Note: Linda invited local plant-based and Vegan diners Kassia and Erin of @VeginYeg to produce a guest blog guide to help folks looking for Vegetarian / Vegan food options in Edmonton. This question has come up repeatedly over the years and we’re excited to offer this local Vegetarian / Vegan resource!
What are the best vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Edmonton?
Hello! We’re Kassia and Erin, the duo behind @VegInYeg, we love exploring and reviewing all the plant-based restaurant and food options in the city. Edmonton has some incredible vegan and vegetarian food spots and dishes but they can be hard to find, especially if you’re newer to the city or new to plant-based eating.
We created @VegInYeg to be a welcoming, non-judgmental place where you can discover along with us all the delicious veg-friendly food Edmonton has to offer!
Below, we’ve compiled a list of our favourite plant-based Edmonton food spots.
Note: this is not an exhaustive list of Vegetarian or Vegan options in Edmonton, but a fairly extensive and helpful one based on VeginYeg’s experiences.
This is your Ultimate Guide to Plant-Based, Vegetarian and Vegan Eating in Edmonton!
A guest blog resource from Kassia & Erin of @VeginYeg.
Fully Vegan Restaurants and Food Spots in Edmonton
- Benaras: Benaras is a fully vegan casual dining restaurant, serving classic basics like burgers, bowls and soups.
- Copper Branch: With a variety of offerings, from comfort food to lighter fare, Copper Branch makes for a great lunch spot. Kassia recommends the General Copper Bowl.
- Die Pie: The premier vegan pizza place in Edmonton, Die Pie also offers appetizers, salads, burgers, desserts as well as serving up brunch on a regular basis. They are the sister restaurant of Seitans (see below).
- Good Stock Foods: It’s nice to have heat-and-serve meals ready to go for days you don’t feel like cooking or can’t cook. Good Stock Foods offers a variety of chef-created, plant-based frozen meals – home-style and comfort foods and sauces to stock your freezer with! They also have a small vegan grocery, including their homemade cheeze and serve hot lunches.
- Odd Burger: Missing the BigMac? Wistful for the Whopper? With vegan versions of classic fast food options, Odd Burger is the place to go to indulge! Must try is the double patty Famous Burger, with tater tots and a soft-serve ice cream!
- Padmanadi: One of the OGs in Edmonton and a local favourite, Padmanadi has been serving a diverse menu of Indonesian, Chinese, Thai, and Indian vegan dishes for over twenty years! You can’t go wrong with their fan-favourite Ginger Beef.
- Seitans Fried Chickun: Seitans offers all the goodness of Die Pie (they share a location), but with fried “chickun.”
- Sweet Pea Cafe: Cute vegan cafe on the west end. Baked goods, smoothies, soups, sandwiches and more. They have a playhouse next door and also great food options for kids.
- The Buckingham: The Buckingham is self described as a “Vegan-Punk-Dance-Dive” joint, and features classic bar and pub food like chick’n wings, corn dogs, tacos, burgers, fries and more. Lots of live music as well!
- The Moth Cafe: A gorgeous, plant-filled space with an eclectic assortment of vegan dishes. It’s perfect for brunch, lunch, or dinner (but they don’t deliver). The Moth is Erin’s top pick for a beautiful weekend brunch or celebratory dinner out!
VeginYeg’s Favourite Fully Vegetarian Restaurants in Edmonton
- An Chay: One of Linda’s fully-vegetarian favs, An Chay serves up incredible Vietnamese dishes that sacrifice none of the flavour of the original dishes. The vermicelli bowls are an absolute home-run, followed closely by the satay soup.
- Cafe Mosaics: This Edmonton staple has been around since the 90s! Cafe Mosaics is a cute spot on Whyte Ave best known for their vegetarian and vegan comfort food including all day breakfast items, loaded burgers, and cozy mains.
