Phuket, Thailand, 39, 7 vegan restaurants per 100,000 inhabitants. Portland, Oregon, is the best city for vegetarians and vegans in the U.S. UU. Veganism has exploded in the U.S.
However, despite growing popularity, vegetarian diets aren't widely accepted in all of the U.S. I've been a vegetarian for 15 years and it can take hours to find restaurants willing to adapt to my diet when I travel to certain parts of the country. To help determine where meatless diners can get a decent and consistent meal, WalletHub researchers have published a study that evaluates the 100 most populated cities in the country based on 16 criteria in three different categories. To ensure affordability, they studied the cost of food for vegetarians, the availability of affordable restaurants suitable for vegetarians with high grades, and the average cost of a meal in each city.
They also wanted to understand the diversity, accessibility and quality of vegetarian and vegan food in each city, so they analyzed aspects such as the number of salad stores per capita, the proportion of restaurants that serve meat- and dairy-free options, the number of community gardens per capita and the availability of vegetarian cooking classes. Finally, the researchers worked to understand the vegetarian lifestyle in each city by studying the consumption of fruits and vegetables among residents and data from Grubhub on the places where diners are most likely to order a vegetarian or vegan meal. WalletHub then used a 100-point system to rate each city's metrics based on how favorable it was for vegans and vegetarians. Once the scores were counted, WalletHub weighted the average of all the metrics to find an overall score and put the cities in ranking order.
The results contain information on which cities are the best for vegetarians and vegans. Portland, Oregon, ranked first, while San Bernardino, California, came in last place. Scottsdale, Arizona, was not in the top 20, but it did have the highest proportion of restaurants serving vegetarian options, at 27.76%, as well as the highest proportion of restaurants with vegan options, at 16.01%. New York City is the 20th best city for vegans and vegetarians in the U.S.
Celebrate by taking a look at the 20 best cities for vegans and vegetarians in the U.S. A small corner of the Internet dedicated to offering you inspirational items for traveling every day. This quiet backpacker spot is a vegan paradise with plant-based Thai, Burmese, Indian, Chinese and Western cuisine. There are 32.2 vegan restaurants per 100,000 inhabitants, according to The Vegan Word, in addition to vegan cooking schools such as Mai Kaidee.
According to The Vegan Word, there are 15.1 plant-based restaurants for every 100,000 people in Phuket. Like Chiang Mai, the city also hosts its own vegetarian festival, which attracts locals and tourists alike every year, usually in September or October. The sunny capital of Portugal now has about 24 vegan restaurants open, and many cafés offer vegan versions of the city's infamous golden pastries and delicate crepes. Blogger and former Lisbon resident The Nomadic Vegan also says that the city is home to the most creative sushi options.
Do you think we skipped any of the list? Check out some special recommendations from the six-to-two team. Apparently, 40% of Taiwan's population is vegetarian, as most people follow Buddhist practices. Buffet restaurants are one thing and you can choose from a lot of local vegan dishes. For breakfast, you're spoiled to choose from with all the fresh tropical fruit on offer.
With more than 245 vegan restaurants in the city, Prague offers a lively dining scene suitable for vegans, along with a lot of Eastern European history. The Czech capital has great vegan lunches and stews galore, so get ready to enjoy. When I became vegan in 2003, I was living in Wisconsin, a state known for its meaty food that sticks to ribs, dipped in cheese and sauce. Until some hot spots started serving tofu to a mostly university clientele, finding even a mediocre veggie burger was a rare treat that I didn't take for granted.
To satisfy my craving for plant-based foods, I started touring the country, making vegan friends everywhere, and compiling an ever-growing list of the best vegan foods in the United States. Back then, word of mouth was everything. Like the mountainous state region, the Southwest isn't particularly known for its vegan cuisine. Albuquerque is the exception, with a growing list of vegetarian-friendly and fully vegan establishments.
The best thing about vegan food in this city is that not only can you find easy veganising options in Thai, Chinese and Indian restaurants (Annapurna has the most options), but the hot-air balloon travel capital is the perfect place to find fully vegan versions of traditional Southwestern cuisine. New Mexico is famous for its chili peppers, and you're likely to see dishes prepared “Christmas-style,” meaning you'll get red and green chili sauce. Start your culinary adventure with chili at Vegos ABQ, where you can choose between the jackfruit and red chili burrito; the forest burrito stuffed with potatoes, pinto beans and green chili; or the generous plate of enchiladas, topped with the chili sauce of your choice. During your stay, visit the vet-owned Vegan Vato Instagram page to see where the food truck is expected to sell its tacos, toast, burritos and sandwiches.
Choose between seitan roast, jackfruit carnitas, barbecue tempeh and Impossible ground beef. Can't you decide what you want? Head to Mata G, totally vegetarian, who serves a different cooking style every day of the week, including its couscous with Moroccan saffron on Tuesdays and the Lebanese kibbe casserole on Fridays. Vegan food in the country's capital is as diverse as its components. Think of vegan Taiwanese fried mozzarella at Pow Pow or vegan soul food at NuVegan Café.
Do yourself a favor and order two servings of macaroni and cheese, plus an extra lasagna to go). Stop by the Middle Eastern street food restaurant, Shouk, where your only challenge is to decide between mushroom shawarma, eggplant burger and award-winning Shouk Burger. Save room for dessert at the old vegan bakery Sticky Fingers, and at the newcomer, Donut Run, a vegan donut shop that doesn't want anyone to know it's vegan. It goes without saying that when you're in Boise you have to try the potatoes, so head to the Boise Fry Company, where your vegan burger is accompanied by golden, purple, sweet or reddish fries, and order their addicting and crunchy fried Brussels sprouts.
