How to Find Vegan Restaurants Near You
Eating a vegan diet has its challenges, and knowing where you can eat is one of them. Now that plant-based eating is becoming more mainstream, vegan restaurants are starting to pop up all over the United States. But if you’re new to eating a vegan diet, locating those vegan hotspots can be difficult or overwhelming, especially when you’re traveling in a city that’s not familiar to you. From apps to social media, here’s how to find vegan restaurants near you.
Willow Vegan Bistro serves delicious vegan dishes with innovative preparations. Visit us today for dine-in, delivery, or takeout!
HappyCow
HappyCow is by far the most popular and comprehensive vegan restaurant locator. What started out as a resource for travelers has turned into a must-have mobile app for every vegan and vegetarian.
The HappyCow app, which costs $4, makes it easy to find vegan restaurants near you thanks to an interactive map based on your location. You can also filter results based on the type of restaurant (vegan or vegetarian friendly) as well as a variety of other categories to find just what you’re looking for.
Similar to Yelp, users can leave reviews and post photos of their meals. Plus, HappyCow isn’t just for US restaurants, either—you can also use it in over 180 countries. If you don’t want to pay for the app, you can also access the same features on the HappyCow.net website, which is free and offers a variety of other vegan resources as well.
VegOut Magazine
VegOut is a premier vegan food and lifestyle magazine. The publication is very dialed in to the local vegan dining scene in the following locations:
- Atlanta
- Chicago
- Detroit
- Los Angeles
- Portland
- New York
- San Francisco
- Seattle
Each city has its own Instagram account where they promote local vegan eateries by sharing drool-worthy photos of must-order dishes. Even if you don’t live in one of the main cities they cover, VegOut constantly publishes vegan restaurant news and dining tips for other U.S. cities, such as Baltimore, Boston, Washington DC, and more. They also like to share nationwide vegan dining news and tips, such as how to order a vegan-friendly Beyond Meat burger at Burger King or how Fatburger is adding vegan milkshakes to their menu.
Instagram is more than just a social media network that allows you to share photos and stories with your friends and followers. It’s also a way to discover other people and brands—and that includes restaurants. There’s a very large vegan community on Instagram, and they love to share photos of their meat-free meals to exemplify how delicious plant-based food can be.
If you’ve ever posted a photo on Instagram, it gives you an option to add a location, which is usually populated with places that are nearby. These locations are also searchable! If you want to find a vegan restaurant near you on Instagram, use the search feature and go to “Places.” Once there, type in the word “vegan” and it will show you results of vegan restaurants that are close by in your city. You can also click on the results to check out the photos diners have posted of their delicious vegan eats.
Another way to use Instagram to find vegan restaurants near you is by searching hashtags. Many cities have hashtags like #veganlosangeles or #vegannyc that will pull up posts from users.
When in doubt, just Google it! A simple search of “Vegan restaurants near me” or “vegan restaurants in [city name]” on your phone or computer should pull up results of vegan-friendly restaurants nearby.
What About Fast-Food & Restaurant Chains?
Depending on where you live or where you’re visiting, it may not be possible to dine at an all-vegan restaurant. Here’s the good news: non-vegan restaurants, including many popular fast-food restaurants and large restaurant chains, are starting to offer more options for their herbivore customers. While you may need to ask a few questions about how the food is prepared or make small modifications, this is especially helpful in cities where the vegan population hasn’t taken root—yet.
So how do you order a vegan meal at one of these non-vegan fast-food restaurants or restaurant chains? Most of the larger companies will have allergen information posted on their websites, but that can also get exhausting and overwhelming. Luckily, PETA has put together a comprehensive guide on how to order vegan meals at fast-food restaurants and chain restaurants, such as Del Taco, Denny’s, Cheesecake Factory, and more.
Visit Willow in NYC!
We hope you now know how to find vegan restaurants near you. If you’d like to try some delicious vegan cuisine in NYC, stop by Willow today! Our restaurant at 199 8th Avenue serves vegan comfort food with innovative preparations. You can also place pickup or delivery orders online. We look forward to serving you an outstanding meal!
