Mercato Centrale Florence: How I Visit the Market in 2026
Updated November 2026. I rechecked the hours on this page against the official Mercato Centrale Florence listings, the historic ground floor market site and the Comune di Firenze page in early November 2026.
The first time I walked into Mercato Centrale, I thought I already knew it. I had just come through the outdoor leather stalls of San Lorenzo and expected more bags and belts under a roof. Then the iron and glass hall opened up, and I realized I had been standing next to one of Florence's great food buildings without understanding it.
Mercato Centrale is the 19th century covered market in San Lorenzo, on Piazza del Mercato Centrale and Via dell'Ariento. Giuseppe Mengoni designed the iron and glass structure, the same architect behind the Sant'Ambrogio market and Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. The building opened in 1874. The outdoor leather and clothing stalls around it are a different market, not where Florentines buy peaches, tripe or a panino al lampredotto.
Inside are two floors with two personalities and two sets of hours. The ground floor is the historic food market, with butchers, produce, cheese, fish and a handful of lunch counters. The first floor is the food hall that opened in spring 2014, a covered piazza of artisan stalls with shared tables. I use both, and I use them differently.
If you want the wider picture of what to eat in the city, start with my list of 20 Florentine foods to eat and my guide to the Best Restaurants in Florence.
At a glance
Where: Piazza del Mercato Centrale and Via dell'Ariento, in San Lorenzo, about a 10 minute walk from Santa Maria Novella station and a few minutes from the Duomo and Piazza San Marco.
Two floors: the historic food market on the ground floor, and the artisan food hall upstairs.
Who it suits: anyone who wants a flexible lunch, families who cannot agree on one dish, and first timers after lampredotto.
Best time: weekday mornings for the ground floor market atmosphere; just before noon for Da Nerbone; mid afternoon or later for a calmer seat upstairs.
Sunday: the ground floor is typically closed. The upstairs food hall stays open.
How long: 30 to 45 minutes for a sandwich and a walk through, or one to two hours if you browse both floors and sit down.
A note on the name: people say Mercato Centrale, San Lorenzo market and Mercato di San Lorenzo as if they were one place. I keep them separate. Mercato Centrale is the covered building. The San Lorenzo stalls are the outdoor rows around it. Mercato Nuovo, with the bronze Porcellino, is another market closer to the Ponte Vecchio.
Hours and how the two floors work
The two floors do not keep the same clock, and a couple of official listings do not quite agree.
On the historic ground floor market site, hours are Monday to Friday from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Saturday from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and Sunday closed. the Comune di Firenze historic markets page matches those weekday and Saturday hours, and adds that days before holidays also run until 5:00 PM.
Upstairs is different. the official Mercato Centrale Florence info page says the food hall is open every day from 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM. The same Comune page still lists the first floor as open every day from 10:00 AM to midnight. When those listings disagree, I follow the market's own site and I confirm the last hour if I am arriving late.
The outdoor stalls on Via dell'Ariento are a third timetable. The Comune lists them from about 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM. They sell clothes, leather and souvenirs, not the food inside.
Entry is free. You pay only for what you eat or buy. Upstairs, according to how the food hall works, you choose a stall, pay there, then sit at the shared tables. During lunch and dinner those tables are reserved for people who have bought from the shops. You can book a table only at the pizzeria or the bistecca restaurant.
The building is about 900 metres from Santa Maria Novella station.
The ground floor: the historic market
I still start on the ground floor in the morning. This is Mengoni's market as a working grocery, not a food court. Aisles of produce sit beside butchers, fishmongers, cheese counters, bakeries and gastronomie. the historic ground floor market site describes family botteghe that have been here for generations, including meat counters such as Soderi and produce stalls such as Ortofrutta Boni.
Come on a weekday before lunch and you will hear Florentines doing their shopping. It is one of the least performed corners of the center, as long as the shutters are still up. By mid afternoon on a weekday the floor is winding down. On Sunday it is typically dark.
