MAB’s Guide to Florentine Dining
Black Grosgrain Suspenders w Gold Hardware
$200 Where To Eat in Florence
Table of Contents: Where to Eat | Pasta | Drinks | Full Day | Vintage | Italian Phrases
After years of making the biannual menswear pilgrimage to Florence for Pitti Uomo, it’s a good thing we’re custom tailors and have access to unlimited alterations. We’ve eaten our way across the city — at the right tables most of the time, the wrong ones on occasion, and the hidden ones thanks to local guides like Tommaso Capozzoli (@tommasocapozzoli).
For those unfamiliar, Pitti Uomo is the menswear trade fair held in Florence, Italy every January and June, where brands, buyers, editors, photographers, influencers, and some of the best-dressed men in the world gather to see what’s next in men’s style. Centered around the Fortezza da Basso but spilling into every piazza, hotel bar, side street, and dinner table in the city, Pitti is part trade show, part reunion, part spectacle, and part master class in how men should dress. Though it remains a trade show at heart, Pitti has become more central to the menswear zeitgeist than men’s fashion week itself. Even with countless stylish people descending on one of the world’s most beautiful cities, the best parts still remain hidden — unless you know where to look.
We’ve been coming back for years, long enough to make the tourist mistakes, find the neighborhood spots worth returning to, and earn a few regular tables. We’ve also become part of the rhythm of the week, hosting what has become the celebrated unofficial opening ceremony: a black-tie creative soirée in collaboration with The St. Regis Florence, He Spoke Style, and this June, Dormeuil.
What follows is not a list of the most-Instagrammed restaurants in the Oltrarno. It’s where we actually go. It’s where we bring clients when they travel with us. It’s where we’ve had the long lunches, late dinners, chance meetings, and treasured memories that have made Pitti feel like a second home.
The style, relationships, and industry insights are why you go to Pitti Uomo. But how you spend the hours between the Fortezza and the Arno — especially where you eat — is worth getting right.
“You find the best meals in Florence are found down a side street, up a set of stairs, or behind a door with no sign.”
THE TABLE
Where to Eat in Florence
Florence rewards the patient and punishes the incurious. Most of the best tables require a reservation, a little local knowledge, and the willingness to let the waiter guide you. Here’s our insider’s guide to dining in Florence.
Trattoria Cammillo
CLASSIC · OLTRARNO · A MUST
There are restaurants you go to once, and there are restaurants that become part of the trip. Cammillo is the second kind. A proper Florentine trattoria with the kind of welcome that makes you feel like you’ve been coming for years, even if it’s your first time. A stop here is non-negotiable on any itinerary of ours. Book ahead. Get the ribollita to start and let the rest follow.
Buca Lapi
CLASSIC · HARDER RESERVATION · WORTH IT
Housed in the cellars of the Palazzo Antinori, Buca Lapi gets the nod over Mario on most nights — the room alone is worth making the effort for. Getting a table requires more advance planning than most visitors expect. Plan accordingly and you’ll be glad you did.
Buca dell’Orafo
HIDDEN · JUST OFF THE ARNO · OLD-SCHOOL
Low-key doesn’t quite cover it. Tucked down a side street just off the Arno — the kind of entrance that makes you second-guess whether you have the right address — Buca dell’Orafo is the sort of place that rewards the curious and confounds the unprepared.
Order this: La Groppa con Scaglie de Pecorino. Full stop.
Alla Vecchia Bettola
LOCALS ONLY · NEIGHBOURHOOD · NO FRILLS
Only go to Alla Vecchia Bettola if you want to feel like a Florentine for an evening — which is to say, go immediately. The clientele skews heavily local. The decor is casual to the point of indifference. The food is delicious, the wine is inexpensive, and you’ll be sitting next to someone who’s been eating here since before you were born.
Osteria delle Tre Panche
CHIC · RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
There’s a version of Florentine dining that’s all red-checkered tablecloths and Chianti in straw bottles. And then there’s Tre Panche, which manages to be quintessentially Tuscan while feeling genuinely stylish. The room is right. The clientele is sharp. It’s the place to bring someone you want to impress without trying too hard — which is, frankly, the only way to impress anyone worth impressing.
