Officina della Bistecca

Delicious food and absolutely superb experience! Dishes were fantastic: steak tartar, carpaccio, beef shoulder, beans and bistecca were absolutely beautiful. I would definitely go there again if I had the chance. The only thing it was slightly too noisy as there were big groups in the room with us. But in the place like that i would say it’s expected as people are getting so excited.

Amazing experience. A must for anyone in the area. Dario is a real gem! Best meat I’ve had in a very long time if not ever! There’s veggie options too so suitable to all!

If you're going to Dario, it's mostly for the atmosphere – sharing food at one big table, lively and casual. The quality of the meat is good, but the preparation clearly caters to tourists who come in droves after seeing Dario on Netflix. The tartare is heavy on olive oil, and all meats are served medium. I came back after five years and felt the same – the food is still average, but the place retains its charm

Definitely an experience (for better or worse)! We had the steak workshop for lunch and it starts with everyone also there for the lunch, gathering around outside having wine and a small appetizer of toast with lard spread on it. At about 12:30 PM, the butcher comes to make a short welcome announcement to all and we proceed to our seats at communal tables. At 1 PM, food was served starting with beef tartar. There were 6 or 7 different preparations of beef served over the course of the meal, with beans and a half potato as sides. Everything tasted great for the most part, with a couple exceptions e.g. one piece of meat I was given was quite dry/tough. I was absolutely stuffed by the end - it's a lot of food! I would advise caution when eating the raw beef tartare as this gave me food poisoning that started approx. 32 hours after I had the meal. Unfortunately it was a very severe bout of food poisoning (likely E. Coli), that is highly suspected to be from the raw beef tartar I ate based on timing, symptoms, and assessment of other foods eaten up to the onset of my stomach issues. This is an individual risk you must consider for yourself when consuming undercooked meat, e.g. if you have a sensitive stomach to begin with! Another member of my group experienced similar stomach issues (though less severe than me), while two other members were completely fine.

I’m genuinely amazed by the negative reviews of this restaurant. My family, friends, and I had lunch here this week and experienced one of the most outstanding meals of my 41 years. What Dario and his team excel at is making the basics extraordinary—meat, salt, pepper, oil, and tallow were transformed into phenomenal flavors. The atmosphere was brilliant, the red wine flowed freely, and our four children, all under 10, thoroughly enjoyed themselves. After the meal, we even wanted to take home some souvenirs—Dario’s mix of salt, pepper, and tallow. He also took the time to photograph our family and children at no extra cost, making the experience truly magical. We would have no hesitation traveling from the UK back to Ponzano for this again. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys excellent food, a great atmosphere, and a little indulgence.

The Temple of Meat This is not just a butcher shop, and this is no ordinary place. It’s something truly unique — an open-air museum, a bottega, a Renaissance workshop with its master, Dario, always at work. The butcher shop and Dario are inseparable; one cannot exist without the other. Watching him, like a conductor leading an orchestra, running his restaurants and carving meat, is pure magic. Sitting in front of the grill is a true experience. Grill master Enrico cooks the steaks with masterful precision, just like a maestro. Adisa is fantastic, and Lillo is also a true grill artist. The entire staff is friendly, skilled, and passionate — from the wonderful Mario and amazing Ezio to the talented chef Simonetta, who has carried on Dario’s recipes for years. Our server Asia was kind and knowledgeable, along with her colleague Tania. The quality of the meat is outstanding, and we love the philosophy of using the whole animal — from nose to tail. You’ll find unique and flavorful cuts here, not just the usual fillets. A one-of-a-kind place. If you haven’t been, it’s time to go. A must-try experience. Bravo, Dario!

As meat lover, I had high expectations. However, the meat was average in terms of quality + it was from Catalonia not Italy. The best part is seeing an Italian butcher who was able to build a strong brand internationally and to create such a hype. Though, if you are a meat connoisseur, look elsewhere.

