Vegetarian food in Rome and Venice

You will have no problem. There are always plenty of pasta choices, many without meat. The contorni (side dishes) also usually include many fresh vegetables.

Caprese salads - Basil, tomato and buffalo mozzarella cheese!

pugliamonti restaurant in Rome on via Urbana was one of our favorite restaurants. It is straight vegetarian so there is no need to ask if there is secretly hidden meat in your meal. It was a bit expensive and the menu is all in Italian. I translated the menu for our second visit as we had not clue what we ordered the first night and although the proprietor said he would help with translation, we did not feel right about asking what every dish was. Second night, we were prepared. Small portions but it was a matter of quality vs quantity. In Venice, we enjoyed Frari's safe. It wasn't Italian food but it was a nice break for a meal of protein. I believe it is Greek/Mediterranean food, humus, moussaka, cous cous, etc. They do serve meat dishes but it was easy to know what and what didn't have meat in it. Be careful over what bruschetta is ordered. You may get slipped some with pate on it. It may look like olive paste, but it is really uber overfed goose liver.

Pasta pomodoro (tomatoes). All kinds of pizza - know that Pepperoni means peppers, not the meat that we have here - that is salami. Bruschetta al pomodoro (again, with tomatoes - I've never had them put pate on it). Caprese salad - tomatoes, mozarella, basil. Pasta al burro (butter), al funghi (mushrooms). Antipasto bars (assortment of marinated veggies). It is incredibly easy to eat vegetarian in Italy. Know some Italian words. Stick to the antipasto & primi sections of the menu. If you are really worried (about what is in a vegetable soup by way of broth), learn how to say what you want.

Thank you Laura, Kelly and Karen for those useful tips. I feel more assured now than before!! Thanks again!!

While not strictly vegetarian, La Zucca in Venice gets rave reviews from the veggie crowd. http://www.lazucca.it/?lang=en

My wife and I are both vegeterians and Italy is the easiest country to find delicious vegeterian food. Each year we travel we find more restaurants are making special dinners for vegeterians. Another major improvement is the many european countries having smoke free restaurants.

For many years we have traveled with the Marling's Menu Master for Italy, France and Spain (plus Germany). They are passport size and easy to carry and contain a wealth of info of what you may encounter on an actual menu. http://www.amazon.com/Marling-Menu-Master-France-menu-masters/dp/0912818034

I'll second La Zucca in Venice; it's well known for it's vegetarian dishes but it's truly one of the best restaurants on the island.

I assume vegan is out of the question in Europe- France and Italy- with all of the cheeses, right? We will probably indulge and enjoy while visiting; however, curious if anyone has found a simply fruits and veggies type restaurant option other than just going to the markets?

Many of my Italian friends go 2-3 days without eating meat, so vegetarian options are wide open. An Italian friend of ours, Andrea, went back to the States (Wisconsin) with his US girl-friend last year to meet her folks. He was horrified that at every meal: breakfast, lunch AND dinner, there was a meat entre'. For six days he ate meat at every meal and could not believe anyone ate like that. He was so happy to get back to Italy. So culturally, meat is often NOT the spotlight at an Italian dinner. Certainly not at Andrea's house! You might look at this article by Zerlina, Food in Rome, which talks about different foods and courses. It can give you some suggestions.

Thank you all for your responses. Kitty, as you say, I'm also curious to know if restaurants offer a fruit, vegetable type option. I just learned that pepperoni on pizza means 'bell peppers' unlike here!!! Its going to be interesting to learn the new 'vocabulary'!