Il Santo Bevitore
WINE-FORWARD · SANTO SPIRITO · EXCELLENT
Il Santo Bevitore has a way of making a Tuesday dinner feel like an occasion — not through pretense, but through a wine list that’s genuinely serious and a kitchen that earns every bottle on it. It’s the restaurant we find ourselves recommending most, year after year, because it never lets us down — and the people we bring there always say the same thing on the walk home.
SimBIOsi
FUN · ORGANIC · GREAT ENERGY
A different gear entirely. SimBIOsi brings genuinely good food with a looseness of service that feels earned rather than careless — the staff is enthusiastic and the room has energy. A welcome change of pace midweek when the circuit of serious trattorias can feel a bit uptight.
La Giostra
STEAKS · ROMANTIC · WATCH THE WINE LIST
Good for steak. Better for a date. It has a warmth that makes the evening feel like an occasion. Note: the waiters at La Giostra have a gift for steering you toward bottles at the top of the wine list. You’re an adult who can read a menu. Exercise that right. Specify your vino before they order it for you. The wine is good. The upsell is shameless.
Buca Mario
GROUPS · STEAK · RIBOLLITA
The oldest restaurant in Florence, allegedly. Good for groups, good for steak, good for the ribollita that shows up on almost every table regardless of what anyone ordered. It doesn’t always have the intimacy of a smaller trattoria, but when you’re eight people deep and hungry after a long day at Fortezza, Buca Mario handles it well.
Sostanza
LUNCH OR DINNER · BISTECCA · COMMUNAL TABLES
One of Florence’s oldest and most beloved restaurants, Trattoria Sostanza is Michael’s personal favorite. The room is plain, the tables are communal, and the food is extraordinary in exactly the way you hope traditional Florentine cooking can still be. It works beautifully at lunch, which is rare in a city where many of the serious restaurants only fully come alive at dinner. The bistecca is among the better ones in town, but the dish that truly sets Sostanza apart is the butter chicken, cooked simply and perfectly. It is one of the best things you will eat in Florence.
THE LOCAL RULE
If you walk into a restaurant in Florence and it’s full of tourists, turn around. The best tables in this city are usually full of Florentines — people who eat here every week and could eat anywhere. Follow them.
PICI, SPECIFICALLY
Pasta, Glorious Pasta
A word on pasta before you accidentally eat a bad bowl of it somewhere near the Duomo: Florence takes this seriously in a way that most cities only pretend to. Fresh, hand-rolled, built for the sauce — not dressed up, not overcomplicated. If pici is on the menu, order it. If it’s not, ask what’s made in-house that day and follow that answer wherever it leads.
Il Volo
TUSCAN · THE ROOM IS THE REASON
Il Volo earns its place on the list for a few reasons, and the room is near the top of them — a glass dome, warm lighting, unforgettable. Ask about the tagliatelle with truffle. A good choice when you want something that feels a little more polished midweek.
Gladius
LUNCH · RELAXED
A solid lunch option with spaghetti that’s genuinely worth seeking out. Good energy for a midday break during show days.
THE DRINK
Where to Have a Negroni (and Everything Else)
Florence is the birthplace of the Negroni — Count Camillo Negroni, 1919, Caffe Casoni. You’re not here to drink bad cocktails. Here’s where the evening properly begins.
Giacosa
NEGRONI · COCKTAILS · THE RITUAL
The Negroni’s home bar, essentially. Come here before dinner. Order the Negroni. Do not apologize for being predictable — being predictable about this is entirely correct.
Procacci
CHAMPAGNE · TRUFFLE SANDWICHES
An elegant counter, excellent Champagne, and the famous truffle-cream sandwiches that every serious Florentine visitor eventually discovers.
MORNING THROUGH MIDNIGHT
The Full Day’s Itinerary
Pitti days are long. The walks are considerable. The standing — at Fortezza, between pavilions, in the courtyards — adds up. The rhythm matters. Here’s how to pace it.
