The Oltrarno is where we send friends who want to eat where the neighbourhood eats. Around Piazza Santo Spirito and into San Frediano, a few minutes on foot takes you past trattorias cooking ribollita and trippa for regulars, wine bars, and bakery counters with warm schiacciata. Below are eleven places, all within about ten minutes’ walk of the piazza, sorted by the kind of meal you’re after.
The short list
11 places, in the order they appear below.
- 1La CasalingaLunch with regularsWalk from Piazza Santo Spirito: 2 minSanto Spirito
- 2Il BrindellonePasta e fagioliWalk from Piazza Santo Spirito: 7 minSan Frediano
- 3Trattoria CammilloDinner by the ArnoWalk from Piazza Santo Spirito: 4 minBorgo San Jacopo
- 4Osteria Tripperia Il MagazzinoOffal on real platesWalk from Piazza Santo Spirito: 4 minPiazza della Passera
- 5Il Santo BevitoreNatural wine with dinnerWalk from Piazza Santo Spirito: 5 minSanto Spirito
- 6BabaeWine window, Tuscan dinnerWalk from Piazza Santo Spirito: 4 minSanto Spirito
- 7Atelier de' NerliLate natural wineWalk from Piazza Santo Spirito: 10 minSan Frediano
- 8Santo FornoWarm schiacciataWalk from Piazza Santo Spirito: 3 minVia Santa Monaca
- 9PRAEStanding-counter paniniWalk from Piazza Santo Spirito: 4 minOltrarno
- 10Wild Buns BakeryWeekend cinnamon rollsWalk from Piazza Santo Spirito: 9 minSan Frediano
- 11La SorbettieraFruit gelatoWalk from Piazza Santo Spirito: 2 minPiazza Tasso
Which trattorias in the Oltrarno should I try?
For a full Florentine meal, start with La Casalinga, two minutes from the piazza. Then cross into San Frediano for Il Brindellone, or book Trattoria Cammillo on Borgo San Jacopo for a table facing the Arno. For the city’s offal cooking, Il Magazzino on Piazza della Passera serves tripe and lampredotto on real plates, with proper wine.
La Casalinga is just behind Piazza Santo Spirito, and eating there feels like sitting at a Tuscan grandmother’s table: ribollita, trippa alla fiorentina, generous portions, honest prices. At lunch the room fills with neighbourhood regulars. If the ground floor is full, they serve the same menu upstairs.
La Casalinga
Hours: Mon–Sat 12:00–14:30, 19:00–22:00 · Sun closed
Address: Via dei Michelozzi, 9R, 50125 Firenze FI, Italy
Il Brindellone is a San Frediano room on Piazza Piattellina. Artisans still outnumber tourists here, and the cooking stays plain: bollito, roasted meats. Locals come back every week for the pasta e fagioli. The room fills quickly, so call ahead for dinner.
Il Brindellone
Hours: Mon closed · Tue–Fri 12:00–14:00, 19:15–22:00 · Sat 12:15–14:00, 19:15–22:00 · Sun 12:00–14:00, 19:00–22:00
Address: Piazza Piattellina, 10, 50124 Firenze FI, Italy
Trattoria Cammillo has been on Borgo San Jacopo since 1945. The menu reads like a textbook of Florentine cooking, from pappardelle with wild boar ragù to bistecca and lampredotto.
Trattoria Cammillo
Hours: Mon 12:00–14:30, 19:30–22:30 · Tue–Wed closed · Thu 19:30–22:30 · Fri–Sun 12:00–14:30, 19:30–22:30
Address: Borgo San Iacopo, 57/r, 50125 Firenze FI, Italy
Most lampredotto in Florence is eaten standing at a cart. At Osteria Tripperia Il Magazzino it comes to the table on a real plate, with a glass of wine. Order the misto di quinto quarto, a mixed offal plate, and you get the whole Florentine tripe tradition at once.
Osteria Tripperia Il Magazzino
Hours: Mon–Sun 12:00–15:00, 19:30–23:00
Address: Piazza della Passera, 2, 50125 Firenze FI, Italy
Where can you drink good wine in Santo Spirito and San Frediano?
