We have all been there (at least I admit I have). It is late in the afternoon, you probably didn’t have much of a lunch, and now your body begins to slowly but surely indicate that it yearns for more fuel than the lousy coffee you dumped into it a few hours ago. You are out of the house, every restaurant is closed, and you are helplessly walking towards your next destination while carrying a glimmer of hope in your eyes mixed with the sad reality of gluttonousness that is brewing within your belly. Moments like these mean that you begin to ignore any attitudes you may have towards “eating well”. Those beliefs are reserved for the times when you are cruising the local market for the freshest produce, or out at a restaurant and elect to reward yourself and those in your party with a selection from the wine list that might clash with your allotted price range. Feeling famished shows the sad truth about anybody, revealing us as the pathetic omnivorous dupes we truly are. If you live in Italy, times like these mean that you stumble into any local pizzeria that sells by the slice and that displays a mirage of anything remotely resembling pizza. They could be melting mozzarella and tomato sauce on squares of cardboard for all you know, the smell once you open the door is all it takes for you to succumb. Florence has terrific street food (if you know where to look), but one thing that it truly lacks is quality pizza.
Like any Italian city, Florence is littered with pizzerias. From those that sell by the slice to those claiming to be “Authentically Neapolitan”, there is definitely no shortage of pizzerias. When you look on a menu and see the option for a pizza alla fiorentina featuring cannelini beans and porcini mushrooms, you begin drawing conclusions that hint towards the realization that they don’t take their pizza all too seriously in these parts. Thus, one of the first endeavors you go through when moving here is to wisely choose where you eat your pizza. The event of going out for pizza in Italy is a custom that is somewhat overlooked by many onlookers. Pizza is an informal way of going out to eat. Walk into any pizzeria on a Saturday evening and you will usually find large groups of friends or young couples having a jovial time. Pizzerias are not candle lit eateries with sommeliers. They are where people go to eat cheap food, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be of low quality. Even if pizza might simply be bread topped with cheese and tomato sauce, its popularity around the world has caused it to become one of the world’s most recreated dishes. You’re not going to find the best pizza Italy has to offer in Florence (such a bold statement by any pizzaiolo would also cause a civil war). What you will find is a handful of places that don’t cater solely to tourists and that take great pride in what they do. The following is a short list of notable pizzerias that are worth a bite.
Muna Munaciello
Via Maffia 31r, Firenze
Phone Number # 055 287198
“http://www.munaciello.it” www.munaciello.it
Closed Mondays and only open at dinner.
A locale that truly illustrates Neopolitan culture, Muna Munaciello’s pizza is thick and rich just like how it is made in Naples. The service might be a bit slow and the atmosphere is rowdy, but it is definitely one of Florence’s more “authentic” pizzerias. A nice beer selection also makes this place worth a try despite the somewhat higher prices.
La Pizzeria del Caffè Italiano
Via Isola delle Stinche 15,
Phone Number# 055 289368
“http://www.caffeitaliano.it” www.caffeitaliano.it
Closed Mondays
Amazing pizza with no frills. La Pizzeria del Caffè Italiano serves only three types of pizza: margherita (with real mozzarella di buffala), marinara (with no cheese and just tomato sauce and garlic), and the Napoli (like the margherita but with anchovies and capers). It’s truly a stop for any food purist looking to have a pizza the way it is meant to be made. Good service and fairly inexpensive as well.
Pizza Man
Via Rocca Tedalda 411
Phone Number # 055 691756
Via Carlo del Prete 10r
Phone Number # 055 433849
Via Baracca 148a
Phone Number # 055 4379931
All three restaurants are closed on Mondays
This small Florentine chain is known more for its delivery than its locales, but the pizza is as good as anything (if not better) found throughout the city. The restaurants themselves aren’t that pretty and are often chaotic, but that is also why they deliver.
Flavio Nocito