Mohawk

Folks,
Going to Italy next summer, Florence or Rome, I'm still deciding. Which city has the better food? I'm talking bistro-type level down, not ultra fancy or expensive restaurants. Which is more expensive? Which more abundant? Which has more tourist traps? Thanks for your replies. Mark

ekscrunchy

It is easier to avoid tourist traps in Rome since it is a larger city and the tourist areas are delineated and more concentrated. But they can be avoided in Florence as well if you take care. I cannot think offhand of more than a few "fancy" restaurants in Florence outside hotels and a few "big name" places. And I find the food to be surprisingly good as a whole, even in the trattorie popular with tourists. But this does not mean you cannot be taken, or eat a bad meal.

The main things you might consider is the food itself, because the cuisines of those two cities are vastly different from each other. I do not have time to spell it out here but I can recommend a few books to get you started if food is an interest of yours. The first would be the classic "Italy for the Gourmet Traveler" by Fred Plotkin.

ira

Hi M,

>Which city has the better food?

Bologna.

dawnnoelm

Mohwak,
I prefered the food in Florence but that is just an opinion.

We did a "food crawl" tour in Florence with Context Travels and Emily Wise Miller was our guide. http://florencefoodie.wordpress.com/

You might find some useful information regarding resturants and food in Florence there.

bardo1

<i>Which is more expensive?</i>
Restaurant prices vary in both cities and prices for similar restaurants are about the same. Hotels in Rome costs more.

<i>Which more abundant</i>
Well, the city of Rome is about ten times the size of Florence...

<i>Which has more tourist traps?</i>
Agsain, Rome is a MUCH larger city so in sheer number, it has more tourist traps. However, the <b>percentage</b> of tourist trap restaurants in Florence is higher.

plafield

We loved the food in both cities and as it has been said, it's very different cuisine in many ways. You will find pasta and pizza in both places but flavors and ingredients and specialties will be quite different if you seek out authentic non-tourist foods.

Either city, you need to do your research to find great authentic food for reasonable prices. You say you're going next summer. Just be aware that many of the smaller non-touristy restaurants close in August.

So, the food was great in both cities but we liked Rome much better in every other way. In general it felt so much less touristy, likely because it is so much bigger you can see and feel all the people who actually live there, not just the people who are visiting from somewhere else. But there are plenty of folks who rave about how wonderful Florence is.

lucci

Hi,

Can you please share specific names and places in both Rome and Florence?

Grazie,

Lucci boy am I hungry!

ericajohnson

Don't you think the pasta and other food similar to this, it's better in Florence rather than a Rome?

TDudette

What everyone above writes, BUT what about those steaks in Flo???? Based on but a few visits, I think the remnants of city-states ate still hinted at by local wines and special foods. Please go to both places and report back! 🍷

bilboburgler

2007 is a pretty long time ago, 15 years I guess

alandavid

The exchange rate and lack of taxes/tipping makes eating pretty reasonable overall.
Wine is often cheaper than soda!

We often did pizza for lunch and pasta/more courses for dinner.
Rome style pizza is more likely to be pre-made, then finish in the oven (kinda like NYC). You choose how much (often cut in squares) & then they'll put it in the oven.
Can still find the traditional Napoli-style (individual wood-fired pizzas) in Rome too. Florence seems to have more sandwich (panini) shops.

1. Tell your hotel staff what you're looking for and ask for their suggestions.
2. Avoid eating right on the tourist-filled piazzas where everyone is speaking English. Find a litttle spot in a dark alley with few tables & all locals.
3,, Was back in May & more places needed a reservation for the evening meal (post-COVID rules still lingering?). Ask the concierge to make your reservation, they seem to have more pull with getting you a table than the online apps.

curiousgeo

I had a beautifully prepared steak in Florence, one of the best I’ve eaten. At a small trattoria a short walk from Ponte alla Carraia. We enjoyed the small family run places we tried there. Never been to Rome though.

curiousgeo

Oops, just noticed how old the original post is.

bvlenci

There are thousands of restaurants in both cities. Once you know where you're staying, people can perhaps mention some restaurants in the vicinity. It wouldn't be much use to you to recommend a great little trattoria if you'd have pass about a hundred other great little trattorie to get there.

In general, it's hard to find a bad meal in either city. Restaurants are required to post a menu outside, or at least by the door, so you can always get a look at the selection and prices. I also like to look at the other diners to see if they look grumpy or if a high percentage of them seem to be waiting to be served.

Florence and Rome have very different regional cuisines. You should probably read something about the different regional specialties to get an idea of where you'd like to stay. You can Google "traditional cuisine of Florence" (or Rome) to get an idea, but since your trip is almost a year away you should get a book on the subject of Italian regional cuisines.

I find you get much better quality if you order a local specialty rather than something generically Italian. For instance, almost all restaurants in both cities will offer lasagna, because they know it's popular with foreign tourists. However, lasagna isn't a specialty of either Florence or Rome, so I wouldn't order it in either city.

Another thing to keep in mind is that restaurants in both cities can't afford to overlook the tourists. That doesn't make them tourist traps. I sometimes read ridiculous advice to "stay away from restaurants with menus translated into other languages". That would mean avoiding about 90% of the restaurants in both cities. However I would say to avoid restaurants with laminated menus showing photos of the food. This is a good sign that the food is made elsewhere and just thawed and heated up in the restaurant.

Traveler_Nick

That's not Roman style pizza. That's pizza al taglio.

Real Roman style pizza is thinner and crisper than Naples style. It's made differently from the dough to how it's cooked. Cooked at lower temperatures for longer

bvlenci

This is correct. You can get pizza al taglio all over Italy. It's more often sold in bars than in pizza restaurants.

The best pizza is always made in a wood-fired oven (forno a legna). Look for that on the sign, or on the description of the pizzeria. It's not a guarantee, but it's the sine qua non of a great pizza.