15 Restaurants in Florence You Can’t Miss

What better place to start than the Michelin-starred restaurants in Florence? In this section, you will find established restaurants, as well as some new entries in the Florentine culinary scene.

Enoteca Pinchiorri
This 3 Michelin-star restaurant recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. Initially a wine shop, Enoteca Pinchiorri expanded into a restaurant shortly after. Today Enoteca Pinchiorri is known for its decadent food, impeccable service, and excellent wine selection.

Santa Elisabetta
The 2 Michelin-starred Santa Elisabetta is the ancient Byzantine tower of Pagliazza, inside the charming Brunelleschi Hotel. Here you will find minimalist cuisine with some references to Campanian regional food; the birthplace of Chef Rocco De Santis, who specialises in high quality cuisine.

Il Palagio Four Season Hotel
Il Palagio is the restaurant of the Four Seasons Hotel and offers contemporary Tuscan cuisine. In this 1 Michelin-starred restaurant, you will find local and seasonal ingredients, an impressive wine choice, and a location that offers an exquisite indoor-outdoor setting. Il Palagio, is in fact located in the old stable of Palazzo della Gherardesca (built in the 15th century), which overlooks the centuries-old park.

Gucci Osteria Massimo Bottura
In 2018, the 3 Michelin-starred Chef Massimo Bottura curated together with the fashion house Gucci, the opening of this fine dining restaurant in the heart of Florence, right in Piazza della Signoria. The furnishings couldn’t be more charming, and the cuisine is innovative and open to influences from the World, while always keeping Italy at its centre thanks to the Mexican chef Karime Lopez. In 2019 Gucci Osteria gained its first Michelin star.

Borgo San Jacopo
Borgo San Jacopo restaurant has 1 Michelin star and overlooks the banks of the Arno River. This restaurant offers a haute Italian cuisine experience, with rigorous attention to ingredients quality. The view of the Ponte Vecchio makes for a memorable dining experience.

Fine dining has many nuances, but the core concept stands in good quality cuisine and a well-refined atmosphere. Here are some examples of places where you can have an excellent dining experience in Florence.

Cantinetta Antinori
Cantinetta Antinori is located in Palazzo Antinori, one of the most beautiful examples of Florentine architecture from the mid-1400’s. The restaurant specialises in Tuscan cuisine, and is the city's showcase for wines from Antinori, the oldest and most distinguished wine company in Tuscany and Umbria.

Essenziale
As the name suggests, this restaurant prioritises the essential - essenziale. Essenziale is a project by Simone Cipriani, a young Tuscan chef with a local and sustainable approach. The manu is dynamic and changes often; the atmosphere is relaxed and welcoming but with meticulous attention to detail. Lunch is more informal, while you can experience several tasting menus at dinner.

Il Locale
Il Locale is located a few steps from the Duomo, in the historic and charming Palazzo Concini. The place is both a cocktail bar and a restaurant, and in 2022 entered the shortlist of the ten "Best International Restaurant Bars" in Europe. The cuisine of the young chef Caponnetto, born in 1990, is a creative and original journey through the flavours of the world.

Ora d’aria
This restaurant is located just behind the Uffizi and Piazza della Signoria and takes its name from a nearby Murate - former - prison (ora d'aria means yard time). Ora d’aria offers three different tasting menus: The Past (inspired by the traditional Tuscan cuisine), The Present (a more contemporary take on the tradition, with a focus on vegetables), and The Future (fish menu). The restaurant has a large open kitchen, which makes the connection between the client and the chef more intimate.

You can’t leave Florence without tasting some traditional dishes like Pappa al Pomodoro or Fiorentina steak. Below you will find our best recommendations on where to find the best traditional cuisine.

Cibreo Trattoria - Cibreino
Trattoria Cibreo is the folksier version of the adjacent Cibrèo restaurant - hence the name Cibreino (small Cibreo). In the Trattoria, you will find a simple and enjoyable atmosphere, tasty Tuscan cuisine, and an excellent, friendly service.

Trattoria Sabatino
This ancient Florentine trattoria has a rich history: in the 1700s, it was a convent refectory; in the 1900s a people’s canteen, until it became a restaurant in 1956. Even today, Trattoria Sabatino serves home-cooked food, respecting the Florentine tradition, and the menu changes daily.

Trattoria Camillo
Trattoria Camillo is a well-known informal restaurant that offers great Tuscan dishes like
fried chicken and rabbit, as well as delicious homemade desserts (like tiramisu). They have a small selection of piatti del giorno that changes every day, as well as a solid staple menu.

Cipolla Rossa Osteria
At Cipolla Rossa, the specialty is represented by the steak, the undisputed queen of Florentine cuisine. The quality of the meat is guaranteed by the Manetti Massimo butcher shop, run by the same family for five generations, and located in the historic Central Market (more to come on this later). Here you will find traditional Florentine cuisine and a great selection of wines from around the world. The menu follows the seasonality of the area.

SimBIOsi
A visit to Italy wouldn’t be complete without enjoying a good pizza or pasta dish, and SimBIOsi is definitely worth a visit. These two restaurants, beside one another, are dedicated to pizza (SimBIOsi Organic Pizza) and pasta (SimBIOsi Organic Pasta) and promote the use of top-quality ingredients from organic farming, and never use synthetic products and GMOs.

Il Santo Bevitore
Il Santo Bevitore is an informal but curated tavern, with a varied offering and particular attention to raw materials. Over the years the restaurant has been joined by Il Santino, a Tuscan wine bar a few metres away, and S. Forno, a modern bakery with lots of good products for sale.

I know we are kind of cheating with the numbers here, but we felt like Il Mercato Centrale di San Lorenzo (Central Market) needed a space of its own in this article. That’s why we decided to add a bonus section!

The Mercato Centrale in Florence dates to the late 19th century and has been a food market ever since. On the ground floor, you can try all kinds of local delicacies and fresh products, whilst you can enjoy a great variety of different cuisines from around the world on the first floor.

On the first floor of Mercato Centrale, there are more than 20 different food banquets to choose from, and the offering varies from typical Italian food (like pasta or meat dishes) to cuisine from all over the world (like Chinese dumplings). The space caters for more than 500 people, who are free to sit and eat after buying food from different banquets. This format was so successful that it has been recreated in other main Italian cities, like Rome and Milan.

No other cities are like Florence, and its food offerings complement its beauty. In this stunning Renaissance city, you can find all you can wish for, from top-quality fine dining to very genuine Tuscan food. If you are still looking for the perfect accommodation, please check out our catalogue and find your dream villa to rent in Florence.

At Salogi, we have a wide range of villas in Tuscany to rent, and our team at Salogi will be happy to support you in tailoring your vacation to your needs. Please don’t hesitate to contact us to book your dream vacation.