Vegetarian and vegan food in Buffalo

Vegetarian and vegan food in Buffalo

1. EatAmerican restaurantNorth Buffalo

   Amy's Place

   A popular dive where the latest indie tunes can be heard on the soundsystem and people-watchers can enjoy a clientele that trends heavily toward bohemian urbanites and other alternative types (not to mention students of UB's nearby South Campus), Amy's Place is among the hippest eateries on Main Street. By day they serve a range of Lebanese and other Mediterranean fare of respectable quality, including abundant options for vegetarians and vegans. However, Amy's Place is perhaps best known for their substantial, delicious and reasonably priced breakfasts. Cash only.

   Daily 7AM-9PM·$10-25

2. EatBakeryWest Side

   BreadHive Cooperative Bakery

   BreadHive first made its name with delicious fresh-baked bread (the flagship "West Side Sourdough", multigrain, deli rye and Danish-style rugbrød) and bagels (eight varieties, all baked with locally-grown organic flour and wild yeast). But with their expansion from a mere walk-up window to a full-size restaurant has come additions to the menu in the form of delicious sandwiches all named for the owners' favorite female musicians — favorites include "The Robyn" (their version of what Jewish delis call the "Rachel", with beet caraway sauerkraut sourced from the West Side's own Barrel + Brine) and "The Bjork" (a vegan-friendly concoction with tempeh "bacon"). In the morning there's a somewhat smaller range of breakfast sandwiches, plus locally-roasted Public Espresso.

   Tue 8AM-6PM, Wed-Sun 8AM-3PM·$10-20

3. EatMexican restaurantDowntown

   Deep South Taco

   If you're a taco lover for whom ambience is more important than authenticity, check out the Ellicott Street cantina helmed by Richard Hamilton, here making a clean break from his haute cuisine background both in terms of the food he serves and the acid-trip environment it's served in: at the entrance psychedelic lights and visuals surround a giant lucha libre mask; indoors garish multicolored LED lights are punctuated by the eerie greenish glow of illuminated heating ducts and bar taps. Tacos come à la carte on homemade tortillas that draw mixed reviews: fresh as can be, but a bit too fluffy and prone to falling apart in your hand. Other options include a nacho platter smothered in melted cortija cheese, sides of Mexican street corn that are as authentic as it gets, and several vegetarian options.

   Sun-Thu 11AM-11PM, Fri Sat 11AM-midnight·$15-30

4. EatIndian restaurantElmwood Village

   India Gate

   The Elmwood Village's longest-standing purveyor of Indian cuisine, India Gate prides itself on serving upscale yet reasonably priced food with an accent on healthy ingredients and cooking methods. They offer a wide range of vegetarian selections as well.

   Daily 11:30AM-2:30PM and 4:30PM-10PM·$15-35

5. EatJamaican restaurantNorth Buffalo

   Kalypso

   Located just off Main Street in the former Fast Frank's, Kalypso serves up a range of Caribbean specialties that is surprisingly ample given the relative humbleness of its appearance from the outside. Among the usual suspects — jerk chicken, curry goat, oxtail — can be found several delectably prepared selections available nowhere else in Buffalo, such as brown stew chicken, Jamaican pepper steak, and escoveitch fish. A small selection of vegetarian options is also offered.

   Mon-Thu noon-9PM, Fri noon-11PM, Sat 1PM-11PM·$10-25

6. DrinkCaféNorth Buffalo

   Daily Planet Coffee Company

   "Good enough but not exceptional" is a phrase that sums up the Daily Planet experience in many ways: the selection and quality of drinks, the trendy-but-not-too-trendy vibe (very much in keeping with the surrounding neighborhood), the service (once reliably cheerful, now hit-or-miss), the food menu (ranging from usual coffeeshop fare like pastries and breakfast sandwiches up to more elaborate stuff like panini and wrap sandwiches, and including several vegan items), and the prices. If you're a live music fan — especially offbeat genres like folk, bluegrass, and Eastern music — check out their website to see what's on.

