Fa-Bìo

4.5
The name was enough for me to step in. I keed. Sorta. But, in all honesty, my good friend told me that after my adventures at and around The Vatican, there was but one place I should stop in for lunch and a good recharge: Fa-​bio. And she was so so right.
This is the sort of place I never would have found without a local guide. It’s my hope that people using their Unilocal app (the owner was vaguely aware of it) when in the area will see what an awesome shop they have on their hands. First thing you should know: the storefront is tiny and the locals/​regulars do not suffer f00ls. I don’t blame them. If this was my local go-​to, I wouldn’t be pleased with interlopers gumming up the works. That said, for as pushy and impatient as the local regulars were/​are, the fellas behind the counter couldn’t have been more gracious, patient and kind. Their good nature would make me want to recommend Fa-​bio on it’s own. They switched from Italian to flawless English effortlessly. It embarrassed me how good they were at my native language and I could only grunt like a caveman in theirs. The fact that they have a fantastic product is icing on the cake.
You come here for healthy take away. Fa-​bio boasts organic fare at affordable prices. After a few days of overdoing it in Rome, you’ll be extremely happy you came here. They have an extensive menu of juices and sandwiches… but you know me. If I have the option of doing my own thing, I’m going to take it. Plus, I am a food genius, a pairing master. It’s a gift. I started with the juice. I made my own with orange, lime and pineapple. Citrus + tropical always = delicious. My drink was a frothy, sweet delight. To make it a bit less sugary, you could add cucumber… but, why? My sandwich was just as delicious: on sesame, I asked for prosciutto, mozzarella, cabbage, tomato, arugula, olive oil, and salt & pepper. It was another taste touchdown from yours truly. Even the owners were impressed at my ability to combine ingredients to make delicious things. Rather than leaving, I took at seat at the small bar and lapsed into pure gastro bliss. Noting that I wasn’t from there, the owner asked me how I heard of his shop. I told him that a friend informed me but I also told him I worked at Unilocal and that people loved what he was doing online. I showed him his reviews and he seemed genuinely happy with the discovery. Pleased that I’d eaten well and spread the gospel, I Ubered myself out of there and onto my next adventure. Please believe, though, a return trip to Rome will find me here for take away. The product is clean, delicious, affordable, and ticks every traveling American’s sensibilities (and more than a few locals).

Great to have some salad amidst a week of pasta and pizza. Fresh, healthy, huge salads — you can make your own. Seems like the ingredients change, so they may be out of some things, but have other items instead.
Great prices, friendly staff. Small counter to eat. Nice lunch before hitting up the Vatican Museum.

Best lunch I had during my week in Italy! Sandwiches were delicious as was the fresh juice. The guys who run it are super helpful and nice — we had to wait a short time — maybe 5 or 10 minutes — while they were preparing another groups food and they gave us several half cups of free juice as apology. If you are visiting the Vatican City, definitely get lunch here!

Ordered custom vegan sandwich and got a great smoothie. Servers very nice and spoke English (really well!). Very fresh and flavorful, healthy and vegan, and delish! Good prices, too. Wish they had a better seating situation, though.

These were some of the best (and most interesting) sandwiches we had in Europe. The staff there were extremely friendly and took the time to run us down their entire menu (we were there on a weekday in the off season though).
Amazing value though; 12.50 for two sandwiches and a medium juice.
A fun side-​note: we bought lunch here and then took it to wait in line for the Vatican museum. Definitely the way to go. You get an excellent sack lunch and don’t mind the wait as much and save some money from not having to eat the «blessed» food inside the museum. ;-)

This is a must go place. Very healthy sandwich and smoothies. The staff here were friendly.

The place has a very San Francisco-​ish feel to it which I liked. The guy making the juices was very friendly. They have great fresh fruit juices and fresh sandwiches. We tried a tofu sandwich which was good and a couple of their ready-​made sandwich buns (?), one with chard filling and another with curry vegetables which were very average. The chard one infact was quite bad and I had to throw away most of it.

