A melting pot of cultures, Canada’s innovative culinary scene is not to be underestimated. Especially as a vegan. The abundant country is exploding with organic plant-based products. More and more, forward-thinking chefs are picking up on that. And as a result, plant-based power is thriving through cutting edge cuisines.
Michelin star chefs are celebrating the subtle nuances overlooked in everyday vegetables. While diners seek a fusion of health and decadence, all whilst saving the planet through sustainable diets. Whether you’ve opted into the vegan lifestyle or are unapologetically carnivorous, we’re pretty sure these refined meat-free meals will transform your mentality and redefine your own cooking.
From smoked and charred cauliflower to radish and hoisin plum combinations—each dish champions distinct vegetables in a manner unimagined before. Vegan sushi and umami-packed katsu curry reimagine Asian-inspired dishes within the cosmopolitan city. Pistachio pippian and roasted white yam marry traditional Mexican fiestas with new age culinary arts. While cashew-based cheese pizzas acknowledge your efforts without forcing you to compromise on comfort foods.
Be it Italian, French, Mexican or Asian influences—Canada is your vegan-friendly passport to travel the tastes of the world.
The 11 best vegan restaurants in Canada
- Planta
- Heirloom
- Avelo
- Rosalinda
- Ten Restaurant
- The Acorn
- Saveg
- La Bartola
- Pizzeria Du
- Nightshade
- LOV
Planta
All animal-loving foodies are raising their glasses to a veg restaurant that celebrates the power of plants through unguilty pleasures. David Lee has worked in Michelin star restaurants since the age of seventeen. But after switching to a plant-based diet himself, he championed a plant-based lifestyle with his vegan restaurant chain in Canada.
All three Planta’s highlight a different cuisine—the one in Yorkville showcasing traditional Italian dishes created purely from plants. Add a touch of Asian-inspired sushi and boas. And it’s no surprise that we can’t stop going back for more.
Best for: Plant-based pizza is your new guilt-free pleasure.
Address: 180 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 3X3 · 647.812.1210 Opening days and hours: Sun-Wed: 12pm-9pm Thurs-Sat: 12pm-10pm Price range: $$ Website: www.plantarestaurants.com
Heirloom
From the green contemporary interior to the tantalizing vegetarian menu, you’ll know you’ve entered a haven of health when you walk through Heirloom’s doors. And if you’re committed to converting friends and acquaintances to the green side, it should only take one bite of these vegan tacos to seal the deal.
Located in Vancouver, expect to be taken on a food journey on every visit to Heirloom’s non-carnivorous kitchen. They serve your favorite instrammagable dishes (hello avo on toast), as well as intricately balanced meals that we could never replicate at home.
Best for: An address worth passing on to future generations.
Address: 1509 W 12th Ave, Vancouver, BC V6J 2E2, Canada Opening days and hours: Everyday: 9am-10pm Price range: $$ Website: www.heirloomveg.ca/
Avelo
Fine dining with a veggie twist, this plant-based paradise is at the epicenter of the vegetarian restaurants in Toronto. It won’t take much from this mouth-watering menu to have devout carnivores swearing off their alliance to animal-based products. That’s a promise.
Avelo’s non-traditional menu is designed to bring about new experiences, highlighting the nuances in plants that are so often overpowered by exaggerated meat flavors. After choosing between their five or eight course tasting menu, you can expect to be served delicate dishes worth savoring visually and tastefully.
Best for: Vegan delicacies dance on the palette.
Address: 51 St Nicholas St, Toronto, ON M4Y 1W6, Canada Opening days and hours: Wed-Sat: 5pm-11pm Sun-Tues: closed Price range: $$$$ Website: www.avelorestaurant.com/
Rosalinda
This eco chic Mexican fiesta is worth writing home about. Rosalinda’s contemporary plant-focused interior speaks to the avant-garde vegan menu. As dishes such as smoked and charred cauliflower are our order of the day.
