ATLGuide
The 17 Best Vegan Restaurants In Atlanta
photo credit: Cameren Rogers
Like proud parents, we watched Atlanta’s vegan restaurant scene stumble out of its awkward elementary stage and blossom into a plant-based paradise. Thanks to a few old faithfuls and sparkling new additions, lacto-ovo- and meat-free dining stretches into all parts of the city, into a variety of cuisines, and far beyond tofu. So next time you’re in the mood for a sloppy burger or need a place to impress a hard-to-please friend, check this guide for the best vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants in Atlanta.
THE SPOTS
photo credit: Amy Sinclair
We like Buckhead Village's Planta Queen much better than the original Planta in Krog because it dials up the flavor—concentrating on dishes from across Asia—and the fun. You’ll drink yuzu-watermelon sake punch out of a cat-shaped glass under neon lights, and eat vegan sushi rolls that are decent spins on the real things. When you're trying to rally the friends who've been avoiding eating with you since you became vegan, suggest Planta Queen and make them order the hearty dan dan noodles with spicy faux-pork grounds.
photo credit: Amy Sinclair
For three decades, Cafe Sunflower has been a bedrock of Atlanta’s meat-free community. It’s the kind of place where waitstaff, without exchanging words, usher regulars to their favorite single booth seats by the entrance while the kitchen readies an order of sesame soy chicken and carrot cake. Yet, without changing too much for loyal fans, the restaurant has kept things fresh. It’s now in a bigger space in the same Buckhead shopping center and has a growing menu that ventures from Mexican (the fried avocado tacos are heavenly) to Greek (a gyro so good you’ll want the sweet caramelized onions and marinated seitan on top of everything you eat for the next year).
photo credit: Cameren Rogers
La Semilla began as Happy Seed (a small pop-up) that kept growing in popularity until it blossomed into a full brick-and-mortar location with a new name. Now, this Reynoldstown spot brings the vibes with a dining area stuffed with actual plants, a beachy decor, and occasional DJ. The Latin-inspired menu delivers the city’s best vegan takes on popular Cuban and Tex Mex dishes. Their legendary Crunchwrap is one of the best things we ate and their dense fried chochoyotes in a fresh coconut-corn broth give new meaning to sweet memories.
photo credit: Tabia S. Lisenbee-Parker
Chelsea’s Bakery is a mostly takeout Jamaican restaurant on Covington Highway. Regulars walk in and head straight back to the cafeteria-style hot bar, where an attendant knows them well enough to start scooping their favorites with only a nod. Condensation fogs up the plexiglass food shield where there are no labels, so if you’re new here, just ask what items are what. If their plant-based mac and cheese is on the line, consider it a must. And any of their stewed tofus and vegetables are worth a try—rich curries and spicy jerk just do something so spectacular to vegetables, which is why this place is worth it even for avid meat eaters.
photo credit: Amy Sinclair
This may be an exaggeration, but we don’t think a thing has changed about this spot in the West End since the ’80s. The not-so-great news is that the dining room could use a facelift. The good part, however, is that the daily selection of alternative proteins (seitan, vital wheat gluten) and sides (their renowned mac and “cheese”) is as fresh and tasty as ever. Soul Veg’s smoothie bar is still open next door, too, which is great, considering your craving for the Strawberry Redemption is stronger now than it ever was.
photo credit: Sarah Newman
Don’t fixate on the enticing display case full of cake in the back corner. Instead, immediately take a seat on a lime green chair because you’ll need some time with the menu. If variety is the spice of life, this Chamblee kitchen is peppering it on herbivores with one of the biggest, most diverse plant-based menus in the city. They serve lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch with creative, scratch-made dishes like delicious deviled eggs (made with a mustardy chickpea paste) and a hearty steak and gravy (a tender jackfruit filet with a charred exterior that gives your canines some satisfaction). Add in all the desserts and a long list of pressed juice and this place is almost the plant-based equivalent of Cheesecake Factory.
photo credit: Amy Sinclair
This place is for rawists, vegans, and anyone looking for a non-processed, plant-based meal that is big on flavor. That seems to be all of Atlanta because this place is always crowded. And the only way to work around the crowds that line up at this West End house-turned-health-food-eatery is to preorder your refreshing Liberation Lemonade or kale wrap online. Outside of that strategy, we suggest passing the wait time by practicing your breathing exercises or supporting the vendors selling their goods on the front porch.