We had such an unforgettable experience at Dario’s restaurant! The concept is sharing, so you sit at one big table with total strangers but the food and wine make you closer and at the end of the dinner they are like good friends to you. The food was simple and it was mostly different cuts of meat, some we liked more, some less but this is just personal preference. There were vegetables, bread and olive oil on the table and wine/water to share with others. Some of the staff members were a bit grumpy but Dario was there for aperivo taking pictures and talking to guests. It was lots of fun and we would definitely recommend visiting this place if you are in the neighborhood.

If you are going to cross one amazing place off your bucket list in Tuscany make it Panzano and especially a meal at the Officina! It's an amazing experience. The tables are long and set up for multiple parties encouraging a big dinner party atmosphere. The food is amazing, a few highlights are the Tuscan beans they serve throughout the meal, the Chianti crudo which melts in your mouth, and the bistecca florentine. The meal ends perfectly with a citrus scented olive oil cake and sweet or dry grappa. An amazing meal with amazing service and memories for your life!

Off the beaten tourist path, you're likely coming here if you have seen Dario on Netflix such as Chefs table. The meal has several courses which are eaten at community tables. I consider the beef tartar to be the best I've ever had. The steak season and olive oil cake were also elite. All the beef was of very high quality. Highly recommend.

Amazing Place! Utterly incredible. The method of presentation reminds one of the Brazilian Churrascaria where meat doesn't end but here it is much better then at any Brazilian steakhouses I have been in. But I digress. First off the place has started out as a butcher shop and has been "Antica Macelleria Cecchini" for 8 generations. The restaurant is just a latest addition to the mix. The shop is across the street where Dario meets the guests and they can have bread with Lardo. Then you can go into the restaurant where they have a wood fire oven/grille/bbq where the meat is cooked. We were there pretty early so we got an early view of the prep that goes into the experience. The tables are set up with bread, lardo, cut vegetables (celery, radishes, carrots, etc), and a 2 liter bottle of Chianti Classico (so if you're not driving drink to your heart's content). There are 2 times you can have a table. We chose 8pm and once all the guests have arrived we're off to the races. Basically you have Chianina meats served starting with Tartare, Entrecote, etc ending with Bistecca Alla Fiorentina! So pace yourself. It is a lot of food.

A bucket list item for sure! Dario is a world renowned butcher who can be seen on Chef's table and eating at his restaurant you get to see his love and passion for beef and meet the man himself! Officina dell Bistecca is located in Ponzano about an hour outside of Florence. It is a cute quaint little town in the heart of Chianti wine region. Before dinner service starts, you gather in front of the restaurant where they hand out wine and bread with lard on it. Dario then comes out to greet people and take photos. They utilize both the older restaurant above the butcher shop and a newer restaurant across the street. We were seated in the newer side which I liked how well lit it was. The tables are communal so get ready to make lots of new friends! When you sit down there is a complimentary fiasco of wine, bread, and accoutrements for dipping in olive oil and the famous chianti salt to add. We are obsessed with this salt and bought some to take home and use it on everything! The meal consists of 5 courses of beef. They prepare the meat and then come by and serve it to each person. You can request for a more well done or less done piece of meat as they hand them out. We greatly enjoyed each course and trying different cuts of meat that we haven't previously been exposed to. They finish the meal with dessert and grappa. We left so stuffed and happy. We would love to return and recommend to all our beef loving friends!

This was outstanding. The food was excellent, and the whole experience was just really fun. When we arrived, we hung out in Dario's meat shop across the street from the restaurant, where there was meat and bread out to try, and Dario was behind the counter chopping beef with AC/DC blasting. (This is NOT some stuffy steak place.) We didn't get to really meet or take pics with Dario, which was disappointing, but he did briefly come through the restaurant at one point blowing an airhorn. The food itself was incredible. The bread with olive oil and salt were great, as were the beans that came as a side, and the olive oil cake dessert. But obviously, all you really come here for is the meat, which was fantastic. There were five meat courses in all, which I'd personally rank as follows: 1) Panzanese 2) Carpaccio 3) Rib eye ---- 4) Tartar 5) Fiorentina Our group of six disagreed on the order somewhat, but we all seemed to agree which belonged in the top three and the bottom two. Which isn't to say the bottom two weren't great as well -- everything we ate was excellent, but those top three were on another level. So much fun, such great food, and all for reasonable prices (50 euros per person, including wine and dessert). Definitely want to make it back here some day.

