Vegan Travel – Toronto Edition

Toronto has really become quite the little vegan mecca. There are so many vegan restaurants in Toronto nowadays that I had to really condense this list to my all-time favourites but I most likely will do another Best Vegan Restaurants Toronto Edition because there are just too many and they keep on coming. Thank you Toronto for being so open-minded & forward thinking! 

I will say, when you live in a city that has so many vegan restaurants, it’s really easy to spend a lot of money dining-out instead of cooking at home, haha.  

So, that being said, My Top Vegan Restaurants in Toronto…

1. Fresh– 7 Toronto locations (& 1 in LA) – My fav location is the one on Front St. (47 Front Street W.)

Atmosphere: I absolutely love the new designs of their renovated locations. They are warm, inviting, and yet super trendy & stylized. They remind me of a modern day 1930’s flapper/banquet style restaurant. It’s not dark & dingy but instead, the colour palette is bright and welcoming. Hues of millennial pink and gold run throughout, & a vibrant velvet teal coats the booth seating. These restos are always busy. They don’t take reservations but it’s a fast paced restaurant so they usually have a table available in no time. 

The Food: This place has it all. If you want to eat junk food, they’ve got some killer Dragon Fries (it’s like a poutine with spicy dragon peppers, cheese, & gravy) or their Beyond Cheeseburger is bomb dot com too. If you’re looking for something a little healthier, their salads & bowls are always delicious. Cool thing to note, they make all of their own in-house juices & smoothies. They even have fresh baked goods daily. 

Overall Rating: 5/5 – This is one of my all time fav restaurants. Must try for anyone living in or visiting Toronto.

Get The: So hard to choose!!! My main go-to’s are the Buddha Bowl & the Clubhouse Wrap or the Buffalo Wrap is awesome too. 

2. Hogtown Vegan– (382 College St.) (Their other location closed due to Covid)

Atmosphere: Hogtown has a very distinct signature colour on their walls, a very bright Aquamarine. I actually love it because it reminds me of a dear friend of mine who’s Toronto apartments were always painted in this exact colour. She moved to London, UK, so whenever I visit Hogtown Vegan I’m pleasantly reminded of her. The atmosphere is artisanal pub with all of the comfort foods. It’s fun & judge-free. 

The Food: So. Freaken. Good! I’ve taken vegans & non-vegans & everyone is always blown away with how delicious their food is. The menu is Southern Comfort Foods, so things like unChicken & Waffles, Mac ‘n Cheeze, Fries Supremacy, etc. Basically, when you need a cheat meal, this is the place to go.

Overall Rating: 5/5 – They get really busy during dinnertime & with only 1 location now, it might be harder to get in sometimes. They also don’t take reso’s but it’s worth a walk-in shot either way.

Get The: Fries Supremacy & unChicken Burger – I’m drooling thinking about eating both of these right now – oh, & the Caesar Salad

3. Planta Queen – (180 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M5V3X3) – There are other Planta restaurants throughout the city (even one in South Beach), but they all have different styles of food.

Atmosphere: This restaurant is beautiful. I would definitely say this place is a little more upscale than most vegan restaurants. They don’t necessarily have a dress code but it would be hard to want to wear sweats to a place like this. The space itself is massive; they have a ton of seating throughout, including a couple of giant tables for bigger parties. The ambiance & décor is rich & luxurious. Sky-high ceilings, tons of texture, & lots of dark exotic elegance. 

The Food: Planta Queen is an Asian Fusion style menu. Most of the dishes are small sharing sizes so you usually end up ordering a lot of food. I don’t mind because I love food & I love trying all of the foods haha. 

Overall Rating: 5/5 – This is my go-to special occasion (aka. my birthday) restaurant spot.

Get The: Dang, I want to say everything but I’ll try to narrow it down to what my husband & I tend to order when we’re there;

 – Mushroom Bacon Inari

 – General Lee’s Cauliflower

– Spicy Tuna Roll

– Spinach & Shiitake Dumplings (obv)

– Nori Crackling

– Bang Bang Broccoli

4. King’s Café– (192 Augusta Ave. Toronto, ON M5T 2L6 – Kensington Market)

Atmosphere: King’s Café is a really cool, unique spot. The resto itself is kind of like a typical Chinese Restaurant. It’s not overly decorated or stylized, it’s just simple & serves its purpose. They have a bunch of seating, including 1 or 2 big round tables for larger parties. This place is rarely packed or overly busy, which makes it awesome for those walk-in, super hungry, ready to eat, moments. The unique part about this restaurant is that they manufacture their own brand of vegan foods. Things like, Kung Pao Soy Chicken, Vegan Golden Ball Soup, & the list goes on. They have a little store within the restaurant to purchase these pre-made freezer items as well. 

The Food: So yummy! I haven’t had one thing on this menu that I didn’t like. Granted, I usually order the same thing every time but when I do try new items I’m always impressed. One thing to note; this place is vegan/vegetarian, so keep an eye out for the menu legends to make sure you’re ordering the proper items. Another thing to note, they try to use organic ingredients whenever possible.

Overall Rating: 4/5 – I love/hate the interior. I love it because if the food is good then what more do we really need? But I also hate it because the place it so huge & has so much potential!

Get The: Kung Pao Soy Fritters are super yummy but my husband & I always order the same thing every single time haha, so here it is;

– Mixed Vegetable Soup (ask for hot sauce & salt)

– Vegetable Fried Rice

– Fried Green Beans (only when we’re really hungry)

5. Planta Yorkville – (1221 Bay St. Toronto, ON M5R 3P5)

Atmosphere: This place is so cool. Planta Yorkville was the first of the Planta’s to come to Toronto and the city really needed it. Before Planta there unfortunately wasn’t enough nice vegan restaurants. There were casual ones, but not ones where you could dress up a little and have a proper date. Fortunately there are much more now but to sum it up, Planta Yorkville was much welcomed. The interior is very me. The walls have massive Birds of Paradise & palm tree wallpaper & lots of graphic black & white geometric designs throughout. It’s bright and yet cozy. There is so much seating & they have larger areas for big parties. And they take reservations.