   Mon-Thu 7AM-9PM, Fri 7AM-10PM, Sat 8AM-10PM

7. EatIndian restaurantNorth Buffalo

   Tandoori Hut

   Other than its sheer length, there's nothing you would call remarkable about the menu at this pint-sized eatery: Tandoori Hut sticks to the standards of North Indian and Pakistani cuisine, with offerings dominated by the usual permutations of vindaloo, jalfrezi, tikka masala, rogan josh, and so forth. What you will be impressed by are their large portions, friendly service, late opening hours, the complimentary garlic naan that comes free with each meal (house-baked to perfection), and the wide range of vegetarian options. A word of warning: a change in ownership has seen the once uncompromising authenticity of the recipes give way to myriad concessions to the Western palate, so don't be fooled by some of the older reviews you might read online.

   Mon-Thu noon-11PM, Fri Sat noon-2AM, Sun noon-10PM·$15-35

8. EatSouth Buffalo

   Belt Line Brewery & Kitchen

   It's named in homage to the New York Central Railroad's commuter service, which ferried thousands of Buffalo working stiffs to and from their jobs daily until around the end of the First World War, and a bit of that hardworking blue-collar identity does carry over to the place's "hipster but accessible" ambience. But the menu is a different story. Small plates of upscale pub grub seem similar at first look to what other brewpubs around town offer, but look a little closer and you'll discover the perfect place in Buffalo to take your craft beer-loving friends who are vegan or have other special dietary needs: Chicago hot dogs and Italian sausage sandwiches come in convincing "Beyond Meat" iterations, and the "keto burger", dressed with guacamole, bacon, and Cheddar cheese, is a hit too.

   Tue-Thu noon-11PM, Fri Sat noon-midnight, Sun 11:30AM-8PM·$15-25

9. EatRestaurantAllentown and the Delaware District

   Coco

   Fans of French food in the local area have faithfully followed the seemingly neverending saga of local restaurateur Maura Crawford, from the original Le Metro in the Elmwood Village, to the suburb of Williamsville, and finally to the newest incarnation of the business, now renamed "Coco", on Main Street in Allentown at the former site of The Eights Bistro. Compared to other French restaurants in Buffalo, the cuisine at Coco trends more toward lighter bistro fare, offered at correspondingly more reasonable prices. The moûles frites are the star of the show on the dinner menu, which also includes a variety of salads, ciabatta, pasta, pizza, and — in a nod to France's former colonies in Indochina — an innovative (and vegetarian-friendly) take on Vietnamese pho.

   Daily 8AM-11PM·$15-35

10. EatAmerican restaurantWest Side

    The Dapper Goose

    Though best known for its wine and cocktail bar, the food menu at the Dapper Goose is no afterthought: diverse influences from Continental, Asian, and (especially) Latin American cuisines make their mark on a short but sweet, vegetarian- and locavore-friendly menu that's New American cuisine at its best. Shareable small plates abound — favorites include crispy golden-fried cauliflower drizzled in a dill-rich Green Goddess dressing, as well as snapper ceviche with coconut broth and hot peppers (deliciously fresh and not as daunting as it sounds for those who can't handle spice) — but easily the most popular item is sweet and spicy Korean fried chicken over kimchi fried rice and spicy pickled cucumbers. Best of all, you won't break the bank on the bill that comes at the end of the meal.

