Best pasta in Florence: my favorite restaurants and places
Where to eat the best pasta in Florence?
I am a true carb lover and I take pasta very seriously. It’s probably the food that I eat most often: most of Italians, me included, are eating pasta almost every day. So when people asks me about the best pasta restaurants in Florence, I’m very happy to introduce them to the wonderful and starchy world of pasta.
What makes a pasta dish great are basically two simple things: pasta and sauce.
Pasta can be fresh or dried. Fresh pasta is usually hand made and often (but not always) has eggs in its dough. Dried pasta is the regular pasta that you usually buy and cook at home. The difference between the two types is huge: raw fresh pasta is soft and elastic, and cooks in a few minutes. Dried pasta is instead hard and requires a longer cooking time. Once cooked, also the flavor and texture is very different.
Then it comes to the sauce (sugo or salsa in Italian). Every region, even every town of Italy has its typical recipes, but then every single family has its own version, built up by generations of grandmas.
Florence and Tuscany traditional types of pasta
Pappardelle. Wide, thick strips of fresh egg-based pasta, with a very rough surface. Often served with a wild boar sauce or ragù.
Pici. A type of pasta originally from Siena but now widespread throughout Tuscany. Pici are very wide and irregular spaghetti, hand-rolled, with an elastic and slightly chewy consistency. It is a fresh pasta without eggs, often served with Aglione sauce.
Tortelli mugellani (or tortelli di patate). Tortelli is a type of stuffed pasta that is common in the whole central Italy. They are usually filled with ricotta cheese and spinaches. But in Mugello, a country valley north of Florence, they make their own version, with a filling made of potatoes, parmigiano cheese and nutmeg. Tortelli usually come with a ragù sauce, but my favorite seasoning for them is sage and butter, simple but evergreen.
Florence and Tuscany traditional pasta dishes
Many traditional pasta sauces of Florence and Tuscany are based on wild games like wild boar, hare, and pheasant.
Ragù is a national staple, but once again, every region has its own version. Tuscan Ragù is made with pork and beef minced meat, red wine and onions. But there are so many versions, like ragù bianco (bianco means white, without tomato), and then duck ragù, hare ragù…
One of my favorite pasta sauces is Aglione: a very simple and vegan tomato sauce made with a lot of a special garlic, named Aglione (big garlic). This kind of garlic is only grown in Tuscany, and what makes it so special is that has only the good side of garlic: its taste. No down sides like poor digestion, bad breath and so on. Aglione is a very ancient and rare specie of garlic, that was almost lost. Even today it is only grown in a small area of Tuscany, Val di Chiana, so the production is very limited. Aglione sauce is giving its best with pici.
Another great vegan traditional pasta dish is pasta alla carrettiera: a down-to-heart tomato sauce with a lot of garlic and chili.
Truffles are also a very popular seasoning for pasta in Florence. Tuscany is one of the few regions of Italy where truffles are found. Usually truffle sauce has also mushrooms into it, along with butter and/or cream (so it’s vegetarian but not vegan). Truffle sauce generally goes with a long kind of fresh pasta, like tagliatelle or pappardelle.
Best pasta restaurants in Florence
Since pasta is the most common dish on a Italian table, you’ll find at least two or three pasta dishes in every single restaurant in Florence. There’s no chance of running out of carbs! But there are a few places that I specifically recommend to pasta lovers.
Following there are my favorite restaurants where to eat pasta in Florence. You can find more restaurants recommendation in my blogpost about cheap but good places to eat in Florence.
Tamerò
This is definitely one of the best pasta places in the historic center of Florence. It’s located in piazza Santo Spirito, one of the most popular spots for locals to hang out at night. And they are specialized in fresh, handmade pasta. The menu has some Italian classics like carbonara, and some more creative and contemporary recipes. They also has a take away service!
- Tamerò. Piazza Santo Spirito 11/r.
Trattoria l’Oriuolo
An old-fashioned restaurant where you can eat traditional Tuscan dishes, including Florentine steak. It doesn’t specialize in pasta, but I can assure you that their fresh handmade pasta is fantastic. The menu is short, but many dishes are not listed because they are seasonal, and vary every day based on what the chef finds at the market. The waiters will recommend you the dishes of the day.
It’s open everyday for dinner, except for Tuesdays (closing day). For lunch is only open on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays.
- Trattoria l’Oriuolo, via dell’Oriuolo 58/r.
Da Tegamino
A brand new restaurant that I wanted to try as soon as it opened. The reason is the huge portions of pasta, served in the same pan where they have been cooked (tegamino is the name of that small pan). They also serve cocktails and pizza (the same owner also has a pizza restaurant literally at the next door). Talking about that… here are my favorite places for a good pizza in Florence.
The location is the lovely piazza Santa Felicita, a stone’s throw away from Ponte Vecchio and Pitti Palace.
- Da Tegamino, piazza Santa Felicita 4.
Antico Ristoro di’ Cambi
Antico Ristoro di’ Cambi is an institution in Florence since 1950, famous for the Florentine Steak. But I also love their fresh pasta dishes, made with seasonal ingredients. In fall I crave for their pasta with artichokes (I love artichokes!) and a special mention goes to their tagliatelle with cheese, black pepper and mushrooms. And they also make a wonderful second course of artichokes with minced meat.
