Entertainment in Florence
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Colle Beretto
On the same square as the fortress-like Palazzo Strozzi, this bar/cafe opts instead for plate glass and beefy bouncers. The terrace is luxuriously fitted out with cushy sofas, while inside, pea-green neon and transparent Kartell chairs scream design. The aperitivo buffet is among the city’s most generous.
reviewed
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Central Park
Hidden off in the leafy Parco delle Cascine, Florence’s largest disco brings several acres of Ibiza to the city’s western edge. The sprawling club has two outdoor dance floors, an artificial waterfall, VIP lounge seating raised a metre or so above the common folk, plus a pair of indoor dance floors. Move back and forth between pop, dance, electronica or disco kitsch, as the mood dictates.
reviewed
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Twice
Mainstream fun is on tap at this venue that starts the night as a wine bar and then turns into a dance club after 11pm (hence the name). The clientele tends to be Pretty Young Things in search of same. After the aperitivo buffet closes down, the DJs start to arrive with their iPods stuffed with hip-hop and Top 40 dance hits.
reviewed
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Casa del Vino
Locals keep popping in all day long for a nip or two from a limited but carefully selected list of daily pourings of Chianti at this quintessential Florentine enoteca (wine bar). Its carved wooden cabinetry, no-nonsense service and mini-panini (bread rolls or sandwiches) round out the happy picture.
reviewed
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Joshua Tree
Scruffy and relaxed, this is a tavern where bullshit is barred and the only Irish 'themes' come by way of Murphy's stout, moody shades of green and conviviality by the keg. It gets a lot louder as the night goes on but then don't we all?
reviewed
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Cavalli Club
Call it what you will – glamorous, over-the-top, vulgar – but you can’t deny that this club has character. The latest addition to Roberto Cavalli’s empire hides slyly within a deconsecrated chapel built into the flank of Chiesa del Carmine. At night, a chaste wooden door swings open to reveal a pink, heart-shaped entrance. Inside, the chrome-and-mirror nightclub is equipped with a killer sound system, get-cosy alcoves, and a louche crowd of 30-and-up fashion types and their iffy financiers.
reviewed
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Chiesa Santa Maria De' Ricci Concerti
Although they can be a little cheesy, the concerts of baroque and classical music staged in this church (the proceeds go, in part at least, to the church's restoration), may be your only chance to sample a little musical culture while in Florence. Quality is variable, but on the whole a night of favourites (such as The Four Seasons, a little Bach or Paganini) can make for a pleasant evening out. Arrive a little before showtime to get your ticket.
reviewed
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Libreria Café la Cité
Already an institution of Oltrarno cultural life, this combination cafe, bookstore and cultural centre was founded by a collective of young Florentine intellectuals. Sip an espresso, access the free wi-fi, read in the quiet mezzanine, or attend the free evening events that usually include jazz jam sessions on Monday, tango lessons on Tuesday, literary readings on Wednesday, theatre and dance on Thursday and live music Friday and Saturday.
reviewed
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Chiodo Fisso
Singer-songwriter and local legend Andrea Ardia has converted the medieval vaults of this one-time wine cellar into a cosy gathering place for wine and song. He sings his own material and covers Italian classics from Fabrizio de Andrè to Francesco de Gregori - sometimes alone, sometimes with guests. If it's open, this offers a singular opportunity to bathe in Italian musical culture over a bottle of red. Opening times can be loose.
reviewed
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Fish
A boisterous pub-style bar with a strong American air about it, the Fish attracts hordes of people, mostly young foreigners but also a sprinkling of youthful Italians. The terrace on the square is relatively peaceful, while inside the bar goes to some lengths to keep business humming, offering countless shots at a pittance and organising events such as its Friday night Free Crazy Party, when the drinking is free from 21:00 to 23:00.
reviewed
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La Dolce Vita
A perennial favourite of the city’s status-conscious youth and nearly young, Dolce Vita has stood up to competition from newer offerings such as Noir and Colle Beretto and remains the best place to show off your prowess in selecting designer labels. As weather permits, crowds spill out of the industrial-style interior onto the adjacent piazza, which would be stunning if it weren’t made to double as a car park.
reviewed
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Noir
Noir is the new black. Set in a riverside palazzo, the bar’s interior lives up to its name. Except for the original baroque fresco gracing one of its ceilings, everything is black as night, from the walls and light fixtures to the high-back velvet banquettes. Designer labels figure prominently at its generous aperitivo buffet when, in warm weather, crowds spill out onto the Arno’s banks.
