Where to eat in Florence on a budget: cheap restaurants and trattorias
People often ask me for advice on where to eat in Florence on a budget, particularly typical florentine cuisine, and I could talk about this for hours. So I thought to collect some suggestions in this post, but firstly it’s necessary to constrict the criteria.
Here you will find some advice from both myself and some trusted foodie friends; in restaurants, trattorias and osterie with reasonably priced florentine food. I have especially listed some of the best restaurants in the Old Town which offer fixed price lunch menus.
Note: even if some of those places are making sandwiches, I mentioned only restaurants that are mainly making warm local dishes, and not sandwich places.
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Where to eat in Florence on a budget
Here are some of the places where you might find me during my lunch breaks!
Around the Duomo and Piazza della Signoria area
- I’ Brindellone – a restaurant in Florence that I absolutely love. It’s small and simple, with a few decorations. However, for lunch in the weekdays there is a 10 euro menu, and an a-la-carte menu for dinners and weekends. The menu includes florentine steak as well as other traditional florentine dishes. It’s one of the few restaurants left that still serves fried brains, a typical but almost forgotten dish. It’s in the tiny Piazza Piattellina, close to Cappella Brancacci.
- Rocco – This restaurant is inside the Sant’Ambrogio market, and the owner, Rocco, is a living legend of Florence. I adore this place, although it has already started to appear in the touristic guides and is often frequented by tourists. The menu provides home made dishes like ribollita, carrettiera pasta, tripe with sauce and stew. One can share a table with others, with plentiful red wine, which is served and paid for by the flask. Rocco is open only for lunch, however remember that the market closes at 2 pm to go there earlier.
- I Buongustai – a family restaurant run by two lovely sisters, only open for lunch, and one step away from piazza della Signoria (in via de’ Cerchi 15/R). They have a cheap daily menu with pastas, salads and meat dishes.
- Il Cernacchio – a great option for a lunch break with homestyle (and homemade) pastas, bruschettas, filled sandwiches and schiacciata with cheeses, salami, prosciutto, veggies and more. It’s literally 10 meters away from piazza della Signoria. They have a small room with more seats upstairs.
- Trattoria Pallottino (via Isola delle Stinche 1/r) Not far from Piazza Santa Croce, this place has a typical, simple, informal ambience, with amazing quality food for the price!
Trattorias in San Frediano area
This is the best neighborhood in Florence where to find genuine, authentic florentine food, and it’s mainly frequented by locals instead of tourists.
- One of my favorites in this area is Trattoria I’ Raddi: a restaurant with a quaint ambience, a lot of personality, and of course yummy meals (maybe not so cheap anymore but still worthy). I’ Raddi is also great in the evening when the regular full menu offer florentine steak, peposo and other meat dishes. You will find it in Via d’Ardiglione 47/r.
- In the area between San Frediano and Santo Spirito there are dozens of restaurants and interesting taverns. One of the highlights of the many places is Trattoria dell’Orto (via dell’Orto 35) where I often go for lunch.
- Also very interesting is Osteria Santo Spirito, in the splendid corner of piazza Santo Spirito, which is very lively and animated in the evening. They serve pizza in addition to their traditional florentine dishes.
- Trattoria 4 Leoni – this is a historical trattoria, which mantains the sign of four lions: the ancient symbol of Florence from the roman times, rediscovered during the reign of Cosimo I. You can find this place in piazza della Passera, one of the most beautiful corners of Oltrarno.
This list is certainly not complete, but these are the restaurants where I like to go on a regular basis and that I know best. Do you know some other places where to eat in Florence on a budget that you think should be added? Leave me a comment!