    Tue-Sat 5PM-1:30AM, Sun 11AM-5PM·$20-45

11. EatBurger restaurantNorth Buffalo

    Burgerim

    Part of the initial incursion into the U.S. market of this Israeli fast-casual burger chain, Burgerim's unusual name incorporates the Hebrew plural suffix -im — and "burgers, plural" is a pretty good summation of the experience. Not only is the specialty of the house small "chef-inspired" burgers (albeit not quite as small as sliders) ordered in groups of two or three to mix-and-match, tapas-style, but each burger itself is further customizable in myriad ways: patties come in beef, chicken, salmon, turkey, lamb, falafel, and plant-based burger patties, and toppings are multitudinous as well. If bigger is better (or if you're overwhelmed by excessive variety, a common complaint), they also offer a smaller selection of specialty quarter- and third-pound "Big Burgerim". The menu is rounded out by standard fast-food sides such as chicken tenders, fries, onion rings, and milkshakes, in gourmet versions to match the burgers.

    Sun-Thu noon-9:30PM, Fri Sat noon-11:30PM·$15-35

12. EatTaco restaurantNorth Buffalo

    Deep South Taco

    The second location of what's now a thriving local chainlet of taquerías whose menu splits the difference between authenticity and creative culinary fusion: a decent selection of tacos ranging from familiar but well-executed favorites (fish, carne asada, al pastor) to harder-to-find specialties (pork belly, guajillo-braised beef short rib, Yucatán-style pollo pibil steamed in banana leaf) to vegetarian options filled with potatoes or huitlacoche corn, and a smaller selection of other south-of-the-border favorites. As well, the decor is toned down quite a bit from the original location's psychedelic sensory overload, so if giant lucha libre masks and acid-trip light shows aren't your cup of tea, opt for Deep South's North Buffalo satellite.

    Mon-Thu 11AM-11PM, Fri 11AM-midnight, Sat 10AM-midnight, Sun 10AM-11PM·$15-30

13. DrinkAllentown and the Delaware District

    Grindhaus Café

    On the other hand, if good coffee is your paramount criterion, Grindhaus is at your service with Allentown's fanciest gourmet third-wave cold-drip pour-over yada yada yada. If that sounds like a knock on the place, it's not — everything here is tasty, the vibe is super welcoming, and most notably, everything on the menu is 100% vegan. And unlike the similarly hipster-focused Intersection Cafe, the place is big enough to linger rather than just grab-and-go, so if you want to actually take time out to (let's say) admire the work of local artists on the wall over a slice of avocado toast, that's a viable option. Prices are a touch high, but worth it.

    Mon-Thu 7AM-7PM, Fri 7AM-8PM, Sat 8AM-8PM, Sun 8AM-6PM

14. EatMediterranean restaurantDowntown

    Natalie's Mediterranean Eatery

    After having done a brisk business for over twenty years at the original Natalie's in Amherst, Tony Mansour brought his trademark slate of quick, light, all-homemade Greek and Lebanese specialties to a second location at the Genesee Gateway in late 2015. At Natalie's, you have your choice of copious Mediterranean favorites such as shawarma, souvlaki, and gyro that can be ordered either as wraps or full-size platters; fresh, flavorful fatoush and tabbouleh salads, hummus and baba ghanoush appetizers, and — in the morning — a killer range of breakfast sandwiches. The vegan and vegetarian crowd will be particularly delighted with the wide selection of veggie-, falafel- and hummus-based wraps. Natalie's delivers, too.

    Mon-Fri 9AM-6PM·$10-20

15. EatVegan restaurantElmwood Village

    Root + Bloom

    The menu at this "plant-based café and market" is not what you'd call extensive, but it covers a lot of ground with its creative vegan takes on classic American stick-to-your-ribs comfort food: the "Edna" is a platter of macaroni and cultured cashew cheese topped with barbecue tofu, while the "Shirley" (a stack of snickerdoodle pancakes dusted with cinnamon coconut sugar) is a hit with the brunch crowd, and yes, all the menu options are named this way. The best thing about Root + Bloom, though, is the ambience: though the indoor dining room is obviously de rigueur when it's cold or rainy, the place to be on beautiful sunny days is the breezy patio out back. If you like what you taste, you can even take home your choice of the artisanal vegan products they use in their recipes.

