Picteau Cocktail Bar ★ 4.5
$$$$OltrarnoDaily 11:00 to 23:00
Picteau anchors the Hotel Lungarno lobby on Borgo San Jacopo with a salotto-style room hung with Picasso and Cocteau pieces and a terrace pointed straight at Ponte Vecchio, where bartenders Marco Colonnelli and Vincenzo Civita run a cocktail programme paired with the Borgo San Jacopo kitchen.
Tip: The riverside terrace is the seat in summer; the indoor lounge with the Picasso fireplace works year-round. Cocktails run around 22 euros.
Locale Firenze ★ 4.7
$$$$Santa CroceDaily 19:30 to 02:00
Locale Firenze occupies the thirteenth-century Palazzo delle Seggiole with a cocktail programme ranked fifteenth on the 2025 Top 500 Bars list, set across multiple basement levels of vaulted stone where the bar team pairs modern mixology with a restaurant kitchen.
Tip: Open every night to 02:00, with a dinner reservation easier to land than a bar-only seat on weekends. The vaulted lower rooms with original Renaissance stonework are the seat to ask for.
Rasputin ★ 4.7
$$$OltrarnoTue-Sun 19:30 to 02:00, closed Mon
Rasputin tucks Florence's first true speakeasy behind an unmarked Borgo Tegolaio door in the Oltrarno, with a 45-seat candle-lit room dressed in red velvet, an extensive whisky back bar and a cocktail list that runs Prohibition classics alongside unexpected ingredient pairings.
Tip: Ring the bell, then wait for the hatch to slide open. Reservation is required, no standing inside, and photography is banned. The location is deliberately misplaced on Google.
Mayday Club ★ 4.6
$$$Centro StoricoTue-Sat 20:00 to 02:00, closed Sun-Mon
Mayday Club hides on Via Dante Alighieri opposite Dante's house with a vintage-radio-themed room run by mixologist Marco Arduino, whose cocktail programme leans on organic Tuscan botanicals, essential oils and small-batch infusions paired with nightly live music slots.
Tip: Closed Mondays; the room is small and books up on weekends so reserve ahead. The bar runs cocktail classes for groups of one to four with Arduino on Tuesday afternoons.
Bitter Bar ★ 4.5
$$$Sant'AmbrogioDaily 20:00 to 02:00
Bitter Bar opened in 2017 on Via di Mezzo in the Sant'Ambrogio quarter as a Roaring Twenties cocktail room run by mixologist Cristian Guitti, with a ring-the-bell entry, low jazz, and a list weighted toward Negroni variations and South American agave spirits.
Tip: Reservations are required and easier to land midweek. The room is small and dimly lit; ask Guitti for an off-list build using pisco or mezcal.
Manifattura ★ 4.5
$$Centro StoricoTue-Sun 18:30 to 02:00, closed Mon
Manifattura sits on the small Piazza di San Pancrazio off Via della Spada with a vintage-inspired dimly lit room dedicated entirely to Italian spirits and liqueurs, including a deep back bar of regional amari, vermouths, grappas and bitter aperitivi from across the country.
Tip: Ask the bartender to walk you through the amaro flight; the menu is a starting point. The Negroni built here references the cocktail's Florentine origin a few hundred metres away.