Places to eat

Florence, as you can imagine, is full of restaurants, trattorias and pizzerias, from downtown to the surrounding hills. They offer the pleasures of a cuisine that relies on simple and healthy dishes: tasty soups, roasted and grilled meat (the famous Florentine steak), boiled meat, cheese, vegetables and fruit fresh. We recommend, if possible, to avoid the more touristy areas like Duomo and Piazza della Signoria where not always the relationship between prices and quality are preserved.

Also consider the restaurants near Mercato di San Lorenzo that always catch tourists. However, in these are areas you can find some excellent restaurant.

And high concentration of quality restaurants is around of our apartment in San Frediano in Oltrarno. Eat in florence is easy, keep in mind that menus change frequently in Tuscan restaurants: even every day. The Tuscan cuisine is accompanied by the excellent Tuscan wines like Chianti or Montepulciano. Red wine is full bodied and fruity and the white one is lighter.

There are several restaurants we want to mention, some well known like famous Enoteca Pinchiorri, cited as one of the best restaurants in the world:

• The restaurant Il Guscio was born in Florence in 1986, in the historic district of San Frediano, within the walls of the city near the Ponte Vecchio, Piazza del Carmine and the Holy Spirit, three people very close-knit (Sandra, Elena and Francesco) after more than twenty years still to run this restaurant with the same passion as when they started, in this beautiful area of Florence still full of craftsmen and small shops, this restaurant continues to have a 'Florentine spirit, at a lunch menu that offers the old Florentine recipes, served with so much sympathy from Alberto and Daniela on yellow paper. (about 20€ including wine)
  At night, the room is dressed with linen tablecloth and the menu is enriched. To spend a beautiful evening by candlelight then there is the small porch on the road that will make you live with serenity and fun a good meal. (about 40/50€ including wine)
• Located in the quaint Piazza del Cestello, more authentic in the heart of Florence, Cestello Ristoclub has been conquered a very unique role in the scenarios of the Tuscan capital's nightlife, offering a new and original way to go to the restaurant and especially enjoyed the fish. Inside the room it has a real fish market, where customers can choose and buy the variety that prefers even requesting to cook according to the desired recipe.
The team of "basket Ristoclub" is ready to meet and "spoil" her clients, expressing in every dish - made with ingredients of excellence and in full respect of the Mediterranean food culture - not only competence and professionalism, but also a 'distinct identity and feel irresistible. Thus, almost every dish becomes a special event ... made up of small-big surprise, that lead you to discover an unusual taste, rich flavors and aromas unmistakable.
Divided in three different environments, "Ristoclub basket" allows guests to dine in an atmosphere totally different from each other. The interaction between space and design, the care of the decor and lighting add to the elegance of the kitchen doing the "basket Ristoclub" the right place.
Elegant and cool from the first impact, basket Ristoclub welcomes the customer just entered the lounge area, with its impressive and linear bar counter, perfect for an aperitif or a drink after dinner, thanks to an American bar and the local offers until late at night. (about 60€ including wine)
• The Confectionery since 1972 Giorgio offers its customers high quality products, you can enjoy pastries including the soft crushed the proud Florentine and yarrow. The restaurant, from Tuesday to Saturday at lunch and Saturday evening, offers delicious dishes of fresh fish. In the hour of the aperitif, from 18, with specialty cocktails and appetizers from our kitchen, on Friday evening, the drink is enriched with crudites fish. The Tea Room in the afternoon will offer delicacies of every kind, in a refined and accurate in every detail. A comfortable and stylish for a relaxing and pleasant meeting. In our lounge you can organize receptions for each type of event. Catering service at your location or use our room that can accommodate up to 25 people. (about 60€ including wine)
• At Portofino the sea is served. This restaurant quickly established itself as one of the best places specialize in fish in Florence, freeing herself admirably from gaps which usually have the premises of this type: high prices, noisy and raw material is not always fresh. The goal of Fabio Maccione is simple: great value for money in a fine but not luxurious, with fresh fish that arrives every day, early afternoon, just caught. The chef, Marco Romei, went to seek the best traditional Italian dishes, slightly updated and beautiful presentations. Be surprised by the light and delicate flavors that will feel the freshness of the raw material. You can start with the most excellent dish of raw mix, tuna tartare with avocado and celery salad or red mullet fillets bloc of foie gras in phyllo pastry with steamed spinach. Follow one of the most popular dishes: spaghetti alla carbonara details of the sea, and then: ravioli stuffed with sea bass in black cabbage sauce red lobster, ricotta and spinach dumplings in a sauce of red radicchio and hen, or even flat ground as linguine with sage sauce and diced artichokes vitello.Fra seconds, do not miss the filet of San Pietro browned pie with curried vegetables and variety of apple green and the fillet of brill with sage leaves in the raw Parma sauteed with grapes in grappa, but also to forno.La fresh scampi pasta, bread and desserts are all homemade daily. Ease of parking. (about 60€ including wine)
• Not too far from the center of Florence you can find one of the best restaurant in town which is also definetely inexpansive, the name is Trattoria Baldini on Via Il Prato, 96/r, thisi is the place you don't want to miss, true tuscan cousine without exceptions.
• The Wine Bar "Fuori porta" on Via del Monte alle Croci 10, near Piazzale Michelangelo is an acceptable compromise between tourist areas, speed and good quality.
• In Piazza Tasso, in Oltrarno, you will find the Florentine Alla Vecchia Bettola, very good prices (the first 6-7 seconds and € 8.12 € (no credit cards accepted, however, reservation is required.) Founded by the owners of Nerbone in the Central Market, this is one of the best restaurants in town.
• Cibreino in Piazza Ghiberti 35, near Santa Croce, near the famous (and expensive) Cibreo, is a small and excellent restaurant. Here you find delicious soups and casseroles, local specialties such as stuffed rabbit, veal and meatballs ricotta and squid stew. The cost is about € 25 per person, without wine.
• Ristorante alle murate, On Via Ghibellina is an elegant restaurant with candlelight dinner, smaller and not expensive. It is a very popular after-theater. Beautiful wine cellar visible through the glass floor. Price, about 30-40 € without wine.
• Ristorante il latini, Via dei Palchetti, 6/r near the Cathedral. Great fried vegetables and appetizers, Flat board with mixed grill, ribollita and pappa al pomodoro. Finish the tour with cantuccini and vin santo for a price around € 30-35.

You can not end your holiday in Florence without having tried oldest food we have here, the traditional "Lampredotto", a sort of tripe dark brown. You will find this product all over the city, restaurants and small stands on the streets. the traditional way to eat this delicacy is with some bread dipped in Lampredotto's broth, olive oil and parsley for a mouth-watering meal.

Finally, the inevitable ice cream. Some connoisseurs consider the world's best ice cream in Florence. Where to find the best? A little 'everywhere near our apartment, but always choose those of our own production and if you want names, then they will Gelateria Vivoli (Via Isola delle Stinche, 7), Festival del Gelato (Via del Corso 75r) and La carraia (Piazza Nazario Sauro, 25/r).