Best gelato in Florence

Gelato differs from typical ice cream in having less air churned in and less fat overall, giving it a denser, more intense flavour — and Florence has a real historical claim to its development, with 16th-century Florentine court cooks among the figures credited with early versions of the modern recipe.

How to spot the real thing

• Colour — genuine pistachio gelato is a muted, slightly grey-green, not the bright neon green seen in some tourist-area shops; genuine banana is off-white/beige, not bright yellow. Vivid, saturated colours are a reliable warning sign of artificial additives.
• Texture — real gelato sits in gently mounded, slightly matte-looking tubs (pozzetti), often covered with lids between scoops to protect texture and temperature. Enormous, glossy, wildly overfilled mountains piled above the tub's rim are a display trick more common at low-quality tourist-facing shops than at serious gelaterie.
• Ingredient lists — better shops will happily tell you their pistachio comes from Bronte (Sicily) or their hazelnut from Piedmont; vague answers are a signal.
• Seasonal flavours — a menu that changes with what fruit is actually in season is a good sign of a kitchen making gelato fresh rather than from a pre-made industrial base.

What to order

Pistachio and stracciatella are reliable tests of quality anywhere in Italy. Beyond the classics, look for a shop's stated specialty — many gelaterie build a genuine reputation around one or two standout flavours rather than being uniformly excellent across forty options.