Top 10 vegan cities

I am never shy about giving my opinion on something, but I don’t think I have ever given a top ten list in the past.

So without further delay, I present FGV’s Top Ten Vegan Cities.

10 Manchester

This Northern UK city is fast becoming a true vegan hotspot. There are two reasons Manchester made my top ten list. V Revolution and Unicorn Grocery. V Revolution is the finest vegan fast food joint in the UK, while Unicorn is a 100% vegan supermarket stocked with a stunning range of beers. Extra points go to Manchester for the vegan menu at Ning and the gorgeous Beermoth with an unrivalled collection of craft beer.

Glasgow

You will be hard pressed to find a greater concentration of vegan and vegan-friendly establishments in such a confined area in Europe. Glasgow is absolutely swamped with vegan food and drink. Must visits for tourists include The 13th Note for a gorgeous breakfast and The 78 for a beer-battered seitan burger.

Mexico City

Forget everything you think you know about Mexico City not being good for vegans. Get handcrafted gourmet sandwiches and cakes delivered by bicycle to any location in the city thanks to Los Loosers. Eat delicious vegan enchiladas at Origenes Organicos. Marvel at Falafelito, a 100% vegan falafel outlet in the touristy Condesa neighbourhood. Buy vegan groceries in numerous kosher supermarkets and supermarket chain The Green Corner.

Philadelphia

Vedge. That is all. The finest vegan restaurant on the entire planet. There are dozens of other reasons but Vedge is the only one I need to make sure Philly hits the top ten. Blackbird Pizza and Grindcore House are worthy mentions. But Vedge!

Paris

You will not go hungry as a vegan in Paris. In reality, you will get some of the best vegan food you are ever likely to eat. The Gentle Gourmet is truly superb and all of my visits have resulted in rave reviews. There are multiple 100% vegan burger joints in Paris and a vegan grocery store will stock you up on all your essentials.

San Diego

San Diego is a vegan dream come to life. Imagine a world with a vegan drive through restaurant serving shakes, burgers, cheesecakes and fries. You get that in San Diego with Evolution. Some of the tastiest food on the west coast can be found at Anthem Vegan and you will not be in the least bit sorry that you stopped off for chicken dumplings and donuts at Moncai

4 Portland

You could almost imagine a day when veganism is no longer the minority in Portland. Plant-based eating is just so ingrained in the everyday here that I would need to write an essay to cover it all. You will experience an Earth-shattering moment the first time you set eyes on the donut counter at Voodoo. Get along to Homegrown Smoker for decadent hot sandwiches and deep fried, battered cookies.

3 Berlin

Berlin is overwhelming when it comes to vegan food. If you can visit even half of the 100% vegan food outlets in the city during a stay, you are putting in a whole lot of effort. There is stunning pizza at Sfizy Veg and glorious fries with special sauce at Vöner. Stock up on hard to find vegan groceries at Veganz supermarkets. Be blown away by the world-class desserts at Ohlala. Berlin is truly a leader when it comes to showcasing the best of vegan living.

2 New York City

Vegan is just another type of cuisine in NYC. It could have very easily taken the number one spot if LA didn’t have Doomie’s and Flore. New York will amaze first time visitors with dozens of vegan eateries all over Manhattan and Brooklyn. Dun-Well Doughnuts is reason enough to visit the metropolis. Get double fried chips, Thai food, ice cream sundaes and pretty much anything else you can imagine or want during an NYC trip. Bonus points to New York for being home to the original Moo Shoes store.

1 Los Angeles

LA has to be number one. I’m going to wear myself out listing all the reasons why this city is the best place on the planet for vegans, but here goes. Almost a dozen Veggie Grill locations. Vegan supermarket Viva La Vegan. Vegan clothing and shoe stores. Native Foods everywhere. Real Food Daily. The breakfast sandwiches at Localita and The Badasserie. The ridiculously tasty food at Doomie’s. The annual vegan beer festival. Stunning chicken and waffles at Flore. I could go on forever.

How does my list shape up to your top ten? Which cities would you include?

Of course there are many cities that would probably make the list if I could spend some time in them. For instance, I am certain Austin would feature in my top five if I spent a few days there. Barcelona almost made it but was edged out by Manchester as I think that city has made impressive leaps and bounds.

San Francisco didn’t make it despite stunning vegan outlets as I find the best food is outside in surrounding cities, such as Souley Vegan in Oakland and Flaco’s in Berkeley are outstanding.

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Written by fatgayvegan

19 Comments
  1. JusT been reading about Gent, Belgium. Says to be the vegetarian capital of Europe, have you been? I am planning a trip.

    • Never even heard of it until now!

