Unique Restaurant Experience

Chianti, Panzano, Enoteca Baldi.
Rome, Armando al Pantheon- I do not think Chef will diverge from menu but it is a traditional trattoria in Rome, very authentic, wonderful place! Book well ahead in their website.

Are you going to Ljubljana? If so I can recommend Julija. Unique Slovenian/European Cuisine. So good we ate there 3 nights. It reminded us of an Italian Trattoria. Reservations necessary.

Copied and pasted from a Florence restaurant thread:

Vini e Vecchi Sapori: small osteria near the Duomo, delicious duck pappardelle, small menu with local and seasonal dishes, gruff but good waiters. Reservation is a must.

Club Culinario Toscana da Osvaldo: mix of Tuscan and Umbrian food. Very regional dishes you won’t see on too many menus, handmade fresh pastas, good cheap wine, more locals (or at least Italians from other cities) than tourists. Order the Umbrichelli with sausage and truffles if it’s on the menu.

In Florence, Trattoria Casalinga should be able to accommodate your group size and, after eating our way through the city for a week, provided the most authentic (and best) experience. Buon appetito!

If you're going to Lucca or Pisa, this is a unique authentic restaurant in a small town where you can interact with the owner. https://www.wanderingitaly.com/blog/article/1149/la-gola-di-bacco Also if you look for the Slow Food snail logo used by a restaurant, you can have some degree of assurance that it's authentic and reasonably priced. There's a guidebook to the Slow Food endorsed restaurants available on Amazon - Osterie d'Italia, though the recent editions are all in Italian.

We ate here in 2003 and are booked for this Fall: https://letavernelle.it/en/

Jean

In Ljubljana

Dinner: Sveti Florojan tasting menu €141.50 for 2 (lots of wine) on 01OCT2019
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g274873-d14241421-Reviews-Sveti_Florijan-Ljubljana_Upper_Carniola_Region.html (reservations are almost mandatory)

Lunch: Monstera bistro €86.90 for 2 on 03OCT2019
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g274873-d10460965-Reviews-Monstera_bistro-Ljubljana_Upper_Carniola_Region.html (reservations are almost mandatory)

You guys are awesome. Anyone else - keep the recommendations coming :)

Janis - yes, we plan to try to hit Julija in LJ. Would you say it would be kid friendly? Maybe better option for us at lunchtime?

Daniel - Thanks, I really like the sound of Club Culinario Toscana da Osvaldo

Steve - I love the recommendation in Oltrarno area. We plan to have an evening over there, and this may be a perfect spot!

Mike - This La Gola di Bacco sounds awesome. That's EXACTLY what I was looking for. We have a day where we plan to be in Pisa and then Lucca, and this would be a perfect stop on the way back to our Agriturismo.

Jean - Thank you! We will put that on our Rome list.

Davebarnes - These definitely look like they would be well to fancy for our group with kids, and not really within the price range we want to pay either. Thanks for sharing though!

In Florence,if your group has maxxed out on fine cuisine (especially the kids) we love Self Service Leonardo, a cafeteria-style understated place with "standards" at budget prices. Only once did we encounter a massive tour group -- usually we walk right in, read the menu board, go through the line and point to what looks good, sit down at an open table/ booth. Free ice water in pitchers!

Laura B - wow, great recommendation and one I hadn’t come across yet. Not what I was asking for, but with our party it’s definitely something we will hit up.

We plan to eat often at these cheaper places (Al Antico Vinaio, Mercado Centrale, and now this Self Serve Leonardo place) is that a few times over the week we can “splurge” and sit down to a nicer full meal. Thanks again!

If you are going to be in Ljubljana during warm weather reserve an outdoor table at Juliya. I think either lunch or early dinner would be fine. I would just consider what the children are used to at home. If you like Gelato I recommend Gelateria Romantika. I also recommend this blog from a family who shared their stay in Ljubljana. www.earthtrekkers.com

I noticed the story about La Gola di Bacco may have the wrong province listed - it's FI not PI. However the street / town address is right and Google maps finds it correctly.

"Davebarnes - These definitely look like they would be well to fancy for our group with kids, and not really within the price range we want to pay either. Thanks for sharing though!"

Then https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g274873-d8403821-Reviews-Pop_s_Place-Ljubljana_Upper_Carniola_Region.html
the burgers and fries are great
excellent outdoor seating by the river

Antica Trattoria da Tito, Florence, via S.Gallo

It's funny, but the kind of osteria or trattoria you describe is the kind we find to eat in all over Italy. Not at all unique. We do a lot of research to find such places wherever we are staying or visiting. But I can hardly think of any in either Siena or Florence (after being in both cities for weeks) that fit both that model and are big enough for your big group and good for kids.

I will keep thinking, but literally the only one that springs to mind right now is a place in the Oltrarno where we ate twice (two different trips, several years apart): Osteria Antica Mescita San Niccolò....https://osteriasanniccolo.webnode.it/il%20nostro%20men%c3%b9/ There are a few small tables on the ground floor and then many larger tables in a very cool-looking "basement" with vaulted ceilings. I remember the soups being especially good.

You don't say how old the kids are, but lunch rather than dinner might be a good idea because real dinner wouldn't be starting until 8:30pm or 9:00pm. You will probably not get that feeling you want earlier than that.

Ditto to the recommendation for Vini e Vecchi Sapori in Florence. We're headed back to Italy in June and starting in Florence just to go back to this restaurant (and the duck ragu)! We also loved Osteria Antica Mescita San Niccolò, also mentioned here. A great spot for Florentine steak. And ALL'ANTICO VINAIO is a must.

In Chianti, we took the advice of a regular poster here, DougMac, and stopped for pizza at La Cantina in Greve. We absolutely loved it and are returning again this summer as we travel between Florence and Umbria.

In Rome, Da Enzo in Trastevere was wonderful, old-school and not expensive. There are lots of small dishes so you can just order and reorder things you like. They don't take reservations, so best to show up when they open and get your name on the list. If you have to wait there's a lovely Rick Steves Trastevere walking tour on the app.

Thanks so much! I'm taking in all of these recommendations and will keep doing so..

davebarnes - yes, Pop's place was on my radar already but I will make sure we stop there. Thanks!

nancys8 - interesting thought about finding those restaurants everywhere. I also really appreciated your advice of eating at some of these places at lunchtime. You are right, we won't be starting many meals at 9:00pm. We can do 7:30, but starting at 9:00 would be a little tough with the kids. So, we may do some of our more sit-down meals for lunch, and the quicker stuff at dinner time - where eating earlier isn't going to affect our experience. Thanks!

And now after multiple recommendations I'll definitely put Osteria Antica Mescita San Niccolò on our list.

ksinclair - that's high praise - starting out a trip in Florence just for that restaurant. Wow! Also, I like the look of the place in Rome as well. Would be a great reason to explore Trastevere a little bit one evening.