Ciao, my name is Vittoria, I’m 15 years old and I’ve been living in Florence my entire life. I hope you find my tips about where teenagers like me hang around and eat in Florence!
My friends and I usually like to meet at Ponte Vecchio or Ponte alle Grazie and from there we walk around the city center. Most of the times we never know what exactly we want to do, and in the end we decide when we meet each other. The main spots that we go to if we want to have breakfast are: Mama’s Bakery in the Oltrarno, and Gilli Bar or Caffe Donnini in Piazza Repubblica.
Mama’s Bakery is a typical American Bakery and us Florentine teenagers love cupcakes, bagels, brownies, and more, especially because in Italy those kind of sweets are not so popular. Gilli Bar and Donnini, on the other hand, are two of the four classic bars located in Piazza Repubblica dating to the 19th century, both of which have delicious Italian homemade pastries that anyone once in their life should taste.
When I meet friends for lunch, always in the historical centre, our favorite options are many: Zoe Bar (San Niccolo), Cafe Colle Bereto (Piazza Strozzi), The Diner (near the Bargello), La Terrazza at La Rinascente (Piazza Repubblica), Dim Sum (Santa Croce), Koko (San Niccolo), Kome (Santa Croce), Pizzeria Piperna (San Niccolo), 100% Pizza (Borgo San Lorenzo), and Love Life Juice Bar (Santa Croce).
Zoe Bar and Colle Bereto Bar have similar menus; both of them have salads of many kinds, burgers, healthy dishes, delicious french fries, and a lot more choices perfect for teenagers. These two bars are always the best option if you want to have a simple good lunch!
The Diner, once again, is a typical American Diner where once in a while we like to go to since it is really good and when inside it doesn’t feel like we are in Florence. Mama’s Bakery also serves plates for lunch like bagels with cream cheese and salmon, salads or paninos.
La Rinascente Mall is a department store, and at the top of the building, on the roof, there is a bar with a wonderful view of Piazza della Repubblica, Cupola, Campanile di Giotto and the whole Florence centre.
Dim Sum, Koko, and Kome are Asian restaurants. Dim Sum is a small Chinese restaurant and Koko and Kome are delicious Japanese restaurants. My friends and I would eat sushi everyday if we could, and these two restaurants are the best in Florence.
Pizzeria Piperna and 100% Pizza are the pizzerias that we like the most. Pizzeria Piperna has a Neapolitan Chef, so the pizzas are very thin but with a thick edge to the crust. 100% Pizza is a more simple pizzerias that teenagers go to.
LoveLife is a vegan juice bar with smoothies and many fresh juices and salads to choose from. The nice thing about LoveLife is that it is very cheap and everything is self-service except the smoothies.
In the afternoon when we get hungry we usually go again to Gilli or Donnini or at the rooftop of La Rinascente for a coffee a fruit drink or some snacks and sometimes we also go to the Laduree at Via della Vigna Nuova 48 (off of Via de’ Tornabuoni), which is a French macaroon shop!
For dinner most of the time we go to the same places as the ones for lunch, but usually we always meet in the centre after having dinner with our parents. Surely the places I go to with my parents are not for an everyday dinner or lunch for teenager since these are more expensive yet extremely good and with Florentine cuisine. Among my favorites for dinner with my family are Coco Lezzone (Piazza Repubblica), Trattoria Gigi (San Niccolo), and Cammillo (Oltrarno), three very old Florentine restaurants in the centre of Florence that serve all of the dishes that my grandma would cook, very typical Florentine dishes. The beauty of these three restaurants is that (especially Cammillo and Coco Lezzone) inside they have different historical pictures or papers on the wall that talk about Florence and how it used to be.
When dinner ends, usually on a Friday or Saturday night, I meet up with my friends in Piazza Repubblica and then we walk around and have a good time!
Buon appetito and enjoy the city!
Editor’s note: for a fun holiday with teens, book an apartment in the Oltrarno at Palazzo Belfiore.
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