La Ménagère
BREAKFAST · DECOUPAGE · WONDERFUL
Start here. La Ménagère is the kind of breakfast spot that makes you feel like you’re getting away with something — the room is beautiful, the pastries are right, and the decor (genuine decoupage, floor to ceiling) is unlike anything else in Florence. The best possible way to begin a Pitti morning.
Caffè Gilli
AFTER DINNER · CLASSIC · PIAZZA DELLA REPUBBLICA
There’s a ritual to the end of a Florentine evening, and Gilli is part of it. A historic cafe on the Piazza della Repubblica. Dessert, a digestivo, or simply a coffee — Gilli punctuates the night well.
Colle Bereto
AFTER GILLI · CLUB · LATE NIGHT
If the night still has momentum after Gilli, Colle Bereto is the next move. A club that attracts a well-dressed crowd.
Fiddler’s Elbow
AFTER DINNER · PUB · NO PRETENSE
Sometimes you just want a pint in a pub where the conversation doesn’t require a reservation. Florence’s best answer to that instinct.
One Stop You Shouldn’t Skip
Florence is a place to shop well — and deliberately. The vintage scene here is exceptional if you know where to point yourself.
C’est Chic
VINTAGE · ONE OF THE BEST IN FLORENCE
Florence has a strong vintage scene, and C’est Chic is one of the anchors of it. Well-curated, properly edited, with pieces that have survived the cut for a reason. Worth an hour of any afternoon. Budget accordingly.
“Pitti is where we come to stay close to the craft. The city just happens to feed and clothe you extraordinarily well while you’re at it.”
A few last things worth saying: make reservations before you leave New York. The best tables fill up early, and the Pitti crowd gets there first. Learn a few phrases of Italian — not for fluency, but for the gesture of it. Florentines notice. And walk everywhere you can. The city reveals itself to people who move through it slowly.
We’ll see you at Fortezza.
A Sidebar: A Few Italian Phrases to Know While In Florence
You don’t need to know Italian to survive Florence. But a handful of phrases — used correctly, without apology — changes how you’re received. Florentines notice the gesture. The table gets a little warmer. The service gets a little better. The evening gets a little longer.
Buongiorno / Buonasera Good morning / Good evening — Walk in saying this. Every time, every place. Not saying it is the tourist tell.
Un tavolo per due, per favore A table for two, please — The first sentence at any restaurant without a reservation.
Posso vedere il menu? May I see the menu? — They’ll bring it, but asking signals you know what you’re doing.
Cosa consiglia? What do you recommend? — Ask this and mean it. Good waiters light up. Follow their answer.
Un Negroni, per favore A Negroni, please — You’re in Florence. This is not optional.
La bistecca, al sangue The steak, rare — Bistecca Fiorentina is served rare. Don’t fight it. Order it correctly.
Basta cosi, grazie That’s enough, thank you — Use at Il Santo Bevitore when the waiter keeps bringing bread. Politely definitive.
Il conto, per favore The bill, please — Ask when you’re ready. Don’t make eye contact and wave — it doesn’t work here.
E’ delizioso It’s delicious — Say it after the first dish. You’ll get better service for the rest of the night.
Scusi Excuse me — For navigating crowds, getting attention, squeezing past someone at the bar. Use liberally.
Grazie mille Thank you very much — More generous than a plain grazie. Use it when someone does something genuinely helpful.
Dov’e’ il bagno? Where is the bathroom? — You will need this. Best asked quietly, between courses.
Quanto costa? How much does it cost? — Useful at C’est Chic. Ask before you’re committed.
Perfetto Perfect — The all-purpose affirmation. Florentines use it constantly. So should you.
A dopo See you later — Warmer than arrivederci. Use it at a place you plan to return to — and mean it.
A note on pronunciation: Italians are genuinely delighted when visitors try, and genuinely forgiving of imperfection. Confidence matters more than accuracy. Say it, commit to it, and move on.
Coming to Pitti?
Whether you’re planning your first trip or your fifteenth, we’re happy to share more of what we know — from where to stay to what to wear. This is the kind of conversation we’re always glad to have. And, you probably need a few things to wear.