The famous butcher ! Was it the best steak I ever had, definitely not, probably wasnt even the best I had in Tuscany but super glad we went. It's such a fun cool experience and everyone should experience a meat coma at one point in their lives. Its multiple courses of beef prepared differently and right in front of you and it seems never ending in a good way. Bring your own bottle and enjoy the show try to sit upstairs at the bar if you can for more action.

Knowing that we were going to be in Tuscany and after having watched the Chef's Table episode of Dario Cecchini, we knew we had to come to this beef haven. You book online and someone reaches out to you via email and you coordinate any other details via email until the day of reservation. The place is pretty easy to find and they have a big parking lot for everyone. There are 3 areas to sit, their big front patio, the first floor, or second floor. We sat upstairs. We were next to the wood fire grill on a 80+ degree day so it did get pretty hot but it was worth being close to the fire to see all the prep up close and personal. The table is preset with a bowl of crudités veges, a brown paper bag of bread, and big 'ol bottle of Chianti. You get what you come here for which is an immense amount of beef in 5 different courses. The first is a simple beef tartare, which was good. The lemon taste is a nice touch. The second is a carpaccio which is a barely cooked thin slice of the rump. It was tender and solid. One thing to note before I talk about the steaks is that i feel like it greatly depends on what portion of the cut you get served that can greatly swing your experience. They basically cut up these steaks into these fist-sized chunks, and then distribute them across the communal tables. So you can easily get a more fibrous and chewy end piece, and someone else can get the prime, more tender portion of the steak. That being said, the next three steaks all varied in how much I enjoyed them. I would get some chewy parts with lots of sinew. But then when they would come around for a second round the next piece would be infinitely better and tender. The best bite of the meal was the filet cut portion of the Bistecca Fiorentina that was placed on my plate towards the end. It was tender, you barely had to chew. And great beef flavor. For those that like their steaks cooked any more than medium-rare, this is probably not the place for you. Cause most of the pieces served are pretty much rare, to borderline blue. But the beef is such high quality that you have to embrace it. Besides the beef, the beans cooked in olive oil was actually one of the best bites of the meal. The baked potato is a nice familiar side. And in unfamiliar territory is the Chianti "butter" which is just a whipped up cup of lardo (pig fat). The meal was finished off with coffee, olive oil cake (which I barely had room for but was good), and grappa. A hard liquor made from grapes... a shot of that will definitely clear your sinuses! It's all about the experience here. There's people singing, cheering, drinking lots of wine and eating lots of beef. Dario was not present on this Thursday night which was a shame, but I expected as much. I have to say for 50€ for a 5 course meal of good beef including sides/wine/dessert. It's very good value. Considering a Bistecca Fiorentina equivalent in the states would be $50+ alone. So when it comes to their signature question of "to beef or not to beef?" I'd say that answer is pretty easy.

