8 Days in Rome, Florence, Tuscany region in May

[rocky559]

Some friends and I will be visiting Rome and Florence in May for about 8 days. We have been to several times; however, it's our friends' first time. Any suggestions on where to eat would be greatly appreciated. We'd like some choices for economical lunches and then a few not-to-be missed dinner spots at affordable prices, trattorias, and maybe a one higher-end meal in each city. We don't have names of places from our previous visits unfortunately.

[DavidT]

Two books that get recommended here regularly (for good reasons) are Fred Plotkin's "Italy for the Gourmet Traveler" and the "Slow Food Guide to the Osterias of Italy." Both should give you plenty of good suggestions.

Dining in Rome, Tuscany and Florence get discussed here regularly. There are hundreds of helpful suggestions already here for you to review. Be sure to go to the upper right-hand corner of this page and do searches for all the cities & towns you are thinking of visiting. There are also links to prior threads on your topic listed at the bottom of this page.

[ekc]

Giving your budget will make a huge difference on what can be recommended (but you would be well served with doing a search of the board). But my 2 favorite restaurants are Sostanza in Florence and Roscioli in Rome.