NYC's 36 best vegetarian and vegan restaurants

Before HAGS even opened its doors, Telly Justice was very clear on what she envisioned her restaurant to be, telling Eater in 2022, "This is going to be queer first, restaurant second. It has to be." What resulted is a tiny restaurant that caters to people who are vegan, gluten-free and have omnivorous appetites, and one that starts each week with a brunch special that invites all to the table—no matter if they can pay or not. With partner and beverage director Camille Lindsley by her side, Justice shows New York what fine dining could be when identity and community are at the helm.

The vibe: With a name that equally stands for a witchy, haggard woman and the popular school-aged acroynm, "have a great summer," you can bet there is a ton of whimsy to be found at HAGS. Heart-shaped lamps glow pink in corners and on gold-coated tables. Greeting cards serve as the menus, personally stamped by the staff every day. The shoebox-sized, 18-seat dining room can't help but breed a certain closeness and community as friends share glasses of wine seated at one of the nude-y pink banquettes while strangers strike up conversations over the pronoun pins at the bar. Speaking of, it is hard not to miss the green velvet curtain that hangs above the bar. While it serves mainly to absorb sound, it also doubles as a welcome to the show. Just beyond it, you can find the backstage area, which is the kitchen, where aproned staff plate marinated tofu and carefully select greens sourced from around the area.

The food: There are two types of tasting options available here: omnivore ($160) or vegan ($135). And as someone who does eat meat on the reg, I am happy to report that Justice's vegan menu truly gives, well, justice to the genre. In fact, as my friend and I ate in tandem, her plates vegan, mine with meat, Justice's vegetable preparations often edged out as my top pick of the two. One such dish was the Tempeh. In lieu of duck, the tempeh's charred exterior gave way to a soft, caramel-like center, while the potato leaf foam added even more sweetness. In fact, even if you happen to order the omnivore menu, you will spend more time grazing on something green, as only two out of the seven courses had meat. But with crispy fried and incredibly jammy strips of eggplant paired with a zippy Meyer lemon reduction and stone-ground grits (also served at brunch!) topped with mushrooms grown from the restaurant's own compost, you won't be missing it. Oh, and the creamy, coconut-based gelato with chocolate ganache that serves as the finale may just change your tune when it comes to vegan desserts as a whole. 

The drinks: The space is tiny, so there isn't a ton of room for a full bar here. Instead, Lindsley has curated a selection of wines for pairing ($75), available by the glass or bottle. There's also a dedicated section to queer winemakers from the country, plus a robust non-alcoholic list that ranges from kombucha to a sparkling raspberry and chamomile from alternative drink company, NON.

Time Out tip: Following the thread of community forward, Sundays bring a sliding scale brunch, that's included vegan potato pavés, cinnamon buns and those mushroom grits. The prices listed next to the brunch items are suggested (minus the drinks), so come as you are and pay what you can. 

Fueled by the ambition to make people crave vegetables, Amanda Cohen revived her beloved East Village eatery on the Lower East Side with a ramped-up tasting menu and a space three times the size of the 18-seat original. Emblazoned with a mural of greenery by graffiti artist Noah McDonough, the sprawling dining room is focused on the open kitchen at its heart—complete with a chef’s counter—and a full bar along one wall. 

This East Village vegan Szechuan restaurant serves items like dan dan noodles with Impossible meat, mapo tofu and a trio of eggplant options. 

You’ll get a spread of traditional bites, including red lentils in berbere sauce, mashed split peas simmered with tomato, and a chickpea stuffing with kale at this vegetarian Ethiopian charmer. Cool the heat of the spicier flavors with a strip of injera.

Even with recent renovations giving the space a refresh, Buddha Bodai remains one of New York's most essential vegetarian and vegan-friendly dining destinations, doling out plant-based versions of Peking duck, turnip cake and vegetarian sesame chicken for more than 45 years.

A vegetarian Indian food haven in Floral Park, Queens specializes in fast casual bites, savory snacks and colorful desserts. Usha is one of the best vegetarian destinations for generous portions, combo platters that allow you to try a little bit of everything and a menu that strongly demonstrates you don't need meat to have one of the city's most satisfying meals. It's just down the road from a Patel Brothers location, one of our favorite supermarket for hard-to-find Indian pantry staples.

Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s first meat-free venture populates a spacious room with a Goop-y stretch of white furniture, pops of color courtesy of artisanal ceramic plateware, millennial-pink wall panels and boho banquettes. Each menu arrives with a chart that details the health benefits of various vegetables.

The namesake items are expertly-prepared at this vegan stand by beloved vendor Thiru “Dosa Man” Kumar. NY Dosa's special Pondicherry version, with spices, potatoes and a medley of vegetables, is also one of the best street foods in the world. 