I walk a full loop before I order anything. If you are assembling a picnic, this is the floor for fruit, bread, pecorino and a bag of schiacciata to take away. For lunch in the market itself, I head to Da Nerbone.
Da Nerbone
Where: Inside the ground floor of Mercato Centrale, Piazza del Mercato Centrale.
Open: Monday to Saturday for lunch. Most current listings show roughly 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM. Closed Sunday. Listings disagree on the exact minute, so I treat those times as a range.
Da Nerbone is the ground floor counter I send people to for the old market lunch: a panino with lampredotto or boiled beef, eaten at the counter or a simple table nearby. It still feels like a market stall rather than a restaurant. I order at the counter, pay there, and eat without rushing. The room gets busy from about noon.
What to order: a panino with lampredotto, or the boiled beef panino if you want something a little milder. Ask for it bagnato if you want the bread dipped in the cooking broth, and add salsa verde and a little hot sauce if that sounds right.
Tip: Go before noon, especially on Saturday. It is closed on Sunday with the rest of the ground floor, so on Sundays I go upstairs instead.
If Da Nerbone's line is long, walk the aisles and see which other counters are serving food that day. I do not name extra ground floor kitchens unless I can verify they are still open.
The first floor: the food hall
Upstairs is the version of Mercato Centrale most visitors mean when they say they had lunch at the market. In 2014 the old upper hall, once used for produce, reopened as a food hall of artisan stalls around a shared seating area. You can sit where you like, mix dishes from different counters, and stay from a mid morning coffee through a late dinner.
I rechecked the stall names on the official list of upstairs artisans in November 2026. If a stall is not on the current list, I leave it out.
Famiglia Bambi, lampredotto
Where: Upstairs in the food hall, Via dell'Ariento.
Open: The food hall is open daily from 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM on the official info page, and I treat this stall as part of that day.
The Bambi family has been in the trippaio trade since 1890, starting with Guido and Rina in San Frediano. At Mercato Centrale, Giacomo Trapani, a grandson of those grandparents, brings the family lampredotto upstairs. The recipe on the Bambi family lampredotto page is the traditional one: lampredotto in a rosetta, with the bread dipped in the cooking broth.
This is my upstairs answer when the ground floor is closed, or when someone wants lampredotto while the rest of the group orders pizza or pasta nearby.
What to order: a panino with lampredotto, simple with salt and pepper, or with salsa verde and the hot sauce.
Tip: If you have never had lampredotto, this is an easy first try: you can sit down and decide how much sauce you want without standing in a street crush.
Gabriele Madeo's pizzeria
Where: Upstairs in the food hall. You can also book a table here.
Open: The food hall is open daily from 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM. Table bookings are offered for the pizzeria on the official info page.
The pizza counter upstairs is run by Gabriele Madeo. It is not called Sud. On Gabriele Madeo's pizzeria page he describes two styles: a Neapolitan pizza with a full, soft crust, and a very thin, crisp version. The dough rests for at least 24 or 48 hours and bakes in a wood oven.
This is my pick when a mixed group wants pizza. I wrote more about how it fits the city's pizza scene in the best pizza in Florence.
What to order: one Neapolitan pizza and one thin crust pizza if you are sharing, or a classic margherita to judge the dough.
Tip: Book if you want a table at peak lunch or dinner. Otherwise order at the counter and sit in the shared piazza.
La Schiacciata, Massimiliano Parri
Where: Upstairs in the food hall, under the La Schiacciata sign.
Open: Part of the food hall day, daily from 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM on the official info page.
Massimiliano Parri's stall is the one I use when I want a Florentine sandwich without leaving the building. Massimiliano Parri's schiacciata page describes stuffed schiacciata made to order, in a white dough with ancient grains and in a wholemeal version. The menu changes with the season.
Official notes mention fillings such as a frittatina of the day, field greens and roast beef with artichoke, plus sweet versions with mascarpone, vin santo, chocolate or pistachio. I pick whatever looks freshest on the board.