    Dinner Thu-Sat 5-9PM; brunch Sat 10AM-2PM & Sun 10AM-3PM·$15-25

16. EatIndian restaurantEast Side

    Alibaba Kebab

    It's got no ambience or even any seating to speak of, but if you've got a hankering for 100% halal North Indian and Pakistani cuisine, head to the corner of William Street and Memorial Drive for the East Side's consensus-favorite purveyor. Tandoori chicken is the specialty of the house at Alibaba Kebab — 'over rice' boxes, perfectly seasoned and bursting with flavor, flies off the shelves — but they've also got a variety of curries, seekh and boti kebabs, and even Levantine specialties such as shawarma and gyro on offer. Best of all, if you're used to the sticker shock that comes at the end of many a meal at Buffalo-area Indian restaurants, prepare for a pleasant surprise — especially given the generous portions!

    Mon-Sat 11AM-midnight, Closed Sun·$10-25 · Takeaway · Vegetarian options

17. EatRestaurantWest Side

    Garden of Eden

    Vegetarians and vegans of the world unite: at Garden of Eden you'll find specialties from cuisines the world over, all in meat-free versions, sharing space on the menu board. The procedure is similar to what you see in those fast-casual chains that have been popping up lately: start with your choice of base (plant-based mock chicken or beef, falafel, or mixed vegetables) and build your own salad, kebab bowl, or taco with your choice of toppings and dressings. African elements predominate among the à la carte selection of appetizers: mandazi and juba salads, veggie sambusa, molokhia, and the like.

    $10-20

18. EatPizza restaurantDowntown

    Pizza Plant

    Those who are familiar with the original Pizza Plant in Amherst will be happy to know that the menu at the Canalside location is exactly the same; for the uninitiated, the house specialty are pods: like calzones but bigger, these football-shaped shells of pizza dough are as long as your forearm and contain your choice of pizza topping-style fillings (select from a couple dozen specialty pods or build your own). Equally worthwhile, though, are a range of thin-crust and stuffed deep-dish pizzas, pasta dishes, and bread bowl salads (including, oddly enough, the best Greek salad in town), not to mention a beer list that rivals anywhere else in town. Vegetarians, vegans, and the gluten-free crowd have a lot to choose from, and live music and other events are frequent.

    Mon-Thu 11AM-11PM, Fri-Sat 11AM-midnight, Sun 11AM-10PM·$15-40 · Vegan options

19. EatIce creamNorth Buffalo

    Churn Soft Serve

    Serving as a sort of "sister brand" to Lloyd, whose Taco Factory is found just next door, Churn differentiates itself from its Hertel competition with its emphasis on soft ice cream: theirs is scratch-made using locally-sourced milk and cream (the only place in Western New York that does this with soft-serve), then flavored in both standard (vanilla, chocolate) as well as creative (matcha, vegan coconut) varieties, and finally served in your choice of a paper cup or a house-baked waffle cone. If you're after something a bit more elaborate, there's also a range of specialty sundaes (the "Gramma Angie" — vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate chips, cookie crumbles, and cream cheese icing — is an early favorite) as well as "Churned Ups", which are basically the house version of Dairy Queen's "Blizzard" treats.

    Daily 8AM-11PM

20. EatSouth Buffalo

    Dog Ears Bookstore & Café

    Dog Ears is not only a bookstore, but also a cafe where you can get a whole range of gourmet sandwiches served up in a cozy, intimate setting. Creative names for menu items evoke the literary classics of the past: the "Dubliner" features bacon, sharp Irish cheese, roasted tomatoes, and spinach on panini, and the vegetarian-friendly "Walden" sees grilled zucchini, mushrooms, artichokes, red peppers, and sun-dried tomato pesto piled onto on toast. Grab a scone out of the bakery case for a side; they're out of this world. At breakfast, bagels, French toast, and some pricey-but-good breakfast sandwiches are the rule. If you're here on Friday mornings, take advantage of "Free Coffee Friday"; if not, have a coffee anyway — it's ridiculously cheap on the other six days of the week too!

