Restaurant in Florence, Italy
Serious fish, atmospheric piazza, skip the tourists.
A Michelin Plate seafood restaurant on Piazza di Cestello in Florence's Oltrarno district, with a fish counter that lets you select your catch before it's cooked. At €€€ — well below the €€€€ tier of most comparable Florence restaurants — it's the practical choice for a special occasion seafood dinner without the full fine-dining spend. Booking is easy, and the piazza setting delivers genuine atmosphere.
Cestello Firenze earns a clear recommendation for anyone seeking a seafood-led dinner in Florence that goes beyond the predictable tourist circuit. Holding a Michelin Plate for both 2024 and 2025, and rated 4.5 across 425 Google reviews, this is a restaurant doing consistent work at the €€€ price point — making it meaningfully more accessible than the €€€€ fine-dining tier that dominates Florence's prestige seafood conversation. If you want creative fish cookery in a setting that actually justifies a special occasion, book here before considering a step up to Borgo San Jacopo or Santa Elisabetta.
Cestello sits on Piazza di Cestello in the Oltrarno district, facing the baroque facade of San Frediano in Cestello church. The piazza itself is quiet by Florentine standards — more locals than tourists, and genuinely pleasant in the evening. The restaurant occupies atmospheric rooms decorated across a range of styles, which gives the space a layered, assembled-over-time quality rather than a designed-for-Instagram uniformity.
The detail that most directly shapes the experience is the fish counter. Guests can browse the day's catch and select their fish directly, with the kitchen then preparing it in a more traditional, direct manner. This is not a gimmick , it changes how you engage with the meal. For a special occasion dinner, having that direct conversation with what's available that day is far preferable to a fixed menu that may not reflect what arrived at the market that morning. The alternative is to order from the creative menu, where the kitchen's more composed dishes give you a better read on what the chefs are actually capable of beyond a simply grilled branzino.
The editorial angle here matters: the counter seating and fish-selection format at Cestello adds something that very few Florence restaurants offer at this price point. You are not passively receiving a meal , you are making choices in real time, which suits the kind of dinner where you want the evening to feel considered rather than scripted. For a date or a celebration with guests who appreciate food provenance, this format is an asset. For a quick business dinner where you want things to move efficiently, the creative menu is the better route.
Michelin Plate designation , awarded in both 2024 and 2025 , signals that Michelin's inspectors found the cooking technically competent and consistent, even if it does not reach the starred tier. At €€€, you are paying less than you would at Enoteca Pinchiorri or Atto di Vito Mollica, while getting a more focused seafood proposition than most restaurants in that bracket. The Google rating of 4.5 from 425 reviews is a meaningful signal of reliability , that volume of responses at that score suggests consistent delivery rather than a handful of exceptional nights distorting the average.
For context on what Italy does with serious seafood cooking, it is worth knowing that the country's most celebrated fish restaurants , Uliassi in Senigallia, Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone, and Dal Pescatore in Runate , operate at a substantially higher price and complexity level. Cestello is not competing with those rooms. It is a well-executed, atmosphere-forward seafood restaurant in a landlocked city that doesn't always prioritise fish cookery, and at €€€ it represents a value position that makes sense for most occasions.
Within Florence's seafood category, the nearest direct comparison is Fuor d'Acqua, which operates at a higher price point and is widely considered the city's reference-point fish restaurant. Cestello sits a step below in ambition and price, which is not a criticism , it means you get a credible seafood dinner without committing to Fuor d'Acqua's level of spend.
Book Cestello if: you want a special occasion dinner in Florence that isn't a standard Tuscan meat-and-pasta format; you are two people who want to engage directly with what the kitchen is working with that day; or you are visiting the Oltrarno and want to stay in the neighbourhood rather than cross the river. The piazza setting, the church backdrop, and the fish counter format all combine to make this a dinner with a sense of occasion without requiring a €€€€ budget.
Skip it if: you are looking for the most technically ambitious seafood cooking in Italy (see Alici on the Amalfi Coast or Gambero Rosso in Marina di Gioiosa Ionica for that tier); or if a landlocked-city fish restaurant raises sourcing concerns you cannot get past. Florence is not a coastal city, and that reality shapes what any restaurant here can offer regardless of quality.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which means you are unlikely to need to plan weeks ahead. The Oltrarno location , on the south bank of the Arno, away from the main tourist cluster around the Duomo , keeps demand slightly lower than equivalent restaurants closer to the historic centre. That accessibility is part of the value proposition. For a group dinner or a special occasion where you want to confirm the date without stress, this is a practical choice.
| Detail | Cestello Firenze | Fuor d'Acqua | Borgo San Jacopo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price tier | €€€ | €€€€ | €€€€ |
| Cuisine focus | Seafood | Seafood | Modern Italian |
| Booking difficulty | Easy | Moderate | Moderate |
| Michelin recognition | Plate (2025) | Star (2025) | Star (2025) |
| Setting | Historic piazza, Oltrarno | Central Florence | Arno riverside |
| Fish counter option | Yes | Yes | No |
For a broader view of where Cestello fits in the city's dining picture, see our full Florence restaurants guide. If you are planning a trip and need hotel or bar recommendations, our Florence hotels guide and our Florence bars guide cover the full picture.
