New York City / Vegetarian
Best Vegetarian
Restaurants in NYC
From a Michelin-starred vegetable tasting to the best veggie burger in the city — the spots worth eating at whether or not you eat meat.
From a Michelin-starred tasting menu to the city’s best veggie burger — ranked and mapped.
- 14 verified spots
- 3 Michelin nods
- 11 fully vegan menus
- 3 boroughs
The short version
- Best overallDirt Candy — the only Michelin-starred vegetable restaurant in the city, a five-course tasting on the LES.
- Best veganAvant Garden for a candlelit date; Ras Plant Based for the best plant-based Ethiopian in Brooklyn.
- Best cheapTemple Canteen — a few-dollar masala dosa in a Flushing temple basement.
- Best burgerSuperiority Burger — the best veggie burger in NYC, then gelato.
- Want a barPLANTA Queen in NoMad has vegan sushi and a real cocktail list.
Start with Dirt Candy on the Lower East Side — the only Michelin-starred vegetable restaurant in NYC — then abcV in the Flatiron for Jean-Georges’ bright plant cooking and Hangawi near Koreatown for shoes-off temple cuisine; for the best vegan in Brooklyn, it’s Ras Plant Based in Crown Heights. These are the vegetarian and vegan restaurants New Yorkers actually eat at — most concentrated in the East Village, the Lower East Side and the Flatiron/NoMad stretch, all an easy walk from the L, F or 6. We’ve split them two ways: the sit-down destination rooms worth a reservation, and the casual, cheap, veg-forward counters — veggie burgers, vegan sushi, dosa — for any night of the week. Every spot below is verified open as of June 2026.
At a glance
Every spot, its signature order, and how much it’ll run you — sortable at a glance.
| Restaurant | The order | Days | Window | $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dirt Candy | Vegetable tasting menu | Tue-Sat | Dinner | $$$ |
| abcV | Hummus & dosa, small plates | Daily | Lunch & dinner | $$$ |
| PLANTA Queen | Bang Bang Broccoli, vegan sushi | Daily | 11:30am-11pm | $$$ |
| Hangawi | Korean vegetarian tasting | Daily | Dinner | $$$ |
| Avant Garden | Vegan small plates | Daily | Dinner | $$$ |
| Ras Plant Based | Mushroom tibs, combo platter | Daily | Dinner | $$$ |
| Bunna Cafe | Vegan Ethiopian feast | Wed-Mon | Lunch & dinner | $$$ |
| Ladybird | Vegan tapas + natural wine | Daily | Dinner | $$$ |
| Double Zero | Vegan wood-fired pizza | Daily | Lunch & dinner | $$$ |
| Superiority Burger | The veggie burger | Daily | Lunch & dinner | $$$ |
| Spicy Moon | Dan dan noodles | Daily | 11:30am-10pm | $$$ |
| Jajaja Plantas Mexicana | Loaded nachos, tacos | Daily | Lunch & dinner | $$$ |
| Buddha Bodai | Vegan dim sum | Daily | 11am-9:30pm | $$$ |
| Temple Canteen | Masala dosa | Daily | 8:30am-8:30pm | $$$ |
Map: where these 12 spots are
All 12, pinned and numbered to match the table. Manhattan-heavy, with Crown Heights, Bushwick and Flushing on the board.
Pins are numbered to match the table above – tap any pin for the deal and directions.
The best vegetarian & vegan restaurants
The destination rooms — a Michelin star, Jean-Georges, Korean temple cuisine, and the best vegan Ethiopian in Brooklyn. For more meat-optional feasts, see our best Indian restaurants in NYC.