reviewed
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Universo Sanchez
Florentines in their finest frippery flock here (but not in summer, when it is usually half-empty) to sip cocktails in a series of different bars, stretching back from the vaguely North African-styled chill area in the front. There are dance spaces, the chance to do a little yoga and more intimate rooms towards the back, for couples with eyes (and hands) only for one another.
reviewed
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Capocaccia
Fashionable Capocaccia is an elegant cafe-bar with an alternative menu of snacks by day and one of the places to be seen at night, when cool Florentines snuggle up to other cool Florentines and the self-conscious bonhomie spills out onto the street. Throw in the occasional DJ and you'll see why it's almost impossible to get your motorino through the throng.
reviewed
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Negroni
Negroni shakes up cocktails galore, including its namesake invented in the 1920s, so the story goes, when Florentine Count Camillo Negroni asked the barman at Caffè Giacosa to add gin to his Americano. To make it at home: shake equal parts gin, Campari and red Martini. The clientele tends to be 30-and-up and well-heeled, and at weekends DJs get them dancing by 11pm or so.
reviewed
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Betty Boops
A luminous pink sign glows sickly across this quiet lane, but it's a sign that says you might be able to get a last very late tipple without having to resort to a club. It's a cramped little bar touting itself as a club, and opening days can be variable. When we last swung by it was opening throughout summer. Although open from midnight, it can be quite dead until 04:00.
reviewed
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Giacosa Roberto Cavalli
Once the hub of Anglo-Florentine sophistication during the inter-war years, this tiny but venerable cafe has gotten an extreme makeover from its new owner Roberto Cavalli, whose flagship store sits next door. Think fake zebra-skin picture frames, fake leopard-skin ottomans and a surgically enhanced clientele. The sidewalk terrace seating makes for great people-watching.
reviewed
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Flor
The locals call it a 'cooking bar' and they certainly seem to think something is cooking here. Apart from a light and easy buffet lunch, a trendy set gather in this postage stamp-sized redoubt for the evening aperitivo, spilling out onto the pavement terrace (in spite of the traffic). From 22:30 on it's cocktail time, and Sunday night is particularly festive.
reviewed
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L’Incontro
A favourite to both Florentine big wheels and five-star travellers, this bar is in-your-face upscale. It offers ringside terrace seating on Piazza della Repubblica, or you can opt for the cosy interior decked out with banquettes of burgundy leather and, for no good reason, Romantic murals of Alpine idylls. Light meals and an aperitivo buffet are served.
reviewed
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Angels
At this trendsetter, your aperitivo is served under frescoed Renaissance ceilings that somehow manage to harmonise with the louche, ironically contemporary furnishings. DJs deliver a range of dance, lounge and electronica Thursday to Saturday. The hip, 30-plus punters often return to the adjacent restaurant for an American-style brunch at weekends.
reviewed
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Giubbe Rosse
The terrace on Piazza della Repubblica looks unpromisingly touristy, but inside the vaulted interior of this fabled, 19th-century cafe Filippo Marinetti and friends dreamed up Italian futurism. Walls are hung with works by generations of past customers, and there are both free foreign-language newspapers and regular literary happenings for the high-minded.
reviewed
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Barceló
Not much goes on here in winter, but from late May the team from Rex Caffé move in to create a busy summertime atmosphere. Although in action all day, it only swings into the groove from the early evening aperitivo on, attempting the noisy clamour of a Spanish bar (something a certain class of young Italians seem to hold in some awe).
reviewed
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Kikuya Pub
Unusually generous cocktails - although it's really not that kind of place - and a predominantly foreign crowd are found in this traditional-looking English bar, where there's occasional live music and a good selection of English beer. Local boys visit in twos to check on the number of foreign girls drinking here (and to see what state they're in).
reviewed
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Rex Caffè
Long a fixture of Florence’s nightlife, Rex still remains ahead of the curve. DJs spin electronica that generally remains soft enough for the trendy, young crowd to engage in conversation. The decor is classy kitsch, mixing cracked pottery mosaics (think Gaudí), low but warm lighting from wrought-iron fixtures and a back room done up in blood red.
reviewed
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Caffè Cibrèo
Just across from the restaurant of the same name, Fabio Picchi’s super-refined cafe serves excellent espresso and sweets as well as light meals. The passata di peperoni gialli (yellow bell-pepper soup) is thrilling. Choose between shady terrace seating or the cosy, clubby interior with its red-velvet chairs and coffered wood ceiling.
reviewed