My favorite place to eat here is Tarbush Kitchen, a Middle Eastern restaurant run by Iraqi refugees that has excellent baba ganouj and the best falafel I've ever tasted in the United States. The chefs are so talented that, before moving to Boise, the United States military recruited one of the owners to cook for the troops in Baghdad. For dessert, head to Guru Donuts, which has vegan options such as sea salt, chocolate, maple and “hipsterberry”. It's no surprise that the country's unofficial cultural capital has incredible vegan food.
What makes plant-based food in New York City so incredible is that, unlike some cities, where vegan restaurants are mostly limited to what I call “easy vegan,” you know, veggie burgers, pasta, and rice bowls, the Big Apple has a vegan population large enough for entire restaurants to engage in veganism, in a wide range of cuisines. You'll find Korean Kimchi Stew, Vietnamese Pho, Mexican Enchiladas, and Chana Masala from India. The best vegan food in town is a tie between everything in Avant Garden and Dirt Candy's vegan tasting menu. If you're in the West Village, check out Red Bamboo, a long-established vegan restaurant, for a comforting, home-cooked meal, or head to the delicious Sarrasin, so French, Delice %26, for vegan bourguignon meat.
Other options in the area are Spicy Moon for Szecuhan or Jajaja for Mexican food. During his stay in Chinatown, Buddha Bodai serves more than 50 vegan dim sum dishes in addition to another 200 vegan dishes on the menu. And on the other side of town, Beyond Sushi, originally from New York, offers seaweed caviar, smoked mushrooms and pickled vegetables, all wrapped in black rice sushi rolls. Screamers, in Brooklyn, has the best pizza you'll find in the whole city (buffalo cauliflower is exaggerated), and the district has not one, but two Ethiopian vegan restaurants that you have to try Ras Plant Based and Buna Café (with an excellent weekend brunch).
We know, we know, Wisconsin is the state of dairy products and Milwaukee is mostly known as Beer City, USA. Why would it be included in a list of the best vegan cities in the country? Because longtime vegan locals (like me) know that creative vegan chefs have been making delicious dishes for more than a decade. The Palomino Bar and Restaurant, in the trendy Bay View neighborhood, was one of the first restaurants in the city to offer a full vegan menu (think buffalo tofu wings and fried pickles), while more recent additions, such as Beerline Café (ideal for breakfast) and On The Bus (acai bowls, hamburgers and sandwiches), complete it when you want a meal without frying. My favorite restaurant in the city is Alem Ethiopian, which isn't totally vegetarian, but it has one of the most generous and interesting vegan dishes I've ever tasted.
When the pandemic eases a bit, I hope they will resume their delicious and incredibly cheap vegetarian buffet lunch. Los Angeles (and Los Angelinos) have a bit of a reputation. You know what I'm talking about. Looking like tanned and fit celebrities, walking around drinking green juice and looking beautiful, dining at raw food restaurants, claiming to be full after eating what most of us would consider an appetizer.
Well, I'm not going to say that that will never happen in Los Angeles, but I will say that's far from the full story. As for restaurant food, Asheville is one of those cities with many vegan-friendly restaurants, but few fully vegan establishments. Fully vegan restaurants include Rosetta's Kitchen, which offers Southern comfort food, and Pulp %26 Sprout, which focuses primarily on raw foods. For creative seasonal coffee and vegan rolls, pies and doughnuts with cream cheese, visit whole-grain paradise, Gallivant Coffee.
If you're looking for ready-to-go meals and vegan products that aren't even found in the big stores in this area, stop by the West Village Market. Although not entirely vegetarian, Handlebar is an unpretentious, no-frills bar that's popular with local vegetarians and vegans. Avoid soy and seitan-based options (which are good, but easy to find elsewhere) and order fried okra with a corn crust and Nashville's hot “fried chicken”, made with plenty of forest hen mushrooms. In San Francisco proper, you'll want to go to Baia, which is celebrity chef Matthew Kenney's first restaurant in the Bay Area that specializes in top-notch Italian food.
And if you don't mind a little religious propaganda from the Vietnamese Supreme Master, head to Golden Era, a long-time vegan favorite, which has been serving Vietnamese, Chinese and Pan-Asian synthetic meat noodle dishes long before Beyond Burger was conceived. I'm usually that kind of freak who orders multiple soups for my meal). If you're looking for Japanese food, head to Shizen Vegan Sushi Bar and Izakaya, which take standard tofu and avocado rolls to the next level by topping them with tapioca-based imitation fish eggs. For Mexican and Latin fusion, Om Sabor takes the cake (without eggs or dairy) with its mushroom ceviche toast with royal trumpet, hibiscus flour tacos and crab cakes with jackfruit.
Do you want more Thrillist? Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat. There's even a three-day vegan summer festival that's been going on for 21 years: VeganMania is one of the biggest vegan summer festivals in Europe and admission is free. The Midwest doesn't get enough credit for the excellent vegan food it has served long before veganism caught on, and the Windy City has had some of the best options for a long time. The vegan travel company Veg Jaunts %26 Journeys is based in Asheville and, although they don't necessarily offer vegan city guides on a regular basis, you can contact us to book a private tour during your stay.
From fully vegan bakeries to raw food bistros, you definitely don't need to go far to get your whole-food fix. The blogger has admitted that there could be some level of inaccuracy, but in terms of research on vegan foods, this is a great start. What makes Asheville such a vegan-friendly city isn't so much the number of vegan restaurants (after all, the city only has 100,000 residents), but its very active vegan community. .
