Restaurants in Florence
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Trattoria Cibrèo
Dine here and you'll instantly understand why a queue gathers outside before it opens. Once in, revel in top-notch Tuscan cuisine: perhaps ricotta and potato flan with a rich meat sauce, puddle of olive oil and grated parmesan (divine!) or a simple plate of polenta, followed by home-made sausages, beans in a spicy tomato sauce and braised celery. No advance reservations, no credit cards, no coffee and arrive early to snag a table.
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Gastronomia Giuliano
One of the best of the city’s rosticerrie (caterers selling prepared dishes to go), the gracious Giuliano proudly serves up grilled meats, hot and cold pasta dishes and grilled and sautéd vegetables as well as a range of sandwich fixings. It’s the ideal place to stock up on picnic fare.
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La Capponcina
Up in the hills overlooking Florence from the northeast, this is one of the city's better-known restaurants. The kitchen is known in particular for its tagliata di manzo, succulent beef fillets sliced up and served on a bed of lettuce. Sitting in the garden is a true pleasure in summer.
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Gustapizza
Order your pizza at the counter and then take a seat at one of the glass-topped wine casks that serve as tables at this brand new spot a block off Piazza Santo Spirito. Service is brusque but the pizza, with its medium-to-thick crust and baked in a traditional wood oven, is unimpeachably good.
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'Ino
Artisan ingredients are sourced locally and creatively mixed at this stylish address near the Uffizi. Create your own combination or pick a house special and scoff on the spot with a glass of wine (included in the sandwich price).
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Fuor d'Acqua
One of only a handful of good seafood and fish restaurants in this largely meat-eating town, 'Out of Water' proposes a menu of sea critters that changes in line with what the fisherfolk have been able to catch off the Tuscan coast. The kitchen closes at 23:30, late by Florentine standards!
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Samovar
Head through the heavy red drapes into this intriguing Med-Russian-fusion den, a low-lit Buddha Bar from the steppes, where you might opt for a steaming stroganoff or sashimi on a skewer. There's no culinary reverence in this deliberately iconoclastic big-city style chilled dining locale.
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Il Pizzaiuolo
Despite a historic preference for thinner crusts, Neapolitans with their thick crusts have come to dominate the Florentine pizza scene. With its wood-burning oven and perfectly matured dough, this simple Neapolitan-run joint is among the best. Be prepared to queue at nights and weekends.
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Nanamuta
Walk in and take a left, past the open kitchen, into a spacious dining area with high ceiling, mezzanine level and cream-and-maroon décor. Some interesting dishes come your way here, like tortelloni di coniglio alla Vernaccia (pasta packets of rabbit cooked in white wine).
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La Martinicca
This family-run trattoria looks dowdy with its lace curtains and overly cosy dining room. But local foodies praise the loving preparation and adherence to tradition in its homemade pastas, risotto allo zafferano (saffron risotto) and a celebrated chocolate and pistachio torte.
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Osteria Santo Spirito
The crayoned, tatty menu at this popular place - outside which expectant diners and smoking kitchen staff mingle before it opens (not a second before time) - encompasses the best of Italian fare, prepared simply and delivered in huge portions on fabulous oversized, hand-painted plates.
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Ristorante Zàzà
This place gets its produce fresh from the covered market, just across the square. It's a great spot for combining outdoor dining with a little people-watching. In winter, head inside for some exposed-brick cosiness. The menu changes regularly and often presents imaginative dishes.
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Trattoria 4 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.
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Ashoka
For fine Indian dining at comparatively reasonable prices it is hard to surpass this place, one of the few Indian options in Florence. A reasonable range of predictable dishes, from tandoori to biryanis and kormas, can be washed down with cold Kingfisher beer.
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La Mangiatoia
This humble but honest rosticceria (caterer selling prepared dishes to go) serves up delicious grilled meats, fresh-made pizzas, hot and cold pasta dishes and grilled and sautéd vegetables to go. For a few euros more, you can eat in the no-frills dining room out back.
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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.
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Trattoria da Ginone
Established by Big Gino after WWII and run by his son today, this trattoria dating to 1949 serves wholesome food like hare, wild boar, a well-marketed choice of vegetarian dishes and juicy fruit tarts. Opt for the set €9 or €13.50 menus, or go à la carte.
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Momoyama
The city’s chicest and best Japanese joint goes beyond the standard repertoire. Starting with top-grade seafood, the pristine sushi bar delivers beautifully sculpted platters. From the kitchen, try the soft-shell crab and zucchini-flower tempura. Reservations recommended.
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All’Antico Ristoro di’ Cambi
Founded as a wine shop in 1950, this Oltrarno institution sticks closely to the traditional, with its long list of fine Tuscan wines, dried meats hanging from brick-vaulted ceilings and a glass case proudly displaying its highly regarded bistecca alla fiorentina.
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Trattoria Il Contadino
The set menu price says it all. Don't expect gourmet grub, but if you need to fill up without inflicting fiscal damage, this is a good place to do it. A favourite with local workers, who know where to find value for their euro, it is one of several cheapies around here.
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Mario
For an eternity Mario has been serving up plentiful, hearty lunches to market workers and a host of passers-by. It has become something of a culinary icon. A limited series of pasta options and Tuscan classics are followed by a few meat-dominated mains. No credit cards.
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Sabatino
Once a barely salubrious hole in the wall, this family-run trattoria has received a makeover to meet EU regulations. Fortunately, its prices remain stuck in time, as does its menu of heartily humble Tuscan home cooking such as simple pasta dishes and oven-roasted meats.
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Valle dei Cedri
This new offering just off Piazza di Santa Croce offers up first-rate Lebanese fare made from fresh Tuscan ingredients. The maza platter includes a range of classic dishes such as baba ganoush and felafel, while the meats and kebabs are grilled to succulence.
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I' Vinaio
A sociable spot where you sit at close quarters over tiny square timber tables, this is a long-time favourite. Servings of such choices as penne all'ortolana (pasta and vegetables) or spaghetti alla carretiera (a spicy Sicilian sauce) are generous.
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Dolci e Dolcezza
Done up in mint-green panelling like an aristocratic boudoir, this sweet little bakery is considered to be one of the city’s best. The remarkable flourless chocolate cake is worth the walk to the old city’s western edge. The little espresso bar is also first-rate.
reviewed