Trattoria Il Giova, Borgo la Croce, 73R, 50121 Firenze FI (I have nothing to do with this business other than being a wildly satisfied customer. I got the address from the web.)
This is an absolutely delightful little spot! We were there last week with family, and I can't talk the place up enough. While still technically in the "tourist center," it's far enough from the Duomo, etc., to be a neighborhood joint, and we were the only tourists in the place when we visited. The owners and wait staff are genuinely warm and welcoming, and were cheerfully accommodating of our mangled Italian while speaking enough English themselves to help us navigate the menu.
The space is very small - intimate is perhaps a better restaurant review word - with warm, vibrant yellow-painted walls and happy décor. A wine bottle on each table holds the artfully drippy remains of many pastel candles, and full bottles of wine march around the room on shelves.
There were six of us - we made a reservation - and we mainly ordered from the daily chalkboard specials.
We opened with an order of deep fried dough served with a soft "cream cheese" (really nothing like cream cheese - a bit more like burrata) and slices of ham, an order of deep fried veggies (zucchini, onions, and eggplant) and something I can't remember the name of, which was a stack of grilled veggies served with soft cheese and anchovies.
For mains, we got one order of the daily special risotto, an order of spaghetti margarita (for my 12 year-old niece), two orders of the pappardelle al cinghiale (fresh wide egg noodles with wild boar ragu), an order of something called rosticceria con patate (oven roasted pork ribs served with fries), and a pasta with duck breast.
We finished with a couple of orders of tiramisu - one with hazelnuts and vin santo, the other (served in an adorable mason jar pot!) with shaved chocolate.
Everything was utterly delicious! I had one of the orders of pappardelle al cinghiale and it was magnificent. The noodles were fresh, there was just enough rich sauce to coat them, and it was all studded with large hunks of boar meat - lean, and falling apart tender. My husband's pork ribs were juicy, spangled with roasted crunches of fat, and deeply flavorful. (Only the fries didn't exceed expectations - but then he had kind of been expecting roasted potatoes.)
My niece's simple spaghetti was on point - fresh and flavorful. The risotto was creamy and toothsome. The duck was pronounced "marvelous!" by my sister-in-law.
Our appetizers were similarly amazing. Who knew that something called "deep fried dough balls" would be soooo delicious?! The cool, milky cheese paired gorgeously with the crunchy, hot deep fried dough, and the ham was so good I thought my husband was going to grab the plate and drag it into a corner so he didn't have to share. The deep fried veggies were crunchy and crackly outside, perfectly cooked inside, and gone in a FLASH. The veggie stack was fresh and vibrant, and the salty tang of the anchovies set it off perfectly.
As for the tiramisu... OMG. One order was ethereally light sweet cream with hazelnut biscuits soaked in vin santo, the other was the same fluffy cream with chocolate woven throughout and a dusting of cocoa on top. Both were completely delectable.
To top of off, it was cheap! Our entire bill - including red house wine for the adults, apps, mains, and a couple of desserts, was 132 Euro! Highly, highly recommended.