The Best Gluten Free Places in Rome
What do pizza and pasta have in common besides being typical Italian foods? They all make us salivate and feel pleasure, and they all have gluten. Gluten is considered an enemy among nutritionists of all kinds and people with celiac disease, and awareness of the issue only increases over the years, all over the world and in Italy in particular (the incidence of celiac disease is considered high there). You may be surprised to find out that precisely in Italy, known for its high-carbohydrate foods, the sensitivity to the issue is very high and almost everywhere you will find gluten-free alternatives! And for the good news, we have prepared a guide for you with some of the most recommended places where you can eat gluten-free.
- Netanela Biton - Romio Team
- May 22, 2022
Mama Eat
The traditional Italian restaurant Mama Eat, which operates in the lively and romantic Trastevere neighborhood, is one of the restaurants considered in the city for people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity (even lactose sensitivity!). The restaurant has two kitchens with two chefs, and from here you can get all the dishes in the restaurant in a gluten-free version, such as arancini, fried fish and pasta. In our opinion, the recommended dish here is the soft and juicy pizza. Special dishes for example: strips of chicken breast with a crispy coating; Linguine with mussels, pecorino cream and cherry tomatoes; Fried pizza with ham, provolone cheese, parmesan and ricotta and pistachio tiramisu. The restaurant has an indoor and outdoor space, for those who want to watch the people going by in the neighborhood, and it has branches in other cities in Italy (and another one in Rome, which we will get to in a moment). Mama Eat? Mamma Mia!
The special detail – there are also lactose-free dishes
Address: Via di S. Cosimato 7/9
Mama Eat Lab
Meet the “relative” of the first restaurant on the list: Mama Eat Lab, the restaurant next door to the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica. Lab (abbreviation of Laboratorio, “Laboratory” in Italian) is part of the restaurant’s name, and it does “prescribe” appetizing street dishes for you. What sets it apart from its predecessor is that here the kitchen is 100% gluten-free! Special dishes for example: potato croquettes with mozzarella pure di latte, parsley, pepper, parmesan and crispy coating; pasta with potato, provolone cheese and grated parmesan; Panini with sausage, Neapolitan broccoli and provolone and donuts with sugar and chocolate. If all labs were this delicious, we’d want to be scientists!
The special detail – all dishes are gluten-free
Address: Borgo Pio 28
Le Altre Farine del Mulino
Le Altre Farine del Mulino means “the other flours of the mill” in Italian, and at the current location you will indeed find unconventional flour. This is a popular Sicilian cafe-bakery, near the Vatican, intended for a celiac and gluten-sensitive audience. All pastries are handmade: croissants with different fillings, brioche, cakes, cannoli, sandwiches, pizza (thin and great) and more. When you eat here you will find it hard to believe that the delicacies do not contain gluten, because the taste is very similar to the real and amazing thing!
The special detail – gluten-free bakery
Address: Via di Porta Cavalleggeri 151/153
Pandali
Pan means “bread” in Italian, and indeed the next quality place is dedicated to bread and carbohydrates of all kinds, and they are all gluten-free! This is a bakery-cafe in a central and excellent location, close to the Pantheon. It also offers breakfast, lunch and takeaway. Special dishes for example: corn bread; hummus bread; Buckwheat cake, hazelnuts and sour cherry jam and strawberry, lemon and almond cake. Healthy dishes such as quinoa with zucchini, tomato and mint and brown rice with walnuts, raisins, onion and lemon are also served here. The place is small, cozy and provides friendly and warm service. It’s open Monday to Saturday from 09:00 to 15:00 and closed on Sunday, so don’t miss it!
The special detail – there are also healthy dishes
Address: Via di Torre Argentina 3
Voglia di Pizza
The pizzeria we gathered for is in an excellent location, near the Pantheon and Piazza Navona, and it offers a traditional Italian menu with a separate kitchen for gluten-free dishes. Its offer is rich and wide, and as soon as you sit down, the waiter asks if you would like a gluten-free menu! The gluten-free dishes are “marked” with a flag and thus differ from the other dishes. There are even five types of gluten-free beer and lactose-free options! The menu offers wonderful classic dishes such as pasta, lasagna and souffle, but its main specialty, as the name suggests, is the pizza, which is considered one of the best gluten-free pizzas in town. Voglia di Pizza means “craving for pizza” in Italian, and our pizza cravings definitely increased!
The special detail – offering gluten-free beers
Address: Via dei Giubbonari 33
El Maiz
If the name sounds foreign to you and not Italian, you are not mistaken – the next place is actually Venezuelan! Yes, that’s not a typo. El Maiz (“the corn” in Spanish) is a Venezuelan family street food stand near the Vatican, and all dishes are gluten-free. It serves classic tropical dishes such as empanadas, arepas (a sandwich made from corn flour), tostones (plantain, a tropical fruit similar to a banana, green and fried), babion criollo (the Venezuelan version of rice with beans) and cachapa (a Venezuelan corn pancake). This booth has a five-round score on Google, and it’s small but larger than life! (Did we drift a bit in the description?).
The special detail – Venezuelan food
Address: Via Tolemaide 16
Fiocco di Neve
All the salty foods we have mentioned so far made us crave something sweet, and there is nothing as sweet as fresh ice cream! The ice cream parlor Fiocco di Neve (“Snowflakes”) is located near the Pantheon and offers about 30 flavors of gluten-free ice cream (even the waffles are gluten-free!), and some are even lactose-free. Sample flavors: Banana, Watermelon, Snickers and Nutella. This ice cream parlor in Rome is one of the best gluten free ice cream parlors and is highly recommended for people who like cold ice cream!
The special detail – all the ice creams are gluten-free
Address: Via del Pantheon 51
If you ever thought that gluten-free food is bland, sucks and really not close to the real thing, then our list is the winning proof that it’s not the case! Gluten-free food can be special and delicious, no less than even the classic versions of our favorite foods. The gluten-free alternatives are endless, from cornmeal pasta to buckwheat bread and almond flour cake, and the taste does not fall short of the original and is even healthier. Here, too, all roads lead to Rome with many restaurants offering gluten-free options, so don’t say you didn’t know!