Rosalinda is one of the top vegan restaurants—no small feat for a city humming with animal-loving enthusiasts and a movement towards plant-based lifestyles. And once you try their black bean fritters, you won’t need much peer pressure to sign up to meat-free Mondays along with the rest of the metropolitan crowds. Fantastico!
Best for: Mexican fiestas get a modern vegan makeover.
Address: 133 Richmond St W, Toronto, ON M5H 2L3, Canada Opening days and hours: Tues-Thurs: 12pm-9pm Sat: 4pm-9pm Fr, Sun, Mon: closes Price range: $$ Website: www.rosalindarestaurant.com/about
Ten Restaurant
This small restaurant has fulfilled big dreams as one of the most haute vegetable-forward dining experiences in the country. Ten’s innovative ten course tasting menu aims to highlight the subtle flavors of locally sourced veggies. And whilst it isn’t entirely vegan, animal-products are unconventionally subsidiary to plant-based dominance. And all dishes do come in a vegan option if requested.
Ten Restaurant is about far more than putting bite-sized food on a plate. They are committed to addressing food insecurity through community fridges and pantries. Whilst they simultaneously strive to change the restaurant industry through manageable workloads and fair pay. We think those are sustainability practices worth supporting.
Best for: Ten out of ten—in taste, aesthetics and sustainability.
Address: 1132 College St, Toronto, ON M6H 1B6, Canada Opening days and hours: Wed-Thurs: 5:30pm-10pm Fri: 5:30-8pm Sat: 5:30-10pm Sun-Tues: closed Price range: $$$$ Website: www.10restaurant.ca/
The Acorn
Located in the heart of Vancouver, the vegetarian restaurant is a destination in itself—and one worth traveling pretty far for.
The Acorn menu features tantalizing tapas style dishes that are impossible to choose from. While their tasting menu takes care of your decision fatigue for you. Expect to leave with a new respect for often overlooked vegetables. As radish and hoisin plum combinations excite the senses. And sea vegetables ignite a new zest for food experimentation.
Best for: Worth traveling around the world for.
Address: 3995 Main St, Vancouver, BC V5V 3P3, Canada Opening days and hours: Mon-Fri: 5:30pm-12pm Sat-Sun: 10am-2pm and 5:30-12pm Price range: $$$ Website: www.theacornrestaurant.ca/
Saveg Cafe
After promenading around Lougheed House, rest your legs and tickle your tastebuds with some of the best vegan food in Canada. The cute, family-owned cafe is situated in the center of Calgary, making it the perfect excuse to visit the historically trendy district.
On the Saveg menu, you can expect to see a range of innovative plant-based meals. From a vegan “tuna” poke bowl to tofu katsu curry, each dish is infused with Asian-inspired ingredients and packed with umami. Be prepared to clear your weekends for the next few months. You’ll want to try every perfectly balanced ensemble.
Best for: Umami magic.
Address: 637 11 Ave SW, Calgary, AB T2R 0E1, Canada Opening days and hours: Tues-Wed: 8:45am-2pm Thurs-Fri: 8:45am-2pm, 4:30pm-7pm Sat-Sun: 9am-2pm Mon: closed Price range: $$ Website: www.savegcafe.ca/menu
La Bartola
Browse through the menu online and we bet you’ll book before we can say vegan nachos. The Mexican-inspired flavors prove that Central American cuisine isn’t dependent on cheese and chili con carne. And starters such as herbed guacamole and key lime leaf oil are bound to leave your taste buds tingling. While mains such as pistachio pippian with roasted white yam make you question why humans ever turned to animals as a food-source in the first place.
As one of the most sought-after vegan restaurants in Toronto, you’ll want to book your table at La Bartola well in advance. And you could solidify your next visit before you walk out the door. We always do.
Best for: Fusing avant-garde innovations with traditional Mexican fiestas.
