like the lettuce was brown in that whole area, so it had been there quite a while. The owner was there. She offered us another salad. No thank you. Not impressed with entrée. Won’t dine there again.

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Not authentic by any means. Unless ill-​prepared tasteless food is your idea of authentic italian food. Ever wonder why no cars in parking lot. Just say No.

It was my first time going. I’ve heard amazing things, but for a place next to dominos, how great could it be? Right when I walked in the door, we were greeted by Florence who immediately poked fun at my shoes and my iPhone case for both being red (apparently I coordinated this) and gave me crap for being on my phone walking in the door as if we were family. This may turn some people off, but it immediately gave me a feeling like I was visiting an aunt. We had a reservation (which I recommend) and were seated right away. The waitress was extremely comforting and was extremely knowledgeable. Each of us had questions and she catered to each individually and got a great feel for each diner. The wine list was smaller but had a great variety, both inexpensive and pricey. The food was true north end style and arguably the best I’ve ever had. It seemed the people next to us and were complaining, so Florence proceeded to spend the next half hour with them. Had we not heard them actually complain, we would have thought they were good friends of hers. That’s how warm and comforting these people are. The only down side was it took a bit too long for the check to come, but the experience was well worth the price we paid. If you are looking for a surprisingly great place to spend some money, this is it! A week later we went to Piccola on Elm St. In Manchester. Florence’s blew them out of the water! Go!

This place sucks, food and waiters are the worst in New England. This place could very well have a very unhygienic Kitchen too. I wasted $ 25 here for bad service. Don’t go here bad place. Totally Avoid.

My neighbors can’t get enough of this place. I wish it was a few dollars less for me to go back more. It’s good food, I wouldn’t say exceptional but talk to my neighbors and they’d strike me dead over it.
The service seems to be a problem but if you look for Nate, is a young man of 17, WILL take care of you. He’s only the bus boy but he should be a waiter. He’s on the ball and seems to know what to do and is determined to make you a happy customer. He has rescued us twice now. Our waitress was ok and took 20 minutes for her to take our order. Wasn’t on the ball after that even. Maybe things were on her mind that night but it wasn’t on us. We’ve been there 3 times now and it’s always some issue, getting served. They are all nice waitresses but I think their system is a bit off due to the lateness. But to solve the problem, ask for Nate and he will rescue you. MAKE HIM A WAITER!

We won’t be back. Friday night just before 8PM there was maybe 6 tables occupied. Service was very, very slow and the server actually apologized, «it’s been crazy». It must have been the other table she was responsible for that was making her crazy.
I had a chicken special that was just OK. The wife had a fruitti de mer that was clearly from frozen and then overcooked. She had a few bites and that was the end of it (they did take it off the bill).
My sangria was actually really good, the wife’s special martini had more fruit juice than alcohol — very sweet and unbalanced.
The size of the entrees are huge — easily saved and/​or shared if you find something you like.

I haven’t been back to NH for awhile but when I got the chance to visit again, Florence’s was on the list. As soon as I walked in, they recognized me! Instantly, I’m family!
The food is as amazing as I remember it. I always have lasagna but this time tried the veal. It did not disappoint!
A lot of restaurants can seem stuffy and boring. Not here. All the customers laugh and joke. The staff seemed to know everybody and I thought they must all be regulars, but as you continue to listen and observe, you are overwhelmed with a sense of family. Everybody seems to belong here!
My server was Janet and she was amazing! Turns out the ricotta pie is her speciality which only reaffirms that everybody here is family. This little family owned gem is amazing. I love it here and it completes the NH experience. If I lived here, I’d visit everyday!

Possibly the best Italian food this side of East Boston. The food is very authentic and reasonably priced. The staff — and especially Florence herself — are very friendly, courteous and helpful. We were so impressed that we’re having our wedding reception here.
Try the artichoke appetizer. I order it every time.

