Portland’s culinary trends are always changing. The city doesn’t have much in terms of a signature dish, but there is a signature dining experience if you will. If you’re into food carts and the pub grub experience, Portland is the place to be.
There are a lot of Mexican, Asian, Italian, and European influences in almost all the menus in Portland. If you’re looking to eat at one of the best vegetarian restaurants, Portland is definitely a top option.
Farm Spirit
If you’re looking for a personalized culinary experience, Farm Spirit is one of the best vegetarian restaurants. Portland makes a fitting location for the restaurant that can make that happen.
The menu has everything you could hope for, including a decent selection of both vegetarian and vegan dishes. The place is rather small and has a cozy ambiance, but since almost everyone’s eating at the bar, you never really feel alone. The plating resembles fine-dining more than the pub grub scene and the locally sourced ingredients are fresh every single day.
Papa G’s Vegan Organic Deli
It rains a lot in Portland, so you may get a craving for some comfort food to improve your mood. If that’s the case, Papa G’s is one of the most popular locations in the city.
This vegan café serves you at counters and the menu offers everything from starters to hot main courses. It also has a rich salad bar and plenty of pastries to choose from. Papa G’s also offers a variety of house-made organic burgers served with blue corn chips. You can choose between a quinoa bun or a gluten-free bun.
Comfort food, like the food served at Papa G's, usually has more flavor than a lot of the fancy dishes you see in fine-dining joints. Comfort cooking breathes life into a lot of veggies that may otherwise seem boring, even to hardcore vegetarians.
Veggie Grill
If you’re looking for a quick bite, you can head over to 508 SW Taylor St in Portland. That’s where you’ll find Veggie Grill, one of the city’s best vegetarian restaurants. Portland is all about variety and quick service, so the average waiting time is around 15 minutes, and that only happens during lunch time.
The menu consists of a variety of healthy sandwiches, salads, and faux meat dishes. The veggie burgers are simply amazing, as are the tacos and burritos, which are heavily influenced by both Asian and Mexican cuisine.
Homegrown Smoker
With a name like Homegrown Smoker, most people would assume that the place is heaven for all things grilled, BBQed, and smoked. Truth be told, they would be at least half right.
Homegrown Smoker does have a wide selection of Southern-style all-American dishes, but there’s a catch. The rib plate, for example, has smoked and grilled tempeh ribs and is served with remoulade and hush puppies.
Fish and chips contains nori breaded tofu filets which are crisped until golden. Anything you can imagine on a classic BBQ and grill menu is recreated here with vegetarian and vegan-friendly ingredients, and seasoned and cooked just as their meat-based counterparts would be.
Kati Portland
This place has a rustic-chic dining room and plenty of fancy Asian cocktails. However, if you’re just in it for the food, there are still plenty of items to choose from.
Kati Portland focuses on vegetarian and vegan Thai dishes. Nam khao tod is one of their most popular dishes, and is made with crispy rice, fresh herbs, peanuts, onions, and glass noodles.
You can also try their signature dish, the kati pad Thai with tofu, rice noodles, house-made Thai sauce, bean sprouts, and a few other vegan-friendly ingredients that make for a very satisfying meal. Whether you’re looking for vegetarian food or drinks, Kati Portland has you covered.
Blossoming Lotus
You can't escape the influence of Asian cuisine in Portland. The city's affinity for spices, veggies, and rice-based meals wasn’t lost like the secret passages of Portland’s Shanghai Tunnels.
Blossoming Lotus has a bit of everything on their menu, which means that you can eat there at any time of day. They have Mexican-inspired small plates and Asian-influenced salads and bowls. There’s also a good balance between raw and cooked dishes, as well as smoothies and cocktails.
You can also make certain modifications with many of the dishes, like asking for a gluten-free or soy-free variant. Talk about dining at the best vegetarian restaurants! Everyone’s taste matters at Portland's Blossoming Lotus.
Virtuous Pie
Virtuous Pie is one of the newest vegan and vegetarian spots in Portland. It opened its doors in 2017 and immediately introduced a collection of signature doughs and cheeses. You can enjoy melted cashew mozzarella, tofu feta, or a truffle almond ricotta which will light up your taste buds.
The toppings are also quite ingenious. You’ll find ingredients like spicy buffalo cauliflower or braised jackfruit. But that’s not all. The pizzeria also has ready-made vegan pastries and sandwiches, just in case you don’t want to wait for your food to be ready.
Virtuous Pie quickly earned the reputation as one of the best vegetarian restaurants Portland has to offer. The Portland branch is quickly expanding its menu based on customer feedback and the availability of locally sourced ingredients, just like its Canadian counterpart.
Harlow
Harlow is sometimes considered the Mecca of plant-based cuisine in Portland. It has such a rich history and high standard for culinary excellence that you just can’t go to Portland without stopping here for a bite.
Their Urban Bowl is one of the most intriguing meals you can order. It has kimchi, sea veggies, avocado, mixed greens, sunflower seeds, and many more multicultural ingredients. You also have a choice of rice, quinoa, or a poached egg to go along with the bowl.
At Harlow, it’s all about the fusion of different tastes and cultures using the finest locally sourced ingredients. The restaurant serves brunch, lunch, dinner, and dessert—and also offers a carefully crafted kid’s menu.
Final Word
These are just some of the best vegetarian restaurants Portland has to offer. The City of Roses has many more plant-based menus to explore. In Portland you will run into many other vegetarian and vegan-only joints—from food carts and pop-up diners, to bars, cafés, and restaurants.
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