What to try
Ribollita, a thick soup of vegetables, legumes and bread, is a good choice if you want something hearty. Pappa al pomodoro is also made with bread, this time with tomato: expect a comforting dish rather than a light soup. Both show how local cooking makes the most of everyday ingredients.
If you want meat, there is bistecca alla fiorentina, a thick cut cooked on the grill. Before ordering, ask about its size and final price, especially if you plan to share it. For a more casual meal, try lampredotto, usually served in a sandwich. It is offal, with a distinctive flavour and texture: choose it out of genuine curiosity, not because you feel you have to tick it off a list.
If you do not eat meat, there is no need to force tradition. Dishes made with vegetables, legumes and bread also tell the region’s culinary story. Check the ingredients in each dish, as a recipe that appears vegetarian can vary from one kitchen to another.
Choosing an area and a place to eat
Eating in the historic centre is convenient between visits, but being close to a monument says little about quality. A menu you can read before entering, dishes you genuinely want to eat and clear information about portion sizes are more useful signs than someone inviting you inside.
A trattoria can be a good place to sit down and try several dishes; an enoteca suits a short meal with wine; and a prepared-food stall lets you carry on exploring without giving too much time to lunch. No label guarantees a good experience. In areas such as Oltrarno, it is worth wandering and choosing a particular place on its own merits, without assuming that a few minutes’ walk from the centre will automatically mean better food or a lower bill.
People who live nearby can enjoy Florence without making every meal an occasion, too: buying something simple, sitting down somewhere it is permitted or returning to a favourite place can be more satisfying than chasing every new opening.
Spending wisely
To keep costs down, alternate sit-down meals with casual options and decide before ordering whether you want several courses or just one dish. Check the prices of drinks, sides and specialities whose portion size is unclear. Spending more may make sense for the ingredients, the service or the time you want to spend at the table; an attractive location alone does not justify it.
Be wary of sweeping promises: a menu that tries to cover all of Italy may make it harder to choose if you want to get to know Tuscan cooking. That does not make every restaurant in the centre a tourist trap. Read what is on offer and choose for the food served, not the façade or the distance to the nearest monument.
The best meal of your trip might be a shared bistecca, or it might be a bowl of soup after a morning’s walk. In Florence, eating well means getting to know these flavours and choosing the right moment for them, without turning every meal into a test of authenticity.