Italian restaurants tend to do two turns at dinner, around 7:30 and 9 p.m. Skip the grammable panino and carve out time to support a local restaurant instead.Īnd be sure to reserve ahead for the city’s best tables. Locals deride how mass tourism has directed visitors away from sit-down lunches in favor of panini shacks, which cause hour-long lines, street congestion, and littering. The crowds do have their drawbacks, especially disappointing tourist traps. Due to taxes and salt wars with rival towns, for centuries Tuscans have made their bread saltless, so you’re often better off opting for schiacciata (Florence’s pizza bianca, not to be confused with softer Ligurian focaccia), which you can find plain or filled as panini. Street food culture is alive and well too, including the signature lampredotto, a cow’s fourth stomach traditionally slathered with green sauce and sandwiched in a bread roll. (You won’t find those Michelin stars here, though, to save room for unstarred gems equally deserving of recognition.)Īt its heart, Florence is a hub of Tuscan cuisine, and the city is famous for its signature dishes like ribollita and bistecca alla fiorentina (T-bone steak). Today the dynamic food scene runs from dumplings to kebabs, and there are no fewer than eight Michelin-starred restaurants, including the not-to-be-missed Gucci Osteria by Massimo Bottura or Borgo San Jacopo. Twenty years ago Florence had only one Michelin-starred restaurant (today’s three-star Enoteca Pinchiori) among its traditional mom-and-pop eateries.

They have also propelled a multi-decade dining expansion in one of the world’s best-preserved UNESCO cities. Every year, Florence attracts millions of visitors who take in the splendor of the Duomo, browse the Uffizi Gallery, and walk the Ponte Vecchio.

Gems of war map