    Mon-Fri 6:30AM-8PM, Sat 8AM-8PM, Sun 9AM-3PM·$10-15

21. EatDowntown

    Feature Meals

    Situated in the former Dunkin' Donuts at Main and Chippewa is a one-of-a-kind service aimed at on-the-go office workers (but also perfect for longer-term visitors) whose special dietary needs put Buffalo's diverse dining options out of their reach. Feature Meals works one of two ways: either treat it like a restaurant and stop in to enjoy a changing selection of breakfast and lunch boxes amenable to gluten-free, paleo, keto, vegan, and pollotarian diets (the menu varies widely, but fans of Southwestern and Middle Eastern cuisines will be especially pleased) along with a healthy smoothie or locally-brewed coffee or kombucha, or else pre-order up to a week's worth of prepackaged foods off the same menu and pick them up anytime during opening hours.

    Mon 7AM-6PM, Tue-Fri 7AM-3PM·Under $10

22. EatNorth Buffalo

    Jewel of India

    Given that Jewel of India is run by the same people who own India Gate on Elmwood Avenue and Taste of India in Amherst, patrons of this brand-new addition to the Hertel Avenue strip can expect the same healthy, high-quality fare here as at those other fine establishments. Jewel of India boasts an extensive menu featuring beef, chicken, lamb, shrimp and vegetarian entrees; diners enjoy their meal in a lovely, spacious, and impeccably decorated dining room. Lunch and dinner buffets are also available.

    Daily 11:30AM-2:30PM and 4:30PM-10PM·$15-35

23. DrinkDowntown

    Public Espresso

    Notwithstanding what was said in the beginning of this section: if you are looking for a place downtown where you can linger for awhile, where you can drink in a little ambience along with your coffee, Public Espresso is it. That goes double if you're a coffee snob: both drip and pour-over iterations are expertly roasted in-house to bring out the nuanced natural flavors of each variety of ethically-sourced bean, and are served in an ambience that carefully balances hipster trendiness with down-to-earth approachability, if ultimately with more of the former than the latter. The food menu, too, is impressive: Public's homemade vegan doughnuts hold their own with the ones at Fry Baby, no mean feat.

    Daily 7AM-10PM

24. DrinkSouth Buffalo

    Public Espresso

    The South Buffalo satellite location of Public Espresso at the Shea's Seneca building offers basically the same sort of eating and drinking experience as the downtown one: drip and pour-over coffee made from ethically-sourced beans, bursting with nuanced natural flavors; an impressive range of baked goods crowned by Buffalo's best homemade vegan doughnuts; sandwiches, breakfast options, and other light fare. But the ambience starkly different, eschewing the trendy hipster vibes for those of a 1950s diner, with checkerboard floors, decorative neon signs, and midcentury-inspired furnishings. And feel free to direct the nostalgic Gen Xer in your crowd to the gift shop, replete with Star Wars and other 1980s throwback merch.

    Mon-Fri 7AM-4PM, Sat-Sun 8AM-3PM

25. BuyElmwood Village

    Renew Bath & Body

    The selection at Renew emphasizes quality over quantity: the range of skin care and toiletry products on the shelves here is not the largest, but it's uniformly upscale and high-quality, marrying time-honored traditional knowledge and the latest developments in skin-care science into a natural, eco-friendly, cruelty-free, and often vegan-friendly ethos, sold in a pleasant (and aromatic!) shop with a decidedly laid-back and low-pressure ambience. And if you're a fan of the Japanese konjac sponge, you're in luck: this is the only place in Western New York that stocks it.

