When we think of New York City’s most iconic foods, most minds immediately go to a chopped cheese or bacon, egg and cheese from the corner bodega, a fluffy bagel with smoked salmon, or beef pastrami on rye. But the city is many things, and one of them is the mecca of vegetarian food. There have been pockets of vegetable restaurants since the ’70s, with places like the much-loved but defunct Angelica Kitchen and Pure Food and Wine. Those precursors gave rise to a movement because today, even classically carnivorous steakhouses and burger joints cater to meat-avoiding diners, but there are also enough places dedicated exclusively to vegetarians.
If you are looking for a place where you will not lack options, you are in luck because the city is full of exclusively vegetarian restaurants. They range from those specializing in ultra-spicy Szechuan dry pots to seven-course tasting menus. These are some of our top recommendations that everyone from a die-hard carnivore to a vegan (find our vegan-only roundup here) can enjoy.
Read our complete guide to New York City here, including:
Head to Prospect Heights to try some of the best Ethiopian dishes in the city, which just happen to be vegan. Husband and wife team Romeo and Milka Regalli opened their location in 2020 to bring their family’s recipes to the neighborhood. They have taken a modern, meatless approach to cooking. Expect dishes like injera nachos topped with homemade Berber cheese sauce, black beans, guacamole, and pico de gallo, as well as tibs, usually made with sautéed meat, but here made with mushrooms or seitan. It’s best to share the food here, but if you’re not with a group, try it all with one of their dishes that offer a handful of stews and stir-fries accompanied by rice or injera, the fluffy flatbread made with teff flour that’s naturally gluten-free.
If you love veggie burgers (we’re not talking about Impossible ones either, just ones made with real vegetables), this is the place for you. In 2015, Brooks Hedley, a former fine-dining pastry chef, changed everything to open his beloved burger joint that was originally located in a small hole-in-the-wall on 9th Street. It was an instant hit, highlighting his platonic-ideal burgers, burnt broccoli salad, and some of the best ice cream in town. It has since moved around the corner to a much larger restaurant with ample seating on Avenue A, and the menu has expanded to feature all kinds of farmers’ market vegetables in satisfying and innovative ways. No meal at Superiority Burger would be complete without its namesake burger: a house-made burger made with a blend of vegetables, quinoa, and chickpeas that comes topped with shredded lettuce, tomato sauce, pickles, and cheese (vegan or not). Also don’t overlook anything made with yuba, or any quirky sides Brooks and the team are preparing that day, in addition to dessert. The cakes are legendary and almost always vegan, as is most of the menu.
Canadian chef Amanda Cohen has been operating her Lower East Side restaurant since 2008. It originally occupied a small 18-seat space in the East Village, but has since moved to Allen Street and has thrived there for a decade. The restaurant is the only vegetarian restaurant in the city with a Michelin star. Their five-course tasting menu is vegetarian by default, can easily be made vegan upon request, and changes quarterly with the seasons. On each of the menus, one can expect to find elevated but fun dishes, such as tomato twinkies stuffed with smoked feta and corn crepes with seaweed caviar and eggplant oysters. You can finish with a mousse made of miso-glazed eggplant served in a chocolate shell; yes, you will even find vegetables in dessert and it works. It’s a serious food that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
