MIAGuide

The Best Places To Eat Vegetarian Food In Miami

Where to eat when you want more than just crispy brussels sprouts.
Rémy Martin

photo credit: Merritt Smail

Even though we are a city known for our love of roasting animals in backyards, Miami does have some vegetarian options, which extend way beyond your neighborhood juice bar. A vegetarian can actually eat really well in Miami right now, and these restaurants are proof. Some, but not all, of these places are strictly vegetarian or plant-based. Others just happen to serve a lot of really great vegetarian dishes. But what they’re definitely not are merely restaurants with larger-than-average salad sections or any place with a little patch of wheat grass on the counter. These are restaurants where the best things to eat truly are meatless.

THE SPOTS

photo credit: Andrea Grieco

Vegetarian

MiMo

$$$$Perfect For:Keeping It Kind Of HealthyBreakfastLunchOutdoor/Patio SituationVegetarians
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Flora is a MiMo cafe with lots of solid options if you’re looking for a vegetarian breakfast or lunch. 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 huevos pericos. 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.

You’d think that a vegan Cuban restaurant would be helmed by millennial hipsters, but most of the staff at this Kendall stripmall spot remind us of the tías you see taking orders and making coladas at any Miami cafeteria. And that’s probably why the experience feels like going to a cafeteria—not a vegan cafe. The “beef” empanadas here are on par with some of Miami’s best fried empanadas (yes, even the meat ones), and the croquetas are crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, and super savory. Even their flan delivers the same flavors and textures as the traditional ones. The Cuban sandwich here, while not quite traditional with its mayonnaise and bread-and-butter pickles, is addictively good and is definitely an interpretation any cubano aficionado should try.


Planta Queen is a vegan restaurant in Coconut Grove with a sister restaurant on South Beach. The dishes here aren’t perfect reproductions of the Asian foods they claim to imitate, but they’re still really, really good. The compressed watermelon and miso-glazed eggplant nigiri are tastier than a decent amount of Miami’s fish-based sushi. But what we really love about this place is the setting, which feels stylish, modern, and like somewhere you want to take that vegan you matched with on one of the apps.


Miami-Dade County has exactly one Ethiopian restaurant. We’d like more, but hey, at least our one Ethiopian restaurant is incredibly good. You’ll find Awash Ethiopian in Miami Gardens, and it’s usually full of people tearing chunks of spongy injera bread and using it to scoop up piles of beautifully seasoned and spiced vegetables. There are meat options at Awash, but a vegetarian can feast here thanks to the Awash vegetarian combo—which comes with portions of all-vegetable options, such as collard greens, red lentils, split peas, and cabbage and carrots. Get an Ethiopian coffee to finish things off, unless you’re trying to go to sleep in the next eight hours.


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 avocados. But it'll probably be very tasty. The space is sort of a cross between restaurant, botánica, and market.


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.


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 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. It’s all available for takeout, indoor, and outdoor dining.


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.


Planta (the sister spot of Planta Queen) is an upscale, photogenic vegan spot in South of Fifth. This place makes pretty good meatless versions of sushi, burgers, pizza, and other things they’ve somehow MacGyver’d out of plants and fruit. Like most photogenic South Beach spots, it’s a little pricey, but it can be a good option if you want to dress up and have a fancy (but meatless) dinner. We like the food at the Grove location a bit better, but this is still a good South Beach option with a different menu.


Manna is a narrow Downtown restaurant, and another one of those places good for a quick, casual breakfast or lunch. They’ve got the usual suspects: açaí 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 arranged more like a flatbread and 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.


There are a lot of health food restaurants in Miami, places where the legions of post-spin-classers go to drink something green and eat an açaí 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 but cozy cafe has a menu full of things that’ll make you feel better about your recent intake of fried food. There are açaí and 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.


The Last Carrot is a little family-owned spot that’s been operating in Miami since the ’70s. They have a little restaurant in Coconut Grove with 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.


Nothing at Carrot Express is going to blow your mind, but it’s quick, reliable, and there are a ton of locations around Miami—so, hopefully, it’s convenient to wherever you live or work. They have salads, wraps, burgers, and a pretty tasty vegan picadillo bowl—all probably better than the lunch you forgot to take with you this morning.


At Aguacate, strangers will wander over to your table and ask for food. They’re just friendly chickens though, and you’re technically in their territory. 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.

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