This all-vegetarian restaurant was ahead of its time when it opened, and it’s even more in vogue now. Lines of people put their name down and wait for a table just to get a great vegetarian or vegan feed in the bright and airy converted warehouse space.

This quaint little Mexican eatery serves mouth-watering tacos, burritos and quesadillas with vegan soy cheese. If you need a go-to for quick, filling, tasty vegan Mexican takeaway, this is it.

While Rice Paper Scissors isn’t necessarily a vegan restaurant, it is serving up stacks of vegan dishes and many of its meat options can be made vegan with substitutes. 

Over the past 130 years, this Melbourne pub has gone through countless transformations. And in its current form, The Carringbush Hotel focus on all things vegetarian and vegan. 

Sometimes it seems like all the vegan food is north of the river, but that’s not strictly so. Sister of Soul has St Kilda and the bayside area covered with its all-day breakfast, lunch and dinner vegetarian and vegan menu.

Evie’s Disco Diner is everything you hope it’ll be when you first hear its name mentioned. It’s bright, unapologetically eighties, loud and queer-friendly. With Queeraoke and drag bingo every week, there is no shortage of fun to be had here.

Open since 1972, this is the longest-running vegetarian-turned-vegan restaurant in Melbourne, and the experience shows in its well-loved and crafted dishes. 

As well as being a stand-up Sydney Road pub, The Cornish Arms is also a damn good place for vegans. That’s because, alongside the traditional pub fare, it also serves up some pretty great vegan meals.

The Fitzroy ramen joint is dishing up solid doses of goodness that will love you and never leave you. Neko Neko is a mostly vegan affair with three vegan ramen offerings and one pescatarian in the city. 

Many years ago, Laki Papadopoulos and Mark Price gave Fitzroy the ultimate gift, opening their vegetarian eatery, Vegie Bar. Over twenty years later, the team behind the cult restaurant Panama Dining Room gave another gift to the suburb: Transformer.

Between the cheesy margherita pizzas, parmesan-doused tagliatelle and ricotta-stuffed cannoli, you’d be forgiven for assuming Italian cuisine is forever doomed to be a vegan no-go zone. 

At Collingwood’s forward-thinking contemporary Chinese restaurant Shu, it’s all about the vegan degustations. They have none of the animal products, but all of the creativity — plating up ten courses of bold, experimental fare.

Bigger isn’t always better, but in the case of Collingwood’s all-vegan pizzeria and its expansion, bigger isn’t bad at all. In a move that slashed queue times, the Smith Street vegan eatery busted through a wall and took over the space next door.

Vegan maestro Shannon Martinez (Smith & Daughters) and Euro-focused Ian Curley (The European) might seem like an unlikely chef pairing, but they’re working magic together at the helm of the all-day plant-based bar and eatery.

Back in 2021, famed plant-based restaurant Smith & Daughters and its sibling spot — all-vegan delicatessen Smith & Deli — moved in together to a new colossal Collingwood home.