    Mon-Fri 10AM-7PM, Sat 9AM-5PM, Sun noon-5PM

26. DrinkSouth Buffalo

    Belt Line Brewery

    Located on the ground floor of the old Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company Warehouse at the west end of Larkinville and sporting an appropriately industrial-chic vibe, Belt Line was the first craft brewery in Buffalo to jump on the sour beer bandwagon, with options such as the citrus-tinged, pleasantly mild "Everything Is Fine" American wild ale as well as the more assertive "Tastes Like Brunch", but the flagship offering is a farm-to-table Honey Kölsch with a subtle sweetness that goes down easy. And if you happen to be vegan or have other special dietary needs, you'll find a lot more to like on the food menu than at similar places around town.

27. EatDowntown

    City Fare Café

    Opened in 2017 by a former chef at Allentown's renowned Mother's restaurant, what you'll find on the sandwich board at this somewhat off-the-beaten-path lunch spot is a roster of specialties with memorable names and even more memorable flavors: favorites include the "Bay of Pigs" (a classic-recipe pressed cubano made with ham, salami and slow-roasted pork), the "Tempeh of Doom" (a vegetarian-friendly banh mi with sriracha mayonnaise), and "It's All About Me" (their term for the build-your-own option), all made with locally-sourced BreadHive rolls and panini. Salads are an alternative option where Mediterranean influences predominate. The ambience is pleasant, relaxing, and airy, bathed in natural light courtesy of large windows looking out onto the lively 500 Block of Main Street.

    Mon-Sat 8AM-3PM·$10-20

28. BuyDowntown

    Fry Baby Donuts

    Handmade vegan doughnuts are the name of the game here, but even meat eaters agree that Fry Baby's are among the best doughnuts in Buffalo (with some going so far as to call them "better than Paula's"!) The selection changes daily, ranging from the ordinary (chocolate and vanilla frosted, apple fritters, Bavarian cream) to the truly extraordinary (bubble gum, cotton candy, cherry cola). It really can't be emphasized enough how high the demand for these things are: despite odd and limited opening hours, Fry Baby is always packed and the most popular flavors always sell out early, so make sure to show up as soon as possible after they open.

    Thu Fri 9AM-6PM, Sat 9AM-5PM

29. EatWest Side Not mapped

    Abyssinia

    Not the best Ethiopian food in Buffalo (that would be Fast 'N Tasty in Allentown), but the attention Abyssinia has gotten from such local media sources as the Buffalo News' "Cheap Eats" column is not unwarranted. The menu includes all the standards — kitfo, alitcha, the usual permutations of watt and tibs, et cetera — and is divided about evenly between meat-based and vegetarian dishes. If you're indecisive, go with a combo platter. The sambusa are so good you won't mind that they skimp on the chutney. Perhaps this place's only weakness is the injera: they skimp on that too (though you can ask for extra at no charge), and it lacks that slight vinegary tang.

    $5-15

30. EatWest Side Not mapped

    M Asian Halal Foods

    Okay, so Indian food is not exactly hard to find in Buffalo, nor if there anything significantly more authentic about what this place serves relative to the competition. But if you've got a hankering for butter chicken, pakora, biryani, vegetarian and nonvegetarian samosas, or tandoori chicken, and you happen to be in the neighborhood, you'll find perfectly good (and 100% halal) iterations of those and more. In addition to the standards, M Asian's menu also boasts a few more offbeat items like chapli (savory patties of Indian-spiced ground chicken that come with a small salad on the side), and South Indian cuisine is represented by a fairly ample selection of dosas.

    $10-20

31. EatRestaurant

    Strong Hearts

    295 Niagara Street

    Open now · closes 9 pm·Vegan options

32. EatRestaurant

    Sunshine Vegan Eats

    893 Jefferson Avenue

    Open now · closes 6:30 pm·Fully vegan

33. EatVegetarian restaurant

    Niagara Samosa Factory

    562 Central Ave

34. EatVegan restaurant

    Merge

    439 Delaware Ave

35. EatVegetarian restaurant

    Sevens

    225 Louisiana St

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Buffalo (CC BY-SA 4.0). Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Place data from Overture Maps.