ITALY - Florence ... suggestions?

[marmar]

I'm going to Tuscany next week with my family, spending most of the time in Florence. Though also a day in Pisa for sure.
Anyone have good suggestions for places we should eat at?

 

[ironchef]

I'm going to Tuscany next week with my family, spending most of the time in Florence. Though also a day in Pisa for sure.
Anyone have good suggestions for places we should eat at?

What I was told by the Italians I've worked with was this: Look for a place where there are very little tourists, or non-Italians. The food is better, cheaper, and less flavored for foreign (i.e. American) taste preference.

 

[RDG]

To give an address is always a very delicate question....
You have forgotten to give the most important requirement: How much?
Good restaurants are rather expensive, so I give you some addresses, with their range of price. Then, you can decide....
Buca Lapi
Via del Trebbio 1
45-65€
Enoteca(=wine tastings) La sosta
Via dei Rossellino
34-54€
A cheaper one....
Trattoria dell'antico Noè
Volta di San Piero 6/R
10-30€
If you are a very rich men, and if money is absolutely inifluent for you, in Florence there is, perhaps, the best restaurant in Italy:
Enoteca Pinchiorri
Via Ghibellina 87
Not less than 100, till....350? 400? I've never gone, there.....Much depends from wines.......
In every way, if you go in that area, you MUST order, at least one time, the "bistecca alla fiorentina": a steak of particularly tender meat, from absolutely non less than 800 grams (better 1Kg) till 1,500 kg. To eat with "grilled trevisana" ( a red salad) and nothing more.
Wine: taste the original Chianti Gallo nero (black Cock).
Enjoy your trip.....

 

[jennyema]

My three favorite restaurants in Florence are:


Osteria Caffe Italiano
via della Condatta, 12
055/289020

Frankly, this is one of my favorite restaurants off all time, anywhere. Get a reservation.

Quattro Leone
Piazza della Passera, Via dei Vellutini 1/r, near Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy
055/218562

Hard to find (on Pitti Palace side of the river), but worth it. Get a reservation.

Acqua Al Due
Via Dell'Acqua
055/284170

Serves assortments of their dishes. Like 3 different salads, pastas, desserts, etc. so you get to try a bunch of stuff.

My two other favorite places, I can't remember the name of but I know how to get to .... A wine bar serving excellent snacks with outdoor seating, right across from the main entrance to the Pitti palace. A lunch place near the Mercato Centrale (another do not miss place -- buy some dry mushrooms and other stuff there) where only Italian is spoken and only 2 or 3 things are offered. Will try to find the names.

If you want to spend $$$, I have been to Beccofino and Cibreo, which are both excellent.

 

[mudbug]

What I was told by the Italians I've worked with was this: Look for a place where there are very little tourists, or non-Italians. The food is better, cheaper, and less flavored for foreign (i.e. American) taste preference.

I would guess this is true for just about any location. Switch the nationalities to American, Hindi, Portugese, or Kenyan - you get the idea.

 

[GB]

Very true Mudbug!

 

[jennyema]

The wine bar is, I think: Pitti Gola e Cantina, Piazza Pitti 16 (tel. 055-212-704).

The lunch place is Mario, via Rosina 2, close to San Lorenzo food market

 

[marmar]

RDG and jennyema, thank you.
I'll print out the places you suggested to show to my parents.

RDG, While my parents usually will splurge on food, a couple hundred euros per person sounds a bit extravagant, though since I don't drink it may be cheaper.

jenny, Osteria Caffe Italiano looks and sounds good. If we can get in I'll see about giving it a try too.

And I definately wasn't planning on missing Mercato Centrale, I figured at the very least I might be able to get some interesting pictures there.

 

[jennyema]

I bought some dried porcini mushrooms at a stall in the Mercato Centrale that were just incredible. Sooo cheap and such high quality compared to what you find here in the US. They were sold in bins according to quality and they vacuum packed them so that you could bring them into the US. I wish I had bought ten times more than I did.

The stuff they have there (oil, pasta, mushrooms, etc.) is genrally better and cheaper than in the stores in Florence that cater to tourists.

 

[RDG]

RDG, While my parents usually will splurge on food, a couple hundred euros per person sounds a bit extravagant, though since I don't drink it may be cheaper.

Marmar, I totally agree with you. More: "extravagant" is a very kind word: I could have used something worse. However, I don't know you, and so I've given you the address. Pinchiorri is, on Michelin guide, one of the best restaurants in Europe and perhaps in the world. For your curiosity, www.enotecapinchiorri.com .There is the english version too....

 

[SizzlininIN]

I'm going to Tuscany next week with my family, spending most of the time in Florence. Though also a day in Pisa for sure.
Anyone have good suggestions for places we should eat at?

Oh you are so lucky! I've always dreamed of going to Italy. If I won the lotto I'd buy a villa there ....can't narrow down where so I'd probably have to have several....hee hee and just roam the streets and try all the foods it has to offer. I'd go to all the different regions to experience their ways of cooking. And I can't forget the wine sampling and shopping. Hmmmmmmmmmm......I guess I can always close my eyes and picture myself there.

 

[LEFSElover]

Having just gone in October, we didn't have a bad meal anywhere. It was our first time in Italy and the food was one of the main reasons to go back. We went from Tuscany down to the Amalphi Coast, up it, then back to just north of Bologna. Although the food is different in the various regions and some we liked better than others, my advice would be to take some steps inside different places and get a feel for yourself.
I am sorry for no names to suggest but really, I don't think you'll need any. The food there is simply in my opinion, the best of anywhere. General statement I do realize but I was smitten.