The famous Atlanta-born burger chain started as a ghost kitchen, then a food truck, which had hours-long waits. Now they’re in multiple locations across the U.S. and offer an expanded menu that includes plant-based hot dogs, shrimp, and chicken sandwiches. But Slutty Vegan’s Impossible burger, dripping in Thousand Island-ish sauce, oozy cheese, and caramelized onions, is the always-clutch indulgence we seek when quinoa patties won’t do. The Edgewood location stays open until 1am on weekends so hard-partying vegans can survive on more than bar nuts.
photo credit: Amy Sinclair
Suggesting a juice bar seems like the all-too-familiar trip down the “vegans are just happy with raw vegetables” road. But Juiceheads ATL in Lindbergh is a top choice when you want to catch up with friends—because sharing messy gossip feels less toxic when you’re swinging in hanging chairs and sipping spirulina smoothies. There’s also a dimly lit adjoining hookah lounge if (and when) the conversation spills over in a new direction. But when you need food to get through a juicy convo, order the mildly spiced chili or hearty lentil burger, which has a nice zing from the pickles.
photo credit: Tabia S. Lisenbee-Parker
With karaoke nights, hookah, and speakeasy vibes, Bakaris is a jumping pizzeria you should keep on your dining rotation. This spot across the street from The Mall West End puts a delicious spin on things by sticking to strictly vegan and gluten-free ingredients. We like the Ultra Vegan Deluxe half pizza, which is literally half of a medium pie, made with a buttery-ish, cracker-like crust that holds onions, mushrooms, spinach, and other goodies up well. We just wish they were a tad more gracious with the red sauce.
When you want a quiet lunch in the heart of Midtown, this Pan-Asian restaurant is as chill as it gets. A small stream of people on lunch break spread out across the spacious two-level dining room, making it easier to rant about coworkers out of earshot. With so many hard-to-pass up appetizers like the crispy ginger soy kebabs and pork-flavored shumai dumplings, we just bring a laptop, make this a working lunch, and slowly make our way through multiple courses. Herban Fixe also offers two hours of free parking (just saying).
VEGAN-FRIENDLY
If you’re looking for a gluten-, dairy- and soy-free haven, consider PhatYuca your very tasty safe space. The orange walls have the color theory effect that makes us want to enthusiastically order half the menu. OK, that’s our mood at every restaurant, but the Chastain area restaurant’s bright decor (along with a giant llama painting) are very fun. Expect to find a small crowd of loyalists who knew them by their original KarmaFarm name alongside a new crew lured in by word-of-mouth talk of their incredible housemade yuca arepas. These super dense, moist pockets are delicious on their own, but we like them filled with their sautéed mushrooms, oniony chickpea mash, and creamy sriracha-like sauce.
We understand why Atlanta’s celebrities and politicians love this place. With their fast-casual service and tasty pescatarian, vegetarian, and vegan dishes, Local Green has become one of our go-tos off MLK, too. Though it’s largely used as a take-out spot, LGA has a few high tables for those moments you just can’t wait to dig into the Bubba Sparxx, a sloppy joe-like sandwich made with jackfruit, a crunchy slaw, and vinegar-y barbecue sauce. We’re also big fans of the Badu, a kale and quinoa blend caressed in a warm spinach tortilla that we could go “on and on and on and on” about.
photo credit: Nina Reeder
When we need an exciting lunch to pull us from workday doldrums, we head to Madras Mantra in Marietta to sop up spicy curry lentils with tandoori-cooked roti. Though the vibe here is chill—warm, mustard yellow walls and a few diners chomping on thali samplers—their well-spiced curries are full of enough pep to wake us up. All of the dishes at this South Indian restaurant are vegetarian while a good bit of the menu is vegan (and some can be made vegan upon request).
photo credit: Sarah Newman
We’re still questioning if the restaurant’s “Spread Love, it's the Brooklyn way” mural is an expansion cry or just an ode to the B.K., where this small tea and coffee chain originated. Either way we’re not mad at it since we can sip from a wide selection of teas, chomp down on sugar cookies pressed in the mold of Biggie’s face, and enjoy vegan breakfast items all day. There’s no BEC, but their plant-based sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich on a soft, chewy english muffin is the main reason we’re regularly here, joining other remote workers and AUC students who have made this cozy Castleberry Hills cafe their workspace hang.
photo credit: Mhandy Gerard
This Bolton Jamaican restaurant’s jerk mushrooms alone earn them a spot on this guide. The peppery jerk sauce is just spicy enough for the sniffles but not hot enough that you can’t taste the meaty button mushrooms—which can be ordered as a veggie plate, wrap, or the skippable nacho platter (the concession-stand tortilla chips take up space where we’d rather have more mushrooms). Most of One Luv’s sides like sweet yams, plantains, and cabbage are also vegan. Be sure to grab a housemade hibiscus punch, which contains real bits of pineapple, then take a seat under a straw umbrella on the patio where speakers blast reggae and calypso.
photo credit: Amy Sinclair
If you’re the vegan friend who always gets the short end of the stick when your crew picks lunch, suggest a trip to Desta. Their Westside and Briarcliff locations both have spacious dining rooms, so there’s room to invite the friends who don't know about the “other” group chat. In addition to their beloved meat dishes, the Ethiopian restaurant makes one of the most flavorful vegan platters in the entire city. The delicious misir wot is a garlicky, turmeric-spiced lentil dish we’d order by the vatful if they allowed it.
