Florence Restaurants

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My farmer's wife friend spotted this place as we wandered round looking for somwehere to eat.

It's a tiny trattoria tucked away between the river and Santa Maria Novella railway station. It offers a fixed-price menu, first and second courses + vegetable side dish + water/soft drink for 12 euro, 13 euro with wine.

I was initially a bit dubious, but the friend insisted.

The place was full of local people (and, later, they were queuing outside...it is not somewhere to linger over your meal because you simply feel too guilty for doing so!) but there were visitors there too.

Service was cheerful and efficient, with adequate English spoken.

The food was excellent. There's a choice of dishes, which varies according to whatever is available/in season. Bread is included in the price, as is service. No menus, so it's best to decide what you want before you go inside.

We both had the home-made spinach and ricotta ravioli with bolognese sauce as primi platti. Then I had the swordfish and my friend had the roast beef, with 'roast potatoes' ( with garlic and rosemary) as the vegetable. All well-cooked and thoroughly delicious. The wine was perfectly drinkable too.

You can't really complain at a price of 13 euro...and the food was very well-prepared. So, yes, this is somewhere to seek out if you happen to be in the area.

Recommended...but do be prepared to queue if you get there later than we did (around 7.30 ish).

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This is, according to the 'Rough Guide', the best ice-cream in the city. It certainly is excellent and comes in numerous flavours.

Vivoli is a small cafe/bar, operating since 1930 and frequented by many locals. It makes its own ice-cream as well, and it is excellent.

It is highly recommended by me, as well as many other people (apparently). Maybe that's why the street isn't on the map provided by the Tourist Information Office? Perhaps they want to keep it a secret?

It was just as superb on my second visit. Try the 'fantasia'; nuts, glace cherries, candied peel. angelica, chocolate chunks, trifle sponge...wonderful!

And it was just as superb on my fourth visit in 2011...the fantasia is still wonderful (see photo) but you have a huge choice of flavours.

In 2011 a medium coppa (cup) cost 3.20euro. A bit pricey, but well worth it; think of it as a special treat.

But do expect the staff to be a bit dour. They have been every time I've visited; efficient enough (you pay at the cash register not at the ice-cream counter) but rather unsmiling.

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I first visited Florence in 2006 and ate at Za/'Za because, according to my guidebook, this trattoria was one of the best for value. And I have to say I agreed. I always passed it on my way back to my hotel, and every time I did so it was full of both visitors and (more importantly) Italians. The latter is my point-of-judgement; if the locals use it, then it's an ok place.

On my return (to eat) in 2011it was very clear that the fame of Za'Za has spread. It was packed every time I passed and certainly in the early evening. In fact, they've now appointed a 'bouncer' to make sure that people don't take tables which have been reserved.

They've got tables outside under awnings as well as inside. If you don't mind the odd pigeon or sparrow hopping round your feet then I think outside is nicer in warm weather. Five years on, you'll still get the same trio (ish) of accordionists serenading you at some point in the evening!

In 2006 I had the plate of mixed antipasti for starters as a special treat; it was lovely and actually quite enough for the whole meal: a plate of meats (salami, prosciutto etc), a tiny egg-yolk omelette with truffle oil, bruschetta, various cheeses........absolutely gorgeous. It was a struggle to finish the huge plate of carpacchio with salad/dressing/parmesan for my second course.......well, I didn't finish it. I had no room for pudding, and that says it all as I have a very sweet tooth!

In 2011 I'd learned my lesson and shared the plate of mixed antipasti (a slightly smaller version, I noticed, but with still the same variety) with my friend. Then I had the meatballs. And all was just as tasty as five years before.

House wine was fine, as was the coffee. Service was ok too, efficient and with good English spoken. I still think booking a table (or being prepared to queue) would be essential for lunchtime or evening in high season; both times I ate early by local standards, so didn't have a problem.

Bill for one person (with house wine, water and coffee) in 2011 was around 30 euro.

Za'Za may have been 'discovered' by visitors but it is still an excellent and convivial place to eat, offering good food at reasonable prices. I'll eat there again when I go back.

Favorite Dish: Too many to choose from but the mixed antipasti comes very close. Menus in English as well as Italian, which is useful.

Closed on Sundays. Open from 11.30am till late.

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This is the mother oa all indoor food markets. It is packed to the gills with all kinds of great food.

It is the perfect place to pick up every thing that you need for a fabulous picnic. This is a nice break from restaurants. I highly recommend it.

Down stairs is meat, cheese, pasta and bread. Upstairs is produce.

There is a park that is perfect for your picnic and people watching nearby. Just A few hundred feet north the Piazza dell'Indipendenza

Favorite Dish: This is a great chance to branch out and try something unavalible at home. Great cured meats and bread are my favorite

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This atmospheric restaurant is well worth the stop. Behind a very cozy entrance the dining room is intimate and comfortable. The staff was plugged, Friendly and efficient.

It is clean and the restrooms were fabulous.

The menu is typical Tuscan. It is changed as the season demands.

I am very glad we stopped here. We had looked it over a couple of times before. We passed for some forgotten reason. Passing it was clearly a mistake.

It was our last meal in Firenze on this trip. It was a warmly remembered and excellent end to our stay. Give it a try it is worth it.

Favorite Dish: We had some very nice house wine. I loved the salad I had. We all had some type of pasta and it was all great. It was just lunch so I do not have more to report.

The menu changes depending on available produce so you are assured of some creative options

Someone suggested it to me and I went there....thank you to this person! The place, when you arrive, is a simple dining room, very cosy. But the real magic is downstairs where you can find that feeling of Florence of the past. The ambience is really fantastic with contemporary exhibitions on the walls and soft lights all around. There are candles on the tables and table cloths....not stamped paper. At a first glance you think it is an expensive restaurant but at the end you discover you spent less than in simple osteria or trattoria. Food is the real experience. Try their home made pasta and bread or have some delicious meat dish. They make a Tuscan Cuisine but a little bit more innovative. I don't want to list what I had but just choose anything, I am convinced everything is excellent in this place, wines included. Last but not least, very kind and competent staff.

Favorite Dish: Try the "Pici Senesi" a kind of thick spaghetti served with a Chianti sauce and little meatballs.

The pizza was tasty as well as the dessert. Not the best we've had but better than most of what we had during our 15 day stay in Italy. Beverage was included in the prize so we had one big bottle of plain water each. The service was quite fast and the waitress was friendly.

Favorite Dish: Pizza and the dessert menu.

One of the top ten restaurants in the world. No joke, just a fact. This is essentially a French restaurant with Italian overtones. There are a number of choices for dinners and you can have a simple dinner or a multi-course-completely-overload-your-taste-buds gourmet feast. Bring friends or go for a romantic dinner. Waiters are super proper and in tuxes better than any I have ever worn. If you order wine, and as the name might suggest much of the attraction here is the wine, drink it all because the bill is going to be a stunner, but worth every single bit of it. Our tab came to about $400 a person. I have absolutely no regrets. This is the restaurant against which I compare all restaurants in the world to some degree. I also know that you can get a simpler meal here for much less, so our tab should not frighten you off. It has a quiet, almost royal ambience and waiters who place things on the table and take them off so well that you almost don't notice them at all.

Favorite Dish: The menu changes with the seasons, so explore and do not be afraid to ask the waiters or the chefs questions. However, if there is a lobster salad with asparagus on the menu, as there was when we were there, do not miss it. This is where foodies go when they die if they have been good.