You'll find amazingly tasty food at these vegetable-forward Montreal restaurants.
Incredible, meatless food has cropped up on menus across the city and we are here for it. From some of the best burgers and milkshakes in town, to the grain bowl and greens of your dreams, Montreal is home to countless new spots that are seving up stellar dishes. Whether you’re after a full fine dining experience or brunch, these are the vegan eateries at the top of the game right now.
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Full guide to the best restaurants in Montreal
This vegan Montreal mainstay has been serving up plant-based treats since the late 90s when its first location opened in Saint-Dominique. It’s been a local icon since relocating to St. Lawrence Boulevard a few years later. Aux Vivres’ signature takes on healthy, fresh fare including bowls, sandwiches, salads, smoothies and juices makes it an ideal hangout for the health-conscious, both vegan and otherwise.
Vegan, eco-friendly food doesn’t have to be all grain bowls and greens. This stylish eatery with multiple locations proves that vegan eats can be flavour-packed comfort food with their BBQ jackfruit burgers and creamy kale mac and cheese. Everything on the menu is plant-based, but there’s no shortage of gooey, cheesy goodness: LOV takes the fear out of toying with vegan cheese (a sometimes risky bet even for longtime vegans) with its nut-based alternatives. Vegan poutine, anyone?
Montreal isn’t especially known for its sushi, which makes this restaurant stand out all the more when it first opened. The rolls at Sushi Momo aren’t just good for vegan sushi; it’s one of the best sushi restaurants in Montreal, period, and has inspired a wave of like minded restaurant openings over the years. Order a set menu for the best sampling of the creative dishes they have to offer, including a beautiful display of pieces that incorporate a number of unique ingredients you won’t find on sushi menus elsewhere in Montreal. Their work with turning tomatoes into faux tuna alone—a closely protected recipe—is worth the trip.
At Italian restaurant and café Vegano, everything—including the pizza and the mouthwatering, mile-high cakes—are plant-based. You won’t find any rabbit food here; Vegano does classic North American-style comfort foods alongside solid Italian offerings, with generous portions to boot.
Trendy Village spot Bistro Tendresse does vegan cuisine in a setting that’s a bit more upscale than your classic plant-based salad counter. The chic interior and playful, internationally-influenced menu make Tendresse ideal for a night out in the Village, no matter what your dietary preferences are. Be sure to dig into the cocktail list if you’re dropping in for dinner. They've also got a killer brunch service as well.
Falafel, the go-to late night staple of vegans and vegetarians everywhere, is the star of the show at this casual eatery. In addition to the killer crispy goods—some say their falafels are the best in town after cheap eats like Nilufar—featured in wraps, bowls and served solo with tahini sauce, there’s also a lot of jackfruit and tempeh-turned-meaty on the menu. Eco-conscious vegans can enjoy an especially guilt-free meal thanks to Green Panther’s dedication to sustainability.
This adorable Plateau café is first and foremost about ambiance and coffee for Montrealers, but don’t skimp on the menu of simple, comforting plant-based food. That makes it a must-visit spot for vegans, the place to go for a bowl of soup and a sandwich or a mug of coffee alongside a vegan pastry. Genuinely delicious vegan croissants can be elusive, but this place does them especially well.
Kupfert & Kim’s colourful, veg-filled bowls and boxes—which are free of both animal byproducts and wheat—were already popular in Toronto before the chain opened its first Montreal location, and lucky for local veg-lovers has lived up to the hype. Fresh veggies, seeds and gluten-free grains are staples on the lunch and dinner menu, and the quick-service Old Montreal resto also offers simple breakfast menu, smoothies and baked goods.
This long-counter diner on Parc in Mile End serves up deep-fried goodness: tall-stacked burgers, fried croquettes, crispy fries, Philly cheese steak sandwiches and poutine. It’s a feel-good eatery (with gluten-free items, too) by the people behind the much healthier Jones Café. Don’t leave before ordering one of the milkshakes—to-go, if you’re too full from your meal. You’ll thank us later.
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The veg-forward menu at this Toronto outpost is as inventive as the dishes are satisfying. Sink your teeth into fully loaded potato wedges topped with coconut bacon bits, the towering nacho plate, the burrito bowl or a deep dish of creamy pasta. And peruse the cocktail list: made with fresh-pressed juices, the zing factor is on another level.
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When life calls for a breakfast burrito, this Prince-Arthur spot is your destination. It’s a fry shack with a heart, with wings made out of oyster mushrooms, fried pickles served with ranch sauce, taco trios and fried tofu & waffles slathered in syrup for brunch. They bake their own burger buns (and sell them to-go, word to the wise).
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This mainstay of vegan food—before vegan food was even a thing in Montreal—is famous for its saucy Thai curries featuring substitute meats so realistic, you’ll think you’re eating the real thing. Their duck is particularly misleading, which is an awfully satisfying thing when you’re a vegan who misses meat. For those more into vegetable flavours, the mixed veg green curry is a delight over sticky rice.
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Founded by the people behind Sushi Momo and LOV, this small central Montreal chain produces sushi sans fish, with all the emphasis being put on veggies. While some vegan sushi attempts to emulates the traditional kind, this take on it makes no attempt to—it sing its own unique song, to the tunes of freshness, umami, and texture contrasts galore.