I consider myself a citizen of the world. I can't stress this enough, if you are going to be in Florence (45 minutes south), Pisa (one hour north-east) or even Rome (two hours north) Officina della Bistecca, in the town of Panzano in Chianti, is worth the visit. Google "Worlds most famous butcher"...there, Dario Cecchini, I'm not just making this stuff up. :) "The cheek, tongue, shoulder, stomach, breast-although the most prized was always the bistecca. For us, the bistecca is a spiritual food. It is one of three elements, the others being Tuscan bread, and red wine from the sangiovese grape, which when combined in one meal makes for almost mystical experience." I can't argue that. Sensual...who would ever think of sensual beef other than (me) a Tuscan, or a Texan? Most people would prefer not to know where their protein (by this I mean meat and/or eggs) come from. They need separation. To be Tuscan is to enjoy Beef. To be Tuscan is to enjoy drinking red wine. To be Tuscan is to know that olive oil and bread were made for each other. Officina della Bistecca has two seating nightly. One at 5pm the other at 8 (make your reservations early on line). I chose eight, mostly because of logistics, but also, cause I never want the party to end (alas, there is always a end). It's 50€ for all you care to eat (you can see the menu), and drink...that might be the best deal on this green and blue planet we call earth. All beef (To Beef or not to Beef!) is served medium-rare. If you ask for well-done you might get booed! Seating is communal. We enjoyed the company of Italians, Russians (I had a great debate on Soviet/USA and who actually won the Second World War?), Citizens of the U.K. (met a sommelier from Manchester, she shared her wine, along her views on standard/stick shift transmissions, and why the former make Americans soft) and Parisians. You are welcome to byob. The high point of the night was when I dragged out the Tabasco. That's right, everyone, I mean everyone there wanted to try "that famous American hot sauce"... In the end: If you enjoy eating great Bistecca Fiorentina, (it's not Chianina, that's the large white cow native to the Tuscan region), and delight in having a culinary thrill of a lifetime, this is the Holy Grail. Panzano in Chianti is a small mountain top village. The population is surely under one thousand. There are no hotels, so b&b it. You won't wanna drive. Beef speaks to my soul...it's what makes me Tuscan. Aloha

This was the highlight meal of our time in Italy. I really don't understand all the haters, but you know how the saying goes... Expect fun, generous portions of some of the best meat in Italy, some decent extras like vegetables and beans, plenty of bread and lots of wine. We absolutely loved being greeted with wine and snacks and getting to see Dario! Left so full I could eat the rest of the day and I will never forget our table mates and the fun we had!

Meats were delicious and the environment was fantastic. So much fun and so good. And very reasonably priced!! Can't wait to go back.

An evening to remember ! Our B&B host recommended this to us when we were staying near Certaldo. The Officina and the Solo Ciccia across the road are well renowned and yet seem to be secret tips..still. The owner and proprietor Dario Cecchini is apparently one of _the_ butchers in the area, in fact in all Tuscanny or even Italy. While have wine and snacks standing in the butchery -waiting for the other guests to come- we learned that he is friends with Jamie Cullum who dubs him one of his favorite producers of beef. This is what you get ant Officina della bistecca (don't know if there's other offers, but this is the famous menu) : An all included rustic dinner on the terrace of the restaurant. Consisting of fresh vegetables, fresh bread, local olive oil and butter, various specialties ranging from Steak tartar to the famous florentine steak. Drinks (water, wine and later coffee) are also included, if you manage, you can enjoy the local sponge cake for dessert. Don't make other appointments for the evening it will take around 2 hours at the least and you'll be absolutely satisfied when you leave and : I expect you will have -as we did- fun conversations with the other guests. Next to us were a brazilian and a swiss family. No, it's not touristy, just (world) famous. The staff is amiable and gregarious, just don't expect fluent english. (Took some time to make the reservation on the phone, but we are in rustic Tuscanny, for Pete's sake ;-) Reservation is recommended, since Panzano is not that easy to reach, so you want to make sure that there are seats for you. One last thing: If you think the price is high, think again. As I said: All the above is included, no frills. Just do bring an appetite !!!! By the way, kids under 10 pay half. Just ask. And besides all: I wouldn't have missed for the world Dario's "spiel" when he cut the fresh grilled steaks at the head of our tables, exclaiming the praise to his delicous beef in Italian and finishing with "To beef or not to beef !!!"

There is no words to explain my visit to this place. I couldn't be happier with the staff, meeting Dario was amazing warm heart and very cherfull. The food was amazing I had the lunch. I recommend to make reservations and if you can do a tour something I regretted not doing bc I had a short time. Thank you Dario and staff.