Florence’s Italian Restaurant (CLOSED in 2015) — A relevant review when it was open for business.
My friend and I had Sunday dinner at Florence’s on two recent visits. We both enjoy Italian food and wanted to dine at an established local Italian restaurant. Florence’s in Merrimack fit the bill! The place is casual and has a cozy lounge in the front section and spacious dining areas in back. Here is a summary on what we had for dinner.
For an appetizer on the first visit, we started out with an Italian Antipasto ($ 10.25-double), which consisted of an assortment of Italian cold cuts, cheeses, pickled vegetables, black olives, & pepperoncinis. This antipasto was pretty average and not even in the same league as Fratello’s antipasto (more variety), which is by far our favorite antipasto.
The family style salad was included with our dinners. This mixed salad was pretty good, which had a mix of fresh romaine lettuces, greens, tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms, & cucumbers and three dressings to sample on the salads. The poppyseed dressing was very good, which had a sweet taste. The Italian bread was served warm.
On the first visit, the Eggplant Parmesan ($ 15.95) was a good sized portion oven baked very hot in a casserole dish with layers of breaded eggplant, tomato sauce, and melted/​browned mozzarella cheese on top. The side of linguine was cooked just right and topped with a zesty thick meat sauce. The Gnocchi Bolognese ($ 14.95) was cooked soft with plenty of rich tomato/​cheese meat sauce.
On the second visit, the Manicotti ($ 13.95), firm pasta tubes stuffed with ricotta cheese with plenty of zesty thick meat sauce. The Maccheroni Matriciana ($ 14.95) had al dente ziti with bacon, onions cooked in white wine tomato sauce. This dish is very similar to what my old man used to cooked for dinner, bacon & onions in his tomato sauce.
We passed on the desserts on both visits, since we were full and got doggie bags. I would’ve order the ricotta pie if I saved room for dessert.
The food we had was definitely good on both visits and tasty. The service was acceptable for the most part, the food coming out in good time. However on the first visit, when we finished our ice waters, we had to wait a bit for the waitress to return (we refilled our own waters a few times from a neaby metal water pitcher, next to the kitchen). On the second visit, no refills of ice water were given, though more coffee was offered to my friend during dinner.

Waited 90 minutes to get our appetizer, when we asked about the wait, we were told that’s just the way it is. Come on, 60 minutes to get a salad and 90 minutes before the appetizer, sorry, if the food was fantastic, it would be worth the wait, but we ordered pasta and it was good, but nothing spectacular.
Would be worth the visit if the service was average, but it’s really poor

I’ll admit, what turned out to be an extremely disappointing experience at least started off well. The atmosphere truly was representative of what you might expect in the North End. Dual cork-​filled walls (they must be made of thousands and thousands of corks) certainly added an amazing touch. We were greeted quickly with bread and drinks. Off to a good start.
From there, the service slowed down… way down. The bruschetta that was on «special» for about $ 7 turned out to be two burned pieces of glorified garlic bread. The family style salad that came with our entrees were great with a wonderful selection of salad dressing. The Italian dressing is homemade, though, again, glorified olive oil.
Finally, the overprices meals. The chicken was, frankly, suspect. While the marinara sauce on my chicken parm was great, both my wife and I were completely turned off by the poor quality of chicken. All-​in-​all, we were anxious to leave after what had turned into a nearly hour and half dining experience. By the way, our visit was on a Tuesday night with about 2 other tables taken… can’t blame a busy restaurant on this one.
Never again.

I just joined Unilocal but need to post this review even though it’s from last year.
The last time I went to Florence’s (beginning of fall 2010), it was a big disappointment. My boyfriend and I had been there twice before and the food and atmosphere was great.
We went there on a Saturday night, prime time, so there was a wait. We only waited about 20 minutes and then were seated. And we both love the food so we don’t mind waiting at all.
The waitress was kind of rude off the bat. I feel like a restaurant that charges what it does for food could hire less rude people. She just had an attitude and clearly wanted us to hurry up and order.
I ordered chicken parm and my boyfriend ordered spaghetti and meatballs. The food came and I started eating my chicken and it tasted really dry and rubbery to me. I figured out that it was veal and we told the waitress (I do not eat veal — I find it disgusting and the whole baby cow thing doesn’t help either so it bothered me a lot that I had a bite). The portions were also smaller than we remembered.
Florence came over and asked if everything was OK and we told her that I received the wrong food.
Finally the waitress brings my chicken parm and says «you know, I know that veal can be a little shady but at least it wasn’t…(searching for a word) shit.»
Yes, she said SHIT. My boyfriend and I were pretty shocked and wanted to say something to Florence, but instead decided to never go back. It’s a shame too, because I feel like the service/​food can be and was good at one point.