Address: 588 College St, Toronto, ON M6G 1B3, Canada Opening days and hours: Tues-Thurs: 5pm-10pm Sat: 12pm-11pm Sun: 12pm-10pm Mon, Fri: closed Price range: $$$ Website: www.labartola.ca/menu
Pizzeria Du
Born to honor chef Dualco’s passion for Italian plant-based cuisine, this vegan pop up means that your animal-lifestyle doesn’t need to exclude decadently cheesy pizzas. Pizzeria Du shares a space with their sister Osteria Du for dining in. While it simultaneously functions as Toronto’s top vegan take-out kitchen for those who prefer to accompany pizza nights with Netflix and chill.
Pizzeria Du produces their own plant-based cheeses using cashew or soy bases. While their signature crust has been perfected over the past two years.
Ciao animal-based products—we officially don’t need you anymore.
Best for: We can all go vegan now.
Address: 536 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M5V 2B5, Canada Opening days and hours: Wed, Thurs, Sun: 4:30pm-8:30pm Fri-Sat: 4:30pm-9pm Mon-Tues: closed Price range: $ Website: pizzeriadu.ca/
Nightshade
Inspired by international cuisine, Nightshade is our best place to eat in Canada when it comes to diversity and culture. Every dish is carefully created to showcase the creative ways in which plants come to be used to placate the palette across every cuisine.
From Italian style corn and millet risotto, to Asian-inspired lava rolls and Middle-Eastern moussaka—every bite is nutrient dense and holistically healthy. Their doors close late on the weekend, so you’ll have ample time to sip your way through a couple of intricate cocktails and a standout selection of organic wines.
Best for: Wining and dining into the weekend.
Address: 1079 Mainland St, Vancouver, BC V6B 5P9, Canada Opening days and hours: Mon-Tues: 5pm-10pm Wed-Thurs: 11:30am-10pm Fri: 11:30am-12am Sat: 10:30am-12am Sun: 10:30am-10pm Price range: $$ Website: www.nightshadeyvr.com/
LOV
We’re going back to our roots with LOV’s botanical cuisine. And there’s no better place to brunch with the girls. With white hanging wicker lamps and a plethora of plants, a meal at this vegan haven is as good as a day at the spa.
Instagram your way through vibrant smoothie bowls or treat yourself to chocolate-drizzled vegan waffles. Tuck into a lux bagel or sip your way through a week’s worth of greens. Either way your body will thank you later—and so will our planet.
Best for: Balanced brunches.
Address: 140 Prom. Du Centropolis, Laval, QC H7T 2Z6, Canada Opening days and hours: Tues: 5-9pm Wed-Thurs: 11:30am-3pm, 5pm-9pm Fri-Sat: 11:30am-3pm, 5pm-9:30pm Sun-Mon: closed Price range: $$ Website: lov.com/en/
Frequently asked questions about vegan restaurants in Canada
As one a frontrunner in vegan foods and plant-based lifestyles, vegan restaurants are popping up everywhere in Canada. From plant-based pizzas to vegetarian sushi and veg-focused fine-dining, we review all the top vegan restaurants worth adding to your calendar.
Tel Aviv, New York City and Portland have made their mark amongst animal-lovers. But now we’re adding Toronto to the list of vegan capitals. Totally vegan neighborhoods are emerging within the metropolitan city. And may actually struggle to find a meat option in streets labeled “Vegandale” and “Vegan Alley”.
Canada is full of vegetarian food. Whether it’s jackfruit tacos, instagrammable smoothie bowls or vegan burgers, there should be plenty of options wherever you dine. But for the full vegan experience, we recommend trying out some of the country’s top plant-based restaurants. LOV and Planta are some of the most popular vegan franchises in Canada.
Although fast-paced by nature, Toronto’s trailblazing attitude lends itself to sustainable eco vacations. And with that comes plenty of plant-based dining experiences. From one of the best vegan restaurants chains, LOV to the boutique Ten Restaurant—animal-lovers are bound to leave Canada’s largest city full and satisfied.
