The capital of bistecca, ribollita, and the lampredotto cart.
Florence eats on a Tuscan grammar of bread, beans, olive oil and the bistecca alla fiorentina, the dry-aged Chianina T-bone that anchors a Saturday-night dining table. Lunch starts at 13:00 and runs to 15:00; dinner sits at 20:30 to 22:30. The lampredotto tripe sandwich, served from the lampredottai carts at Mercato Centrale and Porcellino, is the canonical street lunch for under 6 euros. The four pillars of Florentine cucina povera, ribollita (the twice-cooked bread soup), pappa al pomodoro, panzanella and crostini di fegatini, run the trattoria carte from Trattoria Mario to Cibreo. Schiacciata fiorentina flatbread, stuffed by All'Antico Vinaio queues that wrap the block on Via dei Neri, anchors lunch by the slice. Vivoli, founded 1929 in Santa Croce, still pours the city benchmark gelato. Espresso at the counter costs about 1.30 euros, a quartino of Chianti 4 euros, and the queue at Trattoria Mario starts at 12:00 for the 12:30 opening.
Every restaurant, cafe, market and bar we cover in Florence, pinned. Click a pin for the page.
The plates that define eating in Florence.
The dry-aged Chianina T-bone, grilled over wood fire to a charred crust outside and blood-rare inside, seasoned only with salt and olive oil. The defining Florentine dinner since at least the 16th-century Medici banquets.
Where: Trattoria Sostanza, Buca Lapi, Trattoria Mario, Regina Bistecca
The fourth chamber of the cow's stomach (abomasum), slow-cooked in a broth of tomato, onion, celery and parsley, served on a soft roll dipped in the cooking broth with salsa verde or chilli oil.
Where: Da Nerbone, Trippaio del Porcellino, Mercato Centrale
The twice-cooked Tuscan bread-and-bean soup, built off the previous day's minestrone, layered with stale bread, cavolo nero kale and cannellini beans, baked until the bread has dissolved into the broth.
Where: Trattoria Mario, Trattoria da Burde, Trattoria La Casalinga, Trattoria Marione
The Tuscan stale-bread-and-tomato soup, slow-cooked into a dense porridge with garlic, olive oil and torn basil, served warm or at room temperature with a final drizzle of olive oil.
Where: Cibreo Trattoria, Trattoria La Casalinga, Osteria di Giovanni, Trattoria Marione
Toasted Tuscan bread topped with a creamy chicken-liver and anchovy spread laced with capers and Vin Santo, the canonical Florentine antipasto served before every trattoria dinner.
Where: Cantinetta Antinori, Buca Lapi, Trattoria Marione, Trattoria da Burde
The thin Tuscan flatbread, baked on a stone oven, split and stuffed-to-order with porchetta, salumi, pecorino, artichoke cream or truffle: the canonical Florentine lunch since the 1990s.
Where: All'Antico Vinaio, Cantinetta da Verrazzano, Forno Pugi, I Due Fratellini
Where to eat Schiacciata fiorentina (sandwich) in Florence →
A handful of the places we send friends to when they are in Florence.
Cibreo Trattoria in Florence's Sant'Ambrogio quarter is Fabio Picchi's no-pasta trattoria, the casual side of the Cibreo group. The polpettine and the pappa al pomodoro run the menu since 1989.
Signature: Trippa alla fiorentina, Pappa al pomodoro, Polpettine di pollo
Trattoria Sostanza in Florence's Santa Maria Novella quarter has cooked the same bistecca and butter chicken on a coal grill since 1869. Two seatings, one menu, six communal tables.
Signature: Bistecca alla fiorentina, Pollo al burro, Tortino di carciofi
Trattoria Mario in Florence's San Lorenzo quarter has been the working lunch room next to Mercato Centrale since 1953. Lunch only, no bookings, communal tables, cash only.
Signature: Bistecca alla fiorentina, Ribollita, Pappardelle al cinghiale
Il Santo Bevitore in Florence's Oltrarno quarter is Marco Bechi's modern Tuscan dining room, with a 600-bottle natural-wine cellar and a daily-changing market carte since 2002.
Signature: Crudo di manzo, Pici al ragu di anatra, Coniglio in porchetta
Marco Stabile's Ora d'Aria in Florence's Centro Storico holds a Michelin star for a modern Tuscan kitchen that reads pappa al pomodoro and bistecca through technique-driven plating since 2008.
Signature: Risotto al pomodoro, Pigeon, Tasting menu
Locale Firenze in Florence's Centro Storico sits inside the 13th-century Palazzo delle Seggiole, the Concettini family's Michelin-starred kitchen with a bar and tasting room since 2018.
Signature: Tortelli di rabarbaro, Pigeon, Tasting menu
The papal-era core around the Duomo and Piazza della Signoria, where Caffe Gilli, Rivoire and All'Antico Vinaio anchor the daily food map.
Best for: Espresso bars, Schiacciata, Trattorias
Across-the-Arno artisan quarter with the Santo Spirito market, the wine-bar grammar of Le Volpi e l'Uva and the natural-wine carte at Il Santo Bevitore.
Best for: Trattorias, Wine bars, Aperitivo
The southern-Oltrarno bohemian quarter under Piazzale Michelangelo, with cocktail rooms like Il Rifrullo and the gelato bench outside Gelateria della Passera.
Best for: Cocktail bars, Gelato, Late-night
The eastern medieval quarter around Piazza Santa Croce, home to Cibreo, Vivoli, Acqua al 2 and a working market every morning at Sant'Ambrogio.
Best for: Markets, Gelato, Trattorias
The market quarter north of the Duomo around Mercato Centrale, with Trattoria Mario, Da Nerbone lampredotto counter and Il Trippaio serving the working lunch.
Best for: Lampredotto, Trattorias, Markets
The station-side quarter around the Dominican basilica, with Sostanza's century-old kitchen, Buca Lapi bistecca cellar and Procacci's truffle panini.
Best for: Bistecca, Truffle panini, Cocktail bars
Peak food season: October to November (porcini, white truffles from San Miniato, new olive oil, schiacciata con l'uva) and March to May (artichokes, fava beans, pecorino primavera). August empties out; many trattorias close for two to three weeks of ferragosto.
Local dining hours: Lunch 13:00 to 15:00, dinner 20:30 to 22:30. Most trattorias stop seating by 22:00; Florence dinner runs earlier than Rome. Sunday is the working family lunch; Sunday and Monday evenings see many small rooms closed.
Tipping: Coperto (cover charge) of 2 to 4 euros per person is standard. Service is not added separately. Round up the bill or leave a couple of euros for very good service; never more than 5 to 10 percent and never on the card terminal.
Peak food season in Florence is October to November (porcini, white truffles from San Miniato, new olive oil, schiacciata con l'uva) and March to May (artichokes, fava beans, pecorino primavera). August empties out; many trattorias close for two to three weeks of ferragosto.
Local dining hours: Lunch 13:00 to 15:00, dinner 20:30 to 22:30. Most trattorias stop seating by 22:00; Florence dinner runs earlier than Rome. Sunday is the working family lunch; Sunday and Monday evenings see many small rooms closed.
Coperto (cover charge) of 2 to 4 euros per person is standard. Service is not added separately. Round up the bill or leave a couple of euros for very good service; never more than 5 to 10 percent and never on the card terminal.
If you only have one meal, eat Bistecca alla fiorentina. It is the dish most associated with Florence.