The best Florence restaurants
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Florence is a place of gastronomic delights, with delicious street fare such as panini and gelato at every turn, and more than a smattering of elegant dining experiences as well. But with such an abundance of trattorias, pizzerias and gelaterias, it's hard for an outsider to figure out where the true gems lie. Here, our resident Florence expert, Nicky Swallow, lists her favourite foodie spots in the city, from hole-in-the-wall sandwich bars to Michelin-starred restaurants.
Duomo, Piazza della Signoria and San Marco
Coquinarius
The tourist-packed area around the Duomo is a bit of a gastronomic desert, but among the few exceptions is cosy, vaulted Coquinarius, a wine bar and restaurant tucked away on a cobbled side street. It’s a popular spot with both tourists and locals for an aperitivo or something more substantial for lunch or dinner. There are platters of mixed cheeses and cold cuts, imaginative salads, excellent primi such as the signature ravioli stuffed with pecorino cheese and pears plus pigeon or roast beef for mains. Desserts (made fresh in-house daily) are worth leaving room for.
Contact: 00 39 055 2302153; coquinarius.it
Opening times: Daily, 12.30pm-3pm; 6.30pm-10pm
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended
‘Ino
It's only open during the day, but this bright, modern deli and wine bar is a great place to refuel if all that art in the Uffizi has made you peckish. It specialises in gourmet panini, made with artisan bread or focaccia, and fillings such as Robiola cheese, Zibello ham and crunchy Crusco red peppers from Basilicata. There are salads, cold platters and one or two simple mains as well, which you eat perching on bar stools, perhaps with a glass of wine from the ever-changing list.
Contact: 00 39 055 214154; inofirenze.com
Opening times: Daily, 12pm-4pm
Prices: £
Reservations: Walk-ins only
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Caffé Rivoire
With its large terrace on Piazza della Signoria, sometimes dubbed 'Florence’s Drawing Room', elegant Rivoire makes a great place for people-watching accompanied by a cappuccino or a Campari soda, depending on the time of day. It was founded in 1872 as a chocolate factory and the confections it serves are still divine, as are the cakes and pastries (try the sinful Sachertort); the in-house coffee is excellent too. The terrace is a lovely spot for a light lunch of Italian staple dishes, or to wind down after a hard day’s sightseeing.
Contact: 00 39 055 214412; rivoire.it
Opening times: Apr-Oct, daily, 7.30am-12am; Nov-Mar, Tue-Sun, 7.30am-8.30pm
Prices: ££
Reservations: Walk-ins only
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Santa Croce and the east
Cibreò Trattoria
Fabio Picchi’s celebrated Cibreo is beyond the budget of many pockets, but its more casual off-shoot (aka Cibreino) is a relaxed place in which to enjoy Picchi’s famous Florentine-based cooking. White linen is replaced by traditional ‘carta gialla’ (yellow paper) placemats on rustic bare wood, while the service is more casual. You may have to share a table, but the dishes are the same. Start with one of the robust soups (there’s no pasta) and follow this with rabbit, roast pork or the extraordinary stuffed chicken neck. Desserts – particularly the chocolate torte – are legendary. Come early or be prepared to queue.
Contact: 00 39 055 2341100; cibreo.com
Opening times: Tue-Sun, 12.50pm-2.30pm; 7pm-11.15pm; closed Monday
Prices: ££
Reservations: Walk-ins only
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Del Fagioli
One of a dying breed of traditional family-run trattorias still in business in central Florence, dark wood-panelled Del Fagioli is the real deal. The menu of Florentine classics includes fettunta (toasted bread) brushed with garlic and drizzled with tangy olive oil, hearty bread and bean-based ribollita, polpettine fritte (fried meat balls) and succulent bistecca alla Fiorentina, priced (as is usual) by weight and best accompanied by cannellini beans. There are heavy white linen cloths on the tables, white washed walls hung with paintings and the robust house red comes in an old-fashioned straw 'fiasco' flask.
Contact: 00 39 055 244285
Opening times: Mon-Fri lunch & dinner
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended
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Semel
Marco Paparozzi, dapper owner of this brick-vaulted hole-in-the-wall of a sandwich bar overlooking the Sant’Ambogio market, makes some of the very best – and most original –panini in town. Small 'semel' rolls come stuffed with an ever-changing choice of fillings such as pecorino, pear and truffle, wild boar with polenta or anchovies with orange; it all depends on what Marco digs up in the market. A diminutive glass of house plonk will wash it down nicely. This is a popular place and there’s nowhere much to sit, so you’ll probably end up munching on the pavement.
