Gustapizza

The queue outside Gustapizza is, in its way, a form of quality assurance. When the locals of the Oltrarno — a neighbourhood that does not queue for things that aren't worth queuing for — line up along Via Maggio before the doors open, that is a recommendation of the highest order. They are coming for one of the genuinely great pizzas in a country that invented the form and still executes it better than anywhere else on earth.

The pizza is Neapolitan in style: a soft, pillowy cornicione (the raised crust) with a thin, slightly yielding centre that holds its toppings without becoming soggy. The dough is fermented slowly, cooked in a wood-fired oven at the correct temperature, and pulled at the precise moment when the char on the crust moves from scorched to caramelised. The margherita is the benchmark, as it should be at any serious pizza restaurant. The pesto burrata is exceptional. The truffle pizza, seasonal when available, makes the case for truffle on pizza in a way that many restaurants attempt and few achieve.

Prices are €9–16 per pizza — well within the reach of a solo dinner or an informal date — and portions are generous enough that most people leave satisfied by a single pie. The staff are young, efficient, and friendly without performing friendliness. The atmosphere is buzzy rather than refined: this is a neighbourhood pizza restaurant operating at a very high level, and it dresses accordingly.

There are two queues: one for eat-in, one for takeaway. The takeaway line moves faster and the pizza travels well for the short walk to the Boboli gardens or the steps of Palazzo Pitti, which makes Gustapizza one of the city's finest options for an informal outdoor meal. The eat-in experience, with its proximity to the kitchen and the convivial communal energy, is its own pleasure entirely.

The wait for eat-in at peak hours is 30–45 minutes and should be factored into any plans. It is worth it, unambiguously.

Solo dining at Gustapizza is, without irony, one of the finest experiences Florence offers. You arrive, you join the queue, you watch the wood-fired oven work through the open kitchen, you are seated — at the counter or at a small shared table — and you eat a pizza of considerable quality for the price of a poor museum lunch. The quality-to-cost ratio is the best in the city, bar none.

The experience is intentionally solo-friendly in the way that the best pizza restaurants always are. You do not need a companion to explain the menu, negotiate the bill, or fill the silences. The pizza arrives, demands your full attention, and is consumed. This is eating at its most direct and most satisfying.

Pair it with a walk through the Oltrarno before or after — the neighbourhood's markets, artisan workshops, and the San Miniato hill above — and you have a Florence afternoon of complete sufficiency.

"Queued for 40 minutes and ordered the margherita and the pesto burrata. Both were among the finest pizzas I've eaten anywhere, at any price point. The Oltrarno is lucky to have it. Florence's visitors who go to the tourist pizzerias instead are being failed by their guidebooks." — Join to read full reviews