Ristorante Santa Maria Formosa

So amazing! Friendly and good gluten free pasta options

AMERICANS BEWARE!!! This is the first restaurant of like 20 in the country of Italy that asked us directly for a TIP. VERY EXPENSIVE!!! I’ve had spaghetti and clams for as low as 13 Euros it was a 20 here. I would not recommend this place as the food wasn’t great for the price they are charging and the fact that the server had the nerve to say “this total doesn’t include a tip, would you like to add to your total credit card charge?” I said, no we’ll leave cash, and my husband let 25 Euros which I felt was too much! We were in Florence for 6 days not one cafe or sit down nice restaurant asked for a tip in fact they usually didn’t want to accept a tip when we offered & we still insisted. The same with taxi cabs as well. We have been in Venice for 2 days and eaten at 4-5 different places and no one asked for a tip and when we gave a tip they were super grateful. This restaurant had the highest cover, a per person charge for sitting at the restaurant 4 Euro per person for dinner (now they brought us Prosecco wine with our menus and ended our meal with a lemonchello shot) I only gave 3 stars as the food was ok not even close to excellent just ok The service was also ok, but they forgot the oil & vinegar with our bread basket, the staff for the most part did check on us. The bread wasn’t great probably my least favorite from all of the restaurants I’ve eaten at in Venice and Florence. The chairs outside were very uncomfortable as well. Also, my daughter requested the gluten free as she has a sensitivity and the portion was just inadequate, she was still hungry and they didn’t have any gluten free bread either. Also, when we order the special, the lobster with spaghetti (I asked for egg free penne) I never imagined I would be digging out the lobster meat, it was so messy and super inconvenient while eating pasta (I expect it when I order did & turf but not pasta) . For 35 Euros I wanted a nice wine sauce with the lobster sautéed in it but oh well.