RFK Rankings · Florence
Best Restaurants for Family-Friendly in Florence (2026)
Family-friendly · Florence · 6 trattorie ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 5, 2026 · Updated June 17, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Florence makes family dining easy, because the Tuscan trattoria was built for exactly this: long tables, big shared plates, bread and pasta no child will refuse, and waiters who treat a stroller as a normal Tuesday rather than a problem. The trick is knowing which rooms feed a family well without the tourist-trap markup, and which handle a restless toddler with grace. The map below runs from a century-old San Lorenzo institution where you share a table with strangers, to a pizzeria on the steps of a basilica where the kids can run, to honest Oltrarno trattorie the locals trust. Each entry is ranked on how genuinely it welcomes children, the value of the food, and how easily a family is seated.
1.Trattoria Mario
The century-old San Lorenzo canteen; share a table for bistecca and pasta when the kids are hungry at noon.
Trattoria Mario on Via Rosina, steps from the San Lorenzo market, has been a family-run lunch canteen since 1953, and its communal tables are about the most relaxed introduction to Tuscan eating a family can get. You share a paper-topped table with strangers, the menu is a short daily list chalked up at the counter, and the famous bistecca alla fiorentina, ribollita and simple pasta arrive fast and cheap, most lunches well under twenty euros a head. It is lunch only, cash only, no reservations, and there is usually a queue, so come early. Arrive at noon with the children hungry, order the bistecca to share and a pasta for the little ones, and you will be fed before anyone melts down.
Arrive at noon, order the bistecca to share, and a pasta for the kids.
2.Trattoria Sabatino
An honest, cheap Oltrarno trattoria the locals trust; book it for simple Tuscan plates a whole family will finish.
Trattoria Sabatino, just outside the Porta San Frediano in the Oltrarno, is the no-frills family-run trattoria Florentines send their own relatives to, open since 1956 and run by the same family across generations. The room is plain and bright, the cooking is honest Tuscan home food, and the prices are some of the gentlest in the centre, most plates a handful of euros. The pasta, roast meats and seasonal vegetables are exactly the kind of straightforward food children actually eat, and the staff are patient with a family settling in. It is the antidote to the tourist trattorie around the Duomo. Walk over the river, order a few pastas to share, and let the kids work through the simple Tuscan plates.
Walk over the river and order a few pastas to share around the table.
3.Trattoria 13 Gobbi
A warm central trattoria built for groups; book it for the rigatoni-in-the-pan when the whole family is hungry.
Trattoria 13 Gobbi on Via del Porcellana, near Santa Maria Novella, is a favourite of local families and big groups, a warm, characterful room hung with copper pans where the portions are generous enough to share around a table of children and grandparents alike. The signature is the rigatoni dei 13 Gobbi, pasta served theatrically in a copper pan, which is a small show in itself for a child at the table. The Tuscan classics, the bistecca and the big bowls of pasta land at fair central-Florence prices, most mains in the mid-teens to low twenties of euros. It is comfortable, generous and used to families. Book a table, order the rigatoni in the pan, and let the kids watch it arrive.
Book a table and order the rigatoni served in its copper pan.
4.Trattoria Za Za
The big, busy San Lorenzo room with something for everyone; book the terrace when the menu has to please every age.
Trattoria Za Za on Piazza del Mercato Centrale, by the San Lorenzo market, is the bright, busy, frescoed room that handles a mixed-age family better than almost anywhere in the centre, because its enormous menu means a picky six-year-old and a steak-hungry grandparent both find their dish. The tortelloni, truffle pastas, big T-bone and mushroom risotto are the orders, and the covered terrace on the piazza gives restless kids something to watch. It is touristy and busy, but reliable and genuinely welcoming to families, with mains across a wide range of euros. Book the terrace ahead, hand the children the long menu, and order a pasta and a bistecca to anchor the table.
Book the terrace ahead and order a pasta and a bistecca to anchor the table.
5.Trattoria del Carmine
A local Oltrarno favourite with a wide seasonal menu; book the piazza tables when you want quieter family dining.
Trattoria del Carmine on Piazza del Carmine in the Oltrarno is famous among locals for classic Tuscan cooking served in an elegant but simple style, and its quiet square is one of the calmer places in the centre to seat a family with young children. The menu is broad and changes with the season, so there is always a simple pasta or a roast that a child will eat alongside more ambitious plates for the adults, with mains landing at honest local prices. The tables out on the piazza give a stroller room and the kids space, away from the crush around the Duomo. Book a table on the square, order a seasonal pasta for the children, and take the evening at a family's pace.