Contact: N/A
Opening times: Mon-Sat, 11.30am-3pm; closed Sun
Prices: £
Reservations: Walk-ins only
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Pizzeria Santarpia
Local pizza cognoscenti will almost certainly tell you that the best pizza in Florence is served at Giovanni Santarpia’s colourful, contemporary, no-fuss restaurant, located just beyond the Sant’Ambrogio market. Santarpia only uses top-notch ingredients from his native Campania and leaves the dough to prove for 48 hours. The crust is a hard-to-achieve combination of puffy and crisp, and the ever-changing 12 or so toppings range from classic Margherita or Marinara to curiosities such as burrata and liquorice or leek, gorgonzola and spicy sausage. Service can be brusque at times, but the pizza is divine.
Contact: 00 39 055 245829; santarpia.biz
Opening times: Tues-Sun; 7.30pm-12am; closed Mondays
Prices: £
Reservations: Essential
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Santa Maria Novella, San Lorenzo and the west
Trattoria Sergio Gozzi
A homely, lunch-only spot located in the crowded San Lorenzo market area, this gem of a place is popular with both tourists and locals. The Gozzi family have been doling out Florentine and Tuscan specialities since 1915, and the décor (white walls hung with paintings, white linen cloths on rustic tables, a 'banco' at the entrance) seems to have changed little since then. The menu varies somewhat with the seasons but is staunchly traditional; robust bean and black cabbage soup or ribollita, pasta with simple tomato sauce, 'peposo' (a tasty beef stew laced with black pepper) and succulent arista (roast pork).
Contact: 00 39 055 281941
Opening times: Mon-Sat lunch
Price: £
Reservations: Walk-ins only
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Oltrarno
Il Santo Bevitore
This stylishly retro osteria on the Oltrarno side of Ponte alla Carraia – all dark wood paneling and ceiling vaults – is ever popular with locals and clued-in tourists. It's surprisingly gourmet for what looks, at first sight, like a bohemian drinking den, with a menu that is committed to carefully-sourced, healthy seasonal produce. There are veggie soups and salads, sure, but there are also flourishes such as buckwheat tagliolini with pheasant breast and candied fennel. Puddings are good too: cinnamon crème brulée with diospero ice cream, maybe, or inky-dark chocolate fondant. The short lunchtime menu is particularly good value.
Contact: 00 39 055 211 264; ilsantobevitore.com
Opening times: Tue-Sun, 12.30pm-2.30pm and 7.30pm-11pm; Mon, 7.30pm-11pm
Prices: Lunch, £; dinner, ££
Reservations: Essential in the evening
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Burro e Acciughe
From the same stable as popular, neighbourhood osteria 'Il Guscio' just up the road, shabby-chic 'Butter and Anchovies' (it’s one of the starters) serves up good, no-nonsense fish and seafood dishes on a quiet, residential street in the Oltrarno backstreets. It opened a couple of years ago but is still something of an off-the-radar novelty, even with the locals. That said, the restaurant is steadily making a name for itself with its fresh oysters and tuna carpaccio, tagliatelle with sea bream and rocket and olive pesto and earthy squid and artichoke stew.
Contact: 00 39 055 0457286; burroeacciughe.com
Opening times: Tues-Sun, 12pm-2pm and 7.30pm-12am; closed Mondays
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended for dinner
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Essenziale
One of the most interesting and creative chefs in Florence at the moment, Simone Cipriani, works in an industrial-style space (an erstwhile garage) that makes no concessions to soft lighting and frilly napery: everything is pared down, emphasising what goes onto the plate. Cipriani’s dishes (which he and his chefs serve themselves) are firmly rooted in Italy, but world influences and large doses of flair produce the likes of 'crema' of pumpkin zinging with passion fruit gel, peanut and mint and baccalà carbonara, a fishy play on the famous pasta dish. The short wine list is intelligently chosen and well priced.
