The Ultimate Guide To “The Diner Florence”: Everything You Need To Know
Feeling a little homesick? Hungover? Is it just one of those days where you need a good ol’ American-style Bacon Cheddar Cheeseburger with a side of fries and a coke? The Diner is your place, where comfort food, spectacular service, and a little bit of America all meet on a little corner in Florence, Italy.
For the average American student who is overwhelmed with so many great menu options reminiscent of home, or to the Florentine local who is lost when there are no pasta dishes on the menu, I’m here to help! I like to think of myself as “The Diner Expert”, I eat here at least three times a week (considering I’m in Florence for only four days of the week) and have had practically every single dish on the menu. The following will be a list of my personal favorites that The Diner has to offer, but I encourage you to explore the whole menu – there is a lot of delicious food to be eaten.
Breakfast:
- Breakfast Combo – This is perfect for when you just want a little bit of everything for breakfast.
- The Greek Omelette – Feta cheese, spinach, tomatoes all inside an omelette served with hash browns and fruit.
- Pancakes – Pick from your choice of strawberry, blueberry, banana, chocolate chip, or good old-fashioned buttermilk pancakes. They are also served with 100% maple syrup (hard to find in Italy) and a fruit skewer.
- Bacon – Although it is only a side dish, it’s totally worth mentioning because a) there’s bacon in Florence! and b) they give you a lot of it.
Lunch/Dinner:
- Bacon Cheeseburger – It doesn’t get more classic than this. Beef burger, melted cheddar cheese, and crispy bacon.
- Pica Burger – This burger is covered in their special spicy basil pesto sauce, a must-try.
- Fried Chicken – Beer battered chicken breasts and fries.
- Chicken Wrap – Simple, but delicious chicken wrapped in a flour tortilla. Great if you want a light lunch.
- Classic Club – If you’re hungry, get this double decker sandwich.
Coffee/Drinks:
- Milkshake – Get your milkshake fix, be prepared though you have a tough decision to make: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, cappuccino, banana, oreo, snickers, or twix.
- American Ice Coffee – enough said.
- Vanilla Ice – Not the rapper, but better. American ice coffee with vanilla and whipped cream.
New & Noteworthy:
The menu has been recently revamped with some awesome new additions that you need to check out.
- Homemade Pies! – These pies are made in-house, from scratch everyday. Here are a few to get your taste buds tingling: key lime pie, blueberry peach pie, strawberry ruhbarb pie.
- Pulled Pork Sandwich: BBQ pulled pork, baked fresh in the oven everyday served with coleslaw and fries.
- Beer: Until a month ago The Diner never had beer, now they do (you can understand how dangerous this is for me). Choose between a lager or IPA from a microbrewery in Brooklyn. Yes Brooklyn, New York.
There you have it folks, happy eating, and don’t forget to tell them that Justin sent you.
Let me know about your experience in a comment below!
This guest post was written by Justin Hakim. Justin was born and raised in Southern California and spends most of my days thinking about food. His hunger for adventure and well, just hunger in general, brought him to Italy, where he spent a year living and working. You can follow him on Instagram @hakimthedream7.
For more great tidbits about Florence, check out these posts, or learn more about Firenze’s food scene here!