Il Santo Bevitore on Via Santo Spirito has a natural wine list among the deepest in the Oltrarno, and a seasonal kitchen to match. For a quick glass, Babae pours through an old wine window in the wall of Palazzo Manetti. Later on, Atelier de’ Nerli on Piazza dei Nerli goes from candlelit bistrot to natural wine and cocktail bar.
Il Santo Bevitore has held its stretch of Via Santo Spirito for over twenty years. Hand-cut pasta comes with game ragù, and the bottles are from small producers most visitors haven’t come across. The wine list is the main reason to come, so let the sommelier choose.
Il Santo Bevitore
Hours: Mon–Sun 12:30–14:00, 19:30–23:30
Address: Via Santo Spirito, 64r, 50125 Firenze FI, Italy
Babae’s buchetta is the small hatch once used to sell wine straight to the street. In 2019 it became the first wine window in the city to pour again. A queue forms outside during the set evening hours; check them before you cross the river. The hatch and the dining room run separately, and a place in line won’t get you a seat, so book a table if you want the short Tuscan menu inside.
Babae
Hours: Mon–Thu 11:30–00:00 · Fri 11:30–02:00 · Sat 11:00–02:00 · Sun 11:00–16:00
Address: Via Santo Spirito, 21R, 50125 Firenze FI, Italy
Florentine craftspeople put Atelier de’ Nerli together, down to the tablecloths, glasses and chairs, and the art on the walls is for sale. The place is at its best late, once the dinner crowd thins. Take a barstool then and ask for something Tuscan and off label from the short natural list.
Atelier de' Nerli
Hours: Mon closed · Tue–Sun 19:00–23:00
Address: Piazza dei Nerli, 8r/10r, 50124 Firenze FI, Italy
Where to grab breakfast or a quick lunch near Piazza Santo Spirito?
In the daytime the Oltrarno runs on counters. Santo Forno bakes schiacciata and focaccia a few steps from the piazza. PRAE makes panini to eat standing up, and Wild Buns Bakery in San Frediano does Scandinavian cinnamon and cardamom buns in the morning. For something sweet later, La Sorbettiera on Piazza Tasso makes fruit gelato with a concentrated flavour.
Santo Forno is the bakery attached to Il Santo Bevitore, and people come for the bread. Stop late in the morning for warm schiacciata at the counter, or try the focaccia; its seasonal topping changes daily.
Santo Forno
Hours: Mon–Fri 07:30–19:30 · Sat–Sun 08:00–19:30
Address: Via Santa Monaca, 3r, 50124 Firenze FI, Italy
PRAE comes from the team behind Babae. There’s no table service, only a counter turning out panini and pastries. The Chianti tuna panino is actually pork, cured to mimic the texture of tuna. The pulled pork sandwich is the other favourite at the counter.
PRAE
Hours: Mon–Sun 08:00–16:00
Address: Via Santo Spirito, 46R, 50125 Firenze FI, Italy
Wild Buns Bakery brings Nordic baking to Via di Camaldoli: cinnamon rolls, cardamom buns and pain au chocolat, with fresh juices and good coffee. Everything is baked each morning. Come early on a weekend for rolls still warm from the oven and the fullest selection.
Wild Buns Bakery
Hours: Mon–Tue closed · Wed–Sun 08:00–15:00
Address: Via di Camaldoli, 1/c, 50124 Firenze FI, Italy
La Sorbettiera is the gelateria locals walk across the Arno for. They come for the fruit flavours. Each scoop tastes of the fruit itself rather than diluted cream.
La Sorbettiera
Hours: Mon–Sat 12:30–00:00 · Sun 11:00–00:00
Address: Piazza Torquato Tasso, 11r, 50124 Firenze FI
Which Oltrarno place fits which meal?
Each of the eleven places on our list appears below with its area and the kind of meal it suits best. Walking times are from Piazza Santo Spirito, so you can plan a whole day on this side of the river: a bakery in the morning, a trattoria at lunch, wine in the evening, gelato on the walk home.
Most of the trattorias here serve lunch and dinner separately, with a pause in the afternoon, and several close one or two days a week. Check the cards before setting out. Book dinner at Cammillo and Il Brindellone, and a table at Babae if you want to eat there. Everything on the list is within ten minutes of Piazza Santo Spirito, so a meal leads easily to a glass of wine or a gelato around the corner.