Pretty good healthy sandwiches and fresh juice! Got a quick bite to eat before more touring in Italy of course! Place is really small, all they have is seating at the bar with 3 chairs pretty much, we got them luckily but it’s more of an order out type place!
Got the #1 with prosciutto, mozzarella, lettuce, tomato etc. and I chose an olive bread my sandwich bread was super hard so that’s one thing I didn’t like and the whole thing kept falling apart! Still did the trick, but I wish I picked one with deli meat instead everything was too tough for me (3 stars)
Custom apple, pineapple, ginger, and lemon juice (4 stars) — This needed ice or to be chilled somehow, but tasted like it almost did at home, which was nice!

Good healthy sandwiches and good juice! Grabbed some food here before touring the Vatican. A nice change from eating pizza and pasta everyday! I was starting to get sick of carbs so I’m glad I came here.
#3 with turkey on wheat (4 stars): Good mozzarella! Good sandwich.
Apple, pineapple, lemon, ginger juice (5 stars): Refreshing! Just needed more ice. I notice juice bars in Italy don’t really add ice, but it’s so hot!
ATMOSPHERE
Only about 3 seats on a bar table so but we got lucky and snagged them!
SERVICE
Everyone was so nice here. Menu was in Italian and they translated it for us. Great service.

Fantastic! It was such a delight to find super healthy food in Rome. After carb-​on-​carb overload, Fa-​bio offered a reasonably priced welcome reprieve. My husband and I each ordered a freshly made veggie & fruit juice, along with two scrumptious salads. The menu is in Italian and while I can usually get by, a lovely gentleman working there helped translate the words I couldn’t understand. Every veggie was cut to order and the salad combinations were fab-​ulous! Service is excellent, super friendly and accommodating. There was a good mix of tourists and locals, its a very small place (only about 8 seats) and ingredients sell out quickly, so get there early. Overall, a wonderful meal, staff and restaurant that we would frequent often if we were lucky enough to live in Rome. ;)

I stumbled upon this restaurant when I was looking for a healthy and affordable place to have lunch after my morning at my internship at the Vatican. The Vatican is FULL of tourist traps, so it wasn’t easy to find a place like FaBio, but once I did… I was SOLD. The interns and I went once and we FELL IN LOVE. Now, we go back every week… can’t bring ourselves to go anywhere else! The sandwiches and salads are INCREDIBLE. Fresh, healthy, and there are options for everyone from meat lovers to vegetarian and vegans. The staff is so nice, and they make amazing food! Now that we go back every week, they remember us and we always joke around and have a great time with them. If you are visiting the Vatican or if you are in Rome at all… you MUST make a stop to Fabio. It is small with only a few seats, so I reccommend getting your food to go and enjoying it on a nearby bench or grassy park. I look forward to my weekly salad from Fabio all week long! This place is the BEST. Not sure what I will do when I leave Rome in May and can’t have my weekly Fabio salad! :(

Eating healthy is very important to me, trying to find a healthy place in Italy is a bit of a challenge. I am glad we found this place! It’s exactly what you need if you are feeling low on vitamins and just need fresh vegetables. They make fresh pressed juices with any combination you would like.
The sandwiches were amazing! We ordered the tuna sandwich with tomatoes and avocados.
The service was so sweet! They offer good recommendations and are very accommodating if you have any food allergies. Definitely recommend!

After eating all the pasta and pizzas, I really needed a break from all these carbs! Found this trendy place and decided to give it a go. Had the Tiffany sandwich and it was amazing! Super filling too — something my New York stomach hasn’t been feeling with these small Italian portions. They also have salads, juices, smoothies, & wraps!