The fish counter is the closest equivalent to bar-style dining here , you can select your fish directly and have it prepared to order. This is a more hands-on, interactive format than a standard table booking. If counter-style eating is your preference, request a spot near the fish display when you book.
The restaurant operates across multiple rooms, which suggests some capacity for groups, but specific group booking policies are not confirmed in the available data. Contact the restaurant directly to confirm availability for parties of six or more. Booking difficulty is rated Easy overall, which is a positive signal for group reservations outside peak season.
Specific tasting menu details are not confirmed in the available data. The restaurant offers both a creative menu and a fish counter selection option. If a tasting format is your priority, the creative menu route is the better read on the kitchen's compositional skills , the fish counter is better for those who want simpler, more traditional preparation. Confirm current menu format when booking.
The fish counter format makes Cestello a reasonable solo dining option , selecting your fish directly is an engaging process that works well when dining alone. At €€€, the spend is manageable for a solo meal. The Oltrarno location is quieter than central Florence, which suits a relaxed solo dinner more than a high-energy room would.
At €€€, yes , particularly relative to what the €€€€ tier in Florence delivers. You get Michelin Plate-level seafood cookery, a genuine piazza setting, and the fish counter option for a price that is noticeably lower than Borgo San Jacopo or Enoteca Pinchiorri. The 4.5 rating across 425 reviews confirms the kitchen delivers consistently at this level.
Yes, with the right expectations. The piazza setting facing the San Frediano in Cestello church gives the dinner a sense of occasion that most restaurant rooms cannot manufacture. The fish counter format adds a participatory quality that works well for a celebration where you want the evening to feel considered. For a milestone birthday or anniversary, it delivers better atmosphere per euro than most of the €€€€ alternatives across the river.
For a step up in ambition and price, Fuor d'Acqua is Florence's most serious seafood address. For creative Italian cooking with a higher price tag, Santa Elisabetta and Atto di Vito Mollica are the names to consider. For the full competitive picture, see our Florence restaurants guide.
No dress code is confirmed in the available data. At €€€ in a Michelin Plate restaurant on a historic Florentine piazza, smart casual is a safe and appropriate default , think neat trousers and a shirt rather than a suit, or a simple dress. Florentine dining culture generally reads slightly more formal than Northern European equivalents at this price point.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Cestello Firenze | €€€ | — |
| Enoteca Pinchiorri | €€€€ | — |
| Santa Elisabetta | €€€€ | — |
| Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura | €€€€ | — |
| Il Palagio | €€€€ | — |
| Borgo San Jacopo | €€€€ | — |
A quick look at how Cestello Firenze measures up.
Cestello has a fish counter where you can select your own catch for preparation by the kitchen — this is the closest equivalent to counter dining. It is a more interactive option than a conventional bar seat, and suits guests who want input into what they eat rather than committing fully to the creative menu.
The atmospheric, multi-room layout suggests Cestello can handle small groups comfortably, but confirm table availability when booking. At €€€ per head with a creative seafood format, it works well for groups who share an interest in fish-forward dining rather than a broad all-rounder menu.
The creative menu is the more ambitious choice and the one that earned Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 — a signal of consistent technical competence. If you prefer to control the format, the fish counter route gives you the same kitchen with a more traditional execution. First-time visitors who trust the kitchen should go with the creative menu.
Yes. The fish counter format is a natural fit for solo diners — you engage directly with the selection process, and there is no awkwardness in a single seat at a counter. At €€€, it is a considered solo spend, but the Michelin Plate pedigree and Oltrarno setting make it a worthwhile one-off rather than a routine choice.
At €€€ with two consecutive Michelin Plate awards (2024, 2025), Cestello is priced in line with its quality signal. For a seafood-led dinner in Florence away from the tourist circuit, it competes well on atmosphere and format. If you want something more aggressively fine-dining at a similar or higher price, Enoteca Pinchiorri is the comparison to make.
It is a sound choice for a special occasion dinner in Florence if seafood is the preference. The Piazza di Cestello setting, facing the baroque facade of San Frediano in Cestello church, adds occasion without formality. For a more theatrical fine-dining event, Enoteca Pinchiorri or Borgo San Jacopo have a higher production level, but Cestello wins on atmosphere-to-price ratio.
For seafood at a similar pitch, Borgo San Jacopo on the Arno offers a more scenically dramatic setting at a higher price point. For the full fine-dining experience with Michelin stars rather than a Plate, Enoteca Pinchiorri is Florence's benchmark. Santa Elisabetta and Il Palagio both sit in the higher end of the market with broader menus, while Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura is better suited to those after a concept-driven experience.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
