If you or someone you’re traveling with enjoys a vegetarian or vegan diet, dining in Rome can sometimes be difficult. While the markets are full of vendors selling beautiful fruits and vegetables from farms near and far, it can sometimes be a challenge to find a restaurant that will take those vegetables and create a substantial dish with them. Vegetable sides are a staple for any Italian table, but their preparation is pretty basic usually sautéed in a pan with oil and salt. Chicory, a wild and cultivated member of the dandelion family, is one of the most common sides, as well as brocoletti, another kind of loose, long stemmed broccoli, and zucchini squash, especially during the fall. If you’re a fan of a green side salad, you may be disappointed to find the lack of creativity at most restaurants where they’ll serve a simple bowl of flat lettuce and offer olive oil, salt and vinegar to dress it.
That’s not to say you can’t find great vegetarian restaurants – or rather, restaurants with good vegetarian options but aren’t strictly vegetarian – throughout Rome. Here is our list of ten restaurants we’ll go to to get our veggie fix.
Featured Image by Solo Crudo, Raw Food Restaurant in Rome
Our 10 Favorite Vegetarian Restaurants in Rome
Marigold
Our favorite new restaurant right now Marigold is not strictly vegetarian, but half of their breakfast, lunch and dinner menus are vegetarian and vegan friendly. Sourcing their fruits and vegetables strictly from local farmers (delivered by bicycle!) means the flavors are intense and real. Daily pasta is made fresh daily and often features small tweaks to traditional favorites, like the Tuscan kale pesto made with walnuts rather than pine nuts.
The lunch menu changes daily and the dinner menu (served just Friday and Saturday nights) changes weekly. Many of the vegetarian dishes can be made vegan as well.
Via Giovanni da Empoli, 37 (Ostiense neighborhood) | Open Tues – Friday for breakfast and lunch from 8am – 5pm, Fri – Saturday for dinner from 7 – 11pm, Sat – Sun for brunch from 9am – 3:30pm, closed Mondays | website
The Beehive Rome
The Beehive is a boutique ho(s)tel located a stone’s throw from Termini station, Rome’s main transportation hub. The friendly hostel is owned by American expats Linda and Steve who moved to Rome 20 years ago to follow their dreams. Today the hostel not only offers safe, comfortable and affordable accommodation for travelers of all ages, but their all-vegetarian cafè is a foodie hub where communal, international dinners take place several times a week and Steve teaches pasta and pizza making lessons.
Via Marghera 8 (Termini) | Family Style Dinners on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (and some Sundays) at 7.30pm, Pizza Making Lessons on Tuesdays at 5:30pm, Pasta Making Lessons on Thursdays at 6:00pm (reservations required for everything) | website
Ginger Sapori & Salute
Ginger is a welcome breath of fresh among a sea of meat-filled trattorie and ristoranti in the Piazza di Spagna and Pantheon areas. Enjoy a large menu of fresh salads, made-to-order baquette sandwhiches, soups, and other substantial vegetarian dishes. Outdoor dining is also available at both of their locations.
Via Borgognona 43-46 (Piazza di Spagna) and Piazza Sant’Eustachio 54-55 (Pantheon) | Spagna is open everyday rom 9am – midnight, Pantheon location is open everyday from 8am – 11pm | website
Il Margutta
Il Margutta is a strictly vegetarian-only fine dining option located on one of the most beautiful streets in Rome, Via Margutta. Known as the artists’ street, Pablo Picasso, Federico Fellini, and Giorgio de Chirico all at one point called Via Margutta home. The artist legacy continues to this day at Il Margutta where the medium is vegetarian cuisine.
Via Margutta 118 (Piazza di Spagna) | Open daily for lunch from 12-3:30pm and dinner from 7-11:30pm | website
Solo Crudo
Solo Crudo – Italian for Only Raw – is an entirely raw food restaurant, which means not only is it vegetarian and vegan but food is not cooked at high temperatures. Italian dishes like pasta are reinterpreted entirely in vegetables for a very unique dining experience in Rome. Enjoy seasonal vegetables transformed into Italian favorites, like this “parmesan pasta” made from zucchini pasta and a raw cheese alternative.
Viale Federico Cesi, 22 (Prati) | Open Tuesday – Sunday for lunch 12-3pm and dinner from 7pm – midnight, closed Mondays | website
Orto
A classic vegetarian restaurant in the heart of the Prati neighborhood, behind the Vatican and Castel Sant’Angelo. Orto offers lunch, dinner and brunch menus entirely from organic fruits and vegetables sourced from local and national farms.
Via Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli 142 (Prati) | Open Monday – Saturday for lunch 12:30 – 3pm, and dinner from 7:30 – 11:30pm, Closed Sundays | website
Avocado Bar
Tucked behind the Forum of Augustus, the Avocado Bar is one of a kind for Rome. Wholly vegetarian with most dishes featuring the trendy, protein-rich avocado, the restaurant reinvents tartars, pokè bowls and even sandwiches using avocado as the protagonist. The restaurant is tiny, so it’s the perfect place to grab some lunch to takeaway and enjoy while enjoying views of Rome’s forums or the Colosseum, which are just minutes away by foot.
Via Madonna dei Monti 103 (Monti) | Open daily from 11:30am – 3pm, 6:30pm – 11pm | website
Humus Bistro
Directly next to the Avocado Bar, Humus Bistro is a charming restaurant part of the Casa Argileto boutique hotel. The restaurant is not strictly vegetarian but specializes in eastern mediterranean flavors for a healthy and tasty lunch or dinner. During the warm months, the roof terrace is open for al fresco dining and beautiful views of the forums from up above.
Via Madonna dei Monti 9 (Monti) | Open Tuesday – Sunday 9am – 11pm, Closed Mondays | website
Romeow Bistro
For a very unique dining experience for animal lovers (especially cat lovers), Romeow Bistro combines vegan dining in an environment full of your feline friends. The menu features all vegetable-based dishes using seasonal ingredients carefully prepared and impeccably presented. The restaurant’s interior is designed to give the cats plenty of lounging and play areas so as to enhance the dining experience without imposing on it. Guests are encouraged to pet and play with the cats.
Via Francesco Negri 15 | Open Tuesday – Sunday from 11am – 11:30pm, Closed Mondays | website
Grezzo
Grezzo is Italian for “Raw” and in this case it refers to the ingredients used for chocolates and gelato. All of the products at Grezzo are vegan and gluten-free, from the cakes to the chocolates to the gelato. The humble gelato menu of 5-6 flavors include traditional hazelnut and chocolate, as well as peanut and cashew. Stop in for a sweet treat after lunch or dinner or for a cone of gelato to take with you on your stroll through the charming Monti neighborhood.
Via Urbana 130 | Open daily from 11am – 11pm (open till midnight on Friday and Saturday) | website
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What is your favorite vegetarian restaurant in Rome?
[…] Via Urbana is another charming street located in the Monti neighborhood. The ivy-covered buildings are just a few stories high which makes the street quite luminous and great for photos. Artist bottegas and restaurants occupy the ground floor while private residences make up the higher floors. Be sure to check out Grezzo for some of the city’s best gelato (that’s also vegan!) […]