Vegan
Pizza
Italian
Beer/Wine
Delivery
Take-out

Family-owned vegan restaurant with roman style cuisine, seasonal dishes, and pizza. Dishes include carbonara, amatriciana, cacio e pepe, gricia, and veganized traditional desserts. Reservations required; book through the restaurant website. LGBTQ+ friendly. Note: Previously veg options only, but fully vegan since 1st March 2023. Open Tue-Sun 11:00-23:00. Closed Mon.


Venue map for Rifugio Romano
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1209 Reviews

First Review by lotustummy

Emery_

Points +169

Vegan
01 Sep 2017

Holy god good vegan food

CHOICES! They have a full vegan menu with starters, firsts, seconds, pizzas, and desserts. It also looks like it's gotten bigger than the last picture of the menu that was uploaded here.
Top tip, if you're going for dinner (and you don't mind doing so) go early at about 7pm, because from 7:30pm it's usually getting full and by 8 there's normally a line.
I went so many times because it seemed to be the best vegan option in the centre of Rome. I walked 20 mins each way from my Airbnb every day just to go there.
For amazing quality and value, the best dishes I had were the lasagne and the gnocchi alla sorrentina (seriously, they blew my mind). The ravioli were expensive and you didn't get a lot of them.
It's a family-run business and the wait staff were very attentive and nice. Fluent in English too if you need that. Because I went there so many times, at my last dinner the waiter gave me a free shot of limoncello 😂👌🏽
Also there was no cover charge.
Overall amazing choices for vegans, value varied, but there are some knock-out dishes. It gets busy in peak hours and the tables are often quite close together, but that's their way of feeding as many people as quickly as possible, given most nights people are queuing up outside.
I will definitely be back if I return to Rome, and would even consider staying somewhere close by so I could easily walk there for my meals.

Pros: Some great food & many vegan options, Great staff, Close to Roma Termini

Cons: Variable value, Can get very busy so service can get a bit slow

InaHeinemeier

Points +137

Vegan
26 Aug 2017

Amazing Place

Went there in June 2017 and was pleasantly surprised! The Vegan White Wine is amazing, and so is their food. We had the pizza, which was very delicious and full of flavour. We actually went a second time, where we shared the antipasti platter (def. order the focaccia on the side!), both had the super filling walnut gnocchi (which was delicious!) and shared vegan cakes. What can I say, I'd definitely go again if I ever find myself in Rome again.

Pros: Food was delicious, Not busy if you eat Dinner early (5-6PM)

Cons: 1 staff member wasn't very friendly, not 100% vegan even when they could be hehe

SagaVigreBohinen

Points +1079

Vegan
17 Aug 2017

Great food

Nice standard restaurant with quite a few vegan options. The pasta is definitely their main strength, and I had the bolognese which was amazing. Although my friends said that some of their pasta was a bit watery. The appetizers were amazing but deep fried, so the food is quite heavy. But nevertheless quite delicious.

Pros: Lots of vegan options , Great service

Cons: Not really a restaurant feel

JamesPegg

Points +28

Vegan
11 Aug 2017

Must visit for a vegan visiting Rome

So can only give this place 4 stars because they aren't 100% vegan. However this place cares enough to provide an extensive traditional Italian menu in Vegan. To be fair I feel this restaurant is Vegan but caters for non vegans! Loads of choice and delicious food. Beware however this place is popular with everyone local and visiting! If you don't want to wait make a reservation beforehand.

Pros: Huge vegan offering, central location , good wine list with vegan option

Cons: a lot of 'meat' replacements, more fresh veg might

madsmagnus

Points +28

Vegan
04 Aug 2017

Italian food for vegans

This place is great if you are looking for an authentic Italian vegan meal. These guys seem to have a good understand of how to substitute cheeses, along with good Italian taste.

We tried their filled tortelini, and two of their pastas. All of which were very good.

Their lasagna of the day, was on the other hand not impressive - but who knows, maybe the next day it was great :P?

Pros: Close to termini, Authentic Italian dishes, Nice waiters/service

Cons: Close seating inside

JonSpectre

Points +50

Vegan
01 Aug 2017

Holy Sh*t delicious vegan food

They have it ALL. No sad salads and fries here, REAL vegan pizzas and pastas and entrees, along with vegan alcohol! 10/10 recommend, and is very well priced.

