Gluten-Free Florence: 12 Verified Addresses

Florence fits in the palm of your hand — which is a blessing: our 12 verified addresses, 11 of them fully dedicated, are almost all within walking distance of each other, between the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio and Santa Croce. Here, gluten-free tastes like Tuscany: crisp schiacciata, fresh handmade pasta, gelato right down to the cone. The city is a perfect illustration of the Italian model we described in our guide to gluten-free Italy: fully dedicated establishments, often certified by the national coeliac association, where you can order without a round of questioning first.

What the city offers

Schiacciata, the local gluten-free icon

You can’t visit Florence without biting into a schiacciata, that golden, olive-oil-rich Tuscan focaccia. Coeliacs have their own dedicated address for it: Sgrano, a historic 100% gluten-free spot just steps from the Palazzo Vecchio, perfect to grab on the go between museums. Its little sister, Osteria dello Sgrano, near Santa Croce, adds a handful of tables, a street-side veranda and fresh handmade pasta, on an AIC-certified menu.

Safe tables at the foot of the monuments

Just steps from the Duomo, SimBIOsi Gluten Free serves Neapolitan pizza and an organic menu: it’s the fully dedicated sister establishment of the Simbiosi Organic restaurant next door — which also handles wheat, so don’t mix up the two doors. Risotteria Melotti (4.7★, 1,500 reviews) sticks to its proven recipe: everything is made with rice from the Melotti family, from risottos to arancini — a coeliac meal without a second thought. And near the Santo Spirito basilica, RAW VEGAN pulls off the vegan-and-gluten-free double: buckwheat pizza, poke bowls and homemade cheeses, right down to chocolates made on site.

Still close to the Duomo, in the sixteenth-century cloister on vicolo di Santa Maria Maggiore, Ristorante Quinoa (4.4★, more than 1,900 reviews) presents itself as the first entirely gluten-free restaurant in Italy, opened in 2014 and AIC certified. The cooking reworks Tuscany with touches of the East, from house bread and pasta to pad thai, and the cloister terrace is one of the most pleasant in the centre. Service can be slow: this is a lunch to take your time over.

The sweet side: all-gluten-free gelato and raw pastry

On Via Faenza, Antica Gelateria Fiorentina (4.7★) is a coeliac’s dream: absolutely everything is gluten-free, from the cone to the hot chocolate, with creative flavours like rose water, saffron and pistachio. The city’s other ice cream shop, Grom, has its ice creams, cones and crêpes AIC-certified gluten-free, but some outlets also sell wheat-based pastries: the only address in our Florence selection that isn’t fully dedicated.

Florence is also home to Vito Cortese, the master of raw, vegan, gluten-free pastry. His flagship between the Palazzo Pitti and the Ponte Vecchio, Cortese Cafè, is praised by coeliacs as the best gluten-free breakfast in the city; his second address, the Cortese Café at the Museo Novecento, facing Santa Maria Novella, serves chocolates, pralines and spoon desserts in a museum setting.

Daily bread and grocery runs

Bottega Artigiana del Gusto (4.6★) makes fresh bread, focaccia and pastries every day using rice, corn, buckwheat and quinoa — no wheat ever enters the lab. And Senza Glutine Firenze Riccardo Gasperini (4.7★) combines a grocery, a fresh-food section and a real bakery that bakes gluten-free bread and biscuits every morning: the ideal stop before a picnic in the Boboli Gardens.

Our tips on the ground

• The phrase to know: “Sono celiaco / celiaca” — I am coeliac. It opens every door, from the trattoria to the ice cream shop.
• The AIC keeps watch over Florence too: several addresses in our selection are certified or inspected by the Associazione Italiana Celiachia — its crossed-wheat-ear logo remains your best clue in a shop window.
• The historic centre is enough: between the Duomo, the Palazzo Vecchio and Santa Croce, almost all the dedicated addresses are within fifteen minutes’ walk of each other.
• At double-door establishments like Simbiosi, make sure you’re walking into the dedicated version: our article on cross-contamination explains why this distinction matters so much.

Explore the 12 addresses

Every address listed here has been verified at the source: existence, level of gluten-free care, risks. All 12 are on the Nutrixe map — and if your favourite little Florentine spot is missing, suggest it. Address by address, the whole selection sits on our gluten-free restaurants in Florence page.