- Loma House Vegetarian Express: This understated gem on the south side has an extensive, mostly vegan menu, featuring meat-substitutes and including vegan-friendly Dim Sum! We also love that they sell their frozen mock-meats and items you can cook at home – Erin’s kiddo can’t get enough of their BBQ steam buns.
Omni (or Conventional) Restaurants with great Vegan-friendly Dishes
“Omni” is short for “omnivore,” which simply refers to a diet that includes both plant- and animal- origin foods. These omni restaurants are awesome to visit with friends and family with various food preferences who may not follow the same diet as you, as they offer great plant-based options alongside their conventional menu!
- A&W: As the first national fast-food chain in Canada to offer Beyond Meat, A&W established itself as one of the more vegan-friendly options on the market.
- Dolly’s Cocktail Bar: If you’re looking for great vibes, fun cocktails and veg-friendly snacks Dolly’s is the perfect place to grab a drink. The empanadas are a must-try and check in during Downtown Dining Week, last year they had a fully vegan menu which we hope they’ll continue!
- Farrow: Looking for a delicious, gourmet sandwich? Farrow has 4 locations in the city with a rotating menu of seasonal sandwiches, always with 1 vegan option.
- Freshii: With 15 locations in the Edmonton, Freshii is one of the most easily accessible plant-based options in Edmonton. They have many vegan-friendly wraps, bowls, and smoothies.
- Friends & Neighbours/Pho Delight: This underrated spot on Whyte Ave has a surprisingly large and diverse vegan-friendly menu. You can get everything including all-day breakfast, burgers, soups, rice and noodle dishes.
- Gebeta Ethiopian Cuisine: Hearty dishes with a lovely spongy Inger – their “vegan sampler” is the perfect way to try all the options!
- La Poutine: Who knew you could make poutine so many ways? Almost half of La Poutine’s menu can be made vegan or vegetarian. The traditional is also excellent veganized though – we were very impressed by their vegan “cheese.”
- Panago: The easiest place to get pizza for everyone, whether plant-based, vegan, gluten free or omni is Panago. Kassia’s go-to is the Plant-based Mediterranean.
- Remedy Cafe: Can make their famous chai vegan with a range of dairy-free milk options, and also serves up a delicious selection of Indian and Pakistani Dishes. Highly recommend the Chana Masala wrap!
- Tiffin Fresh Kitchen: Tiffin serves up a light, bright and fresh take on Indian dining, and is a favourite of Kassia’s for lunch. To take out all the guesswork, she recommends “The Vegan” combo featuring chickpea, kale and cauliflower hot pot, coconut veggies and aloo gobi.
Our Favourite Vegan-Friendly Bakeries & Sweet Treats
- Bliss Baked Goods: Cakes, cupcakes, doughnuts, and other baked goods. The bakery is all dairy-free and has many vegan options. Bliss is also nut-free and kosher. Highly recommend their vegan black forest cake.
- Bloom Cookie Co.: Soft vegan cookies with staple and rotating flavours
- Buns and Roses Organic Wholegrain Bakery: Buns and Roses is an organic whole grain bakery. Although not everything is vegan friendly, they always have an excellent plant-based selection.
- Location: 6519 111 St. (South West Edmonton)
- Crave Cupcakes: Not all vegan, but have Vegan Just Chocolate and Vegan Crave-o-licious for pre-order.
- Crumb Bar: Have a vegan menu to choose from, while you build-your-own cake dessert!
- Doughnut Party: Doughnuts with a monthly rotating menu, usually about half of their flavours are vegan.
- Flirt Cupcakes: Not all vegan, but offers a huge range of vegan cake and cupcake options to order! They also usually have a selection of vegan options on deck if you’re just dropping in.
- Kind Ice Cream: Ice-cream, they usually have 2-3 vegan options. Kassia loves the Lemon & Jammy Raspberry!
- King of Tarts: Assortment of vegan pastries – available at the Strathcona farmers market and select cafes.