I was getting really tired of heavy Italian food so I was thrilled to find this place. It’s very small but the shop owners are extremely friendly and speak good English. The food offerings are very healthy and light too. We got a large fruit/​veggie juice and two ham wraps made to order. Everything was really fresh including the juice ingredients and meat + cheese+ veggies for the wrap. To top it off, prices were on the lower side too. Lunch only cost us 15 euros, which was way less than what we’ve been paying at restaurants. Overall a great find and definitely worth a stop, especially if you’re looking for something refreshing.

Definitely come here! I had been feeling too full and yucky after so much pasta, grease, pizzas, etc. I am so glad I found a place that makes fresh fruit juice, salads, and sandwiches! It is just a 4 minute walk from the vatican museum. Nourish your body so you can fill it up with gelato later!
note: tables are super tiny but customer service was excellent!

Très bon petit snack bio! Les sandwichs sont à faire soi même et les produits Sont frais, les jus d’orange sont à tomber! Dommage Qu’il y ait peu de places assises! Par contre le cuisto parle un français impeccable et c’est très appréciable!

Delightful conversation with the elegant, accommodating chefs makes this way more than a quick takeaway joint. Fa-​Bio is everything «fast food» should be but never is: healthy, fresh, made to order with skill and attention to detail.
Try the buns stuffed with rosemary and carrots (it’s to die for). Sandwiches, pressed juices, salads, little snacks and sodas to go, whatever you pick up is going to be fantastic and leave you craving more.

Nice, healthy, affordable. We had some simple sandwiches and a salad. Would recommend for a lighter meal or a break from all the heavy Italian food.

This was the freshest, healthiest, most satisfying food during a week long stay in Rome. And it was affordable! Sandwiches are 4 euro; smoothies 3.5 euro. And it is very close to the Vatican– between the Vatican museums and the Otaviano metro stop.
We ordered smoothies (the owner can suggest lots of combinations and even carries rice milk and soy milk) and make-​your-​own sandwiches. We got sunflower-​whole-​wheat bread with smoked salmon, avocado, tomato, lettuce and the owner suggested the zucchini pesto which was incredible. In total, this was an amazing lunch for 15 euro for 2 people– very fresh. It seems most of the ingredients are organic and everything is super fresh.
The tiny shop also sold: wrap sandwiches, fresh made juices (your own combination), amazing looking salads, packaged cookies and some muffins as well as the usual bottled drinks and I saw a coffee machine.
You can tell this place is well loved– just in the space of 20 minutes we saw many locals come in and chat with the owner and pick up something to eat. The owner is very nice and friendly and speaks perfect English and Italian.
My only suggestion is to invest in a high powered blender (Vitamix or Blentec) so that he can expand into green smoothies.
Thank you Fabio for a fantastic lunch!

We tried Fabio for lunch — the service is very attentive and there are lots of options to choose from. I opted for the make your own sandwich and had a (basil) tofu sandwich on focaccia bread with some vegetables and an artichoke spread. It was the best sandwich I’ve had thus far in Italy, but that’s not saying too much. We also had a smoothie and I was a bit disappointed because it wasn’t very cold and was room temperature which was not appetizing on a hot day.
They also have small pastas, salads, and wraps available. The shop is very small and has a bar with three stools available if you opt to eat there.

If you like bio-​organic food (c’mon now, who doesn’t like a little health in their life?) and friendly, professional staff with the best sense of humor to be offered from the other side of a sandwich counter (and who doesn’t?), Fa-​Bio is for you. This wee little spot right by the Vatican Museums in Prati is a jewel, and Fabio and Claudio (the owners, who speak both English and Italian fluently and probably a few other languages as well) will whip up almost anything you might want, from sandwiches to salads to soups and rolls, not to mention fresh smoothies made from fresh fruits and vegetables. In a city that sometimes struggles with opening up to different sorts of foods, Fa-​Bio is not only refreshing but fun, as the environment is friendly and clean. This place is so good it has become a meeting point of sorts for much of the international crowd, and it’s almost impossible not to become a regular!