Massive vegan menu with many options.

MariaWahl

Points +20

Vegan
31 Jul 2017

Vegan dinner

Very nice restaurant! They have a whole vegan menu, lots of pizza and pasta dishes, and their vegan cheeses are amazing! Great service too and reasonable prices.

Pros: Great food, Not very expensive, Big portions

ErwinLots

Points +8

Non Veg
28 Jul 2017

excellent food, long wait

A very nice restaurant and extremely good food. Many vegan and vegetarian options.
But we had to wait very long.
Owner very nice!

Silvermiss

Points +100

Vegan
26 Jul 2017

Amazing vegan lasagne

The main course and dessert were fantastic. Rather fancy restaurant with lots of vegan options. One very friendly person served us, one other person from the staff didn't act friendly or Interested when seating us and giving us drinks.

Pros: Fancy restaurant , Great food, Good vegan cheese

Cons: One staff member, The view/location when outside

VegansArePeopleToo

Points +128

Vegan
23 Jul 2017

Small place, big flavor

The only place we ate at twice, largely because of its proximity to our hotel, but also the great food. Seems like the vegan dishes took longer to come out than the tables next to us, but when it came it was worth it. The best bruschetta we had, and the gnochetti was a sure highlight.

Pros: Vegan clearly marked

Cons: Long wait for food

LizzyDeacon

Points +22

Vegan
11 Jul 2017

AMAZING VEGAN PIZZAS

I've been in Rome for 2 days and have eaten there both nights!! Service is a bit poor but the food makes up for it. The pizzas have vegan cheese and it tastes incredible. They also have meat options which the people I was with loved!!

Nathvaliu

Points +26

Vegan
08 Jul 2017

amazing food

The stuff is very nice and good at english, pizza is amazing and atmosphere is lovely

LuSummers

Points +22

Vegan
01 Jul 2017

Amazing vegan options and desserts

Really lovely, traditional Italian restaurant. Vegan options are clearly marked as there have their own menu within the menu :) the food we has was great, especially the dessert - Tiramisu!! Super friendly staff.

Enivid

Points +295

Vegan
01 Jul 2017

So Slow!

Although there were plenty of vegan options in the menu, we have been really disappointed with the place. We had to wait almost two hours to have our two-course. The food quality was not great. It would be OK food for a restaurant outside of Italy, but in the city where you can have excellent meal in the smallest random cafe for a few euro, the taste of the food in Rifugio Roman was simply subpar.

Pros: Variety of vegan choices

Cons: Slow, Subpar food quality

FrejaTheHuman

Points +76

Vegan
29 Jun 2017

Lovely vegan italian food!

Rifugio Romano has so many great options, I ate here twice when in Rome and both of my meals were amazing, I had a mushroom pasta and a pizza which was one of the best I had in Italy! I would give it five stars if I could!

Pros: Lots of vegan options, Very tasty typical Italian food

Cons: none

Kwhite89

Points +20

Vegan
29 Jun 2017

Great food!

Cute restaurant! The food was great and staff were very nice. So many vegan options!

Pros: Friendly staff , Food was great

BexWilkes

Points +44

Vegan
24 Jun 2017

beautiful pizzas and excellent service

We decided to take the nearly 40 minute walk from the colosseum to visit this place, and we were not disappointed. The member of staff that served us was absolutely lovely, helpful, and a smile on his face the whole time. I had the vegan vegetable croquettes, which were lovely, one was enough for a starter as they're quite large. For main I had a pizza with a vegan mayonnaise base, with potatoes, marinated tofu, tomatoes, and vegan cheese, along with some chips. When the food came out, it looked appetising and we dig straight in. We were not disappointed, it all tasted wonderful. It started to get quite busy as we were finishing at around 230, and the waiter got a bit waylaid so I went inside to pay the bill. All in all, I'm very happy with this restaurant and I would definitely visit again :)

Pros: outdoor seating area, well cooked food, fast delivery of food

Cons: took a while to get the bill as it was busy

elenidragon

Points +333

Vegan
20 Jun 2017

worth 5 stars!!!

GREAT family restaurant, non vegan but with a very extensive vegan section of the menu. More options than many full-vegan restaurants!! All the desserts are made by the mother, including vegan tiramisu (delicious), panda cotta, gelato, pineapple cake and more!!

