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As tourists swarm the birthplace of the Renaissance for Michelangelo’s David, Botticelli’s Primavera and Brunelleschi’s dome, the wait is as long, if not longer, for viral sandwiches inspired by a Tuscan kids’ snack.
Schiacciata, meaning flattened, is a salty bread with finger-made oil-filled holes, which is traditionally eaten between meals. In Tuscany, as trained butcher and food expert Martina Bartolozzi says, what’s called focaccia semplice in other parts of Italy is also what children might eat as an elementary school drop-off snack.
Plain schiacciata is popular with kids (Bartolozzi, who grew up in Tuscany, has childhood memories of walking up to the counter for a taste, €1 coin from her mom in hand). But bakeries also sell pre-filled ones — with ingredients like tomato and mozzarella, or slices of prosciutto crudo or mortadella — for a more substantial nosh. Salumerie also fill schiacciata with cold cuts and cheese, mindful not to overpower the bread, which is a sodium bomb.
As Bartolozzi says, “Schiacciata is one of the richest kinds of bread that there is in Tuscany, because it has so much oil and so much salt, but that’s what makes it a schiacciata.”
From schiacciata to sandwich
It’s the bread’s “playfulness” and ability to stand on its own that led Campanian-born Giuseppe “Pino” Palmiero to craft filled schiacciata along with ready-to-eat dishes when he took over a salumeria on Via Verdi near Santa Croce in 1991. This would go on to become Pino’s Sandwiches, which quickly became popular on the local study abroad scene.
Initially serving locals on their lunch breaks (who went more for the pasta than the sandwiches, he says), along with American students and visitors, Pino’s list of 10 creations included mostly Italian ingredients such as prosciutto crudo, Tuscan salame and pecorino. Today there are more than 30 options on the menu; as Palmiero’s study abroad clientele increased, he added fillings they requested, like turkey, roast beef and pesto to the mix.
When Tripadvisor sent Pino’s a “Certificate of Excellence” in 2014, Pino realized that his “word of mouth” business, fueled by American students and their college networks (gifted pennants still hang over his deli counter as endorsements), had also been revved by an unknown-to-him marketing engine.
“I didn’t even know about Tripadvisor. I’m old school,” he says. “My business is making my customers smile.”
As students huddled along Via Verdi in 2014, many also found their way to Via de’ Neri about a five-minute walk down the road. All’Antico Vinaio had served crostini to pair with its wines since the ‘90s, and entered the schiacciata business in 2004; the sandwiches took off when it ramped up its social media in the early 2010s. Like Pino’s, it catered to lines of hungry people on a budget, with a band of flirty sandwichmakers paired with easy-on-the-eyes fillings like prosciutto crudo, mozzarella, tomato and pesto.
Bartolozzi, who was a university student in Florence from 2012 to 2016, says: “When I needed a cheap lunch that was very filling, I went to All’Antico Vinaio for the size-per-price ratio and also the vibes.”
Palmiero, who now serves 70% tourists and foreign students and has a couple of sandwiches named for social media influencers, says filled schiacciata have since become “the product of the moment,” with schiacciaterie — a term coined to describe the panino shops in the 2010s — “sprouting like mushrooms.”
The schiacciata corridor
There’s a striking correlation with the rise of schiacciaterie and mass tourism in Florence fueled in part by social media. In 2000, Florence had 2.8 million visitors; in 2025, that number was closer to 15 million. While there were a handful of sandwich shops in the aughts, in 2026, that number has grown exponentially — on Via de’ Neri alone, there are 10 schiacciaterie within 100 meters.
The 600-year-old streets of Florence’s historic center, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1982, weren’t designed to accommodate 44,000 tourists or hundreds of white takeout sandwich wrappers daily.
In 2018, aiming to encourage visitors to “treat our home like you would your own” while “enjoying our famous schiacciata,” Dario Nardella, then Florence’s mayor, banned eating on sidewalks, doorsteps and curbs during prime sandwich hour in spots around Via de’ Neri, with violation fines of up to €500. At this writing, the lines haven’t improved much, though stern signs are now posted: “Don’t Consume Food and Drinks on Doorsteps.”
There’s no doubt that a sandwich is an ideal lunch for anyone in a hurry. But if you’re on the trip of a lifetime and you only have an hour between activities, do you really want to spend most of it queuing for a sandwich you could eat back home?
That’s not an exaggeration if you’re in a major metropolitan area. Several Florence-born sandwich joints now have stateside outposts, with more on the way. Pino’s Los Angeles served its first schiacciata in August 2025. Palmiero says his daughter, who helms Pino’s social media and is “the future of the business” (he plans to retire in mid-2026), encouraged his United States venture. All’Antico Vinaio hit New York City in 2021 and currently has 50 shops, including in Dubai, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
Beyond schiacciata
When American actor Stanley Tucci ate a lampredotto sandwich at Tripperia Pollini on Searching for Italy in 2020, Pier Paolo Pollini says the truck on Piazza Sant'Ambrogio became a food destination. But it had already been a popular lunch spot for more than 100 years, even before the Florentine Pollinis took it over in the ‘90s, for its classic lampredotto (a stew of a cow’s fourth stomach) served in a crusty roll (often called a semel) topped with salt, pepper and green and hot sauces.
Though it may not be as Instagrammable or familiar to an American student as a turkey sandwich with pesto, a tripe panino is both synonymous with Florence and unlikely to be found while driving down the I-5. Lampredotto, like a lot of Tuscan cuisine, is based on cucina povera, a no-waste mindset of using everything you have. It’s a symbol of the workers who built Florence to its grandeur as their hands grabbed what they could afford for lunch, including organ meats.
“It’s definitely an acquired taste,” says Bartolozzi, who takes travelers to a tripperia on one of her Florence food tours, where she encourages them to try lampredotto.
Around the corner from Tripperia Pollini is Semel, a countercultural sandwich stop belonging to Florentine Marco Paparozzi since 2007. Here, popularity isn’t the point. His “particular sandwiches” with ingredients such as deer on Tuesdays or donkey on Thursdays, are based on what “inspires him” at Sant’Ambrogio market across the way from his brick-laid, closet-sized shop. He peruses the day’s offerings at 7am, plans his menu, then puts on a collared shirt and blue tie, pinned with a silver cinghiale (wild boar), to serve customers.
In addition to Semel’s weekly game stews, there could be pecorino, anchovies, fennel or roast chicken featured among the eight sandwiches of the day (vegetarian and fish options are always included, too). But there's one ingredient you’ll never find: “I will never put prosciutto in a panino because everyone does,” Paparozzi says.
Consider that your invitation to explore beyond the viral shops hanging hams in their windows or on their social media grids. As Bartolozzi says, “If people [walked] just 10 or 15 minutes more in one direction or the other, they would find much richer experiences. It would also spread the wealth more evenly amongst the local community.”
Outside the lines
Procacci 1885 / Historic spot perfect for a daintier kind of pre-dinner tea sandwich, many made with truffle (panini tartufati) and best enjoyed with a glass of bubbly.
Forno Becagli / Local spot not far from Santa Maria Novella, equally beloved for its sweet treats as its schiacciata.
Casa del Vino / No-frills sandwiches and house wines hidden away from the chaos of the San Lorenzo market.
I’ Trippaio di San Frediano / A classic tripperia still frequented by area workers, with the rare bonus of onsite seating.
