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Find meatless and dairy-free pizza, cheesesteaks, doughnuts, sushi, and more at Philadelphia’s best vegan and vegetarian restaurants and bakeries
Whether you’re a devoted vegan or vegetarian or just want to incorporate more vegetables and less meat and dairy into your daily meals, these restaurants and bakeries offer some of the tastiest and most creative vegan (sometimes called “plant-based”) dishes in Philly. You can also check out an illustrated guide to some of Philly’s most notable vegan dishes.
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Read MoreVegan soul food shines at the long-standing Nile Cafe, a casual Germantown spot serving fresh-pressed juices and vegan entrees like barbecue chicken alongside collard greens, cabbage, and cornbread. Make sure to get a slice of house-made cake or a scoop of non-dairy ice cream too.
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This women-owned bakery in Manayunk sells a rotating menu of beautiful vegan baked goods, including cheesecakes, cookies, scones, coffee cakes, and seasonal pastries inspired by Pop-Tarts. You can also find Crust Vegan Bakery’s treats at a ton of other restaurants around town, including West Philly and South Philly locations of vegan cafe Grindcore House.
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Float Dreamery — the “cow-lorie free” vegan gelato venture — operates periodically out of the side window of Fishtown favorite Castellino’s Italian Market. Check the timing online, and consider preordering, as innovative flavors like Canadian Cafe — cold brew maple gelato, torched marshmallow, and cookie butter stracciatella — go quickly. Occasionally you’ll get lucky with a walk-up order, though.
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In Cedar Park and Spring Garden, Vegan-ish serves up some of the best pub-style vegan and pescatarian food around, with filling salads, cheesesteaks, hoagies, and burgers, including a Philly Special topped with — what else? — long hots and vegan Cheez Whiz.
Matt Cahn’s excellent Middle Child luncheonette in West Washington Square serves a few thoughtful vegetarian or vegan options, including the Phoagie, a hoagie stuffed with hoisin eggplant and pho sauce. The Middle Child Clubhouse in Fishtown expands upon the original location in most ways, including the size of its space, hours of service, and meat-free options. The buffalo ranch tofu here is a doozy, a sky-high sandwich made with crispy Corn Flake-fried tofu, house Buffalo sauce, celery, and ranch. You can even order it vegetarian, vegan, and/or gluten-free.
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Just a year after debuting as a pop-up out of Khyber Pass Pub, Primary Plant Based opened its first BYOB brick-and-mortar in Fishtown. Chef Mark McKinney serves creative, vegetable-focused vegan dishes that range from kohlrabi hand pies to yuba noodle salad to jackfruit carnitas sandwiched between plantain French toast.
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Tucked in the art museum area, this vegetarian and kosher Chinese restaurant serves an extensive menu of meatless dumplings, steamed buns, soups, fried rice, noodle dishes, and stir-fries, plus dairy-free ice cream and other desserts. Most items are vegan, but some dishes, like the lo mein and sesame noodles, are made with egg noodles. Order online for takeout or delivery.
The long-running Soy Cafe makes much of its mostly vegan food in-house, including gluten-free bagels and cashew cheese. The Northern Liberties spot has a coffee shop feel but extensive food options — breakfast sandwiches, soups, filling salads, wraps, pastries, and more.
Pietramala is a Northern Liberties vegan BYOB that lets local, seasonal produce shine. Naturally, the menu changes frequently, but it always maintains a high level of quality so you can’t go wrong whether a dish highlights maitake mushrooms, delicata squash, or cabbage and dandelion.
Luhv serves up vegan deli fare at its Hatboro bistro and Reading Terminal Market stand. The market location sells cold cuts and sliced cheeses to go along with sandwiches like smoked golden beet lox and cream cheese on a bagel and a top-notch Reuben on rye. If you haven’t tried it yet, start with the tuna salad, combining elements such as chickpeas and seaweed — it’s a customer favorite for good reason.
