6 Incredible Must-Try Places to Eat in Florence That Every Foodie Will Love

1. Piazza del Mercato Centrale (Central Market)

Piazza del Mercato Centrale (the Central Market) in Florence is a food-lover’s dream. Flanked by merchants selling leather goods on all sides of the market building, you’ll find vendors selling fresh produce, meat, seafood, and baked goods on the ground level. 

If you hit the market early enough, head to Cafe Bambi for a cappuccino and the best pistachio croissant we’ve had in Italy! Another place to try is Da Nerbonne if you’re seeking something authentic; they’re best known for their lampredotto (the fourth stomach of a cow).

2. All’Antico Vinaio

The place I was most excited to try was All’Antico Vinaio – one of the most popular sandwich shops in Florence.

It’s so famous there are FOUR shops on the same street with lineups the length of the street and two other locations in Florence, too! But don’t worry – the line moves quickly! 

There are staff members guiding you to lines and they come around with a QR scanner so you can decide on one of their many sandwiches prior to reaching the counter.

We ordered the Caprese (how can you go wrong with buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes, and pesto?!) and the Fabulous (with salami, artichoke cream, pecorino, and spicy eggplant) – both delicious and HUGE, for just 8/9 euros each!

If you plan to come here (highly recommend!) I suggest looking at the menu beforehand because there are a TON of options.

Once you order a sandwich and walk around trying to find a place to eat it, you’ll take note of how many other people have also ordered here!

This is definitely a place where you will get incredible value for your money – perfect for in between sightseeing and grabbing something quick without having to sit down at a restaurant. It was the place we refueled in between the Uffizi Gallery and Pitti Palace when we used our PassePartout.

All’Antico Vinaio’s locations are open from 10:00 am – 10:00 pm daily.

3. Lampredotto at L’Antico Trippaio

You can’t visit Florence without trying a Florentine specialty: lampredotto! It’s the fourth stomach of a cow, but if you didn’t know what it was you couldn’t tell. 

Slow-cooked in vegetable broth with tomato, onion, parsley and celery, it’s topped with spicy sauce and salsa verde and served on a roll, it was commonly associated with “poor mans’ food” which is now a regional and typical Florentine dish.

Was it good? I didn’t mind it. I’m glad I tried it. It’s quite rich and filling, which for the price of a mere 5 euros, can’t be balked at.

You can find Lampredotto all around Florence, but we tried L’Antico Trippaio in Piazza de Cimatori. This kiosk in particular is open from 8:30 am – 8:30 pm daily.

4. La Buchetta

Without a reservation, it may be difficult to eat at highly recommended restaurants, but if you arrive as soon as a restaurant opens, you may get lucky. 

Fortunately for us, we ended up at La Buchetta for dinner and walked right in. It was our best meal in Florence. 

What do you order in Florence? Florentine steak! 

It was way better than what I had expected in my mind, and although the photos look like it’ll be too much for two people, once the bone was taken off it was quite manageable.

You’ll find the minimum cut for 2 people is 1 kg. It may be one of the more expensive meals to try in Florence, but we had to try it at least once! Our waiter brought the cut of meat to our table to show us and weigh it, and asked us how we liked it cooked. 

Typically in Florence it’s eaten rare, but that’s a bit too unfavourable for me, so we asked for medium. Their medium is more like medium-rare, and although I’d never eat steak like that back home, it was so incredibly flavourful I didn’t mind.

The outside of the steak was seared and a bit crispy, whereas the inside was soft and tender. Served with just a bit of salt, pepper, and olive oil, it was by far our favourite meal of our trip to Italy.

You also can’t go wrong with ordering house wine. I haven’t had a wine in Florence I didn’t like!

La Buchetta is open for lunch from 12:00 pm -2:30 pm and dinner from 7:00 pm – 10:30 pm daily.

5. Trattoria Da Garibardi

This restaurant by the Central Market wasn’t on our radar – what drew us in was the sign for the 3.50 euro Aperol spritz! We’re so glad we ended up eating here. 

We passed by about an hour before and asked if we could make a reservation and I’m glad we did – it’s quite popular and for good reason. You will have a better chance of this if you decide to eat earlier than what is considered the norm for dinnertime!

We sat outside under their covered patio, but the inside is cozy and charming with exposed stone walls.

Serving traditional Tuscan fare, you’ll find everything from tripe to Florentine steak and a good mix of options and prices suitable for all budgets. The highlight of our meal was ravioli with almond and balsamic vinegar – you really can’t beat fresh pasta!

Trattoria Da Garibardi is open daily from 11:00 am – 11:00 pm.

6. Caffe Duomo

Caffe Duomo is the type of restaurant you’d see in the movies: outdoor seating with umbrellas, chalkboard signs with features of the day, situated right next to an iconic landmark – in this case, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore!

This is where we had the best service at a restaurant in Florence and also the best tagliatelle al ragu we had encountered so far on this trip.

Prices were so reasonable (10 euros for a generous portion of pasta!), combined with a litre of house wine, you can eat inexpensively while soaking in some amazing views in Florence which I loved!

Caffe Duomo is open daily from 10:00 am – 12:00 am.

Bonus: Gelato!

A staple wherever you go in Italy, you can’t NOT have gelato. Eating gelato in Florence is just a given. We’ve grown to love the fruit-flavoured gelato in Italy and we tried pineapple, coconut and melon, each of which were so flavourful.

While there are gelaterias found all over the city (I actually noticed more here than in Rome!) a couple of my favourites included:

Don Nino

I’m not usually a fan of chain gelato shops because the prices are often more and the quality isn’t quite the same as a family-owned gelateria, but I really can’t complain because they’re all so good! 

The cannoli gelato was almost life-changing for me and I would get that again in a heartbeat.

La Gelateria

Located by Central Market and popular, this family-owned gelateria had a mixture of traditional and unique flavours. I tried pear and panettone with cinnamon which was refreshing after an evening of pasta!

Dining in Florence

I still maintain throughout all my visits to Italy that there really is no bad place to get Italian food, but some places certainly have the edge on others.

I always recommend trying to avoid main tourist areas and piazzas (with some exceptions, as noted here!) and walking a street back or two to find less expensive eateries (and potentially more authentic).

Either way, no matter where you decide to eat in Florence, I’m sure you’re going to love this charming city (and its food)  just as much as we did!