Ask a Florentine: The Steak Rules, the Gelato Test & Why Florentines Eat Tripe Sandwiches
Marco Rossi has spent forty years in Florence, running a leather workshop in the Oltrarno quarter and appointing himself guardian of the city's food traditions — the kind of Florentine who gets visibly agitated when a tourist orders bistecca well-done. Ask the old guard how to eat, shop, and move through this city, and the answers come fast and firm. Here they are.
What's the biggest food mistake tourists make in Florence?
Ordering bistecca alla fiorentina well-done. No exaggeration. The bistecca is a thick-cut T-bone from Chianina cattle — the breed is specific, the cut is specific, the cooking method is specific. It goes over high-heat charcoal, 5-7 minutes per side, and arrives rare to medium-rare. This is not negotiable.
Ask for it well-done in a real Florentine trattoria and you've done the equivalent of asking a sushi chef to microwave the tuna. They might oblige. The disappointment on their face will be real.
The steak is sold by weight — typically 40-55 EUR per kilogram, and one serves two people. Share it. Best at Trattoria Mario (casual, cash only, shared tables), Il Latini, or Buca Mario.
What about gelato — how do you spot the good stuff?
The test is simple: look at how it's displayed. Real gelato sits flat in covered metal containers, colors muted and natural. Pistachio should read brownish-green, not bright green. Lemon should be pale, not neon yellow.
If it's piled into tall, colorful mountains in vivid artificial shades, that's industrial product dosed with food coloring. Walk away.
The best: Vivoli (since 1930, near Santa Croce), La Sorbettiera (the local favorite in Oltrarno), and Gelateria dei Neri. A 2-scoop cone costs 2.50-3.50 EUR. Any shop near Ponte Vecchio charging 5+ EUR is overcharging for mediocre product.
What is lampredotto — and why do most tourists walk right past it?
Lampredotto is tripe — specifically the fourth stomach of a cow — slow-simmered in broth with tomato, onion, and parsley, then served on a crusty roll with salsa verde and a spicy sauce. The top of the roll gets dipped in the cooking broth.
It costs 5 EUR from the trippaio (tripe cart) vendors around San Lorenzo Market and near Sant'Ambrogio Market. It is the most Florentine food that exists — more than bistecca, more than ribollita. The trippaio is where construction workers, bank managers, and grandmothers all stand together eating the same sandwich.
Most tourists are scared of it. Their loss. The texture is tender, the broth is rich, and the soft meat against crusty bread and sharp green sauce is street food at its finest.
Where do Florentines eat?
Not near the Duomo. Not on Piazza della Signoria. Those addresses charge 30-50% more for worse food.
Oltrarno — the neighborhood on the south side of the Arno river — is where Florentines eat. Trattoria Sabatino (cash only, no menu, they bring you what's cooking — 8-12 EUR per course), Il Latini (reservations essential), and the small trattorias on Borgo San Frediano and Via Maggio.
The Mercato Centrale upper floor is excellent too — a gourmet food hall of artisan stalls open until midnight. The lampredotto sandwich there, the truffle pasta, and the craft beer stalls all deliver.
What about leather shopping?
Here's where Florence rewards a sharp eye. The San Lorenzo outdoor market is full of vendors selling "Italian leather" that's actually synthetic or cheap leather imported from elsewhere. If a leather bag costs under 50 EUR, it's almost certainly not genuine Italian leather.
How to test it: bend the leather. The real thing flexes without cracking and springs back, carries a specific warm smell, and shows even, tight stitching.
For genuine leather, head to Scuola del Cuoio inside Santa Croce church — a working leather school where you can watch artisans and buy directly. Or seek out the small workshops in Oltrarno, where families still make bags, belts, and journals by hand using traditional techniques. Some of these artisans have worked leather for twenty-five years and can tell real from fake from across the street.
What's the best place in Florence?
Santo Spirito piazza on a Sunday morning. A small flea market sets up, the church facade stays deliberately plain (Brunelleschi designed the interior, which is extraordinary), and the neighborhood gathers for coffee and conversation.
No tourists. No museum lines. Just Florentines doing what they've been doing for centuries — sitting in a piazza, drinking espresso, and arguing about nothing important.
Final advice?
Don't eat on church steps — the fine runs 150-500 EUR. Don't buy leather from street vendors. Don't skip the Oltrarno. And for the love of Brunelleschi, don't order your bistecca well-done.
Florence is small enough to walk everywhere and rich enough to spend a lifetime discovering — but only if you get off the tourist track. Cross the Ponte Vecchio, keep going south into Oltrarno, and find the Florence that Florentines actually live in.
That's where the real steak, the real gelato, and the real city are waiting. If Rome is also on your itinerary, the FairTravels Rome travel guide is the natural next stop.
