Bar Fuori Porta

I love this place. I have a very vivid memory of the first time I visited this wonderful eatery in Florence. We had only been in Florence a few days and we wandered out of our hotel in the Oltrarno neighborhood with no particular destination in mind. We didn’t consult a book or a map, just set out to explore. We hadn’t gone very far when we realized we were headed up a very large hill. We started climbing steps, having no idea where we were headed. At some point we passed a gentleman on his was down and we inquired as to whether we should keep heading up and he did not hesitate to say “Yes, keep going.” It turns out we were on our way to the Piazza Michelangelo which holds probably the best view of Florence that you will find.

I won’t bore you with all the details of our climb, but suffice it to say that we were happy that we continued up to the top and and even happier that on the way down we discovered Bar Fuori Porta. At the time I had no idea that the name of this spot referred to the fact that it was just outside (fuori) of the wall (actually the door-porta) to the city.

We didn’t stop as we passed by, but returned a few days later. I have a clear memory of sitting on the small patio, staring at the large menu that listed what seemed like an immense selection 0f crostini, bruschetta, and crostoni. I’d heard the words before, but wasn’t quite sure what the differences were. Luckily a friendly wait person who spoke some English steered us in the right direction and if memory serves me right we ordered a scrumptious bruschetta con funghi (bruschetta with mushrooms) and some great Tuscan wine. We’ve been back a few times since then, but it’s been a while.

This trip I wasn’t sure I’d walk to the top to see the view, but I knew I would eat at Bar Fuori Porta. I sat outside on the patio, by myself and thoroughly enjoyed my lunch. I thought back at how much I’ve learned since that first trip years back. A small group of Americans wandered in, wondering if they should stay and had they walked away, I would have stopped them. They stayed, struggled a little with the menu and seemed to be happy with their choice.

I have only one piece of advice for you, well actually two. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop here for a bite to eat and explore their enormous wine selection. Oh, and have the wine after you make the climb up to Piazza Michelangelo-not before! What was I thinking?

Bar Fuori Porta
Via del Monte alle Croci, 10
Frienze

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