Eating Gluten Free in Rome – The Gelato Edition
I honestly have no idea why it’s taken me this long to write the second part of my “Eating Gluten Free in Rome” series! Because gelato is the best part of Roman food, am I right?! Of course I’m right. There are so many wonderful options for gluten free gelato in Rome, and some of them are even dairy-free! Oh yes, I saw plenty of dairy-free options along the way!
Several of the gelato shops in the heart of Rome are completely, 100% gluten free and I’m going to touch on all of the big ones. I’ll also showcase a few smaller gelaterias that are just as wonderful, and more family owned and operated versus corporate. You take your pick. All of these shops have something great to offer! And yes, I sampled gelato at ALL of these! I couldn’t write about them if I didn’t try the product, right? That would be dishonest. I did this for you, my wonderful readers, and suffered through. 😉
This little gelato shop is right around the corner from the Trevi Fountain, which makes it a perfect first stop while touring Rome’s most famous sites! 100% gluten free, they’re certified by the Italian Association of Celiacs. All of their flavors, their cones, and even their crepes (!) are gluten free! They even have flavors like Oreo and tiramusi that are gluten free! You don’t have to worry about cross contamination in this place! And bonus! The presentation is oh so cute! Who doesn’t love the Mickey ears they top every cone with?! Flavor tip: Try the salted caramel. That was my favorite!
Grom
Grom is another 100% gluten free gelateria. They also have several sorbet flavors for those who need dairy free. Grom has locations all over Rome, including one in Rome’s Leonardo Da Vinci Airport! So, if you’ve got time to burn in the airport or you just HAVE to have a cone of gelato as soon as you step off the plane, Grom has you covered! There’s a location in Piazza Navano (which is where we stopped), as well as 8 other locations spread across the city. It’s a chain so you’ll actually find locations throughout the world, including some in NYC and L.A.! You won’t have to look hard for decent gluten free gelato in Rome! Flavor Tip: Try the pistachio! It’s amazing!
Fatamorgana is another chain gelateria with locations in the U.S. as well as Italy. All of their gelato is gluten free and they also have gluten free cones available. Honestly, Fatamorgana was probably my least favorite. It was also the most expensive of the gelato places we tried. But one of their locations was pretty close to our hotel and convenient and I mean, come on, even mediocre gelato in Rome is better than what you can get at the grocery store in the U.S., right? And it’s always wonderful to have options for those of us who eat gluten free!
Ok, let me just say this. 150 flavors of gelato. Must I go on? This gelateria is a little kid’s dream come true. Part ice cream shop, part candy store, part coffee shop, Della Palma hits all the right spots! Their staff is friendly and will let you taste as many flavors as you’d like! I’m pretty sure they have employees who’s sole job is to be the official sample-giver. A medium comes with up to three flavors. For the most part, my mom and I shared a cone throughout our Italian adventures but not at Della Palma! I had to have my own so we could sample more flavors!
One note: Della Palma is not a dedicated gluten free facility. They do have gluten free cones available and they come wrapped to help with cross contamination but there are gelato flavors that have wheat in them. So if you have Celiac disease or are super sensitive to cross contamination, Della Palma may not be the place for you! Which would be sad, because this place is a ton of fun! Flavor tip: try the Ferrero Rocher. It’s amazing! And I don’t even like Ferrero Rocher!
This tiny gelateria was actually one of my favorites. Tucked away in the Monti neighborhood, this gelateria is unique because of all the allergy friendly options they provide! Labeled by the color of the ice cream scoop, they have gluten, dairy, and egg free options! The dairy free coconut gelato may have been my favorite flavor of the whole trip. It was also the least expensive gelateria of our entire trip! They use no hydrogenated or animal fats in their gelato and none of their gelato contains gluten. I highly recommend you give this small shop a try!
So overall impressions. Rome has an abundance of gluten free options when it comes to gelato! We tried a couple of other gelato shops not listed in this post (mostly because I forgot to take pictures! But they were yummy too. Lemongrass Gelato over by the Vatican was definitely a winner.) and never came across a shop that didn’t have at least a handful of gluten free options.
But I’m sure you’re dying to know, what was my favorite overall? The clear winner was, hands down, Gelato G Italiano. They had some interesting flavors that I didn’t see elsewhere (i.e. the salted caramel and gluten free Oreo) and you wouldn’t know that the cones were gluten free if you hadn’t seen the signs. They were amazing. And made on site. So if you’re in the neighborhood of the Trevi Fountain, I would highly recommend a stop at Gelato G! But don’t miss out on any of the shops I’ve listed here today, because they’re all worthy of a visit.
Have you been to Rome and found a gelato shop that you’d recommend? Give it a shoutout in the comments below!
Check out the first part of this series, Eating Gluten Free in Rome, HERE!
