Hello,

Though I am sure that we won't go hungry in Italy, it would be nice to have recommendations for restaurants that have more than just 2-3 vegetarian dishes. We are going to be spending total 3 weeks in venice, tuscany, rome and sorrento/amalfi. If you have a favorite vegetarian friendly restaurant there, please share.

thanks,
meg

http://www.happycow.net/europe/italy/

Most restaurants in Italy will have more than a few vegetarian choices, especially if you eat cheese and eggs. You just need to let the waiter know that you're vegetarian (sono vegetariano) when you order. A lot of the iconic dishes in Italy are meatless. Pizza Margherita, for example, has only tomato, mozzarella, and basil.

In Rome, pasta al cacio e pepe is pasta dressed with sheep cheese and black pepper. In Florence there are various hot and cold soups based on bread and vegetable broth, although you have to check that the broth doesn't have meat in it. In Venice seafood is king, and don't know any typical dishes that are vegetarian, but you can find vegetarian dishes all the same.

The appetizers (antipasti) and side dishes (contorni) are most likely to have vegetarian choices. Grilled mixed vegetables are a substantial vegetable dish, usually based on sweet peppers, zucchine and eggplants, that is found almost everywhere.

I should add that virtually every restaurant, expect perhaps the most expensive and "elegant" ones, is by definition kid friendly. Italy is one of the most kid-friendly countries in the world, even though providing changing tables in the bathrooms isn't universal.

Most restaurants will, if asked, provide for a child a small portion of pizza or pasta, with a simple sauce. You won't usually see a kid's menu, but they'll cheerfully put something together for you.

Margutta and Babette, both on the via Margutta, have buffet lunches that make it easy for kids to choose what the want. While Margutta is totally vegetarian, Babette is not, but it has lots of veg dishes.

Near the Colosseum, Hosteria Nerone has an extensive vegetarian antipasta table, enough to make a full meal (with a couple of veg pastas on the menu).

Armando al Pantheon, one of the best trattorie in Rome, has a vegetarian menu and a lot of vegetarian dishes on its regular menu. It's steps from the Pantheon, but it is very popular, so you need a reservation.

I think you are wise to plan in advance so you don't end up, by default, with non-stop meals of cheese and carbs. In Rome, be on the lookout for menus with egg dishes. They help! Sorry I can't provide a lot of specific help for Tuscany, but many many restaurants there have plain dishes and vegetable soups, and bread salads that are nice switch from pasta in warm weather. The Amalfi is tough, and so is Venice, both of them being so fish centered. But maybe someone else will chime in with specific recommendations.

Typo alert: I meant to write:

"Sorry I can't provide a lot of specific help for Tuscany, but many many restaurants there have plain BEAN dishes"

(a side dish of white cannellini beans is very common in Tuscany, and in the better trattorie, they are a delicious dish, dressed with a little. They may have been cooked with pork fat, so ask beforehand).

La Zucca in Venice has wonderfully different vegetable dishes, although a few meat dishes are on the menu too. It's where we usually have our first dinner. Le Spighe on Via Garibaldi also has veggy food.

You should have no problems at all in Italy.

La Zucca, off of Campo San Giacomo dell'Orio, is very popular and very tiny.

Make reservations.


Thin

I third (or maybe fourth!) La Zucca. The problem was that our server was the most unfriendly person we've met in Italy, but the food was REALLY good.

And we are not vegetarians!

AZ

thanks! great to hear that we will have some options other than pizza and pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner I have noted down all the suggested names. Super helpful!