What to Eat in Florence: Bistecca, Lampredotto and Where Locals Eat

In March 2001, Florence lost its most famous dish by decree. During the mad cow scare, Italy banned the sale of beef cuts that included the spine, and the bone-in T-bone known as bistecca alla fiorentina vanished from menus. Butchers held mock funerals. Dario Cecchini, the butcher of Panzano, buried a steak in a public ceremony. It took until the middle of the decade for Europe to lift the rule, and Florentines celebrated as if a war had ended.

That tells you how this city thinks about food. Florentine cooking is not fancy. It is beef, bread, beans and offal, cooked the same way for centuries and defended with surprising passion. Here is what to eat, how to order it without looking lost, and where locals actually sit down.

Bistecca alla Fiorentina: How to Order It

A real fiorentina is a T-bone cut from the loin, with the fillet on one side and the sirloin on the other. It is cut about three fingers thick (roughly 5 cm), grilled over hot coals for a few minutes per side, then stood upright on the bone to finish. Salt goes on after cooking, plus a thread of olive oil. That is it.

What surprises first-timers:

• It is sold by weight. The menu shows a price per kilo or per etto (100 g). A single steak usually weighs 1 to 1.5 kg, so it is a dish for two or three people. Most places will not cut a smaller one.
• The price. In 2026 expect roughly €45 to €90 per kilo depending on the breed and aging. Chianina, the white Tuscan cattle, sits at the top of the range. A 1.2 kg steak for two typically lands somewhere between €60 and €100. Always check the per-kilo figure before you say yes.
• The waiter will show you the raw steak. They bring it to the table or the counter so you can approve the cut and the weight. This is your moment to ask "quanto pesa?" (how much does it weigh?).
• It comes rare. Al sangue is the only way most cooks will serve it. Asking for well done is the one thing that can get you a polite no.

Lampredotto: The Real Florentine Street Food

Long before Florence had sandwich chains, it had trippai: tripe sellers working from carts and kiosks. Their star is lampredotto, the fourth stomach of the cow, slow-cooked in a broth with tomato, onion, celery and parsley. The name comes from the lamprey eel, which the folds of the meat supposedly resemble.

You order a panino col lampredotto. The vendor chops the meat on a board, stuffs it into a round roll and asks two questions: salsa verde? (parsley and caper sauce) and piccante? (chilli oil). Say yes to both, and ask for the top of the bread to be dipped in the broth (bagnato). It costs around €5 to €7 in 2026, and it is the best value meal in the city.

Where to try it:

• Da Nerbone, on the ground floor of the Mercato Centrale, has been serving since 1872. Expect a line at lunch.
• L'Antico Trippaio, a kiosk near Piazza dei Cimatori, a few steps from the Bargello.

Ribollita and Pappa al Pomodoro: Peasant Food That Became Famous

Tuscan bread is baked without salt (pane sciocco), and it goes stale fast. Florentines never threw it away. Two of their best dishes exist because of that.

• Ribollita means "reboiled". It is a thick soup of cavolo nero (black kale), cannellini beans and vegetables, thickened with stale bread and reheated the next day. It is a winter dish, so you will find it mostly from October to March.
• Pappa al pomodoro is ripe tomatoes, garlic, basil and bread cooked into a soft mash. Italians of a certain age will start singing "Viva la pappa col pomodoro", a 1964 hit by Rita Pavone. It is best in summer and is often served warm or at room temperature.

Schiacciata: All'Antico Vinaio and the Alternatives

Schiacciata is Florence's flat, oily, salty focaccia. Sliced open and stuffed with cured meats, cheeses and spreads, it became the city's viral sandwich, thanks mostly to All'Antico Vinaio on Via dei Neri. The family shop opened in 1991 and is now a chain with dozens of locations across Italy and abroad.

The sandwiches are huge (one feeds two light eaters) and cost roughly €8 to €12. The problem is the line, which can take 30 to 60 minutes at peak hours. Go before 11 a.m. or after 3 p.m., or try alternatives:

• I Fratellini, a tiny hole-in-the-wall on Via dei Cimatori, operating since 1875. Smaller rolls, a glass of wine on the side, eaten standing on the street.
• Pino's Sandwiches on Via Giuseppe Verdi, near Santa Croce, where the owner builds them to order.

One tip: in 2018 the city fined people eating on the sidewalks of Via dei Neri at mealtimes. That ordinance was temporary, but residents still dislike blocked doorways, so walk to a piazza to eat.

Mercato Centrale vs Sant'Ambrogio

Florence has two great food markets, and they serve very different purposes.

Mercato Centrale (San Lorenzo) is a 19th century iron-and-glass hall designed by Giuseppe Mengoni. The ground floor is the traditional market: butchers, cheese, produce and Da Nerbone, open in the morning Monday to Saturday (stalls start closing around 2 to 3 p.m.). The first floor is a modern food hall, open daily from morning until late evening, with counters for pasta, pizza, truffles and wine. It is convenient and lively, but prices are tourist-level.

Mercato di Sant'Ambrogio (Piazza Ghiberti) is smaller, older in feel and cheaper. It opens roughly 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday to Saturday, and Florentines actually do their shopping here. Inside, Trattoria da Rocco serves home-style lunches at shared tables for prices that feel like another decade.

Where Locals Eat: Oltrarno and San Frediano

Cross the Ponte Santa Trinita and the restaurants change. The Oltrarno, and especially San Frediano and the streets around Santo Spirito, still has family trattorias with paper tablecloths and handwritten menus.

• Trattoria La Casalinga (near Santo Spirito): classic, loud, cheap, with ribollita and bollito.
• Trattoria Sabatino (Via Pisana, just outside the old gate of San Frediano): one of the cheapest sit-down meals in Florence.
• Trattoria 4 Leoni (Piazza della Passera): a bit more polished, popular for its steak.

Book dinner a day ahead in high season, and expect a primo around €10 to €14 and a secondo from €14 to €22 in this kind of place.

Buchette del Vino: Wine Through a Hole in the Wall

Walk around the Oltrarno and you will see small arched windows, about the size of a book, carved into the walls of palazzi. These are buchette del vino, wine windows. From the 1500s and 1600s noble families sold wine from their estates directly to the public through them. Researchers have catalogued more than 150 in Florence.

A few still work. Babae, on Via Santo Spirito, sells glasses of wine through its buchetta in the evening. Knock, pay, and a glass appears.

Coperto, Tipping and Practical Prices

• Coperto is a per-person cover charge for bread and table service. It is legal as long as it is printed on the menu. In Florence it usually runs €2 to €4.
• Tipping is not expected. Rounding up or leaving a few euros for good service is appreciated, never required.
• Rough 2026 prices: espresso at the bar €1.20 to €1.50, lampredotto €5 to €7, schiacciata €8 to €12, trattoria lunch €20 to €30, steak dinner for two with wine €100 to €150.

Explore Florence with Trevurs

Florence tastes better once you know who walked those streets before you.

Trevurs has three free, self-guided audio tours in Florence that work offline: "The Medici: Money, Art and Poison", "Michelangelo and the Renaissance in One Walk" and "Florence: Dante and the City He Sent to Hell". Download one, walk it in the morning, and end at the market for a lampredotto.