Eating in the Vatican Museum

Personally I eat a good breakfast and skip the cafe but if you must eat there you'll find it lacking.

We ate there in 2001 despite reading the RS recommendation not to. It was horrible food. Chef Boyardee is superior to what they were serving. Maybe the food has improved since then. Mary

There is a cafeteria in the Museum which is horrible. There is an actual restaurant in the courtyard with very good food - great salads and other light fare. I'm not sure what time it opens, so it may be something to do after you tour the museums.

Just eat before you go into the museums.

If your entry tickets are for noon I would just eat before you get there. Grab a slice of pizza or a sandwich before you go and then spend your time enjoying the art work. Donna

Or take a picnic lunch with you. You can eat outside or in the cafeteria. You can also easily visit the Pinacoteca and Paleo-Christian museums (and 1 or 2 others) that are in the building with the cafeteria before entering the main (one-way) museums, if you want to see a bit before eating. The one-way system is not absolutely mandatory - you can backtrack, but you will have to walk through those parts again to continue. Unless it is really crowded, then it may be hard to "swim upstream."

Ditto. Overpriced and pretty bad. Eat good before you go and stuff a few snacks in your backpack in case you get the munchies.

Zoe, you mentioned an actual restaurant in the courtyard. Do you need to get into the museum before you access it? I haven't scheduled the time for our entry yet, but our morning will be full with the Scavi tour and St. Peter's Basilica. If we could eat in the courtyard restaurant before we tour the museum, it sounds perfect.

Nope, everything is after the entrance.

Thanks everyone. You've been a big help.

Hi! Just do NOT eat at Cafdfé Vaticano, across the street form the entrance - it is obcenely expensive for regular fare. We went there last May - of course, there are no menus available, but it looks cafeteria-style...so we did not think it would be that expensive. 59 Euros for 2 slices of pizzas, two lemonades and 2 small cups of fruit salads!!!! Consider your self warned! :)

ditto the above suggestions. First visit to the Vatican we had great panini at a cafe a block or so away from St. Peter's Square. Visited again last October and we ate at the cafe in the museum and the food was pretty bad. Would not eat here again.

The courtyard restaurant is inside the museum. It's not overpriced, the food and service are good, but you do have to go into the museum entrance to get to it. Once you are in the museum, you don't have a fixed time to depart (unlike the Borghese Gallery), so you could have lunch in the courtyard restaurant and then visit the museum.

Your best bet is the Starbucks Cafe in the Vatican if you decide to eat in the Vatican at all. Wouldn't waste my money at the others.