      • Ghent is great for vegans. If you’re planning a trip you gotta give Komkommertijd a visit – an all you can eat vegan buffet with amazing quality food at a great price – pretty dangerous, you may as well write off the rest of the day! Avalon is also a great veggie restaurant with good vegan options for a more formal (but not stuffy) environment. Ecohostel Andromeda is brilliant budget accommodation in Ghent, its a vegetarian/vegan, eco-friendly barge boat with a cool vintage twist on the decor. The guys who run it are lovely, when they have a vegan guest they tend to just provide vegan breakfasts for everyone so there’s no stressing over translating ingredient lists at the breakfast bar. I could rave about Ghent all day but I’m already starting to sound like I work for their tourist board, haha!

  2. Excellent list, I’m going to keep this for when I go travelling to these places!

    One thing I’d like to mention is my favourite vegan cafe in Glasgow, Stereo. It’s ran by the same people as Bar 78 and Mono, it’s conveniently located behind Glasgow Central train station right in the heart of the city. It does amazing soups with homemade bread and sweet potato fries with vegan mayo, the daily specials are incredible and they always have a couple of great desserts!

  3. Great list!! London is really behind on the Vegan revolution!

  4. Excellent list! I’m lucky enough to live in Manchester, and I’ve recently come back from NYC (which was just sublime for food. I mean, Babycakes NYc…a gluten free vegan bakery. DOUGHNUTS!!!!!!). Visited Paris and Berlin last year…needless to say, San Diego and Portland have been on my ‘must visit’ list for a long while…..and since reading this list they’ve been bumped up to top spot!!!! 🙂 🙂

  5. Don’t know if you ever got to try the short lived Heavenly vegan cafe in Glasgow (2010-2011). It was absolutely incredible, and the best in the city – the quality was far above all the other more popular ones (who are all run by the same person, and I don’t think there’s much of a difference in taste between them). Their gingerbread was out of this world!

  6. Re NYC. I’ve lived here for about 9 years now and though yes there is an incredible amount of places here but overall it has been declining. In the past couple of years NYC has lost some of its greatest and in some cases long running vege/vegan spots;

    Curly’s Vegetarian Lunch
    Quantum Leap(East Village)
    Foodswings
    Gobo(both locations now gone)
    Snice(Greenwich Village)
    Counter
    Kate’s Joint

    Those are just a few. And now in addition, Angelica’s Kitchen, a mainstay of the NYC vege world since 1975 is in serious danger of closing.

    There may still be a lot of vegan friendly places here but the astronomical rents have been devastating not only to Vegan friendly fare but small businesses in NYC in general.

    • Foodswings closing is a tragedy. I once had a stopover at JFK of a few hours and I caught the subway to Foodswings and raced back for my connecting flight.

  7. For a small city, York was surprisingly Vegan friendly. Berlin definitely top of the list in the friendlies. Ever other supermarket is organic and even random cafes have vegan treats!

    • York has got some lovely vegan treats!

      • and also halifax, I recently discovered on a trip up norff. A lovely veggie cafe with loads of vegan treats – the ginger cafe. The owners were awesome and so passionate about what they do, but also very shy 🙂

      • Yes, I wrote about Ginger way back in January 2011. It was a sweet little cafe. http://fatgayvegan.com/2011/01/09/taking-the-long-way-round/

      • haha I had the pie too! I can never resist a vegan pie when I come across one. The cherry bakewells…. Oh my goodness. Incredible!

  8. I’ve been to Paris quite a few times of late and struggled to find Vegan restaurants. One I did find however was truly amazing. Well worth checking this baby out – http://www.lepotagerdumarais.fr/Potager_du_Marais/Le_Potager_du_Marais.html – id suggest booking however as we turned up as it opened one evening and within five minutes the place was full and turning away people.
    The only other place I’d found before was – http://www.saveursvegethalles.fr/ but this is mainly Vegetarian. Again worth a visit.

    • Le Potager du Marais has been recommended to me by so many people. I can’t wait to try it. It was closed for my entire stay last time I was there!

  9. The fact that Melbourne, Australia isn’t on this list and Paris is….thats crazy to me, have you been to Melbourne??

    In Melbourne there are 2 vegan supermarkets, a burger chain of 5+ stores (Lord of the Fries), Brunswick and Smith Street alone have 8-10 or so dedicated veg/vegan restaurants and last time I checked 2 all vegan shoe stores. There are good health food shops and supermarkets all stock veg/vegan sections. Trippy Taco has the best vegan burrito and fries ive ever tasted and La Panella bakeries pies.donuts and cheap prices are worth moving there for. Melbourne is as vegan as Berlin, but in a more concentrated area.

  10. Eager to see a review of Austin. Arlo’s (home of the best vevgie burger in the world) & BBQ Revolution are my favorites!

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