Restaurants in Tuscany
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Il Castagnacciao
Hidden in an alley near central square Piazza Cavour, this iconic address with bench seating at wooden tables is tantamount to no-frills pizza bliss. Watch your thin-crust, rectangular-shaped pizza go in and out of the wood-fired oven and make sure you save space for dessert – castagnaccio (chestnut 'cake') baked in the same oven. Big appetites can kick off the lip-smacking feast with torta di ceci (chickpea 'cake').
reviewed
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Forno Giusti
Join the crowd queuing in front of this excellent bakery to purchase fresh-from-the-oven pizza and focaccia with a variety of fillings and toppings. It’s the perfect place to buy picnic provisions.
reviewed
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Osteria da Cice
In the hands of a friendly team, reflecting its mainly youthful clientele, this is the place for an informal, relaxed meal. The menu has plenty of vegetarian options among its primi piatti.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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Osteria La Botte Gaia
Osteria La Botte Gaia is Slow Food–featured and deservedly so. Homemade pasta supplements the ever-changing daily menu that runneth over with just-caught fish options and a few veggie plates.
reviewed
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Trattoria San Omobono
A handful of tables, one Roman column and a refreshingly short 'n' sweet menu form a winning combination at this family-run bistro near the market. Main-course staples include roast beef, tripe and stockfish.
reviewed
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Il Nilo
Revellers, dropouts and a host of other weird and wonderful beings wander in here in the course of the evening for a takeaway felafel. Some hang about and eat it here, although there's nowhere to sit.
reviewed
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Baroncini
If you happen to be in the area, drop in to one of Florence's most popular gelaterie. Fresh fruit is used in the fruit-flavoured options, and there's also great yogurt and sorbetto al limone.
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Trattoria Bordino
If eat cheap is your mantra, Bordino is your address. Hidden behind Chiesa di Santa Felicità, not far from Ponte Vecchio, this pocket-sized trattoria cooks up all the classics and a great-value €7 lunch.
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Taverna del Capitano
A grand little spot for local food with friendly service. Specialities include zuppa di farro (barley soup) and ossobuco al sienese (marrowbone stew). The tables outdoors are pleasant in summer.
reviewed
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La Grotta
Facing the High Renaissance Tempio di San Biagio on the road to Chiusi, La Grotta has elegant dining rooms and a gorgeous courtyard garden that's perfect for summer dining. The food is simple but delicious, and service is exemplary. A hint: don't skip dessert.
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La Terrazza del Principe
Leave Florence without leaving Florence. From your garden table breathe in the bucolic views looking back to the south side of the city, mostly blocked from view by the greenery. The culinary theme is inventive Tuscan.
reviewed
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Gelateria Santa Trínita
The newest addition to Florence’s list of excellent gelato makers, this shop just off the Ponte Santa Trínita produces a small selection of gelati that manages to achieve the perfect balance of sweetness and creaminess.
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Osteria dei Poeti
Get here right at noon, before the business lunchers fill the last seat. Typical Tuscan fare includes antipasto del poeta (€15), a rich assortment of canapés, cheeses and cold cuts that is an unexpected delight.
reviewed
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Il Ristorante Scaraboci
Il Ristorante Scaraboci is a promising fish and seafood venue where all pastas and desserts are homemade. For something special, try the spaghetto al sugo d’astice (spaghetti with lobster sauce).
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La Torre di Gnicche
Just off Piazza Grande, this is a fine restaurant specialising in traditional local dishes. Its soups are delicious – in summer try pappa al pomodoro (a thick bread and tomato soup), in winter acquacotta (a hearty vegetable soup with bread and egg) and ribollita (a 'reboiled' bean, vegetable and bread soup with black cabbage). Afterwards, choose from the ample range of local pecorino (cheese made from sheep's milk) and cured meats accompanied by a choice red from the extensive wine list.
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La Bottega del Gelato
Sit at Garibaldi's feet and lick a seriously creamy gelato from the most popular ice-cream parlour in town. Feeling truly decadent? Scrap the cono or coppa for a chocolate-lined cestino (basket).
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Osteria Acquacheta
Hugely popular with locals and tourists alike, this bustling place specialises in bistecca alla fiorentina (chargrilled T-bone steak), which comes to the table in huge, lightly seared and exceptionally flavoursome slabs (don't even think of asking for it to be served otherwise). Lunch sittings are at 12.15pm and 2.15pm; dinner at 7.30pm and 9.15pm – book ahead.
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Trattoria dell'Abbondanza
Dine beneath coloured parasols in an atmospheric alley outside or plump for a table inside where homey collections of door bells, pasta jars and so on catch the eye. The cuisine, once you've deciphered the handwriting on the menu, is simple Tuscan.
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Ristorante Don Beta
With four truffle-based primi piatti and five secondi enhanced by their fragrance, this is the place to sample the prized fungus, which abounds – insofar as it abounds anywhere – in the woods around Volterra.
reviewed
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Il Vegetariano
This self-service veggie restaurant cooks up a great selection of Tuscan vegetable dishes, build-your-own salads and mains eaten around shared wooden tables. There's always a vegan option and the chalked-up menu changes daily.
reviewed
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Osteria del Piano
Osteria del Piano, about halfway between Portoferraio and Marciana Marina, is on the road just outside Procchio. It serves up astonishing concoctions such as black-and-white spaghetti served with a crab sauce.
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Mercato Centrale
Mercato Centrale, Livorno’s magnificent late-19th-century, 95m-long neoclassical food market, miraculously survived Allied WWII bombing. Arrive early to appreciate the wares on offer in the amazing fish section.
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Vecchia Trattoria Buralli
A once-intimate local favourite now in all the guidebooks, this busy crowd-pleaser is a great for sampling wine from the surrounding Lucchese hills. Fare is wholly traditional and a green parrot sits on the packed terrace outside.
reviewed
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Il Forno
Pick up a stick or two of sfratto, a gorgeously sticky local confection made of honey and walnuts, from this place. Counterbalance the sweetness with a glass or two of the town’s excellent dryish Bianco di Pitigliano wine.
reviewed