MIAGuide
The Best Vegan Restaurants In Miami
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
If you're a vegan, you already know that the days of being limited to leafy greens, tofu, and a small mountain of french fries are long gone. Thankfully the places on this guide have much more exciting menus. Most of them are fully vegan, and if they're not, you won't have any trouble finding plenty of options that'll work. And if you want more options, check out our guide to the best places to eat vegetarian food in Miami.
THE SPOTS
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
This Tamiami vegan spot is an animal sanctuary that makes an excellent breakfast burrito, french toast, veggie burger, and great smoothies. Everything is 100% vegan and they serve breakfast all day, so it’s a great brunch option on weekdays or weekends. After eating, check out the cows, fluffy silkie chickens, bunnies, pigs, and giggly turkeys. It’s all outdoors, but the chickens keep the bugs away, and they have plenty of fans and parking. Multiple yoga classes are offered daily, and it’s very family-friendly. Just keep your eyes on Frank The Rooster. He loves plantain chips.
Planta Queen is a vegan restaurant in Coconut Grove with a sister restaurant in South Beach, which is also a solid fancy vegan option (although we like this location’s menu and relaxed atmosphere better). The dishes here aren’t perfect reproductions of the Asian foods they claim to imitate, but they’re still really good. And we've liked every plant-based dumpling, nigiri, and sushi roll we've had here. It's a great date night spot too.
As unbelievable as it sounds, the experience here feels like going to a real Cuban cafeteria—not a vegan cafe. The fried “beef” empanadas are excellent, and the croquetas are crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, and deeply savory. Even their flan delivers the same flavors and textures as the traditional ones. The Cuban sandwich here, while not quite traditional with mayonnaise and bread-and-butter pickles, is very good and definitely an interpretation any cubano aficionado should try.
This city is big enough for two vegan Cuban ventanitas, and we really like this Hialeah one too. It’s making delicious bakery classics like croquetas made with chickpeas and incredibly flaky guava and “cheeze” pastelitos. Aside from the bakery items, their lunch menu (available from 11am-2pm) is what you should really come for. They make an excellent frita burger and an impressive selection of completas with vegan lechon, chik’n, and steak. Once you order from the ventanita, make your way next door, where you can sit and eat. And when you’re done, you can shop for vegan groceries from local vendors.
photo credit: Andrea Grieco
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Flora is a MiMo cafe with lots of solid options if you’re looking for a vegan breakfast or lunch (although the menu isn't entirely vegan). The spacious cafe is quiet enough to read a book and the long bar is good for eating solo and getting some work done between bites of a grilled eggplant sandwich. The menu has a Latin influence to it, but also has plenty of your basic healthy breakfast/lunch hits like smoothies, açaí bowls, vegetable bowls, and plant-based burgers. There’s also an outdoor patio with long tables that’s great if you’re trying to eat with an obnoxiously big group.
photo credit: Juan Dávila
L’Artisane is a small vegan bakery perfect for picking up something sweet for breakfast or sitting down and eating a croissant sandwich for brunch or lunch. The croissants are what this place does best—and they come plain, in sweeter versions like chocolate or almond, or as sandwiches stuffed with avocado, mushrooms, and more. There are other good things here—like danishes and macarons—and it’s quiet enough to bring a laptop and get some work done.
Manna is a narrow Downtown restaurant, and one of those places good for a quick, casual breakfast or lunch. They’ve got the usual suspects: acaí bowls, smoothies, and veggie bowls. But they also have a great coconut meat ceviche served with arepa wedges, burritos wrapped in nori, and a selection of arepas—which are piled with falafel, avocado, and more tasty things. It’s chill enough in here to read a book on your lunch break and usually quick enough to get back before that meeting you’re probably going to be late too anyway.
photo credit: Tasty Planet
There are a lot of places in Miami where the legions of post-spin-classers go to drink something green and eat an acaí bowl. Under The Mango is probably our favorite of such places—and definitely South Beach’s best version of this type of place. The small cafe has a menu full of things that’ll make you feel better about your recent intake of fried food. There are smoothie bowls, a spicy kale melt, juice, and enough caffeine options to get you motivated to sign up for another spin class, even though the one this morning almost made you pass out.
Believe it or not, Coconut Grove is home to two spots for vegan dim sum. Minty Z serves some really tasty and meat-free dumplings, bao, and more dishes great for sharing with a date or a couple of friends. They've got lots of small plates you can crowd the table with: dishes like sweet and sour mushrooms, plant-based shumai, sesame seitan wings, and more. You can also eat it in a cute dining room beneath a painting of a sloth eating noodles.
photo credit: The Cocinita
The Cocinita is a casual Brickell spot with a very diverse (and entirely vegan) menu that has falafel, arepas, cachapas, burritos, and more. But what this place specializes in are vegan burgers with patties made from pea protein—and they’re some of the best vegan burgers in town. Toppings like diced onions, pickles, ketchup, and caramelized onions send jolts of burger-ness to your brain. And the patties themselves have a nice flavor and firm texture that doesn’t crumble to pieces when you take a bite. There’s not much to the inside—just a few quiet tables. But it’s a good option for a lunch break or weeknight takeout.
photo credit: Courtesy Love Life Cafe
The best thing about Wynwood’s Love Life Cafe is the options. They have a lot of them—all plant-based—including pizza, burritos, tacos, bowls, arepas, burgers, and salads. The next best thing is that it pretty much all tastes very good. Their veggie burger is stacked tall with guacamole, pickles, plant-based cheddar, and a “superfood patty.” The El Chamo Bowl is a lovely mix of brown rice, black beans, shredded jackfruit, plantains, avocado, guasacaca sauce, and cilantro aioli. And just a head’s up if you haven’t been here in a while, they’ve moved to a new location in Wynwood with a huge dining room that can handle big groups.
The Plantisserie is a place you can hit up whether you’re looking for a quick meal or need some dinner supplies to cook at home. The Little River market/deli has plant-based empanadas, lasagna, ropa vieja, and a very good shepherd’s pie. It’s all available to-go or for indoor and outdoor dining. If you’re in more of a rush, they also sell frozen versions of most of their entrees, as well as vegan pizza, lentil burger patties, organic wines, and some more pantry items that will probably cause you to spend $25 more than you planned.
photo credit: Tasty Planet
The Last Carrot is a little family-owned spot that’s been operating in Coconut Grove since the ’70s. They have some counter seating good for solo dining and a few small tables—both inside and outdoors. They serve veggie pitas, smoothies, and small mountains of vegetables they call a salad. It’s a decent option for a post-workout meal or a quick work lunch where you and your coworker can say mean things about your boss over an avocado pita.
The Vegan Marie is a vegan restaurant and shop in Little Haiti where the food options change just about daily. It's one of those places where you find out what's on the menu by having a conversation with the chef, who'll happily tell you what they have that day. It could be a spicy seaweed wrap, or a filling platter of legumes, chickpeas, veggie balls, and perfectly ripe Florida avocados. But it'll probably be very tasty. The space is sort of a cross between restaurant, botánica, and market.
Beehive relocated several blocks west from its original location, but the minerally smell of vitamins is the same. They sell every kind of supplement and health food imaginable—but there’s also a counter where you can devour daily specials like zucchini lasagna with brown rice and black beans for $10. The special changes daily, and you can also make your own salads or sandwiches. Plus, they have a jackfruit empanada that looks and tastes like barbecue chicken.
