RFK Cuisine · Italian · Florence
Best Italian Restaurants in Florence 2026
Tuscan & Italian · Florence · 7 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 20, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026
Annie Feolde turned a wine shop on Via Ghibellina into a three-Michelin-star restaurant, and for fifty years Enoteca Pinchiorri has held the top of the Florentine table without a rival in sight. But the city that invented the bistecca alla fiorentina answers to the trattoria as much as the tasting menu. A few streets away, a room open since 1869 serves a chicken breast swimming in brown butter that travelers cross continents for; another, since 1886, grills T-bones in a stone cellar. In Florence, Tuscan cooking — the steak, the beans, the wild boar, the olive oil — sits at the same level whether the bill is forty euros or four hundred. Ranked on the cooking, the room, and what the bill buys, with the dish to order at each.
1.Enoteca Pinchiorri
Florence's only three-star, built on a legendary cellar; book weeks out for the once-a-decade tasting in the city.
Enoteca Pinchiorri at Via Ghibellina 87, near Santa Croce, has held three Michelin stars since 2004, the only restaurant in Florence to reach the rank. Annie Feolde and Giorgio Pinchiorri grew it from a 1972 wine shop into a temple of Italian fine dining, and the kitchen — now led by Riccardo Monco and Alessandro Della Tommasina — cooks tasting menus that range across Tuscany and beyond. The reason to come is as much the cellar as the plate: one of the deepest wine lists in Europe, tens of thousands of bottles, decanted in a frescoed courtyard room. This is the city's apex table, the one to build a trip around. Book several weeks ahead, dress for it, and take the long tasting with a pairing.
Reserve direct, weeks ahead; the grand tasting menu and a cellar pairing.
2.Santa Elisabetta
Rocco De Santis cooks two stars in a Byzantine tower with six tables; book for an intimate special-occasion dinner.
Santa Elisabetta occupies a first-floor room inside the Torre della Pagliazza, a circular Byzantine tower at the heart of Hotel Brunelleschi, and chef Rocco De Santis has held two Michelin stars here cooking a precise menu that bridges his Campanian roots and Tuscan produce. The room seats just six tables, which makes it the most intimate fine-dining experience in the city — a deliberate counterpoint to Pinchiorri's grandeur. The signature "spaghetti, sea and garden" and the seafood courses show a kitchen working at a very high level for a small audience. It is the second table to plan around, and the better one for a quiet anniversary. Book several weeks ahead and take the full tasting.
Reserve through Hotel Brunelleschi; the tasting menu, wine pairing, one of six tables.
3.Atto di Vito Mollica
Vito Mollica's one-star inside a Renaissance palazzo; book for refined Tuscan cooking in the grandest dining room in town.
Vito Mollica returned to Florence to open Atto inside Palazzo Portinari Salviati on Via del Corso, the restored Renaissance palace once home to Dante's Beatrice, and the kitchen earned a Michelin star for its polished, ingredient-led Tuscan cooking. Mollica, who built his name running the kitchens of the Four Seasons Firenze, plates dishes with classical technique and restraint — house pastas, Tuscan meats, a tortelli that regulars return for — in a frescoed courtyard setting few rooms in Italy can match. It is the choice for a diner who wants a starred meal with the full weight of Florentine grandeur behind it. Book a week or more ahead and ask for a courtyard table.
Reserve direct; the tasting menu, a courtyard table under the frescoes.
4.Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura
Bottura's playful one-star steps from Palazzo Vecchio; book lunch for a Michelin meal without the three-hour commitment.
Gucci Osteria sits on Piazza della Signoria, in the Gucci Garden beside Palazzo Vecchio, and under chef Karime Lopez — working with Massimo Bottura — it holds one Michelin star for a menu that travels far past Tuscany. The cooking is witty and well-sourced: the tortellini in Parmigiano cream, the Emilia burger, dishes that nod to Bottura's Modena flagship Osteria Francescana while standing on their own. The room is small and design-forward, the crowd international, and lunch is the smart booking — the same kitchen, lower stakes, a seat in the most famous square in Florence. It is the most contemporary cooking on this list. Reserve well ahead and take the tasting if you have the time.
Reserve direct; lunch for value, the tortellini and the Emilia burger.
5.Trattoria Sostanza
The 1869 trattoria behind the city's most famous butter chicken; squeeze in for a meal that hasn't changed in a century.
Trattoria Sostanza on Via dell'Orso has fed Florence since 1869, and travelers cross continents for one plate: the petto di pollo al burro, a chicken breast cooked to order in a copper pan and brought to the table bubbling in browned butter. Around it sit the other classics the room has never abandoned — the tortino di carciofi, a golden artichoke omelette served from the pan, and an honest bistecca. The narrow room runs communal tables, paper menus and cash-friendly bills, and reservations are essential despite the no-frills feel. This is the unreconstructed Florentine trattoria the city's newer rooms imitate. Book two or three days ahead, sit elbow to elbow, and order the butter chicken first.
Reserve by phone; petto di pollo al burro and the tortino di carciofi.
6.Buca Mario
A stone-cellar institution since 1886; book it for the bistecca alla fiorentina done the old Florentine way.
Buca Mario has occupied a vaulted cellar near Santa Maria Novella, at Piazza degli Ottaviani, since 1886, and it remains one of the most reliable rooms in the city for the Tuscan canon. The bistecca alla fiorentina — a thick T-bone of Chianina or Maremmana beef, grilled rare and served by weight — is the order, backed by ribollita, pappardelle al cinghiale and a Chianti list that suits the food. The candlelit stone room is warmer and more polished than the rough-and-tumble trattorias, which makes it a good middle ground between a special night and an everyday one. Book a couple of days ahead and order the bistecca for the table, rare.