The restaurant has a very traditional Tuscan atmosphere with vaulted brick ceilings, and some outdoor tables.
- Via Sant’Onofrio 1R
La Primeria by FN (at Mercato Centrale).
The best pasta can also be street food. If you take a trip to the Central Market of Florence, don’t miss a stop at Primeria by FM, one of the best pasta makers of Florence. Both the pasta and the sauces are handmade at the moment, the portions are generous and the prices are low. Being street food, there are no tables for this restaurant (nor at the ground floor of the market), but you can lean on the small bar or eat while walking. La Primeria is on the ground floor of Mercato Centrale, and is open until 4.00 pm. The ground floor is my favorite part of the market, because is still quite authentic, there are locals buying fresh groceries every morning (fruits and vegetables, meat and fish, herbs, spices, etc.), and a lot of street food of any kind.
- La Primeria by FN, Central Market (ground floor).
Famiglia Michelis at Mercato Centrale
The first floor of the Mercato Centrale instead is more like a fancy food court with dozens of options, and is open until 10.00 pm. One of them is the delicious handmade of the Michelis Family. You can choose the type of pasta and the sauce that you want on it, and it will be ready in a few minutes. Then you can eat it comfortably sitting on one of the large, common tables available there.
- Famiglia Michelis, Central Market (upper floor)
La Boutique della pasta fresca
This is an address that only locals know, mostly because it’s located outside the historic center, in the non-touristy neighborhood of Le Cure. La Boutique della Pasta Fresca is a small, old-fashioned family shop that has been selling handmade fresh pasta for decades. A few years ago they added some tables and also cook their own pasta to eat on site.
Even if it’s a little out of the way, I assure you that it’s worth it. You can easily reach it with bus lines 1, 7 and C1 (find out how to use public transport in Florence). It’s only open for lunch.
- La Boutique della Pasta Fresca, via Domenico Cirillo 2/c
Covo Pasta Fresca
This place is also practically unknown to tourists, and like the previous one it was born first as a pasta maker, and only later became a restaurant. It is located in the suburban neighborhood of Gavinana, and has an open kitchen where you can watch the pasta makers at work. It is open for lunch every day (except Sunday), and for dinner only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
- Covo Pasta Fresca – via Gherardo Caponsacchi 51
L’Altro Covo
Recently the owners of Covo Pasta Fresca have opened a second restaurant in a more central location: L’Altro Covo. It is located near the San’Ambrogio Market, and is exclusively a restaurant (it does not sell take-away pasta). It is open for lunch from Monday to Friday, and for dinner on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings.
- L’Altro Covo – via della Mattonaia 29/r.
Trattoria Mamma Gina
A small, traditional restaurant that opened in 1950. The menu has all the staples of the local cuisine, from the good old steak to a creamy, heart-warming ribollita soup. I fell in love with their seasonal pasta recipes: a rich artichoke sauce in spring, and mushrooms tagliatelle in fall. And, as a big tortelli lover, I praise their tortelli mugellani with mushrooms sauce. Mamma Gina it’s in the Oltrarno district, a lively and still authentic neighborhood where you can have a walk after dinner.
Borgo San Jacopo 37 R
Best gluten free pasta restaurants in Florence
If you are gluten intolerant, don’t worry, Italians take this very seriously, and would never deprive themselves (nor you) of a dish of pasta. There are many restaurants in Florence specializing in gluten free cuisine where you can eat an excellent pasta dish. The ones I recommend below guarantee the absence of contamination by having a kitchen dedicated exclusively to gluten-free foods.
Mama Eat
A restaurant with two kitchens, two pizza ovens, two teams of chefs, to avoid any type of contamination. Any dish on the menu can be requested in a gluten-free and lactose-free version. Lots of traditional Italian pasta recipes, but also bruschetta, meat dishes, pizzas and yummy desserts.
- Mama Eat, via dell’Acqua 2.
Osteria dello Sgrano
A restaurant that only offers gluten-free cuisine, with a rich choice of fresh handmade pasta. But also great local craft beers and Chianti wine. The menu changes often, according to the seasons and the best ingredients that the chef finds daily at the market.
- Osteria dello Sgrano, Via de’ Benci 30/r
Hostaria il Desco
A traditional Tuscan restaurant with a very rich selection of wines. The elegant setting is perfect for a romantic candlelit dinner. The menu includes traditional local recipes, prepared with care and with high quality ingredients.
- Hostaria il Desco, via delle Terme 23/r
Where to buy fresh pasta in Florence
To buy fresh pasta to take away and cook at home my favorite places are:
If you are staying in an apartment, or your accommodation in Florence have a kitchen available, you can also buy fresh pasta and cook it yourself. You can try cooking an Italian sauce (if you want to learn you can take a cooking class in Florence), or you can buy it already made and reheat it before draining the pasta.
- Pasta Fresca Morioni – via Palazzuolo 56/r
- Pastificio Artigianale San Michele – via dei Rustici 6/r
- La Boutique della Pasta Fresca
- La Primeria by FN
- Covo Pasta Fresca
Map of all my favorite pasta places in Florence
I hope you found some useful tips and information in this post. If you have any other good tip about where to eat pasta in Florence or a special restaurant to recommend just leave a comment and share your experience with other travelers!