Contact: 00 39 055 2476956; essenziale.me
Opening times: Tue-Sat, 7pm-11pm; Sun, 12.30pm-3pm and 7pm-11pm; closed Mondays
Prices: £££
Reservations: Essential
Best table: ‘Il Pass’ where you sit at the pass for an 8-course surprise tasting menu (£££) while you watch the chefs finish the plates.
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Osteria dell’Enoteca
The dynamic young team behind wine bar Pitti Gola e Cantina in Piazza Pitti have opened this relaxed new-generation osteria. Against a background of exposed brickwork, crisp, white linens and attentive service, the seasonal, Tuscan-based menu offers the odd creative twist: smooth, sinfully-rich chicken liver terrine comes laced with vin santo reduction, 'piattelino' bean soup is topped with sage-spiked prawns and cuttle fish are stewed with earthy black cabbage. Steak, either the celebrated local 'Chianina' or the 'Fassona' from Piemonte, is another reliable option. There’s no wine list; you choose from a fairly-priced selection displayed in glass cabinets.
Contact: 00 39 055 2286081; osteriadellenoteca.com
Opening times: Wed-Mon, 12pm-2.30pm and 7pm-11pm; closed Tuesdays
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended (for dinner)
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Gurdulù
Sophisticated yet cosy Gurdulù, all moody blues and greys with Fornasetti wallpaper and low lighting from 1950s-style brass lamps, is one of the city’s best-looking cocktail bars and restaurants, and the food doesn’t disappoint. Don’t come here if you are after ribollita and bistecca; Gabriele Andreoni’s cooking is modern and creative, producing surprise combos such as scallops, cauliflower purée and morel mushrooms, or guinea fowl ravioli in a smoked parmesan broth. There's also his take on a classic 'Filetto à la Rossini'. You can also pitch up just for a cocktail and a snack at the bar.
Contact: 055 282223; gurdulu.com
Opening times: Tue-Sat, 7pm-11pm; Sun, 12.30pm-2.30pm; closed Mondays
Prices: £££
Reservations: Recommended
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Gelateria della Passera
Ice cream is an essential element of any visit to Florence, but it’s quite hard to find the real deal. Cinzia Otri’s artisan gelateria, set on the Oltrarno’s prettiest square, may be tiny, but it packs a punch; she studied ice cream making at Bologna’s Università del Gelato and the 20-odd flavours are made using only top-notch regional, all-natural ingredients. In-house classics include almond, coffee, pistachio and crema, but there are also curiosities such as mojito and monnalisa (with apple, orange flower, sultanas and walnuts). Seasonal fruit flavours include pear, fig and chestnut plus refreshing summer melon or strawberry sorbets.
Contact: 00 39 055 291882; gelaterialapassera.wordpress.com
Opening times: Daily, 11.30am-1am (closes earlier in winter)
Prices: £
Reservations: Walk-ins only
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Beyond the city walls
La Bottega del Buon Caffè
For a slap-up meal with all the bells and whistles, head up-river to this elegant-yet-relaxed restaurant just outside Porta San Niccolò. Working in an open kitchen, and with a Michelin star under his belt, Antonello Sardi whips up accomplished, mod-Italian dishes with equal billing given to meat and fish, and with plenty of veg in between. The philosophy is passionately organic; most of what appears on the plate is produced on the owner’s organic farm. Expect dishes such as pigeon-stuffed cappelletti pasta with butter and thyme, cernia (grouper) in a herb crust and Sardi’s take on Sachertorte.
Contact:00 39 055 5535677; borgointhecity.com
Opening times: Tue-Sat, 12.30pm-3pm and 7.30pm-10.30pm; Monday, 7.30pm-10.30pm; closed Sundays
Prices: £££
Reservations: Essential
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Da Ruggero
For an authentic, family-run trattoria serving textbook versions of traditional Florentine dishes, this small, wood-pannelled trattoria south of Porta Romana is one of the best choices. Usually full of locals (it’s far enough from the city centre to deter all but the most dedicated tourists), Da Ruggero specialises in classics such as ribollita (bread-based vegetable and bean soup), ossobuco and garlic and rosemary-spiked arista, or roast pork. In spring there will be risotto with asparagus maybe. There’s a short wine list, but the robust house red is a perfect match for this style of cooking.
Contact: 00 39 055 220542
Opening times: lunch and dinner, closed Tue & Wed
Prices: £
Reservations: Essential (for dinner)
