RestaurantFlorence, Tuscany, Italy
Mercato Centrale, Florence
Lampredotto downstairs, a long lunch upstairs
Average rating 5.0 out of 5
5.01 review$$Ground floor Mon-Sat 07:00-14:00; food hall daily 08:00-24:00
Florence's nineteenth-century iron market: the morning stalls below and the food hall above.
The verdict
Florence's central market is two places under one iron-and-glass roof, built in the 1870s in the San Lorenzo district. The ground floor is a traditional market that keeps Florentine hours: butchers with whole Chianina sides, tripe and offal counters, cheese, cured meats, olive oil and dried porcini. It opens early and winds down after lunch, and on Sundays it is closed.
The upper floor is a modern food hall, opened in 2014, with long communal tables and counters selling pasta, pizza, bistecca, fried fish, gelato and wine by the glass. It is open from morning until late, every day, and it is the easiest lunch in the city for a group that cannot agree on what to eat.
Come in the morning for the market and stay for lunch upstairs. Then, before you leave, do what the Florentines do and stop at a lampredotto cart outside: slow-cooked tripe in a crusty roll, dipped in its broth and finished with salsa verde. It is the true taste of the neighbourhood, and costs a few euros.
The market hall
What to eat
- A lampredotto roll with salsa verde
- Schiacciata, the Tuscan flatbread, filled with finocchiona
- Fresh pasta with wild boar ragù upstairs
- Pecorino from Pienza and a glass of Chianti
About this story
Emma EditorAuthor
Demo Travel AgencyPublisher
Reviews
Write a reviewAverage rating 5.0 out of 5
1 review- YSYuki Sato5 out of 5 stars15 Sept
Beautifully written and genuinely useful. The walking route between neighbourhoods worked perfectly with a pushchair, too.
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