For the wider sandwich trail outside the market, including other lampredotto stands, see the best sandwich shops in Florence.
What to order: a warm savory schiacciata from the board, or a sweet one if you are walking.
Tip: Watch them assemble it, then find a table before the bread cools. The line moves faster than it looks.
Other upstairs stalls I can verify
I do not invent stall names. These were on the official artisan list when I checked it in November 2026, and they are useful when your group cannot agree:
Famiglia Michelis: fresh pasta.
La pizza al taglio: pizza by the slice.
Giacomo Trapani, il bollito e lo stracotto: boiled meats and slow cooked beef, listed separately from the Bambi lampredotto stall.
David Bedu: bread and pastry.
Daniele Meini: mozzarella and cheeses.
Marcella Bianchi: vegetarian and vegan dishes.
Jhonny Paranza: fish.
Brilli e Scaranari: fried food.
The bar and coffee shop: coffee, a pastry, or a later drink at the table.
The same official list also includes Luciano Savini for truffle, a beer stall, an American barbecue counter, Sicilian specialties, burgers, tacos, a Neapolitan sfogliatella stall and the Lorenzo de' Medici cooking school. If you want a reserved table, the official info page says you can book at the pizzeria or at La Bistecca alla Fiorentina.
What to eat at Mercato Centrale
I eat differently on each floor. Here is the short version of what I come for.
Lampredotto: the defining Florentine street sandwich. On the ground floor I get it at Da Nerbone. Upstairs I get it from the Bambi family stall. More context lives in 20 Florentine foods to eat and the best sandwich shops in Florence.
Trippa and boiled beef: if lampredotto feels like a stretch, the boiled beef panino at Da Nerbone is the gentler cousin. Giacomo Trapani's bollito and stracotto stall upstairs is the sit-down version of that idea.
Schiacciata: Florence's salty, olive oil rich flatbread, stuffed to order at Massimiliano Parri's counter. It is not pizza, and it is not Tuscan unsalted bread. It is the local sandwich bread.
Pizza: Gabriele Madeo's two styles upstairs, or a slice from the pizza al taglio counter. I map the rest of the city in the best pizza in Florence.
Produce and picnic food: the ground floor in the morning is where I buy fruit, cheese and bread for a later walk.
A mixed table: the real gift of the food hall. One person can eat lampredotto, another a vegetarian plate, another pizza, and you still sit together.
The market rewards a simple order. If you want a trattoria lunch instead of a food hall tray, walk a few steps to my Trattoria Mario guide or use the best trattorias in Florence.
How I visit
My ideal visit starts on the ground floor in the late morning. I walk a loop, then eat at Da Nerbone before the noon crush. After lunch I go upstairs for coffee or a sweet schiacciata. If I arrive after 3:00 PM on a weekday, I skip the ground floor and go straight upstairs.
Weekday mornings: best for the ground floor, when the building still feels like a civic market.
Saturday: the ground floor stays open later, until 5:00 PM, and it is the busiest shopping morning.
Sundays: plan on the food hall only. Da Nerbone and the produce aisles are typically closed, and many nearby trattorias, including Mario, are closed too.
Evenings: upstairs stays open late, which is useful when museums have closed and you want dinner without a reservation.
Paying: pay at the stall that cooks your food. There is no single bill for the whole table unless you have booked the pizzeria or the bistecca restaurant.
Crowds: the streets outside are the hard part. Via dell'Ariento can feel pushy with tour groups and leather sellers. Inside the building, the pace slows down.
Nearby coffee and David: I often pair a market lunch with a morning at the Accademia. See my Accademia and David guide if you are booking David. The market sits a short walk west of Via Ricasoli.
With kids, I prefer the food hall, where everyone can choose their own plate. The ground floor is better as a short morning walk. A focused sandwich stop can take half an hour. Browsing both floors and sitting down upstairs takes closer to two hours.
