Suggestions for Simple but Good Restaurants in Florence.

My two favorite restaurants in Florence are Trattoria ZaZa which is anything but a simple restaurant, and even though it is tourist central, I still love it.....you can make reservations on their website if you want, but it might not be your cup of tea...my favorite dishes are the papparadelle sul chingiale, the filetto con pepe verde, and the crema di mascarpone :)

My other favorite restaurant is Ristorante la Spada....it is quite large too, near Tornabuoni, still kind of tourist central.....but I love their Pici senesi pepe e pecorino......its basically the Siena version of cacio e pepe (and I know eating a Siena dish in Florence is not what I should be doing, but the first time I saw it on the menu it didn't say Senesi! haha) and once I went there and it was not on the menu and I asked them to make it for me and they did! WOO! I made reservations on their website. Their name more or less means "the sword" and in cooking terms, you would be correct in thinking that referred to roasting the meat on a spit or something of that nature, as it's more popular dishes are the meat ones :)

Oh, I forgot my other one, it's a large one too, but it might be the simple you are looking for if you are utilizing the train station, la Grotta di Leo is where I go for my simple dishes, I think my go to is always arrabiatta......I am giving myself a bad name for eating all these non local dishes in Florence HAHAHA My mom asked them for spaghetti with garlic, oil and spinach and they made it for her :)

I would suggest your "roaming and exploring" afternoons take you over across the river to the Oltrarno and you can find some great places too....

I had a nice dinner at Ristorante Accademia located near (where else?) the Accademia. I walked in without a reservation. No problem (although it was relatively early).

Go to Il Cernacchio if you like quick, good and inexpensive.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/heNWphJ9NFeqyjjc9?g_st=ic

Consider these options:

Giglio Rosso located at 35 via Panzani. Their web site is https://www.ristorantegigliorosso.com/en/about/.

Olio & Convivium Gastronomia Restaurant. It's on the Pitti Palace side of the river on Via di Santo Spirito. Wonderful atmosphere, excellent food, and good wine. A bit pricy, so you might want to try it for lunch rather than dinner. The web site is (or was) https://oliorestaurant.it/.

You should be able to check out the prices and such on their web site.

Gusto Leo is a casual restaurant with reasonable prices. Their pici pasta with tomato sauce was delicious.

https://www.ristorantepizzeriagustoleo.com/en/

In 2018, I went to the Acquacotta Trattoria twice because I liked it so much. As a party of one, I had no trouble getting a table, but you might want to make a reservation just in case.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Quty8qQdAgyLntb8A?g_st=ic

One of my favorite places for a casual meal is Mercato Centrale. https://florencetips.com/market.html

The upstairs is a wonderful food court with an array of offerings.

We loved Simbiosi Organic Pizza. I believe it's also in the RS guidebook.

Mister Pizza right by the Duomo is actually delicious! Surprising given the location :)

One of our favorite meals in Florence was at Mama Eat, and we also enjoyed Ciro & Sons.

If you venture away from the Duomo area and to the Santa Croce & Sant' Ambrogio neighborhoods...many very good restaurants...just a few suggestions:
Il Gatto e la Volpe (the cat & the Wolfe) located at Via Ghibellina 147R
Ristorante Boccadama located on the Piazza Santa Croce 25/26R with a lovely view of the church
La Cucina del Ghianda V. dell.Agnolo 113R
Cibreo Caffe and Cibreo ristorante Via Andrea del Verrocchio 5R caffee and 8R ristorante

And if you are in the mood for an American style burger/fries...try "Off the Hook"....in the area as well. Buon Appetito!