Dirt Candy
The reason this whole guide exists. Amanda Cohen has been running Dirt Candy on the Lower East Side since vegetables were a punchline, and it’s the only Michelin-starred restaurant here. The format is a five-course tasting (about $110, tip included — the no-tipping policy is built in) that treats a carrot or a head of broccoli like the main event, not a garnish. The Verdict: this is special-occasion cooking that happens to be meatless, and it can go fully vegan on request. Worth It for an anniversary or the dinner you actually want to remember. The Honest Caveat: it’s a tasting menu only, it’s Tue-Sat dinner, and you need a Resy reservation — this is not a walk-in. Note the address: 86 Allen, not the old Clinton Street room.
dirtcandynyc.com · See our best Michelin-star restaurants in NYC
abcV
Jean-Georges’ vegetarian restaurant, and the prettiest plant food in the city — light-filled room, ceramics, the whole considered package. The cooking moves between vegetarian and fully vegan: the green chickpea hummus with a hit of garlic and the dosa with three sauces are the dishes people come back for. The Verdict: this is where you take someone who thinks “vegetarian” means a sad portobello. It doesn’t. The Local Move: weekend brunch is the sweet spot — turmeric lattes, big shareable plates, less of a scene than dinner. Worth It for a date or a calm catch-up off Union Square. The Honest Caveat: it’s not cheap and it fills up; reserve, especially Friday and Saturday.
abcv.nyc · See our best brunch in NYC
PLANTA Queen
The one on this list with an actual bar, so it’s where you go when you want a night out and not just a meal. PLANTA Queen does plant-based Asian in a loud, good-looking NoMad room: the Bang Bang Broccoli (crisp-fried, chili-peanut sauce) is the dish everyone orders and nobody regrets, and the vegan sushi genuinely holds up — the spicy “tuna” roll tastes like the real thing without trying too hard. The Verdict: a group dinner that converts skeptics. The Local Move: come for the cocktails and a spread of small plates rather than one entree each. Worth It near Madison Square Park or before something in NoMad. The Honest Caveat: it runs pricey and gets loud — this is a scene, by design.
plantarestaurants.com · See our best Asian restaurants in NYC
Hangawi
Take your shoes off at the door and sit low — Hangawi has been doing serene Korean temple cuisine off Fifth Avenue since 1994, and there’s nothing else quite like it in Midtown. The food is entirely vegetarian (much of it vegan): mountain roots, the crisp leek-and-scallion pancake, tofu in a stone pot, a tasting menu if you want the full arc. The Verdict: it’s as much a reset as a dinner — quiet, deliberate, genuinely calming. Worth It for a parents’ dinner, a first date that needs to feel like an occasion, or anyone burned out on noise. The Local Move: go for the multi-course tasting and let the kitchen lead. The Honest Caveat: it’s pricey for the portions and the pace is slow — that’s the point, not a flaw.
Avant Garden
The grown-up vegan room on Avenue A — tiny, candlelit, wine-forward, and part of the Overthrow group that’s quietly built the best plant-based dining downtown. The menu is all small plates meant to share, and it leans vegetable-deep rather than fake-meat: charred cauliflower, a chickpea pancake, mushroom dishes with real depth. The Verdict: one of the most romantic dinners in the East Village, no qualifier needed. The Local Move: there’s a glass of natural wine for every plate — ask the room to pair it and order four or five things for two people. Worth It for a date you’re trying to impress. The Honest Caveat: it’s small and dinner-only from 5pm, so book it; walk-ins on a Friday are a gamble.
avantgardennyc.com · See our East Village happy hours
Ras Plant Based
The best plant-based Ethiopian in the city and one of the best date nights in Brooklyn, full stop. Romeo and Milka Regalli reworked family recipes into an all-vegan menu in Crown Heights, and it’s the kind of cooking that makes the “but where’s the protein” crowd go quiet. The Verdict: get the mushroom tibs (berbere-charred, jalapeño, onion) and a Mercato combo platter so you tear injera through six or seven stews. The Local Move: it’s built for sharing — come with people and order across the board. Go Here Instead of trekking to Manhattan if you’re anywhere near Franklin Ave. The Honest Caveat: the room is small and popular, so reserve on a weekend.
