Il Santo Bevitore

23 Best Restaurants in Florence

"A large former coach house in Santo Spirito with vaulted ceiling and dark wood paneling, Il Santo Bevitore is often full and quite noisy. Quietly groundbreaking when it opened in the early aughts, it’s no less popular today. The food combines creative Tuscan fare with a slow-food emphasis on seasonality and provenance. At “The Holy Drinker”—the restaurant’s name, translated into English—wine is important, and the carefully curated list is crammed with interesting and reasonably priced labels from Tuscany and Piemonte, plus a smattering of bottles from Alto Adige, Sicily, Ligura, and Sardegna. There’s also a better-than-average selection of by-the-glass choices." - Nicky Swallow