Eat lampredotto at a market stall or a cart, and schiacciata at a bakery or a wine counter. Those are the two things to try, and our nine picks cover both: Nerbone, Trippaio del Porcellino and Budellino for lampredotto, the Guasti, Becagli and Sartoni bakeries for schiacciata, I Fratellini and Schiacciavino for a filled one with a glass of wine, and Semel by the Sant’Ambrogio market.
The short list
9 places, in the order they appear below.
- 01NerboneWhat it is: Stall in the Mercato CentraleOrder: Lampredotto panino
- 02Trippaio del PorcellinoWhat it is: Cart by the Mercato NuovoOrder: Lampredotto with salsa verde
- 03BudellinoWhat it is: Lampredotto sandwich shopOrder: Lampredotto on schiacciata
- 04Antico Forno GuastiWhat it is: Bakery near Porta RomanaOrder: Plain schiacciata all'olio
- 05Antico Forno BecagliWhat it is: Bakery between Santa Maria Novella and the ArnoOrder: Schiacciata with stracchino and rocket
- 06Forno SartoniWhat it is: Bakery behind Palazzo VecchioOrder: Schiacciata ripiena with prosciutto toscano
- 07I FratelliniWhat it is: Wine shop and sandwich counterOrder: The daily special with a glass
- 08SchiacciavinoWhat it is: Counter shop in Santa CroceOrder: Bomba Atomica with a glass of red
- 09Semel Street FoodWhat it is: Sandwich shop by the Sant'Ambrogio marketOrder: Porchetta with salsa verde
Where should I eat lampredotto in Florence?
At Nerbone’s stall in the Mercato Centrale, at Orazio Nencioni’s cart by the Mercato Nuovo, or at Budellino, which turns it into a more careful sandwich. Lampredotto is the fourth stomach, slow-cooked with herbs, sliced and packed into a roll dipped in the cooking broth. Nerbone has held its stall since 1872, and the cart carries on a family trade that goes back four generations.
At Nerbone the semella roll is soaked in broth, and that bread is what separates great lampredotto from good, so watch how it is done. Go early, ask for extra salsa verde and a pinch of peperoncino, and come back another day for the bollito or the peposo.
Nerbone
Hours: Mon–Sat 08:30–15:00 · Sun closed
Address: Piazza del Mercato Centrale, 50123 Firenze FI, Italia
There is no menu at the cart and nowhere to sit. Ask Orazio for the lampredotto with salsa verde and a touch of peperoncino, a sandwich he has been perfecting for more than 25 years.
Trippaio del Porcellino
Hours: Mon–Sat 09:00–18:30 · Sun closed
Address: Piazza del Mercato Nuovo, 50123 Firenze FI, Italia
Someone at Budellino has clearly thought about the ratio of filling to bread. Order the lampredotto on schiacciata, because here the bread is the difference.
Budellino
Hours: Mon–Thu 11:30–21:30 · Fri–Sun 11:30–23:00
Address: Via dei Neri, 50/52 R, 50122 Firenze FI
Where should I buy schiacciata in Florence?
From three bakeries: Antico Forno Guasti near Porta Romana for the plain version, Antico Forno Becagli between Santa Maria Novella and the Arno for plain or filled, and Forno Sartoni behind Palazzo Vecchio for a filled one at lunch. Schiacciata is Florence’s flatbread, baked in trays with olive oil and salt, then sold by the slice or split and filled to order.
The Mocarini family has run Guasti for more than 30 years, and its schiacciata all’olio is the one we measure every other slice against: thin, crisp at the edges, soft in the centre, salted just enough that you buy a second piece. Nothing is filled here, and the time to come is the morning, when the first trays come out.
Antico Forno Guasti
Hours: Mon 05:30–14:00 · Tue–Fri 05:30–19:00 · Sat 05:30–14:00 · Sun closed
Address: Via del Ponte alle Riffe, 15-red, 50133 Firenze FI, Italia
Becagli has baked since 1909, and its plain schiacciata comes out golden and oily, to eat warm by the slice. At lunch, ask for it filled with stracchino and rocket, the regulars’ combination, and get there before 1pm or it sells out.
Antico Forno Becagli
Hours: Mon–Sat 06:30–20:00 · Sun closed
Address: Borgo Ognissanti, 92 ROSSO, 50123 Firenze FI, Italia
At Sartoni, get the schiacciata ripiena with prosciutto toscano around midday, while it is still warm, and eat it at the counter or on the street outside. Portions are generous, and few places this close to the Uffizi charge less.
Forno Sartoni
Hours: Mon closed · Tue–Sun 09:30–18:00
Address: Via dei Cerchi, 34R, 50122 Firenze FI, Italia
Where can I eat a filled schiacciata with a glass of wine?
At I Fratellini or Schiacciavino, two narrow counters that pour wine next to the bread. I Fratellini, open since 1875, is half wine shop and half sandwich counter, and you eat standing by the window. Schiacciavino, in Santa Croce, has filled schiacciata for more than ten years, cuts it thick and loads it hard, and at lunch its crowd eats standing on the pavement outside.
Ask for the daily special combination and a glass of wine. The schiacciata comes from a local bakery, and it is the foundation of everything they make.
I Fratellini
Hours: Mon–Fri 11:00–19:00 · Sat–Sun 11:00–20:00
Address: Via dei Cimatori, 38/r, 50122 Firenze FI, Italia
The Bomba Atomica, with Tuscan sausage, stracchino and friarielli, is the one people order twice, so take it outside with a glass of red. The version filled with peposo all’imprunetina is made only at their other shop, out toward San Frediano.
Schiacciavino
Hours: Mon 11:00–16:00 · Tue–Thu 11:00–23:00 · Fri–Sat 11:00–00:00 · Sun 11:00–22:30
Address: Via Giuseppe Verdi, 6/red, 50122 Firenze FI, Italy
Where should I eat street food near the Sant’Ambrogio market?
At Semel Street Food, a sandwich shop right beside the Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio. It builds each panino on freshly baked bread with artisanal ingredients such as burrata, ’nduja, porchetta and lardo di Colonnata, and charges fairly for it. The ingredients rotate, so the staff know what is at its peak on the day you go.
Ask for whatever combination they recommend. To judge the kitchen, order the porchetta with salsa verde.
Semel Street Food
Hours: Mon–Sat 11:30–14:30 · Sun closed
Address: Piazza Lorenzo Ghiberti, 44/r, 50122 Firenze FI, Italia
