Operating since 1733 — which means Gilli was already old when the American Revolution began — this is Florence's most venerable cafe, and its Belle Epoque interior is among the finest surviving examples in Italy. Gilt mirrors, painted ceilings, marble surfaces, and glass pastry cases arranged with the precision of a jeweller's vitrine: the room itself is the first course. Gilli moved to Piazza della Repubblica in 1920, inheriting a corner that catches afternoon light and channels the piazza's carousel-and-colonnade energy onto the terrace. The pastries are serious — layered, creamed, glazed with the confidence of a kitchen refining recipes for nearly three centuries. Aperitivo hour fills the terrace with Negroni glasses and the hum of a city that invented the drink.
Location
Centro Storico, Florence
Map
Insider Intel
Pastries from the glass case — choose by appearance, because everything is made in-house and the visual standard is the quality standard. A Negroni at aperitivo hour, because Piazza della Repubblica is where Florence performs its evening ritual. Espresso at the bar for a fraction of the table price. The torta della nonna is a reliable Tuscan classic done well.
Mid-morning for pastries in relative calm, or aperitivo hour — 6 to 8pm — when the piazza fills with the golden-hour crowd and a Negroni on the terrace becomes an event rather than a drink. The Belle Epoque interior rewards a rainy-day visit when the terrace is not an option.
Piazza della Repubblica 39r, Centro Storico. Central to everything — the Duomo is a 3-minute walk. Espresso at the bar 1.50 EUR; the same at a terrace table 5-7 EUR. Pastries 4-6 EUR. Cards accepted. The piazza was created in the 1890s by demolishing the old market and Jewish ghetto — a controversial act of urban renewal that Gilli, already 160 years old at the time, survived by relocating. The carousel in the piazza centre is a landmark in its own right.