It’s not always easy to find exciting vegan sushi options, but Tomo has the goods with an entire menu of vegan rolls that feature ingredients like eel made out of eggplant and tuna made of marinated tomato. The Old City BYOB also serves vegan mochi and a popular plant-based ramen filled with savory ingredients like seitan teriyaki and black fungus mushrooms.
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This Rittenhouse restaurant sells square pan pies with perfectly chewy crusts along with classic round pies with topping choices like vegan sausage and cashew mozz. Don’t sleep on 20th Street Pizza’s garlic knots topped with vegan Parmesan.
A milk-free tres leches cake? If anyone can make it work, it’s Nicole Marquis, best known for vegan chain HipCityVeg. In Rittenhouse, her Bar Bombón infuses Philly’s vegan scene with Latin flavors, from popular steak empanadas and buffalo cauliflower tacos to cocktail options like a salted grapefruit margarita.
There’s nothing like a good doughnut. Luckily, the ones at Dottie’s Donuts aren’t just good vegan doughnuts, they’re good doughnuts, period. If you show up with a dozen Dottie’s in flavors like raspberry, lemon-poppy, chocolate-pistachio, and toasted coconut cream, you’ll be the most popular person at the next work mixer.
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Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby reinvented meatless dining in Philly by making vegetables — not meat substitutes — the star at Vedge, an elegant eatery set in a former mansion in Center City. Through culinary skill and maybe a little magic, rutabaga transforms into fondue and radishes impersonate sushi. Vedge also has a killer cocktail menu and natural wine list.
Monster Vegan serves up some spine-tingling, deceptively meatless food. Owned and operated by couple Ron Tadeo and Lauren Margaretta, who came together over a love of horror films, the central restaurant serves classic pasta dishes like spicy rigatoni bolognese and truffle Alfredo spaghetti as well as decidedly less-Italian dishes such as fried chicken banh mi and fajita chicken egg rolls, plus tons of clever cocktails and mocktails.
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Whether you’re interested in fun cocktails, graffiti, billiards, or vegan food, Society Hill’s Tattooed Mom has it all. Try the top-selling Nashville hot chicken sandwich, featuring gluten-based “chicken” doused in hot sauce. paired with tots for the ultimate T-Mom experience, and wash it all down with a cocktail like the Cosmo Cloud, a cosmopolitan that’s poured over a cup of strawberry cotton candy.
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Fast-casual Algorithm Vegan Grill opened in Queen Village recently, adding a fixed location for Algorithm Food Truck’s flavor-packed vegan fare — seitan cheesesteaks with Calabrian chile Whiz, watermelon “tuna” tacos, and Korean barbecue fries, among others — plus rotating milkshake flavors like carrot cake and raspberry-sumac. Check Algorithm’s Instagram if you’re trying to track down the cerulean-blue truck, which pulls up at places such as Philadelphia Brewing Company.
Mother-and-son team Alison Fitzpatrick and Alex Soto’s Fitz on 4th is a vegan tapas restaurant that focuses not only on unstuffy vegan dishes but also on interesting vegan cocktails. The duo encourages everyone to eat at least one vegan meal per week, and their Queen Village spot makes it easy with the likes of edamame dumplings and cavatappi pasta tossed with foraged mushrooms, herbaceous olive oil, and cashew cheese.
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The charmingly retro Tasty takes on diner fare minus the meat and dairy. Get to this South Philly diner as early as 8 a.m. for house-made doughnuts and breakfast classics like a vegan pork roll on a kaiser roll. The full breakfast and lunch menu kicks in at 9 a.m. so you can also score pancakes, waffles, and sandwiches like a BLT with coconut bacon or the Cheezsteak with seitan on a Sarcone’s roll.
This casual South Philly staple brings an old-school Italian feel and a menu that caters to both omnivores and vegans alike. From spaghetti and meatballs to wings to pizza to mozzarella sticks to cheesesteaks, most of Triangle Tavern’s dishes also come in meat-free, dairy-free versions. Be sure to share an order of garlicky broccoli rabe.