OrlaDonnelly

Points +536

Vegan
18 Jun 2017

Sooooo many vegan options

I'm not used to have very many vegan options and I was overwhelmed with the amount of choice. Many vegan pizzas/pastas/desserts- all excellent. Try vegan tiramisu, blew me away ❤️ it does have meat, but nearly more vegan options than non; would have given 5 stars if allowed.

hayley.ls

Points +144

Vegan
18 Jun 2017

Want traditional Roman food? Want it vegan? Here it is!

Absolutely lovely place! I have eaten here twice in a row and they do not fail to deliver high-quality traditional Italian food!The restaurant is family owned and half of the family is vegan, so they know what they are doing. It is hard to find vegan Roman food in the city, so this place is a must! I ordered the seitan ravioli and the next day the vegan carbonara with vegan white wine (get it!).

Pros: Traditional Roman Food, Outdoor Seating, Abundant Vegan Options

Hawthorn

Points +1616

Vegan
17 Jun 2017

Best meal in Italy - 5 stars!

This was by far my favourite meal in Italy over the course of 11 days - it was on the street of our apartment so we went back twice and I got the exact same 3 course meal again because it was perfect the first time! They've got vegan-friendly signs in the window and one of the waitresses was also vegan and couldn't wait to tell me everything they had on offer. She also told me to save room for dessert and read out the massive list of vegan desserts. I had arancino, croquette and the antipasto for starters (shared between two of us) the carbonara 😍😍😍 for main and chocolate ice cream for dessert. Have uploaded pictures of all! Absolute must.

Pros: Very vegan friendly, extensive menu and enthusiast, CARBONARA!, Free limoncello shots at the end of our meal

Cons: None

KishayaDelaney

Points +25

Vegan
07 Jun 2017

Amazing!!! 10/10

This place is amazing, there is a whole vegan menu and the prices are very good for the portion size and quality. I was so full after the starter and main but had to fit desert because I couldn't say no to tiramisu. The owners are a lovely vegan family and the food is authentic Italian food. Could not fault!!

KerstinElster

Points +83

Vegan
07 Jun 2017

Perfetto!

Sehr nette Bedienung und sehr viele vegane Optionen. Trotz Fleisch auf der Karte ein Geheimtipp :)

GilShamgar

Points +152

Vegan
26 May 2017

Good food, a bit expensive

I had a pizza with many toppings. It was very tasty but 9 euros is a bit too much I think.

Pros: Lots of vegan options

Cons: Expensive

zoetaylordixon

Points +34

Vegan
10 May 2017

So many options

Didn't plan to visit this restaurant but ended up in the area and it was the closest to us and I am SO glad!
There were 3 pages of vegan options so I felt spoilt for choice (as they serve meat it was a good option for me as my mum isn't vegan) I went for the pizza dumplings and my mum got the focaccia (also vegan) off of the regular menu for starters - we shared them both and they were delicious.
I chose ravioli for my main as I haven't had it in years and it didn't disappoint! The sauce was so creamy and even though there were only a few pieces of ravioli they were so huge it didn't feel like I wasn't getting enough. Had the vegan panna cotta with caramel sauce for dessert which was also amazing.
For 2 starters, mains, desserts & 3 soft drinks it only cost €50 so good value for money and the staff were lovely. Would definitely come back if in Rome again!

Pros: Extensive vegan options , Knowledgeable, attentive staff

Joevandyke

Points +16

Vegan
07 May 2017

Amazing!

Wow!!! Authentic Roman dishes that are vegan? I went back here twice it was so good. The lasagne blew my mind, loved the calzone, and the seitan ravioli was incredible! Great service too!

MonacoMel

Points +195

Vegan
30 Apr 2017

deliciozo!

I almost missed this place because I usually only go to vegan restaurants when I travel if at all possible. But after receiving several personal recommendations from Romans, we decided to give this a try. Wow, what a wonderful delight! They make authentic Roman food veganized. The gnocchi and ravioli were divine! My husband loved the calzone. I'm still excited I finally got to try Pana Cotta! This is a family owned restaurant. The mom and two daughters are vegan. Their prices are cheaper than most and the quality is very high. Can't recommend this place enough!




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