Roman food tour (+ 3 cool facts about Italian food)

Every time I start a Live Virtual Tour I ask my guests two questions: have you ever been to Rome? If yes, what is the best memory you brought back home from the city?
And guess what is the most common answer I get about 90% of the time? The Roman food.

roman food
Delicious pizza “al taglio”

Not only the food itself. But also the ritual of sitting at a table and enjoying every single bite and sip. All of this surrounded by the Roman vibes all around, and even better if outdoors on a cobbled stone street. As the Romans do!

How to best enjoy the Roman food

However there is an unfortunate factor that comes into the scene. When you want to enjoy some food in a city like Rome, it very easy to fall into a tourist trap. Especially in the historical center.

You really need to know where to go to avoid disappointments, or ask the Romans for advice 😉


Or, you might also head down to a different area of the city, off-the-tourists path, and enjoy the Rome food like a local!


I know how passionate you are about Italian food, you keep asking me about virtual food tours all the time! 😊

I am not really an expert on food, so I’ve decided to sacrifice myself for you. 😜 So I tried a very popular Food Tour in Rome that I could recommend!

A promo code for this Food Tour is waiting for you at the end of this article! 😉

I also made a little virtual tour preview in case you want to know what is this about:

The Roman Food Tour

roman food
A typical aperitivo plate with mozzarella di bufala and bruschettas

The Food Tour I’ve chosen is the Prati by Sunset tour, offered by The Roman Food Tour company, specialized since almost a decade in food tours for English speaking guests.

You might be wondering: what is Prati?? Prati is the reason why I chose this tour. Prati is a neighborhood in the north of Rome where mostly locals live, away from the touristy crowds and restaurants of the historical center.So this is one of the places where the real Roman food experience can happen!

Alert: be prepared and come to this tour with an empty stomach. Because you will eat like there is no tomorrow! 😜

roman food
Chianti wine + parma ham: perfection!

The tour took place in different venues, where we tried aperitivo with bruschettas, parma ham and cheese boards, pizza and pasta all accompanied by prosecco and wine (everything in one single tour!!). The food was great, but what I also loved was the storytelling of the tour guide about the different kinds of food that we were trying and the fact that we met a lot of people coming from so many different countries, so it was also a way of socializing!
Anyways, I want to sum up my experience in 3 main points that I’ve learned in this experience, which are..

3 cool facts about Italian food:

1) The toasting ritual comes from ancient Rome! 🥂

Back in the time, life was was a little more risky than today. 😅 And poison was one of the most popular methods for murder and it was usually added to drinks.

Therefore, to test that your drink was not poisoned by your fellow drinker, you would clink the glasses and look at her/him in the eyes.

If the person in front of you poisoned your drink, then some drops could fall into his/her glass too. Which is certainly something you would notice in their eyes. That is also why we look at each other’s eyes still today. Therefore, if someone runs away after a toast.. don’t drink! 😜

2) The pigs of the Parma ham eat Parmesan cheese 🐖

What a nice diet, isn’t it? To be exact, it would be wrong to imagine pigs eating slices of Parmesan cheese at dinner. But there is some truth in this.

The official regulation of the Parma Ham Consortium specifies the exact dietary requirements of the pigs for the Parma Ham. This includes cereal of the Parma region and the whey which comes from the production of the Parmigiano Reggiano. That is also why you can feel that sort of sweet/cheesy taste in the background that characterizes the Parma ham… yummy!

3) The Margherita pizza represent the colors of the Italian flag 🇮🇹

Haven’t you ever noticed that? Yes, the green of the basil, the white of the mozzarella and the red of the tomatoes. Together they match into a meal that pulls the whole country together!

This dates as far as 1889, when the Italian royals King Umberto I and Queen Margherita travelled to Naples.

The royals asked the famous pizza maker Raffaele Esposito to make pizza for them. Esposito was super honored of this task and proposed to the king and queen three kinds pizza. Among these pizza recipes there was one with basil, tomato and mozzarella.

The Queen loved the fact that this last pizza included all together the colors of the Italian flag, (as well as its taste!) and Esposito dedicated this pizza to her, calling it Pizza Margherita! Have you ever imagined that royals would eat pizza too? 😜

These were only a few of the cool facts that the tour guide told us between one bite and the other. Did you know any of these??

Here’s a discount code for your Roman Food Tour!

By the way, not only I’ve sacrificed myself to do a quality check of this tour for you 😜

I also have a little gift for you: a 5% discount for this tour if you book using the discount code LVGDISCOUNT by clicking at this button:


Thanks for reading and enjoy your Roman Food Experience! 😉

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Written by Federica

Creative director of Live Virtual Guide. Her favorite things are gelato, pizza and the hidden gems of Rome.
piazza di pietra rome historical center private tour
piazza di pietra rome historical center private tour
rome off the beaten path

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