- Made by Marcus: Through a long brick walkway on whyte you can find Made by Marcus and try their unique (and sometimes a little eccentric) ice-cream flavours, they regularly have 3-4 vegan options. Erin enjoys trying their monthly rotating flavours (usually at least 1 of which is vegan-friendly).
- The Sprouted Herbivore: The Sprout Herbivore is a home-based vegan bakery in St. Albert, delivering in the greater Edmonton area. They have some of the best vegan croissants around.
- Twice Cream: Cute ice-cream spot in the middle of Westmount neighbourhood, they usually have 2 vegan options. Erin loves their ‘Mayan Hot Chocolate’ flavour which is staple on the menu!
- Yelo’d Ice Cream & Bake Shoppe: Yelo’d specializes in Filipino and Asian inspired ice cream flavours. They always have a few vegan options on offer, and we recommend trying the coconutty Buko Pandan.
- Location: 5010 106 Ave. (East Edmonton)
- Website | Instagram | Facebook
- Linda’s note: And their sister ice cream shop in Chinatown Little Bon Bon Ice Cream also always features at least one vegan option!
A few more suggestions from Linda!
So while I am not a vegetarian or vegan I did think this guide made sense as a spot to shout out to a few other restaurants I love in Edmonton who have great vegetable-forward menu options, including Little Wolf Restaurant, who primarily focus on super flavourful, interesting vegetable dishes and host a monthly Vegan dinner, The Butternut Tree, who while also do meat really well, I have found in my visits have also always done a really excellent job with their vegetable dishes, Bodega Tapas & Wine Bar, who have a great selection of non-meaty tapas (small bites!) that are great for sharing with your group, and Ávila Arepa – Urban Venezuelan Kitchen who do a great job of labelling their vegetarian and vegan Venezuelan options for customers.
Ok now back to Kassia & Erin for one final word of the guide!!!
It’s exciting to see the rise of plant-based food options in Edmonton and conventional restaurants offering more vegetarian and vegan options! There are some incredible gems in the city and always something new to try. We love exploring and reviewing veggie options and you can follow our plant-based discoveries on Instagram @VegInYeg.
Some other great resources for local vegans and vegetarians (or veg-curious folks!) are Vegans and Vegetarians of Alberta and Happy Cow.
– Kassia & Erin of VeginYeg.
If you found this resource helpful, or would like to add your own recommendations for readers, please leave a comment below!
About Kassia & Erin of VeginYeg
Kassia and Erin are the duo behind @VegInYeg. They love exploring and reviewing all the plant-based restaurant and food options in the city. Edmonton has some incredible vegan and vegetarian food spots and dishes but they can be hard to find, especially if you’re newer to the city or new to plant-based eating.
Kassia and Erin created @VegInYeg to be a welcoming, non-judgmental place where you can discover along with us all the delicious veg-friendly food Edmonton has to offer!
About Linda Hoang (@lindork)
Linda Hoang @lindork is a popular Canadian blogger based in Edmonton, Alberta, who writes about and photographs / films travel, food, lifestyle and family topics. Linda received the inaugural Edmonton Best Tourism Influencer Award in 2024, was part of Edify Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40 Class of 2021, and received the Spirit of NAIT Award in 2019, all in part for her work using social media to share about and advocate for local businesses, food, art, and more.
Linda is grateful for opportunities to collaborate with folks like Kassia and Erin of @VeginYeg to produce content that highlights local business owners and helps Edmontonians and visitors to the city best experience it! Thanks Kassia and Erin!
1 Comment
Love this!! 😍
I would also add:
– Mini Mango – Vegan one color or two color bowl. They also have a kids menu – tofu bowl and tofu/veggie soup, choice of side and a drink.
– The 3 Amigos – Vegan menu
– Melting Pot – Vegan menu (Fondue)
– Press’d Sandwiches – California Vegan and Blazing Vegan
– Freson Bros. – Vegan Big Berta Pizza 🤤