Pizzeria / Seafood tapas / Contemporary Neapolitan pizza
Address: Via Pisana 82R, Firenze
Website: www.zanfabros.com
Instagram: @zanfa_bros
A San Frediano pizzeria where Neapolitan dough meets seafood tapas and a generous shared-table rhythm. Zanfa Bros sits on Via Pisana, in San Frediano, and it feels exactly like the kind of place that could only come from people who have spent years working inside restaurants rather than simply thinking about them. It is lively, informal, fast when it needs to be, and generous in a way that makes the table fill up before you have fully understood how much you ordered. Behind it are the brothers Gianfranco and Marco Zanfardino, two different hands
and two different sensibilities working inside the same project.
Pizza is the heart of the place, and Gianfranco’s work is all about method. Nothing feels improvised, even when the combinations are creative. The dough is direct, carefully calibrated, and built around consistency rather than fashion. There is no attempt to impress through heaviness or excess. The pizza arrives light, fragrant, elastic, and precise, with a structure that holds the toppings without losing that immediate pleasure a Neapolitan pizza should have. What makes Zanfa Bros interesting is that tradition is not treated as a limit. Gianfranco knows the rules of Neapolitan pizza well enough to play with them. The toppings can be seasonal, playful, even unexpected, but they rarely feel decorative. They are built around balance: acidity, fat, sweetness, salt, crunch, softness. The menu moves between the classic
Neapolitan line and the Croccantissima, one of the signatures of the house, with a thinner, drier, more decisive bite. Pizzas such as Connubio, Zucca, Scarole scarole scarole, and Sinfonia di pomodoro show the range of the project: Campanian roots, careful dough work, and toppings that feel current without losing the pizza underneath.
But Zanfa Bros is not only pizza. Marco’s kitchen gives the place its second voice, especially through tapas and small seafood dishes designed for sharing. These are not little decorative plates to keep you busy before the pizza arrives. They are abundant, immediate, and full of personality, the kind of food that makes the whole meal feel more open and convivial. The seafood side of the menu has become one of the restaurant’s strengths, adding freshness and variety without pulling the place away from its southern identity.
The format keeps evolving. Lunch now has its own rhythm, with a Smart Lunch from Tuesday to Friday built around speed, freshness, and quality. One dish changes every day, especially on the seafood side, which keeps the offer from feeling fixed or automatic. Then there is VenerBì, the Friday beer formula that has quickly become part of the restaurant’s weekly identity: informal, easy, and exactly right for the mood of the place.
WHY IT MATTERS: Zanfa Bros is one of the most technically interesting and versatile pizzerias in Florence. It brings together serious dough work, inventive toppings, seafood tapas, a flexible menu, and a clear sense of direction. It is innovative without losing its roots, generous without becoming chaotic, and varied enough to work for a quick lunch, a pizza night, or a longer dinner with friends.
PERSONAL TIP: Start with Marco’s tapas, which are always more abundant than you expect, but save room for Gianfranco’s pizzas. Among them, Connubio is essential: a pizza that shows exactly why Zanfa Bros works so well.
