-
Trattoria Casalinga
On a small street leading to Piazza Santo Spirito, this bright and bustling trattoria is a local favourite and manages to keep its traditions intact despite the tourist madness going on around it.
-
Trattoria Coco Lezzone
A significant contributor to Luciano Pavarotti's once ample girth, 'the big, fat cook' is an old-fashioned trattoria with a big reputation, hefty prices, gargantuan portions of top-notch Tuscan grub and, unbelievably, no coffee!
-
Trattoria Da Benvenuto
Eating here, on the corner of Via dei Neri, is hardly an ambient experience, but the food is reliable and modestly priced. Mains include some Florentine favourites, including lampredotto and bistecca, while the pasta dishes are innovative, for example the rigatoni alla siciliana (with a slightly spicy Sicilian sauce). It is wise to reserve a table.
-
Trattoria dei 13 Gobbi
For rustic comforts, sophisticated food, agreeable service and the company of locals, you'll be hard pressed to top this welcoming spot. There's a lovely plant-filled inner courtyard and the kitchen is more relaxed about closing time than most other places should you have spent lunch seeing the sights.
-
Trattoria I Raddi
Just off Via de' Serragli, this trattoria serves traditional Florentine meals in an intimate and quiet location. Generous slabs of meat in the form of bistecca (steak) or hashed up as peposo lead the way in this carnivore's paradise.
-
Trattoria Le Cave di Maiano
This place is not dissimilar, in terms of price, atmosphere and clientele, to La Capponcina. Tables are arranged across a variety of interconnected dining rooms and out on to terraces. Getting here without a car is tricky as the restaurant is actually in Maiano, a frazione (division) of Fiesole, and off the bus routes. You could try getting a taxi from central Fiesole.
-
Trattoria Mario
Avoid the queues and arrive early at this wonderfully homely family-run trattoria, an excellent place to sink your teeth into the famous bistecca fiorentina or any number of Tuscan classics. They only serve lunch and were long assailed almost exclusively by famished market workers. No credit cards.
-
Trattoria Napoleone
Carnivores will want to call by here for a filetto alla Napoleone , a handsome steak dressed in a vinegar and mustard sauce. The pizzas are also reasonable. A down side is that the outdoor dining area on those hot summer nights is in the middle of a car park. An upside is that you can order one in until !
-
Trattoria Quattro Leoni
Long a byword for good, cheap Tuscan grub, many Florentines still mention this place with a satisfied smile. It has a pleasingly busy backstreet feel, but is far from a local secret nowadays. Meats dominate but you can opt for a handful of reasonable seafood and fish dishes too.
-
Trattoria Vittoria
A simple family-run place, this is one of the few Florentine locations where locals head to satisfy their marine desires with genuine fresh fish and seafood. It's a little out of the way, but if you are sick of Florentine steaks and dining among other foreigners, it is worth making the effort to wander here. Try the spiedino misto, a handsome tray of mixed seafood.
-
Advertisement
-
Vinandro
Here they have gone to some lengths to recreate a sense of the old Tuscan tavern, with long, timber fratina tables conducive to convivial eating. The menu consists of Tuscan staples and snacks, all washed down in tumblers of chianti. In summer you can sit outside too.
-
Vini E Vecchi Sapori
This is an atmospheric cubbyhole where the charmingly miserable owner gives the impression that the background opera is the soundtrack to his life. The bar is laden with delicious antipasto, and the menu full of Tuscan specialities such as the sensational fagiolotti with pear and pecorino. Communal wine flows freely between tables.
-
Yellow Bar
It's cheerful here, although about all that's yellow are the outside lights. Inside, folks cram good-naturedly around long, sociable timber tables or into slightly less gregarious snugs, mostly for the pizza.
