Florentina's Ristorante

 My husband won a 10.00 gift certificate to this Italian place so we decided to try it. We went on a weekend in the evening and it was lined all the way out the door, so we gave up and tried again today for lunch. It was about 2pm. so very few people. Now when it comes to decor, this place has it going on. You really feel like your walking into some Tuscan village or something. Beautiful hand painted artwork on the walls, running water fountains, grapes and vines hanging from trellises on the ceiling...plus much more. It really is a beautiful place.
 We were asked if we wanted a table or booth and due to the smallness of the booths, we went with a table. Now I have to say the chairs could have been more comfortable. They were simple wood chairs with no padding at all. The booths were just a wooden bench that resembled a church pew. That said, they were at least sturdy. Each table has a bottle of olive oil on and they quickly come to take drink orders and serve a small loaf of bread and a dipping plate. I'm not sure what was in it, but it was oil, some kind of dark vinegar and herbs. I really didn't care for it, but my husband liked it. The bread was ok, but very hard. It was more akin to a french bread. You really had to soak it in the sauce to eat it easy. I guess I am spoiled with Olive Garden when it comes to the bread.
  Ok, so to the menu. We were there in time for the lunch menu and could order from it or the dinner one. After looking at prices, we went with the lunch one. There were only a few choices of entrees on the lunch menu. I believe there are 6 things to choose from plus several kinds of oven fired pizza. I ordered the RIGATONI FLORENTINA
(Grilled chicken, mushrooms, onions, broccoli, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, fresh basil, capers, kalamata olives and garlic - all sauted in olive oil, with rigatoni, tossed in a tomato cream sauce and finished with our house cheese blend.) Jerry had the Chicken Parmesan. They were both 8.99 and did not come with soup or salad which was very disappointing. The price for the same entree at dinner was twenty something. The dinner prices in general were in the twenty range. It's what I would consider a very high dollar restaurant. I wasn't impressed. I am very glad I didn't spend more than I did because it tasted very odd. NOW, I am not saying that the next person might not love it. It was very well cooked. There was just too many flavors fighting to control the dish. None of it blended very well together and sauce tasted like a vodka sauce even thought it said it was supposed to have a tomato cream sauce. I have never liked vodka based sauces so that was part of the problem. Jerry didn't care much for his chicken parm. either. It didn't even look appetizing. Kinda like a heated tv dinner version is what it looked like. On the positive side he said it was real chicken breast and not a patty version. The sauce, however, was like pure tomato paste. It was thick and very lacking in spices. It really looked and tasted like someone opened a can of tomato paste, heated it and put it on. So all in all the food was really not that great for the prices they charge. 

 I feel bad for leaving a bad review as I know this place is very popular here. As I have said before, this is just our experience and yours may be a great one. If you have the money, give it a try and hope that your like it better than we did.