Step up dinnertime with a five-course meal made for two at this charming BYOB housed behind a South Philly garage door. The menu changes every week, but always includes biscuits, a salad with house-made cheese, soup, a pasta course, a hearty entree, and dessert, typically a seasonal cake with house-made ice cream. Reservations are required; dinner dates are released on the first Friday of every month.
Also featured in:
Vegan soul food shines at the long-standing Nile Cafe, a casual Germantown spot serving fresh-pressed juices and vegan entrees like barbecue chicken alongside collard greens, cabbage, and cornbread. Make sure to get a slice of house-made cake or a scoop of non-dairy ice cream too.
This women-owned bakery in Manayunk sells a rotating menu of beautiful vegan baked goods, including cheesecakes, cookies, scones, coffee cakes, and seasonal pastries inspired by Pop-Tarts. You can also find Crust Vegan Bakery’s treats at a ton of other restaurants around town, including West Philly and South Philly locations of vegan cafe Grindcore House.
Float Dreamery — the “cow-lorie free” vegan gelato venture — operates periodically out of the side window of Fishtown favorite Castellino’s Italian Market. Check the timing online, and consider preordering, as innovative flavors like Canadian Cafe — cold brew maple gelato, torched marshmallow, and cookie butter stracciatella — go quickly. Occasionally you’ll get lucky with a walk-up order, though.
In Cedar Park and Spring Garden, Vegan-ish serves up some of the best pub-style vegan and pescatarian food around, with filling salads, cheesesteaks, hoagies, and burgers, including a Philly Special topped with — what else? — long hots and vegan Cheez Whiz.
Matt Cahn’s excellent Middle Child luncheonette in West Washington Square serves a few thoughtful vegetarian or vegan options, including the Phoagie, a hoagie stuffed with hoisin eggplant and pho sauce. The Middle Child Clubhouse in Fishtown expands upon the original location in most ways, including the size of its space, hours of service, and meat-free options. The buffalo ranch tofu here is a doozy, a sky-high sandwich made with crispy Corn Flake-fried tofu, house Buffalo sauce, celery, and ranch. You can even order it vegetarian, vegan, and/or gluten-free.
Just a year after debuting as a pop-up out of Khyber Pass Pub, Primary Plant Based opened its first BYOB brick-and-mortar in Fishtown. Chef Mark McKinney serves creative, vegetable-focused vegan dishes that range from kohlrabi hand pies to yuba noodle salad to jackfruit carnitas sandwiched between plantain French toast.
Tucked in the art museum area, this vegetarian and kosher Chinese restaurant serves an extensive menu of meatless dumplings, steamed buns, soups, fried rice, noodle dishes, and stir-fries, plus dairy-free ice cream and other desserts. Most items are vegan, but some dishes, like the lo mein and sesame noodles, are made with egg noodles. Order online for takeout or delivery.
The long-running Soy Cafe makes much of its mostly vegan food in-house, including gluten-free bagels and cashew cheese. The Northern Liberties spot has a coffee shop feel but extensive food options — breakfast sandwiches, soups, filling salads, wraps, pastries, and more.
Pietramala is a Northern Liberties vegan BYOB that lets local, seasonal produce shine. Naturally, the menu changes frequently, but it always maintains a high level of quality so you can’t go wrong whether a dish highlights maitake mushrooms, delicata squash, or cabbage and dandelion.
Luhv serves up vegan deli fare at its Hatboro bistro and Reading Terminal Market stand. The market location sells cold cuts and sliced cheeses to go along with sandwiches like smoked golden beet lox and cream cheese on a bagel and a top-notch Reuben on rye. If you haven’t tried it yet, start with the tuna salad, combining elements such as chickpeas and seaweed — it’s a customer favorite for good reason.
It’s not always easy to find exciting vegan sushi options, but Tomo has the goods with an entire menu of vegan rolls that feature ingredients like eel made out of eggplant and tuna made of marinated tomato. The Old City BYOB also serves vegan mochi and a popular plant-based ramen filled with savory ingredients like seitan teriyaki and black fungus mushrooms.