This stylish Griffintown spot brought a whole new offering when it opened: a vegan Italian wine bar. The focus is on the private import bottles here, mostly Italian, with the food as a close second. Think focaccia, mushroom arancini, fried polenta with salad, lots of lovely vegetable small plates, plus toothsome tortellini and other pasta dishes.
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Ok, falafel is always vegan, but this small chain of restaurants goes the extra mile by offering mushroom-based shawarma and faux-meat dishes as well. That said, you simply can’t skip the falafel: these pillowy little fritters will give Panthère Verte a run for its money as the best in town, especially served in the fluffy home-baked pita stuffed with mixed salads and lashings of tahini sauce.
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Slurp up a bowlful of comfort at this ramen spot, where you’ll also find tasty little dishes like gyoza, crispy potato croquettes, and a series of marinated vegetables, all tastier than each other. The ramen is topped with flavoursome sautéed tofu for that generous, nourishing bite.
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Sitting pretty on Wellington Street, Archway is dubbed a “bar santé, suggesting a healthful approach to wining and dining. The wine list is packed with interesting choices in the macerated/orange wine section, plus a celebratory selection of bubblies. The food, meanwhile, has the refined plating and subtle flavouring to match the setting. The signature dumplings are delish, and the Japanese twist on tacos is worth ordering too.
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Another in the vegan sushi wave, this beautifully breezy Plateau spot does a better job at emulating the look and flavours of traditional sushi than some of its brethren. The maki are a guaranteed good order, but feel free to experiment too—there are cooked dishes with meat alternatives, like the pad thai, that are mighty comforting when the mood strikes.
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Lattice fries? Check. Oozy cheeseburger? Check. Comfort lives at Burger Fiancé, a small and impossibly hip Montreal burger chain that seeks to meet your cravings in a vegan way. The high-stacked pulled-pork sandwich, made with shiitake mushrooms, is some kinda good—perfect with a side of creamy mac’n’cheese. And maybe a cherry float?
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Owners Nicola Vardaro and Isabelle Deschamps opened this Italian vegan bakery in 2015 to meet a hole in the market: vegan Italian sweets. Their baked goods now range from sweet to savoury, with a menu of calzones, pizzas and pastas to enjoy on the spot, plus so many yummies-to-go: think bomboloni, feuilletés, maritozzi, cornetti and so much more. You’d be hard-pressed to ID them as vegan.
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The original location of this vegan Syrian and Levantine food counter and shop is located right around the corner from the foodie mecca of Marché Jean-Talon, making it our favourite. The falafels draw the crowds, but there’s also a giant range of mezze, sandwiches, faux meat-filled sandwiches and plates, as well as a vegan Middle-Eastern brunch menu that’s unique in the city.
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It’s a Shaughnessy Village mainstay that survives off generations of vegan students and a warm, welcoming atmosphere. They make a simple, small selection of things very well: their falafel, veggie shish taouk and mushroom-based shawarma sandwiches are packed with salads and trimmings, plus their famous vegan poutine stars falafel chunks and a drizzle of tahini sauce.
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Good vegan pizzas are sorely hard to find, so this beacon of light shines that much more bright. This Plateau spot delivers hot deliciousness thanks to its crispy crusts and playful topping options. Rather than just margherita it all the way, they have fun with proteins like seitan and Beyond Meat. Try the Lisa Simpson, with sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes and toasted almonds, or our fave, the Goombas (white sauce, spinach and mushrooms).
One of those traditional hearty-fare types of vegan restaurants where chickpea curries, soups and chilis rule, Lola Rosa remains a place to go for plain good grub. This small chain makes a high-stacked “cheese-steak” on grilled ciabatta and polenta fries that are worth the trip. Their salads are also not to be slept on, chock-a-block packed with varied veggies and flavours.
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This Quartier Latin restaurant and shop is known for its huge freezers full of Asian mock-meat options, dumplings and ready-to-bake stuffed buns—a definite must for vegan home cooks. For those looking to eat on the spot, the large menu of fish-less maki and nigiri sits beside a range of pan-Asian hot dishes, like a delicious crispy “duck”, salt and pepper “shrimp”, eggplant General Tao and Pad Thai.
It may only be open half the year but it’s worth a mention. This ice cream parlour serves up plantbased soft serve in the most luscious flavours from a little space on Rachel Street. Starting with an organic coconut base, they pair two snazzy flavours that change every two weeks for variety. Past combos have included yuzu-vanilla swirled with choco-matcha-mint, vanilla-orange swirled with choco-raspberry, vanilla-haskap swirled with choco-strawberry… our taste buds are tingling at the memories.
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This is where the treats live. Sophie Sucrée has been sweetening vegans’ lives since 2013 with cupcakes and cookies so pretty they’re giftable. Go to their pretty-in-pink St. Lawrence Boulevard space for a breakfast of savoury puff pastries or their croissant breakfast sandwich, or meet a friend there for afternoon tea—the dainty vintage tea cups are only the beginning to a truly lovely experience.
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