I Ghibellini

Piazza di San Pier Maggiore is one of those Florentine spaces that the tourist maps understate. Just east of the Duomo, tucked between medieval towers and the remnants of a Romanesque church portal, it is the kind of piazza that the city's own inhabitants use as a landmark — the kind of square that appears in the background of photographs people take for other reasons. I Ghibellini has occupied its corner since the building was constructed, and the accumulated confidence of a restaurant that has been feeding this neighbourhood across multiple centuries is entirely visible in the way it operates.

The dining room, inside a magnificent 13th-century building, works on two registers. On warm evenings, the outdoor terrace on the piazza becomes the obvious choice — tables spread across the square under a sky that darkens gradually from gold to cobalt, the medieval stonework of the surrounding buildings providing a backdrop that no interior can compete with. In winter, the inside room has the comfortable authority of a space that has been fed and watered for generations: low ceilings, warm light, the sort of noise level that suggests people are genuinely enjoying themselves rather than performing enjoyment for the benefit of others.

The kitchen's greatest achievement is its pizza. In a city more associated with ribollita and bistecca than Neapolitan-adjacent flatbreads, I Ghibellini has earned a reputation for wood-fired pizza of genuine quality — the kind of thin-crust, properly charred, correctly-topped pizza that disproves the tired Florentine argument that pizza is a Neapolitan concern. The Bistecca alla Fiorentina, sourced from properly-raised cattle and cooked over real wood, confirms that the kitchen operates with both respect for tradition and access to excellent ingredients. The octopus, for those who order it, demonstrates that the kitchen is not slavishly Tuscan in its sourcing when better options present themselves.

The salads are handled with more care than they typically receive at this price point; the pasta is made in-house and changes with the season. Service is attentive and direct — professional in the Florentine mode, which means warm without being effusive and efficient without being cold. At this price point, with this setting, I Ghibellini represents the kind of reliable excellence that a city's residents build their dining lives around.

A team dinner has requirements that differ fundamentally from an intimate evening for two: it needs to seat groups comfortably, it needs a menu with sufficient range that various dietary preferences and price sensitivities can be accommodated, and it needs an atmosphere energetic enough to generate conversation without requiring everyone to shout. I Ghibellini fulfils all three criteria with particular ease when the outdoor terrace is in play.

The piazza setting provides a natural gathering point — the sense of occupying a shared space, something larger than a room, that creates the particular looseness of a great team dinner. Groups of eight to twenty can occupy the terrace with an ease that conveys celebration without formality. The menu offers enough variety that the picky eater, the person who doesn't drink, and the steak fanatic can all find exactly what they need without negotiation. The shared platters of salumi and the large-format bistecca for the table create the communal eating moments that bond groups in ways that individual ordering does not.

At around €35–45 per person, I Ghibellini is the team dinner that feels generous without being excessive — the price point that allows a group to order freely without anyone feeling that restraint is expected. That, combined with the medieval piazza, is a combination that Florence's team dinner calendar relies upon.

"Brought twelve people from the office here in July and the terrace was perfect — everyone loved the setting, the pizza was genuinely excellent, and the bistecca for the table was an event in itself. The kind of evening that makes a work trip feel like a proper trip." — Join to read full reviews