Reserve online; the bistecca alla fiorentina by weight, ribollita to start.
7.Il Latini
Hanging prosciutti and shared tables off Via della Vigna Nuova; come hungry for the most boisterous Tuscan dinner in town.
Il Latini, on Via dei Palchetti near Via della Vigna Nuova, is the loud, generous heart of Florentine trattoria dining: prosciutti hanging from the ceiling, long communal tables, and a near-endless parade of Tuscan dishes that arrive whether or not you asked for them. The bistecca, the arista, the ribollita and the house wine come in volume, and the meal ends with cantucci and vin santo poured by the staff. It is less a place to order carefully than to surrender to — go with a group, arrive hungry, and let the room run the meal. Skip it if you want a quiet, controlled dinner; come if you want the full Florentine table. Book ahead or queue early.
Reserve ahead or queue; the bistecca, the arista, and vin santo to finish.
How Florence eats Tuscan
Florentine cooking is built on a short, confident vocabulary: Chianina beef for the bistecca, cannellini beans and bread for ribollita and pappa al pomodoro, wild boar for the pappardelle, and Tuscan olive oil over almost everything. Even the starred rooms answer to it — Mollica's tortelli and Pinchiorri's regional courses lean on the same larder the trattorias do. Order the bistecca as the centerpiece if you eat meat, share it, and let the vegetables and the Chianti carry the rest. Lunch is a real meal here, and the starred lunches at Gucci Osteria and Atto are some of the best value in the city.
Geography keeps it walkable. The cluster around Santa Maria Novella holds Sostanza, Buca Mario and Il Latini within a few minutes of each other; the centro storico around Piazza della Signoria has Gucci Osteria and Santa Elisabetta; Pinchiorri sits toward Santa Croce; and Atto anchors Via del Corso. Florentines eat earlier than Romans — 8 p.m. is normal — and many trattorias close one day a week and for stretches of August, so confirm before you go. For the rest of the city beyond Tuscan classics, the Florence dining guide maps every neighborhood by occasion.
Where not to look for it
Skip these for real Florentine cooking
The Piazza della Signoria and Duomo tourist terraces. The rooms ringing the main squares trade on the view and the foot traffic, not the kitchen — photo menus, frozen pasta, a steep cover charge. Gucci Osteria is the one square-side exception; otherwise walk a few minutes off the piazza to any trattoria on this list.
Enoteca Pinchiorri for a casual night. The three-star room is a jacket-required, multi-hour, four-figure-for-two occasion. It is the wrong call for a relaxed dinner or a quick plate of pasta — for that, point yourself at Sostanza, Buca Mario or Il Latini.
Frequently asked
What is the best restaurant in Florence?
Enoteca Pinchiorri, on Via Ghibellina, is Florence's apex restaurant, holding three Michelin stars since 2004 and built on one of the deepest wine cellars in Europe. For a shorter, more intimate special-occasion meal, Rocco De Santis cooks two-star tasting menus at Santa Elisabetta inside a Byzantine tower. For the real Tuscan classics, the historic trattorias Sostanza and Buca Mario are the benchmarks. Choose by occasion and appetite.
Which restaurants in Florence have Michelin stars?
In the 2026 Michelin Guide Italy, Florence holds nine starred restaurants. Enoteca Pinchiorri has three stars; Santa Elisabetta under Rocco De Santis has two. The one-star rooms include Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura, Atto di Vito Mollica, Il Palagio, Borgo San Jacopo, Saporium Firenze, Serrae Villa Fiesole, and the new-for-2026 Luca's by Paulo Airaudo. Pinchiorri remains the table to plan a trip around.
Where do you eat the best bistecca alla fiorentina?
For the classic T-bone Florentine steak, the historic trattorias are the move: Buca Mario, a cellar room near Santa Maria Novella open since 1886, and Il Latini, with its hanging prosciutti and communal tables, both grill an excellent bistecca over Tuscan beef. Trattoria Sostanza does a fine one too, though its fame rests on butter chicken. Order it rare, by weight, for at least two people, and book a few days ahead.
Is Gucci Osteria worth it?
Yes, if you want a Michelin-starred meal without a three-hour commitment. Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura, on Piazza della Signoria, holds one star under chef Karime Lopez and serves Bottura's playful, well-traveled cooking — the tortellini in Parmigiano cream and the Emilia burger are the signatures. Lunch is the smart booking: same kitchen, lower stakes, a seat steps from Palazzo Vecchio. Reserve well ahead, as the room is small.
How far ahead should I book restaurants in Florence?
Book Enoteca Pinchiorri and Santa Elisabetta several weeks out, earlier for a weekend or holiday week, since both are small. Gucci Osteria and Atto di Vito Mollica need a week or more. The classic trattorias — Sostanza, Buca Mario, Il Latini — take less notice but fill their rooms most nights, so reserve two to three days ahead and accept an early or late seating. Many close one day a week, so check first.
More Italian, by city
More from RFK
Browse the full Florence dining guide, compare the global picks in the best Italian restaurants worldwide, plan a Florence anniversary dinner at Santa Elisabetta, find a first-date table near the Duomo, or open the full RFK cuisine index.
Restaurants for Kings is reader-supported. Some reservation links are affiliate links with OpenTable, Resy or Tock; we earn a small commission at no cost to you, and a link never buys a place on a ranking. Editorial scores and ranking order are independent of any commercial relationship. See our ranking methodology.