Wanna go to the most beautiful place on earth with the most beautiful man on earth (*insert George Clooney*)? Well, if so, I have found your spot. Welcome to Lake Como, Italy – the place of literal dreams. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Lake Como, it’s a place in Italy on the most gorgeous lake where a ton of international celebs (*insert George Clooney*) have villas.

My sister, friend, and I were lucky to spend a few beautiful days there, and here were all the vegan options we found! Disclaimer: Como is not the most vegan-friendly, so you’ll see we ate a lot of bread and spaghetti. But honestly, the views are worth the lack of options. Sorry, not sorry!

1. Caffe Monti in Como Town

In the heart of Lake Como is Como Town, the town central to the area. It’s cute! Not a must-see, but we did spend a few hours walking around and found a restaurant near the water called Caffe Monti. They offered your standard spaghetti Pomodoro and bruschetta. The pasta was yummy! You would think every restaurant in Italy would have this option, but you’d be surprised. Only a handful did, so make sure you read the menu before sitting at any old cafe!

2. Restaurant Kitchen Lake Como 

This was a cute restaurant only a few minutes from our hotel (Villa D’este). It’s not all-vegan, but they do offer modified vegan dishes and a vegan tasting menu. According to my friend, it’s also Michelin-starred! COOL!

So the vegan tasting menu came with a few courses. We started with this pea soup (that was the chef’s complement).  It was so creamy and delicious. Then the middle few courses were a bit mid. One was literally a single strawberry and beet. The other was a plate of roasted red peppers. We weren’t fans of those two. We also got a course of bread and breadsticks, which was pretty solid, and a little beet “beef wellington” which had a really delicious pastry around it. However, the pièce de résistance was the beet pasta. OMGEE one of the best dishes I have literally ever had in my entire life. It was so creamy and buttery and fresh and the noodles were cooked to perfection. If you come here, I would skip the tasting menu and just do the soup, beet pasta, and vegan dessert (which was quite good too). 

I swear, I think I lost my virginity to that pasta because I’m a whole new woman. 

3. Crotto Dei Plattani Lake Como 

This was a beautiful restaurant right on the lake, with a gorgeous view of Bellagio. The staff was incredibly friendly and there was even an American vegan staff member who recommended we follow some vegan Instagrammer called Johny Carbstrong I think?? So follow him I guess? 

Anyway, again, not a ton of options, but they were able to accommodate. We ate the table bread, got the fresh veggie salad, and just mixed it with oil and vinegar to start. Then, for the meal, they were able to take the kid’s menu item “pasta shells with sauce” and give us a bigger portion. The shape of the pasta was honestly so fun and the pasta itself was delicious!! If I went back, I would happily order it again! Fun-shaped pasta and a great view? I’m a happy gworl. 

4. Sotozero Gelato Lake Como

So just a few minutes walk from our hotel, there were two gelato shops called Sotozero, which is kind of confusing. One is just a gelato shop. The other is a cafe with gelato. The one that is just a gelato shop has a ton of vegan options, from the classic fruit flavors to vegan dark chocolate. They also served vegan cones you could buy separately and asked for your gelato to be scooped on top! As the master genius I am, I got chocolate gelato at the gelato shop and then went to the cafe across the street for an espresso and made my own affogato. It was BOMB.

I also was able to try the gelato at the cafe, but they only had fruit flavors. I tried the strawberry and then the mango/passion fruit flavor. Strawberry was my favorite of the two!

So if you want chocolate gelato, fruit gelato, or an affogato – you know where to go!

5. Gusto

Right in between our hotel and the gelato place was a build-your-own poke place named Gusto (I think??) We didn’t get the chance to go, but they had some vegan options, so here’s a pic of the menu if you are interested. 

6. Hotel Metropole Bellagio 

So it’s a little confusing, but there are a few towns in Como and one of them is Bellagio. You can get there by car or by boat (the scenic af route), which we did. In the small, but beautiful town of Bellagio, they have a ton of restaurants. However, again, not all of them served the basic bruschetta and spaghetti Pomodoro. However, the lakeside restaurant near the boat dock at Hotel Metropole did and, honestly, it was surprisingly some of the best food we had on the trip. I say surprisingly because it was a super touristy spot, so we were expecting the food to be mid, but it was actually DELICIOUS. 

The spaghetti sauce was soooooo f*cking good, it almost tasted like the Trader Joe’s vegan bolognese sauce. The bruschetta was also fabulous and juicy and oily and carby and amazing. The fries were great, but they were even better with Italian Heinz ketchup, which is sweeter. Gosh, everything in Europe is just better, isn’t it? 

Anyway, I know it may seem like a janky spot, but we lowkey loved it lol. 

7. Villa D’este (our hotel!!) 

Villa D’este was where we stayed and it literally looked like an Italian castle. Apparently, 80% of celebrities who come to Lake Como stay here, so I felt #cool

Anyway, they also didn’t have a ton of vegan options, but they did have a few. Every morning they had a complimentary breakfast buffet with vegan options such as: cereal (rice crispies and corn flakes), a huge buffet of freshly cut fruit, bread rolls and jam, a whole selection of freshly squeezed juices (orange, grapefruit, apple, carrot, etc), and soy milk and almond milk for your cereal or to drink alone. They could also make any coffee/latte/cappuccino with soy, almond, or oat (I believe) milk. So we ate a lot of bread, cereal, and fruit for breakfast. Go carbs! I also recommend dipping your bread roll into the cappuccino. It’s what dreams are made of. 

In terms of savory options, they had your standard penne Pomodoro or arrabbiata. Really yummy!!

8. Lemon Tree on Isola Bella

Ok, so this might also be confusing, but there is a neighboring lake to Lake Como called Lake Maggiore, which has its own set of islands that you can visit. One of the islands we visited was Isola Bella and they had a restaurant called Lemon Tree. Aside from their confusing “rock and roll” decor that almost worked but didn’t, they had a specifically marked vegan panini on the menu! How cool! It was a vegan version of a Caprese called MPO Vegan. Does anyone know what that stands for? 

Anyway, it was ok! Nothing to rave home about, but super cool they had a vegan option! Unfortunately, they didn’t have vegan dessert, which was #sad. Woe is us. 

9. Last, but not least, Ristorante PIzzeria La Rondine on Isola Pescatori

Again, this was another island on Lake Maggiore – not to be confused with its neighbor, Lake Como. We didn’t actually go inside and eat but my vegan spidey senses saw the vegan symbol on the menu and took a picture for all you lovelies, so enjoy!

There you have it! All the vegan options I saw in person. There are a few all-vegan spots in Como we didn’t have time to hit up, but you can find them with a quick google search. I’m not your travel agent, jeez! Kidding. Love you, my little vegans. Enjoy the following pics of Como!