Florence’s Street Food Scene Goes Way Beyond the Sandwich

Morning pleasures

Florence Food & Local Flavors Tour

4,9 (1233)

3 hrs

Max. 12

Oltrarno

From €84

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Florence has long been known for its staple sandwiches, traditionally made with schiacciata bread, but the Tuscan capital’s culinary scene has far more to offer than you might expect. You don’t have to follow the crowds to the popular deli shops with queues running halfway down the road, and instead can focus on the lampredotto carts and gelato shops only locals know about.

When you’re on holiday, time is limited, and if you’ve got hangry kids by your side, eating well with minimal friction is what you want, which is exactly where Florence’s street food comes in handy, since not every meal has to be a sit down ordeal.

More Than the Famous Sandwich

The schiacciata queues are there for a reason, since everyone wants to try this chewy Tuscan bread, but making it the whole focus of your trip would be a mistake when there are countless other options just as tasty and just as worth your time.

Eating standing up isn’t a new concept Florentines picked up over the past decade or so, however much social media might suggest otherwise. This style of dining has been part of the city’s fabric for centuries, and the trippai carts, the friggitorie, the forni: none of it has ever gone away. These places remain some of the best ways to experience Florence’s food culture without following everyone else to the same handful of spots.

If you’re up for trying some street food in Florence, we’ve designed a route you can follow to make the most of your time and add variety to your foodie plans, one that works just as well for kids as it does for adults, so nobody’s left out.

The Savory Circuit

It’s your first afternoon in Florence, hunger is creeping in, the smells from the trattorias are making tummies rumble, and there are almost too many options to choose from. This savory circuit is the guidance you need.

Lampredotto, some would say, is a rite of passage for foodies visiting Florence, a sandwich whose main topping is the cow’s fourth stomach, boiled in a broth of tomatoes, onions and celery, then slapped into a semelle roll and often served from a cart on the side of the road. You only earn your stripes if you have it con tutto, meaning with everything on it, and it’s worth trying at least once even if the idea takes some getting used to. Try it at L’Antico Trippaio in Piazza de’ Cimatori, who’ve been whipping these up for around twenty years, and expect to pay €4 to €6 for a serving anywhere in Florence, though only the more adventurous kids will go for it.

If the idea of cow’s stomach doesn’t appeal, bollito panino is the best alternative: boiled beef instead of stomach, cooked slowly until tender and served on a semelle roll just the same, with a stall in Mercato Centrale called DeDa Nerbone well worth a visit and average prices around €5.50. The little ones will usually prefer it to lampredotto.

Kids are well catered to on this circuit, and coccoli with stracchino and prosciutto is the stop they’re bound to love most, a plate of scorching hot fried dough served alongside creamy stracchino cheese and a cured ham like prosciutto. You eat them by ripping open a piece of dough, loading it with cheese, and wrapping it in prosciutto, and that’s a snack that keeps kids quiet for a good twenty minutes. A short walk from Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio, a little enoteca called Enoteca Alla Sosta dei Papi does plates for around €5.

No street food adventure is complete without a stop at a friggitoria, a little shop or stall specializing in fried snacks, and one of the biggest sellers is fried zucchini flowers, also known as fiori di zucca, soaked in batter and fried to a crisp, a great substitute for any kid’s favourite fried snack. Worth knowing that they’re seasonal, mainly available from May to July, particularly at Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio.

Once you’ve worked through the savory stops and the crowds have thinned out, it’s time for schiacciata, the divine Tuscan flatbread that’s the main highlight for many people who come to the city, crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle, and always delicious. There’s a good mix of places delivering seriously good schiacciata in and around Santa Croce, many with versions tailored for children, with prices starting at €5.

The Sweet Finish

With the savory stuff out of the way, it’s on to the sweets, which is always music to the kids’ ears. Start with cantucci dipped in vin santo, traditional Tuscan almond biscuits that locals drench in a sweet dessert wine for maximum flavour, though the kids won’t be left out since they can just as happily eat the biscotti dry. And of course there’s always gelato, a safe option for everyone, whether you go classic with vanilla or branch out into something like bergamot, with its zesty profile.

Want to sample all of these street foods in one sitting? Our Florence food tours have you covered, following a set itinerary, skipping the big queues, and keeping portions family friendly along the way.

The Route Card

Standing-Up Etiquette (and Where You Can’t)

There are some unwritten rules to standing up dining in Florence that you won’t know about unless you’re a local, and the last thing you want is a hefty plate in hand and then an earful, or worse a fine, for not following them.

Via de’ Neri, Piazzale degli Uffizi, Piazza del Grano and Via della Ninna are popular streets you’ll likely find yourselves on at some point in the trip, but before you head there sandwich in hand, we’ll save you some trouble: eating is banned on these particular streets from 12:00pm to 3:00pm and from 6:00pm to 10:00pm, so plan around those windows.

There’s a solution, though, in the city’s steps and piazzas, where locals go to enjoy their roadside eats, so look for any sprawling square or relatively quiet staircase and that’s your next feeding spot sorted. We’d recommend grabbing some napkins from the stalls where you’re eating, or bringing your own, and keeping some cash on hand too, since smaller counters may not take cards. We’d also always recommend buying a few things and sharing them around the group, so everyone gets to try a bit of everything and nothing goes to waste if someone isn’t keen on a particular dish.

There’s clearly a fair bit of planning involved in putting together your own street food afternoon, and if you’d rather hand the logistics to someone else so you can just enjoy the eating, a Florence food tour will suit you well.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is lampredotto really worth trying? For adventurous eaters, absolutely. It’s by no means for everyone, being a cow’s stomach after all, but it tastes a lot better than it sounds, with a soft texture and an almost mineral like flavour rather than anything overly strong. We can pretty much guarantee it’ll taste better than you expected.

What street food will picky kids actually eat? The three main options most children love in Florence are coccoli, schiacciata and gelato: coccoli is just fried dough with cheese and ham, schiacciata is a thin Tuscan flatbread you can stuff with whatever toppings they like, and gelato tends to win everyone over regardless.

How much should a street food afternoon cost? It depends on how many people are in your family and how many dishes you order. Say a four person family, two parents and two kids, wants to try everything listed here: that comes to around €40 or more, assuming one portion of each dish shared around and a small tub of ice cream each to finish.

Can we do all of this with a guide? Yes, and doing a street food walk with a guide is the most stress free way to sample Florence’s most authentic bites without learning everything the hard way. You spend the afternoon with a local culinary expert who brings you to tried and tested spots, speaks the local language, can handle any dietary requirements, and tailors the route to your preferences, so the whole family finishes the day satisfied.

Bring your appetite and comfortable shoes, we’ll handle the route, the queues and the ordering.

Sources

TasteAtlas. (n.d.). Schiacciata.

Boulter, L. (2014, November 23). The foodie traveller: Tripe sandwiches in Florence. The Guardian.

Dunn, K. (2026, February 12). A local’s guide to street food in Florence. Eating Europe.

Dunn, K. (2026, April 29). Lampredotto: Florence’s most iconic street food (and why it sounds worse than it tastes). Eating Europe.

Eating Europe. (n.d.). Florence food tours.

About Kenny Dunn

Kenny’s love for European cuisine was sparked after moving to Rome in 2009. He fell in love with the city’s backstreet eateries, and even more with the people and stories behind each dish. Now he's turned his passion into food tours, so Eating Europe guests can also share a taste of local life.