The Food: To sum the food up, I just ate a very filling homemade dinner & I still could go for their Truffle Fries. They’re literally so good. The cuisine is a bit of everything and very innovative & on-trend. I used to frequent this location all of the time before they opened Planta Queen but re-visiting their menu, I’m dying to go back. The food is a little pricey but the servings are decent sizes. 

Overall Rating: 5/5 – This place is special & a definite must visit

Get The: Truffle Fries as mentioned but their pizzas are super yummy too & their Planta Burger.

6. Vegandale/Bar Vegandale – (1265 Queen Street West) – To note; Vegandale is an area within Toronto (Parkdale) where a lot of the restaurants & stores are trying to move toward a vegan/plant-based community. It’s really cool & I have yet to see that anywhere else in the world. This ice cream photo comes from the ice cream shop located within Bar Vegandale, called Not Your Mother.

Atmosphere: The space is quite large. It’s styled like a gastro-pub with a lot of industrial style touches & rustic woods. They’ve also seemingly taken that bright aquamarine colour like Hogtown Vegan but used it much more sparingly inside. It is essentially a brewery so they have that big brewery/bar feel.

The Food: It’s junk food but it’s yummy cruelty-free junk food haha. Think bar food like burgers & wings & cheese fries. If it’s what you’re in the mood for then it’ll really hit the spot. They used to have a secret menu (kind of like In-n-Out) where you could order certain items like their burger but get it Big Mac style, etc. It was pretty deadly. And their fun fries with all kinds of toppings are unreal. 

Overall Rating: 5/5 – It’s a great spot for a chill low-key date. & I love that they’re a huge part of this vegan community. 

Get The: Big V Burger & a Deep Fried Oreo or order something crazy fun from Not Your Mother for dessert.

7. Rosalinda – (133 Richmond St W. Toronto, ON M5H 2L3) – Temporarily Closed due to Covid! 

Atmosphere: Another beautifully designed vegan restaurant. This one is like Planta Yorkville & Fresh combined. The restaurant is situated in a massive garden/greenhouse with tons of fresh beautiful plants & greenery. There is a bunch of seating in multiple areas throughout. It’s generally quite busy, I even once ate across from Mena Suvari haha.

The Food: Is delicious. Completely vegan Mexican inspired cuisine. The menu is simple & changes from time to time but I’ve never had any complaints with anything I’ve tried or from anyone I’ve brought there for that matter. My non-vegan brother is a huge fan of this place.

Overall Rating: 5/5 – The venue is gorgeous. I would go there and have water all day just to sit in it’s atmosphere.

Get The: Chilaquiles Verde Kit (pictured above) it’s my favourite menu item.

8. Apiecalypse Now – (735 Bloor Street West)

Atmosphere: Quick little hole in the wall pizza joint. There are maybe 4 high top seats along the front window for those grabbing quick slices. Mainly it’s for take-out, like a traditional pizza joint. 

The Food: It’s really really good. Their pizza is so good you’ll crave it. It’s all pizzas and fries and wings and salads, quick pizza joint foods. They even have Donuts, yum!

Overall Rating: 4/5 – I’d love to see another location or a bit bigger of a location with a few spots to sit and eat. Other than that the pies are too good.

Get The: Fat Mac… it is literally a Big Mac on a pizza.

9. Kupfert & Kim – They have 7 locations in Toronto & 2 in Quebec. My preferred location is (140 SPADINA AVE. TORONTO, ONTARIO M5V2L4)

Atmosphere: Clean & bright. There’s a black & white & pine wood vibe. Quite minimalistic in design and it works with the place. Most of the locations are located in busy 9-5 business centered areas, which is really great to offer some healthier lunch options for people. The locations are all generally pretty busy but they’re fast-paced so seating pops-up quick. 

The Food: It’s yummy. They have things like burgers & lasagna but everything has a nice healthy spin on it. I’m almost certain that their menu is gluten or wheat free. I love their bowls & salads. And of course, their brunch menu with gluten free waffles is super yum. 

Overall Rating: 4/5 – some of the locations close pretty early (5pm) because of where they’re located. It would be nice to be able to access them a little later though.

Get The: My fav menu item is the Oaxaca Bowl or the K&K Waffle.

10. Planta Burger – (4 Temperance St. Toronto, ON M5H 1Y4)

Atmosphere: Very similar to their Yorkville location in design with it’s geometric patterns but very different from Yorkville in it’s size & menu. This place is quite small. It reminds me of New York restaurants in the size & layout. Fortunately they have a decent sized front patio so in the warmer months there’s a lot more seating. The vibe is fast-paced quick orders and go kind of thing. I would say Planta Burger has a very By Chloe vibe if you’re familiar with those restos. 

The Food: Because it’s a Planta restaurant, the food is really good. They have the same Truffle Fries, as their Yorkville location, only these fries are wavy. The menu is small and consists of Burgers, Salads, Fries, & Milkshakes.

Overall Rating: 4/5 – Like I said, it’s quite small. The bathroom isn’t fun to use bc it’s extra small. 

Get The: Truffle Burger (can you tell I love Truffles haha)

Have you had a chance to checkout any of these Toronto vegan restaurants?

Vegan Travel – Toronto Edition – Vegan Restaurants