Taverna Fiorentina

Given it's convenience to my house, I was really hoping Taverna Fiorentina would be a great neighborhood Italian place; unfortunately, based on my two visits, it's not.  There's a ton of potential here, but there are just too many misses. It's a smallish restaurant and judging by it only being half full both the Saturday nights I was there, I'd assume most customers agree.

First off, the service I've had in both my visits was very good, and I like the decor/atmosphere.

As for the food:
-They start you off with bread and olive oil/balsamic. While the olive oil and balsamic vinegar are both good quality, the bread is frankly lousy. Too dense and dry - it's bad enough it it makes me wonder what they're thinking serving it.
-$10 Caeser salad. Not a chicken caeser or other type of entree salad, but a small starter salad. I honestly ordered this because i was curious what a $10 caeser is like. Well, this was a $3 salad with a poached egg on top. And the poached egg, while a good idea, was not worth $7. And I was not a fan of their caeser dressing.
-Caprese salad - skip it. Average mozzarrella with sub-par tomatoes.
-Duck Tortelloni - I was very excited when I saw this dish on the menu as it sounds fantastic, but it was disappointing. Not bad, just a bit on the bland side.
-Chicken Parmigiana - in short, this was the type of chicken parm I'd expect to be served at a non-Italian restaurant.
-Tagliatelle with seafood sauce (special) - OK, but the sauce was way too salty.
-Grilled veggies (side item) - now this was outstanding. Sure, it's just grilled veggies, but they got this one about perfect.
-Gnocchi - very well done, and probably a dish I'd return for.

Overall, they do a good job on their homemade pastas, but the sauces, etc need work.
If the price point was a bit lower, I'd go 3 stars, but at this price point they need to be better. Dinner for 2 with 2 entrees, 1 salad, and 1 glass of wine (no apps or dessert) was $72 before tip...

I love this place, the food is always great ! It is expensive, so unfortunately I cant go to often. But when I am amble to treat myself I don't doubt in choosing this place. I have Italian heritage, and I find the food really loyal to the Italian cuisine.

$125 for a meal in a strip mall?  I don't think so.  My wonderful husband needs to examine the check better because we were so obviously overcharged.  2 pasta dishes, a salad, a glass of house vino, and tap water for $125?  Come on!  The waiter "had to check" to see if he had the wine.  My only guess is that he didn't and substitute some $50/glass variety instead!  The pasta was terribly greasy and obviously microwaved, by no means fresh.  Had to wait at times for the waiter while we watched him take smoke breaks outside the front window.  Ah, we won't be back...