Best Coffees and Bars in Florence Italy: Tips and Suggestion

Here are the suggestions on the best bars in Florence. Among these, you will find information on the best places serving a perfect breakfast, the best cafés but also addresses to taste the best cocktails in the city and spend pleasant hours in the heart of the historic centre. You will find various options of places where the most various needs are met: from celiac to vegans, from those looking for cocktails made by mixology professionals or those who want to enjoy the classic aperitif.

Here is our selection of pastry bars in Florence, which also have a restaurant service:

Gilli: one of the best coffees in Florence

It is the oldest café in the city of Florence. It is a historic room with wood panelling opened in 1733 by a Swiss family in a Florence that was still Medici. Today, Gilli is a pastry shop, chocolate shop, restaurant and cocktail bar. It has an elegant Liberty-style room and an outdoor area in Piazza della Repubblica.

It offers a wide variety of confectionery products made with the best raw materials: chocolate sweets, jellies, bonbons, biscuits, delicious single portions and occasional sweets, such as panettone and colombe. Caffè Gilli is in the Gambero Rosso guide with three beans and three cups, in fact only a very fine blend of 100% Arabica quality is used for the preparation of the espresso.

Also for the chocolate shop, the selection of the raw material is essential to produce the Alkermes chocolate, pralines, dragées, bars and spreadable creams. Do not miss the tasty hot chocolate, a traditional classic.

The Caffè Gilli restaurant offers traditional Italian dishes reinterpreted in a modern way, from breakfast to dinner, as well as an aperitif and teatime.

The Gilli cocktail bar offers a drink list with classic, contemporary and signature, carefully prepared by expert bartenders. Luca Picchi, awarded as Bar Manager of the year at the BarAwards 2019, and his team create creations of the highest quality.

Gilli is in via Roma, 1r in Florence.

Paszkowski: historic café with live music

Concert café and brewery opened in 1903 by the Polish family of the same name. For decades, it has been a literary club and artistic salon, a venue for concerts and a place of entertainment. In 1991, the café was declared a National Monument and entered the register of Historic Places of Italy.

The historic Caffè has elegant Decò rooms, walls covered with boiserie, Murano glass chandeliers and floor mosaics.

At the helm of the kitchen, there is Chef Fabio Barbaglini, with a style that respects the historical roots of coffee.

Paszkowski is open from 7.30 am to 1 am with a menu ranging from classic house toast to cold gastronomy snacks and more elaborate proposals for dinner. Also available pizza and children’s menus in addition to the menu of the cocktail bar in Florence.

Frequently offers live music.

Paszkowski is in Piazza della Repubblica, 6 in Florence.

Rivoire: a retro-style café-chocolate shop

Maître Chocolatiers since 1872. Enrico Rivoire was Master Chocolatier of the House of Savoy. He was the official chocolate supplier of the Turin royal family. He followed the Savoy court to the new Italian capital of Florence and here he opened an elegant café with mirrors, chandeliers and retro chairs in wood and straw that still today recall the elegant 19^th century chocolate shop.

In addition to the café and chocolate shop, Rivoire offers a restaurant led by Chef Luigi Incrocci, with a refined menu and a careful selection of wines.

The Rivoire cocktail bar is instead led by CapoBarman Elisa Randi who offers a cocktail list that is always updated with the latest trends.

Rivoire is in Piazza della Signoria, 5/R in Florence.

Chiaroscuro: excellent value for money in the historic centre

Coffee, hot chocolate and aperitifs served in a café-bar with a retro touch also frequented by Florentines.

This is a great value for money bar in Florence offering a selection of coffees from all over the world as well as hot or cold teas.

Wide variety of choices, numerous proposals for both a substantial breakfast / brunch and a satisfying lunch or aperitif.

Chiaroscuro is in Via del Corso, 36, R in Florence.

If you are looking for nightclubs in which to have a drink, here are some proposals for wine bars in Florence and trendy lounge bars:

Locale: exclusive location with creative cuisine and cocktails

Creative Tuscan cuisine and creative cocktails in a 16^th century palace with a 13^th century cellar. The restaurant is located inside the Palazzo Concini, also known as Palazzo delle Seggiole, belonging to the Medici-Tornaquinci family. It has kept intact the sixteenth-century structure and the rooms of the restaurant with the coats of arms of the Medici and Concini, stuccos and frescoes on the ceilings.

Dishes are offered that preserve the culinary tradition but reinterpret it with wisdom and imagination.

The bar offers surprising cocktails for a unique experience.

The cellar located in the basement fascinates with ancient Roman remains and a wide selection of labels.

Locale is in Via delle Seggiole, 12r in Florence.

Colle Bereto: lounge bar, restaurant and private club in the heart of the city

Colle Bereto is a lounge bar, restaurant and private club in a superb location among historic buildings and high fashion boutiques in Piazza Strozzi, open from morning until late at night. The environment is contemporary and sophisticated.

The spaces available: dehor – indoor – privé.

We start with breakfast, with a choice of classic Italian, continental, French, English or American.

At lunch, you can find a wide choice of dishes: traditional first courses revisited in a modern way, second courses from the land and fish, hamburgers, salads and vegetarian dishes.

A rich buffet aperitif and light dinner is available from 18.30 to 22.30.

Colle Bereto is in Piazza degli Strozzi, 5 in Florence.

Sesto On Arno: restaurant and bar with a breathtaking view

Sesto On Arno is a restaurant and bar, an iconic place on the rooftops of Florence, with a breath-taking view over the whole city, the Arno and the hills that frame it.

It is located in a modern structure made with windows on each side and it has interior spaces but also two terraces with panoramic views.

A breakfast menu, a business lunch menu, an à la carte menu, a bar menu and a wine list with over 300 Italian and international labels are available.

The restaurant is open from 12 to 22.30.

The bar is open from 12 to 01.00.

Sesto On Arno is in Piazza Ognissanti, 3 in Florence