First, Florence is the most beautiful and lovely and delicious city ever. Go there immediately.
Second, I got a lot of my eating recommendations from Amey at Vegan Eats and Treats; she visited Florence recently and ate a bunch of amazing stuff and her posts (and the posts she links to!) are invaluable. Randi from Laughfrodisiac also gave me some AMAZING recommendations and many of them are included below. In addition to the brilliant suggestions from Amey and Randi, I checked out Happy Cow, Foursquare (super helpful!) and Yelp. Plus, if you just google “Florence Vegan”, you’re gonna find lots of blogs featuring tours and what not. Some are out of date so double check to make sure things are still open and that hours are correct.
Another tip I have for all those who want to travel to Italy (or really anywhere in Europe!) is to go over Thanksgiving! The plane tickets are much cheaper than any other time of year and the cities sparkly with holiday excitement! A++++!!!
OK, here’s what I ate:
GELATO. It’s everywhere and literally every place I went to add vegan options — from soy or rice milk-based to blow-your-mind sorbets.
Gelato everywhere! The below is from Perche No, which I thought meant “Perchance yes?” but is actually “why not?” but that’s basically the same thing! Anyway, the gelato was SO GOOD.
Panino Vegano! Everything vegan and gluten-free! They have tons of homemade mayos (including one made with carrots!) and a variety of burger patties and toppings. They also had gluten-free vegan pizza that was surprisingly delicious. I am not usually down for gluten-free eating but this was DAMN TASTY. Would eat again! And again!
Heavenly candied strawberries from Mercato Centrale, this amazing indoor market that’s an amazing must-visit for people who love food, where we also had an amazzzzzing pizza marinara and pasta with garlic and olive oil and peppers and magic. Oh! And the espresso! Goodness!
Vecchio Forno!!!! THE ONE PLACE YOU MUST GO. Get the veggie-topped schiacciata. Eat it. Come back the next day. Eat more more more more more!
La Raccolta restaurant and cafe and adorable vegetarian store! Where I purchased some amazing cakes and pies and the best seitan I’ve ever eaten. Go here, shop, have lunch or dinner, eat all the pie.
Ristorante Zaza right near the Mercato Centrale. Not a ton of vegan options but they have a trio of AMAZING soups and deep-friend zucchini flowers. What more do you need? This is typical of many traditional Tuscan restaurants. Even if you can’t eat everything on the menu, there is more than enough amazing food to eat! So eat it! Go wherever you want and eat and be happy!
Gli Stuzzichini del Corso has made vegan pastries and beverages in the heart of Florence. A great place for a quick breakfast before going to look at David’s That Which Is Most Sacred (his penis).
5 e Cinque OMG EAT HERE. Romantic, delicious, all vegetarian with MANY vegan options. Just delicious, gorgeous food in a beautiful setting. Reservations are a must! You will get lucky! Below you will see their cecina (a chickpea pancake from heaven that’s a Florence specialty and you’ll find all over! Eat a lot of it!), French onion soup, minestrone, a meatball dish and a roasted artichoke dish. Oh! And an almond milk panna cotta that was out of this world. It can all accurately be described as HOLY SHIT SO GOOD.
Antico Noe. I’ll let Randi explain this one: “the greatest food on earth. Most important place to go! Tiny sandwich shop, takeaway.
The best bread ever. Get roasted veggies
and whatever sauces they
suggest on it. Go every day. Next
to a full-menu osteria of the same name.”
Co-signed to all of that!
Eat the dried and candied fruit whenever you can because you will not regret it.
Dolce Vegan! So good! Cheese plates! Gnocchi in carbonara sauce! Seitan Scallopini! Panna Cotta! Tiramisu! Go there!
Il Vegetariano. This place has been around forever and it’s like eating in an Italian grandma’s cabin. There are a few ever-changing options and about half are vegan and tons of vegan desserts. Everything was great and the chocolate pie (in the top left corner of the below terrible photo) was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever eaten. Oh, and the salad dressing was off the chain so definitely build your own salad!
There were SO many other places I wanted to eat! SO MANY! So many places with “vegan” listed on the doors and menus and just… I couldn’t eat everything. I could be there for several months and not eat everything. Related: Any Italians want me to move in for several months? I am ready.
Florence is one of the best places I’ve ever been. The beauty of the city, the world class museums, statues and priceless, unforgettable art EVERYWHERE, the gelato on every corner. It’s just… ridiculous. I don’t know what else to say. Go there. Go there now.
IN GENERAL: Italy as a vegan was so super easy and it’s only getting easier. Vegans: Go early and often!
Also, if you feel like taking the 1-1/2 hour high-speed train ride to Rome, you can read all about my vegan eating there!