rasplantbased.com · See our more Brooklyn happy hours
Bunna Cafe
The original vegan Ethiopian spot in the city, running in Bushwick since 2011 and still the move when you want a loud, hands-on group meal that won’t wreck your wallet. Everything is plant-based; the play is the “Feast for Two” — a wide platter of stews, greens and lentils piled on injera that easily stretches across more people if you add a few sides. The Verdict: cheaper and rowdier than Ras, and just as satisfying for a table. The Local Move: it’s communal eating, no forks, so bring people who’ll get into it. Worth It as the casual end of a Brooklyn Ethiopian night. The Honest Caveat: it’s a haul on the L to Flushing Ave, and weekends get a wait — go early or off-peak.
bunnaethiopia.net · See our Williamsburg happy hours
Best vegan restaurants in NYC
The best fully-vegan restaurants in NYC are Avant Garden (upscale plant-based small plates, East Village), PLANTA Queen (vegan sushi and a real cocktail bar, NoMad), Jajaja (plant-based Mexican, four locations), and two rooms worth adding to your list — Ladybird and Double Zero, both in the East Village. Most of this guide is already meat-free, so these are the spots to lead with when you want zero animal products.
Ladybird
The Verdict: the vegan spot to book when you want it to feel like a night out, not a health decision. Ladybird is Overthrow Hospitality’s plant-based tapas-and-wine bar — sibling to Avant Garden — and the small plates go down with a genuinely good natural-wine list. The Local Move: post up at the bar, order five or six plates and a bottle, and skip the entree mindset entirely. The Honest Caveat: it’s tapas pricing, so plate-by-plate adds up, and it’s East Village, not West. On E 7th near Avenue A.
Double Zero
The Verdict: the vegan pizza that’s actually about the pizza. Matthew Kenney’s Double Zero reopened on Second Avenue in 2026, back under its original name, doing organic wood-fired pies with house cashew-based cheeses that don’t taste like a compromise. The Local Move: finish with the vegan gelato — it’s the sleeper reason to come. The Honest Caveat: it’s a focused pizza room, freshly reopened, so check hours before a late run. On Second Ave at 4th St.
matthewkenneycuisine.com · See our best Mexican guide for more plant-based picks
Casual, fast & veg-forward
The cheap-eats half: the best veggie burger in the city, vegan Szechuan, dosa in a temple basement. Most are walk-in and easy on the wallet.
Superiority Burger
The best veggie burger in New York, and it isn’t close. Brooks Headley’s patty — quinoa, chickpeas, carrots, walnuts — started in a closet-sized shop and now anchors a bigger old-school diner space on Avenue A, and chefs eat here on their nights off for a reason. The Verdict: get the namesake burger, but the rotating vegetable sides and the gelato are why people stay. It’s fully vegetarian, much of it vegan, and the menu changes constantly. The Local Move: check the board, order whatever weird side they’re running, and finish with a scoop. Worth It as a cheap, genuinely great meal that doesn’t feel like a compromise. The Honest Caveat: there’s often a line — it moves.
Spicy Moon
Vegan Szechuan that you’d order even if you ate meat — the spice and the chili oil do the work, and nothing here is pretending to be a substitute. Spicy Moon’s dan dan noodles (chili oil, sesame, sweet soy) are the best-seller and the right call, with the mapo tofu close behind. The Verdict: a fully plant-based menu that just reads as great Szechuan. The Local Move: it’s on E 6th in the East Village (there’s a West Village outpost on W 3rd too), both walk-in friendly and quick. Worth It for a fast, cheap, genuinely spicy dinner. Go Here Instead of another fake-meat spot if heat is what you’re after. The Honest Caveat: “spicy” is not a marketing word here — mean it or dial it back when you order.
spicymoonnyc.com · See our East Village happy hours
Jajaja Plantas Mexicana
Fully vegan Mexican that’s been thriving long enough to prove it’s not a gimmick — the LES flagship on East Broadway is the original, with outposts in the West Village, Williamsburg and beyond. The Verdict: the loaded nachos and the mushroom tacos are the order, and the churros are non-negotiable. None of it tastes like a workaround; it tastes like good Mexican food that happens to skip the dairy and meat. The Local Move: come hungry with a group, get a spread of tacos and a round of margaritas, and don’t leave without dessert. Worth It for a fun, lively dinner that keeps vegans and skeptics equally happy. The Honest Caveat: it leans a touch pricey for the portions, and weekend nights get loud and busy.