Book a table on the square and order a seasonal pasta for the children.
6.Gusta Pizza
The heart-shaped pizza on the Santo Spirito steps; come early with the kids for a cheap, fuss-free dinner.
Gusta Pizza on Via Maggio, on the steps below the Santo Spirito basilica in the Oltrarno, is the easiest family dinner in Florence: a wood-fired Neapolitan pizzeria that famously shapes some of its pizzas into a heart, with a few euros buying a proper pie. It is a tiny, busy walk-in with limited seating, so most families grab a pizza and eat on the basilica steps in the piazza, where children can run while the adults sit. The margherita and marinara are the orders, the queue moves fast, and the whole thing is cheap and entirely fuss-free. Come early before the queue builds, order a few pizzas, and let the kids eat on the steps in the square.
Come early, order a few pizzas, and let the kids eat on the steps.
Don't book these with young children
Wonderful rooms, but not for a family dinner
The Michelin-starred tasting rooms. Florence's high-end tasting menus are long, formal and quiet by design, an evening built for adults that no toddler will sit through. Save them for a night when the children are with a sitter, and feed the family at a trattoria instead.
The aperitivo-only wine bars around Santo Spirito at night. After dark, several of the Oltrarno's loveliest spots tip into a drinks crowd with little real food and no room for a stroller. Lovely for a couple at sundown, wrong for a hungry family dinner.
How to eat well in Florence with kids
Florence rewards families who eat the way Florentines do: an early, generous lunch and a simpler dinner, both built around shared pasta and bread that no child refuses. The trattorie above are concentrated around San Lorenzo and in the Oltrarno across the river, and the Oltrarno in particular, with Sabatino, del Carmine and Gusta Pizza, tends to be calmer and cheaper than the streets around the Duomo. Share plates rather than ordering a course each, and a family eats very well for very little.
Time it right and the whole thing is easy. Trattoria Mario is lunch only and does not take bookings, so arrive at noon; Za Za and 13 Gobbi take reservations and are worth booking ahead for a terrace or a larger table. Most kitchens will happily do a plain pasta for a child even when it is not written on the menu, so just ask. For more rooms and neighbourhoods suited to a family, browse the Florence dining guide and plan around your day.
Frequently asked
What is the best family restaurant in Florence?
Trattoria Mario near the San Lorenzo market is the classic family lunch, a communal-table canteen open since 1953 where bistecca, ribollita and simple pasta arrive fast and cheap. It is lunch only, cash only and takes no bookings, so come early. For dinner with a mixed-age table, Trattoria Za Za on Piazza del Mercato Centrale has an enormous menu that pleases a picky child and a steak-hungry grandparent alike.
Where can I take kids to eat in the Oltrarno?
The Oltrarno, across the river, is the calmer, cheaper side for families. Trattoria Sabatino just outside Porta San Frediano is the honest, low-priced trattoria locals trust, Trattoria del Carmine on its quiet piazza has a wide seasonal menu and room for a stroller, and Gusta Pizza on the Santo Spirito steps is a fuss-free wood-fired pizzeria where kids can eat in the square. All three are easy with young children.
Are Florence restaurants welcoming to children?
Yes. Florentine trattorie are built around long tables, shared plates and bread and pasta that children happily eat, and waiters generally treat a family with young kids as completely normal. Most kitchens will make a plain pasta for a child even when it is not on the menu, so just ask. The trattorie on this list, from Trattoria Mario to Trattoria 13 Gobbi, are used to seating families and groups without any fuss.
Which Florence restaurant is best for big family groups?
Trattoria 13 Gobbi near Santa Maria Novella is built for groups, a warm room with portions generous enough to share around a table of children and grandparents, and its signature rigatoni served theatrically in a copper pan is a small show for a child. Trattoria Za Za, with its huge menu and covered terrace on Piazza del Mercato Centrale, also absorbs a large mixed-age party easily. Book either ahead for a bigger table.
Where can I get cheap, easy food in Florence with kids?
Gusta Pizza on the Santo Spirito steps is the cheapest, easiest family meal in the centre: a few euros buys a wood-fired pie, the queue moves fast, and most families eat on the basilica steps where children can run. Trattoria Sabatino in the Oltrarno is the other budget pick, an honest family-run trattoria with simple Tuscan plates at some of the gentlest prices in the centre. Both keep a family fed for very little.
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