Nearby: Mario, San Lorenzo and the Accademia
When the hall is slammed, I walk around the corner to Trattoria Mario at Via Rosina 2r. It is lunch only, Monday to Saturday, and closed on Sunday. On Fridays, except in July, Mario also opens for dinner. Bookings are taken by phone in the morning, according to Trattoria Mario. I explain how it works in my Trattoria Mario guide.
The outdoor San Lorenzo market surrounds the building on Via dell'Ariento and the nearby streets. It is fine for a browse if you like looking at leather, but it is not a substitute for the food market inside.
From here it is an easy walk to Michelangelo's David at the Accademia and back toward the Duomo. I often use the market as the lunch hinge on my one day in Florence itinerary and on Day 1 of my 2 day Florence itinerary. It also fits neatly into 3 days in Florence: a complete first timer's guide.
Other nearby backups: L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele at Piazza del Mercato Centrale 22r, across from the building, and Sergio Gozzi on Piazza di San Lorenzo. I keep fuller lists in the best trattorias in Florence and Best Restaurants in Florence.
Map of key spots
Tap a name to open it in Google Maps.
Keep exploring
20 Florentine foods to eat, from lampredotto to bistecca.
Best Restaurants in Florence for the wider restaurant list.
Traveling as a family? See things to do in Florence with kids.
All my Eat and Drink guides.
Frequently asked questions
What are the hours of Mercato Centrale in Florence?
There are two clocks. The historic ground floor is open Monday to Friday from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM and Saturday from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and it is typically closed on Sunday. The upstairs food hall is open every day from 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM on the official Mercato Centrale page. The Comune page still lists the first floor as 10:00 AM to midnight, so I follow the market's own site.
What is the difference between the two floors?
The ground floor is the historic food market: produce, butchers, cheese, fish and lunch counters such as Da Nerbone. The first floor is the 2014 food hall, with artisan stalls and shared tables. You can visit both in one trip if you come before the ground floor closes.
Is Mercato Centrale open on Sunday?
The upstairs food hall is open every day, Sunday included. The ground floor historic market is typically closed on Sunday, and Da Nerbone closes with it. If Sunday is your only market day, go upstairs.
Where should I eat lampredotto at Mercato Centrale?
On the ground floor I eat it at Da Nerbone, Monday to Saturday. Upstairs I eat it at the Bambi family stall, which is part of the food hall and therefore easier on Sundays and later in the day. Ask for the bread dipped in the broth if you want it the traditional way.
Is Mercato Centrale good with kids?
Yes, especially upstairs. Each person can choose a different stall, the seating is informal, and you can keep the visit as short or as long as you like. The ground floor is better as a brief morning walk than as a long lunch with small children.
Where can I eat nearby if the food hall is packed?
Walk around the corner to Trattoria Mario at Via Rosina 2r for a classic lunch, Monday to Saturday. L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele is across the square, and Sergio Gozzi is on Piazza di San Lorenzo. I keep fuller lists in my trattoria, pizza and restaurant guides.
How long should I spend at Mercato Centrale?
Set aside 30 to 45 minutes for a sandwich and a look around, or one to two hours to browse both floors and sit down.
Is Mercato Centrale touristy?
The upstairs food hall is popular with visitors, and the outdoor San Lorenzo stalls around the building are very touristy. The ground floor on a weekday morning still feels like a working Florentine market.
Do I pay at one register upstairs?
No. In the food hall you pay at each stall for what you order there, then you sit at the shared tables. You can book a table at the pizzeria or the bistecca restaurant if you want table service. Drinks can be ordered at the table.
Is the outdoor leather market the same as Mercato Centrale?
No. The leather, clothing and souvenir stalls on Via dell'Ariento are the outdoor San Lorenzo market. Mercato Centrale is the covered 1874 building. Mercato Nuovo, home of the Porcellino, is a different market closer to the Ponte Vecchio.
Planning the rest of the day? Pair the market with my Accademia and David guide in the morning, or fold it into my one day in Florence itinerary or my 2 day Florence itinerary.
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