Jajaja Plantas Mexicana
A lively plant-based Mexican mini-chain across New York: bold, generous cooking, convincing meat-free chorizo and fish, and a deep tequila list.
Jajaja Plantas Mexicana is as playful as its name suggests: a plant-based Mexican eatery with several outposts dotted across New York. It is the kind of restaurant you go to as much for the evening as the meal: lively music, livelier servers, and colourful, creative, plant-powered plates that have a way of multiplying as the night goes on.
The food here is not shy. Dishes are weighty and pack a punch in both size and flavour, and even without meat or fish, the menu never feels as though something is missing. Animal products are swapped for clever equivalents, and named accordingly, with chorizo, sausage and fish that will have you second-guessing exactly what is on your plate.
The drinks deserve their own attention. Jajaja’s tequila and cocktail lists are generous and tequila-tinged, designed to keep the table entertained well past the last taco.
What makes it work is atmosphere. This is traditional Mexican fare reimagined without compromise, served in a room that hums: proof plant-based dining can be loud, fun and entirely unprecious.
For plant-forward travellers in New York who want a meal with energy rather than reverence, Jajaja is a great-value, genuinely enjoyable choice, and an easy answer when the group cannot agree on where to eat.