It's impossible that this place does not have more reviews. We went here while visiting Florence, on a recommendation from my brother-in-law who lives locally. It was incredible. There are moments when it feels over-produced to respond to the demand, so if you are sitting outside you get less of the 'authentic experience.' That being said, my brother has been 4 times and plans to goes back again. I just watched the Netflix special and heard more of the back story and realized how amazingly authentic this special place actually is. Dario is awesome.

Had a blast. The whole atmosphere is fun and welcoming. Great family seating. I'm very snobby on beef and I found everything served to be very high quality. Panzano is a beautiful town and it was so much fun to walk around ahead of our reservations. Shout out to all the staff. They were so professional and accommodating. The whole experience was great. But most importantly the food. Wow! Getting to try different cuts really showed off the beef and we were completely stuffed by the end. Eat the Chianti butter! Never thought it would be something I would enjoy so much.

Like everyone we also wanted to try this after having seen it on Chef Table Netflix. I can only say : with so many excellent restaurants in Chianti why did we waste a precious night and dinner of our trip for this subpar experience? Did we go on the wrong night ? Did we eat the wrong cow ? We arrived and were served (on the street) a selection of antipasti : great salame , wonderful lard on Tuscan bread. It was great so far (except for the vino... ) Waited to be called upstairs where the eating took place.... they didn't find our reservation, (I had confirmation in hand) so we had to stand there until everyone else was seated and were placed (along with a lot of others) one floor up from the kitchen. Evidently because they don't want to turn anyone away they now have another floor set with a bunch of tables... Meat and the rest they served is truly unremarkable , it has nothing in common with a true Tuscan steak or cannellini bean for that matter.... May have begun better but now it is a sad money making Tourist trap for foreigners and a few Italians who know nothing about food.(I am from Italy ). Bring your own wine if you really must go, what they serve there is terrible, hard to believe since you are in the heart of Chianti region , and my advise don't use the bathroom. Ha wait don't even expect to see mister Cecchini .... we can say we were there, but surely will NOT repeat this!

We went with high expectations. We came out remembering that he is known as a butcher and not a chef. It was very commercialized. The meat was of low quality. All of it was cooked poorly. None of it was seasoned well. It was the perfect example of a tourist trap. Dario is an amazing person. Extremely friendly and a pleasure to meet but the meat and the dishes were well below average.

Like many others, we have seen Cecchini plastered on TV and wanted to see his place in action. The shared experience and cost seemed to guarantee a special experience, otherwise, why would people keep going? Well, in my opinion, this is the typical celebrity chef - reality star gone wrong. Dont expect to see or meet him, likely not gonna happen. The good? His butcher shop starts a free spread for diners around 7.15pm. Bread, salami, vino, lardo. The bad, expect it to be like the locals have never seen free bread, salami, vino or lardo in their lives....pushing, shoving, ill manners galore. It seems like they decided to just shove as many people in the dining room as possible, regardless of where you might wind up, downstairs away from the grill, at a table apart from the main table or like me, stuck at a 4 person table, essentially in the kitchen, no joke. Thank god for a great couple at our table, otherwise.....uffa. The staff comes around, drops some morsals of meat on your plate and does no more. We were short a wine glass and asked mulitple times for an extra, to no avail. Wanted a drop of milk for coffee, nope. Maybe some extra wine, hard. 2nd cup of coffee? Not gonna happen. Dont bother trying to change your seat, pretty much assigned. It had the potential to be so much more but it wound up that we went 2 times that evening anway.....our 1st and last. This place is for you if you like eating at Guy Fieri's or Bobby Flay's or Mario Batali's place, thinking that they are on TV and it must be special. Hit a small local osteria or trattoria for 1/2 the price and dont think twice, you will have missed nothing extraordinary.

Lives up to the rumors. Plenty of beef delicacies. Charismatic owner and great community dining. Must try Lardo, housemade olive oil, and special salt mix

Wow, what a great time and value. It's sort of off the beaten path but well worth making the pilgrimage to see Dario's oasis. Apps. in the butcher shop and upstairs for the communal meat bacchanal. I hope I have a chance to return.