Il Santino

Cute and trendy place in Santo Spirito. The wine is fantastic. Many delicious crostini and bruschette.

We stumbled up on a crowd of people standing outside a bar. Thinking we can handle one more round after our massive dinner, we walked in… more like we squeezed in. This is a very, very, small bar tucked away in an alley off the river. You cannot get just a glass of wine here, don’t worry it’s served with snacks. Wonderful cheese, meats, olives, pâté and some crunchy bread! There was energy, music, bricks, great wine and great food. We felt like a few locals chilling on a Tuesday night. Highly recommended and wish we could open this style of bar at home. We give it ⁴⁄₅ boots

Please stop in here and have a glass of wine and an appetizer. Another wonderful place we ducked into while roaming the streets. Can’t wait to return. Spring for the good stuff.

We ended up here almost by accident after we couldnt find the place we were looking for — it was perfect and exactly the thing we were looking for. The wine selection was great and the free aperitivo was very tasty. We were lucky enough to snag a seat at the bar, which was nice because we were able to talk directly to the bartenders about which wines to choose. They had a very nice Brunello!

We happened upon this delicious wine bar for lunch, when Il Santino’s big brother restaurant next door was full. We had a more intimate welcome to Florence here, and the relaxed atmosphere and delicious food gave us the energy we needed to plan the rest of our day. Delicious!

Il Santino is a restaurant with a separate cheese and wine bar, just a block from the Arno. I have not been to the restaurant yet, but after going to the cheese and wine bar I know I will be going back to taste the food at the restaurant. The cheese and wine bar has a separate entrance right next to the restaurant and has a different menu. The have an extensive wine menu and serve mainly light appetizers. Most of the appetizers are selections of cold cuts and cheeses, which are served with bread. They also have a dessert portion to their menu. The cheese and wine bar is a quaint room with a couple of tables to sit at and more seating at the counter. All of their meats and cheese were on display and were cut specifically for each order. The atmosphere was intimate, yet lively due to their excellent choice of music. They played full albums of The Beach Boys, The Strokes, and Lou Reed back to back. The cheese plate we ordered was excellent and don’t worry if you don’t know what to order, the staff has good recommendations, trust their word!