Francesca "Sol" Chaney’s eponymous casual vegan spot is food-security and community focused with a program in place to provide free meal kits for people in communities most affected by the pandemic. Sol Sips’ menu includes terrific takes on chopped cheese and BECs, plus BBQ jackfruit quesadillas and crispy fried okra. 

The seemingly endless options at Veggie Castle's buffet have attracted both repeat customers and more than 36,000 Instagram followers. The customization is unbeatable and, fortunately for visitors with hungry eyes, also especially photogenic, as evidenced by hundreds of tagged photos of vegan salt-baked fish, jerk chicken, wings and other alternative proteins.

First opened in 2016, Ladybird serves vegan drunk food items like tempura fried broccoli, green pea fritters and grilled cheese with tomato soup. It's an excellent option for when you want to get a bit tipsy.

Toulouse-born model Christophe Caron felt that the simple delicacy of crepes from his native France has been lost in translation when reinterpreted overseas. Here, he folds paper-thin sheets of white flour and Brittany-sourced buckwheat on an imported Krampouz plate, yielding airy crepes as well as their savory cousins, the galette. Vegan fillings like housemade salted caramel and gingerbread nestle in the sweet roll-ups, while the latter comes in varieties like the Mr. Petrossian, with vegan smoked salmon and vegan shrimp enveloped in avocado puree.

Greedi Vegan's menu is influenced by soul food. We love its Greedi Soul Bowl (with a choice of the grain of the day or mac & cheese made vegan, topped with quinoa breaded "fried chicken," with choice of kale or spinach and sweet potatoes); grits 'n vegan beef gravy; and vegan crab cake sliders.

This lovely Korean vegetarian restaurant is comfortable and intimite. Carefully crafted dishes include leek pancakes, maitake mushroom fritters, a variety of dumplings, bibimbap and seasonal specials. 

Oasis is our no-fail, no-frills, trusty best friend for falafel platters and pita sandwiches. Beyond its good falafel, we appreciate the bounty of pickled veggies that would be worth ordering in its own right.

The name is a little dad-jokey, but Avant Garden's 28-seat space—with a petrified-wood counter and raw tree branches above an open kitchen—is filled with serious plant-based plates. Pair a quartet of toasts topped with items like crimini mushrooms with the house made spaghetti and sip beer, wine and cider. 

Heather Tierney—a former TONY Food & Drink writer—built her rep with buzzy spots Pulqueria and Apothéke. Tierney then turned from witching-hour boozing to daylight juicing via this vegetarian "butcher" shop. Find witty variations on classic dishes, like a squash carbonara and cauliflower "T-bone." 

This longtime East Village hangout offers both regular meat-free dishes—grilled seitan nachos, black-bean chili, stir-fries—and “live foods” made from uncooked fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Naturally, there are loads of salads and some macrobiotically balanced quinoa-and-seaweed combos, too.

After ambling past Chinatown shop windows displaying glistening ducks and flopping fish, vegetarians will be relieved to step into this meat-free haven—even if the dark-green carpeting and pale-green walls call to mind a corporate office. The menu offers excellent and convincing mock-meat dishes, including delicate “shrimp” dumplings (made with rice flour, yams and tofu), crispy, slightly sweet sesame “chicken” (deep-fried bean curd skin) and Peking “spare ribs”—yams doused in a peppery sauce. Order a fresh fruit shake for dessert.

Named after a kung fu combat style from 1978 cult classic Five Deadly Venoms and papered in vintage martial-art movie posters from the ’70s and ’80s, the 14-seat restaurant serves up plant-based riffs on classics like a fried oyster-mushroom banh mi and a cremini-mushroom-lentil burger with house-made ketchup and cashew cheese. 

Public Records, which opened in March of 2019, is a music-focused cafe, record "hi-fi bar" and performance space. Beyond the beats, it is also a plant-forward restaurant, though only the daytime cafe portion is vegan.

Joya Carlton (the Butcher’s Daughter, Buvette) teams with Sara and Erica Kubersky (MooShoes, Modern Love Brooklyn) for this Lower East Side grocery store and delicatessen that’s exclusively stocked with vegan products. Along with prepackaged and pantry items, the deli counter offers house-made meat-free sandwiches, salads and pastries. End the meal on a sweet note with soft-serve sundaes featuring your choice of dairy-free ice cream (vanilla, chocolate) and toppings like a coconut-chocolate Magic Shell and puffed chickpeas. 

Sprawling across two levels with a light, airy dining room upstairs and a speakeasy-themed bar downstairs, Planta Queen’s a great pick for larger groups of herbivores. Its lengthy menu includes fish-free takes on sushi, dumpling varieties and oodles of noodles.