This Rittenhouse restaurant sells square pan pies with perfectly chewy crusts along with classic round pies with topping choices like vegan sausage and cashew mozz. Don’t sleep on 20th Street Pizza’s garlic knots topped with vegan Parmesan.
A milk-free tres leches cake? If anyone can make it work, it’s Nicole Marquis, best known for vegan chain HipCityVeg. In Rittenhouse, her Bar Bombón infuses Philly’s vegan scene with Latin flavors, from popular steak empanadas and buffalo cauliflower tacos to cocktail options like a salted grapefruit margarita.
There’s nothing like a good doughnut. Luckily, the ones at Dottie’s Donuts aren’t just good vegan doughnuts, they’re good doughnuts, period. If you show up with a dozen Dottie’s in flavors like raspberry, lemon-poppy, chocolate-pistachio, and toasted coconut cream, you’ll be the most popular person at the next work mixer.
Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby reinvented meatless dining in Philly by making vegetables — not meat substitutes — the star at Vedge, an elegant eatery set in a former mansion in Center City. Through culinary skill and maybe a little magic, rutabaga transforms into fondue and radishes impersonate sushi. Vedge also has a killer cocktail menu and natural wine list.
Monster Vegan serves up some spine-tingling, deceptively meatless food. Owned and operated by couple Ron Tadeo and Lauren Margaretta, who came together over a love of horror films, the central restaurant serves classic pasta dishes like spicy rigatoni bolognese and truffle Alfredo spaghetti as well as decidedly less-Italian dishes such as fried chicken banh mi and fajita chicken egg rolls, plus tons of clever cocktails and mocktails.
Whether you’re interested in fun cocktails, graffiti, billiards, or vegan food, Society Hill’s Tattooed Mom has it all. Try the top-selling Nashville hot chicken sandwich, featuring gluten-based “chicken” doused in hot sauce. paired with tots for the ultimate T-Mom experience, and wash it all down with a cocktail like the Cosmo Cloud, a cosmopolitan that’s poured over a cup of strawberry cotton candy.
Fast-casual Algorithm Vegan Grill opened in Queen Village recently, adding a fixed location for Algorithm Food Truck’s flavor-packed vegan fare — seitan cheesesteaks with Calabrian chile Whiz, watermelon “tuna” tacos, and Korean barbecue fries, among others — plus rotating milkshake flavors like carrot cake and raspberry-sumac. Check Algorithm’s Instagram if you’re trying to track down the cerulean-blue truck, which pulls up at places such as Philadelphia Brewing Company.
Mother-and-son team Alison Fitzpatrick and Alex Soto’s Fitz on 4th is a vegan tapas restaurant that focuses not only on unstuffy vegan dishes but also on interesting vegan cocktails. The duo encourages everyone to eat at least one vegan meal per week, and their Queen Village spot makes it easy with the likes of edamame dumplings and cavatappi pasta tossed with foraged mushrooms, herbaceous olive oil, and cashew cheese.
The charmingly retro Tasty takes on diner fare minus the meat and dairy. Get to this South Philly diner as early as 8 a.m. for house-made doughnuts and breakfast classics like a vegan pork roll on a kaiser roll. The full breakfast and lunch menu kicks in at 9 a.m. so you can also score pancakes, waffles, and sandwiches like a BLT with coconut bacon or the Cheezsteak with seitan on a Sarcone’s roll.
This casual South Philly staple brings an old-school Italian feel and a menu that caters to both omnivores and vegans alike. From spaghetti and meatballs to wings to pizza to mozzarella sticks to cheesesteaks, most of Triangle Tavern’s dishes also come in meat-free, dairy-free versions. Be sure to share an order of garlicky broccoli rabe.
Step up dinnertime with a five-course meal made for two at this charming BYOB housed behind a South Philly garage door. The menu changes every week, but always includes biscuits, a salad with house-made cheese, soup, a pasta course, a hearty entree, and dessert, typically a seasonal cake with house-made ice cream. Reservations are required; dinner dates are released on the first Friday of every month.
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