jajajamexicana.com · See our best Mexican restaurants in NYC
Buddha Bodai
The one place in Chinatown where you can roll through a whole dim sum cart and every single thing is fair game. The Original Buddha Bodai on Mott Street is kosher and entirely vegetarian, with vegan dim sum served until 4pm — har gow, “shrimp” dumplings, turnip cake, all plant-based — plus a deep menu of mock-meat classics and a gluten-free list. The Verdict: this is the move for a vegetarian who misses dim sum, and it’s cheap. The Local Move: come before 4pm for the dumplings, order too much, share it all. Worth It for a Chinatown lunch where someone keeps kosher or vegetarian and nobody has to negotiate. The Honest Caveat: it’s a busy, no-frills room — go for the food, not the atmosphere, and expect a wait at peak.
Temple Canteen
The cheapest great meal in this guide, and the most surprising room to find it in — the canteen runs out of the basement of the Hindu Temple Society on Bowne Street in Flushing, and it’s some of the most honest South Indian vegetarian food in the city. Everything is meat-free; the masala dosa is enormous, crisp, and costs a few dollars, with idli, vada and uttapam right behind it. The Verdict: worth the 7 train on its own. The Local Move: it’s cafeteria-style, open daily 8:30am-8:30pm — order at the counter, grab a tray, sit with the regulars. Worth It paired with the temple itself, which is genuinely worth seeing. The Honest Caveat: it’s cash-friendly and no-frills, and weekends draw a crowd of devotees and dosa pilgrims alike.
canteen.nyganeshtemple.org · See our best Indian restaurants in NYC
Best Vegetarian Restaurants in NYC: FAQ
What is the best vegetarian restaurant in NYC?
Dirt Candy on the Lower East Side — the only Michelin-starred vegetable restaurant in the city. Chef Amanda Cohen serves a five-course vegetable tasting menu (around $110, tip included) that treats produce as the main event, not a side. It can be made fully vegan on request. For a Jean-Georges take on plant-forward fine dining, abcV in the Flatiron is the other top pick.
What is the best vegan restaurant in NYC?
For an upscale vegan dinner, Avant Garden in the East Village — candlelit, wine-forward small plates from the Overthrow group. For the best vegan Ethiopian, Ras Plant Based in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, with its mushroom tibs and Mercato platter. And PLANTA Queen in NoMad is the pick if you want fully plant-based food with an actual cocktail bar.
Where can I find cheap vegetarian food in NYC?
Temple Canteen in Flushing, Queens — a South Indian vegetarian canteen in the basement of a Hindu temple, where a huge masala dosa costs a few dollars. In Manhattan, Buddha Bodai in Chinatown does kosher-vegetarian dim sum (all of it vegan until 4pm), and Spicy Moon in the East Village does vegan Szechuan dan dan noodles that won’t break $20.
What is the best vegetarian fine dining in NYC?
Dirt Candy (Michelin-starred vegetable tasting, LES), abcV (Jean-Georges, Flatiron), and Hangawi (Korean temple cuisine, Murray Hill) are the three destination rooms worth a reservation. All three are entirely vegetarian, lean heavily vegan, and are built for a special occasion rather than a quick bite.
What is the best vegetarian or vegan restaurant in Brooklyn?
Ras Plant Based in Crown Heights — vegan Ethiopian that doubles as one of the best date nights in the borough, with mushroom tibs and a combo platter you tear injera through. For a cheaper, rowdier group feast, Bunna Cafe in Bushwick has been doing plant-based Ethiopian since 2011 and its ‘Feast for Two’ stretches across a whole table.
Last updated: June 2026. Deals and hours change – confirm with the venue before you go. Spot something out of date? Let us know.
