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Food is one of the great Italian passions and eating out can be a memorable experience, most of the restaurants serve anything but Italian food, and most concentrate of the region’s cuisine.

In Tuscany restaurants have a wide of names, but in practice there’s little difference between a trattoria and ristorante in terms of price, cooking of ambience. At lunch time you could visit a tavola calda, which will offer a range of hot and cold pasta dishes, vegetables and meat. A rosticceria offers roast chicken to take away, often with other fast foods. Most bars sell filled rolls and sandwiches and small pizza bars sell slices of pizza to eat on the street. Old fashioned wine bars are a dying breed, but they are atmospheric places to grab a snack or a glass of wine. Ice cream parlors by contrast, are thriving, and in Florence you can find some of the best in Italy.

Vegetarian Food

Florence boasts only a couple of vegetarian restaurants, but most of the restaurants offering a wider vegetarian selection, particularly if you eat fish and seafood. There are also vegetable based soups and pasta sauces, but you need to ask if they have been cooked with vegetable stock.

How Much To Pay

Prices in the restaurants, especially in Florence are higher than elsewhere. In the cheaper establishments and pizzerias you can have two persons meal with half a liter of wine for around 15 euros and in restaurants you could easily pay as much as 50 euros. Leaving a tip is a matter of your own discretion and restaurants are obliged by law to give you a proper bill. Cash is the preferred form of payment in most cafes and bars, but many restaurants will accept major credit cards.

Reservations

For all good restaurants in Florence is advisable to reserve a table. Where restaurants do not accept bookings try to arrive early to avoid queuing.

At The Restaurant: How to order a meal in Florence and Tuscany

A meal in the restaurant will usually start with Antipasto: or hams, olives, salamis and followed by: Primo piatto: soups, lasagne, pasta of rice. Secondo piatto, main courses: will be meat of fish, served alone or by vegetables and salad. To finish there will be dessert or Dolce: choice of fruit, chesses, tiramisu and puddings. Coffee always espresso, macchiato or corretto - never cappuccino, is ordered right at the end of a meal, often with digestives.

The Wine

House wines will usually be Chiantis, the cheaper restaurants usually have only house wine, or a small choice of other Tuscan wines, other restaurants will have a wide selection of regional and international wines.