Eat green in the Emerald City: top vegan restaurants in Seattle

Whenever you look up from your morning coffee, it seems like Seattle’s skyline is changing – and the restaurant scene is too. While mainstay staples of a Pacific Northwest diet like seafood spots and Vietnamese Phở are still readily available, vegan options are expanding. Here are the top 8 vegan restaurants around Seattle.

Cycle Dogs

Tucked in the back corner of Peddler Brewing Company’s beer garden, you might not have even noticed that Cycle Dogs’ food truck offers a completely vegan menu. After a few pints of craft beer, that’s forgivable, but now you know. From the Beyond Burger to a meat-free Seattle Dog with vegan cheese and onions, you can soak up some of the alcohol and still avoid any animal products.

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No Bones Beach Club

No Bones Beach Club started out as a Seattle food truck, back during the boom of 2014 – and their first brick-and-mortar location opened in Ballard in 2016. Since then, they’ve expanded to Portland and Chicago, all while keeping an interesting menu of totally vegan bites and drinks.

At the Seattle location, you can nosh on crab cakes that almost taste like they came from Puget Sound – but are actually made from parsnip and veggies. Similarly, their fish (tofu) and chips, poke (beets), and coconut mojito (with coconut milk) will give you beachfront vibes.

Pizza Pi

Pizza is one of those foods that’s available everywhere – but if you’re trying to eat animal-free, it’s definitely out, right? Not at Pizza Pi in the U District. With no eggs in the dough and no dairy-based cheese or meat on top, Pizza Pi allows you to enjoy a slice – or a whole pie – without consuming a single animal product. Their menu is totally plant-based, even including their ‘meat’ toppings like pepperoni and desserts like vanilla ice cream.

In addition to crowd-pleasers like the BBQ chicken, veggie or pepperoni pizzas, they also have plant-based mac and cheese, spinach artichoke dip, and even ‘cheesy’ garlic bread (all made with Teese vegan cheese).

Highline Bar

Heading to Capitol Hill for a show, and need to fuel up before or after? If the show’s not at Highline Bar, head there anyway as part of your night out. Highline Bar manages to maintain Capitol Hill’s irreverent spirit while steering clear of any animal products on their menu. Sandwiches like the Carolina barbeque "pork" Pig Destroyer or the Satan fingers (seitan "chicken" fingers) are a perfect end to an evening of sampling the nightlife before catching a ride home.

Wayward Vegan Cafe

You can’t write a list of Seattle’s top vegan eats without including Wayward Vegan Cafe in Green Lake. A long-time community favorite, Wayward Cafe opened in 2004 and was saved from closure when a group of friends invested to revive the restaurant in 2008. Since then, it has become a beloved spot for brunch and lunch favorites – all served in American-sized portions.

For your first visit, arrive early and be prepared to wait for a table. Then, try the steak breakfast, made with seitan, or the biscuits & gravy combo. It doesn’t get more Americana than that.

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Harvest Beat

Landmark Canlis may get all the attention for prix fixe menus in the Seattle dining scene, but in-the-know vegans will flock to Harvest Beat for an equally compelling multi-course menu.

Each day, the menu at Harvest Beat is published on their website; at the time of writing, you could enjoy a five-course meal which included roasted corn bisque, Masa-encrusted Anaheim pepper stuffed with a roasted lobster mushroom and toasted cumin cashew cheese, and peach cardamom cheesecake. There’s also an optional wine pairing add-on if you’re celebrating a special occasion.

Flying Apron

Never fear, those with a sweet tooth: Seattle’s vegan scene has something for you too. Fremont’s Flying Apron is a locally owned bakery that specializes in sweets and baked products – but they have savory options too. The menu changes constantly, so it’s also worth stopping in regularly to see what new products they have. They also have a location in West Seattle if you want to see what varies between the two.

In addition to cakes, pies, breads and even vegan pizza, Flying Apron also offers vegan wedding cakes.

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Plum Bistro

Chef Makini Howell’s creative menu pushes the boundaries of what most people consider possible with plant-based food. Plum Bistro is also the second of three restaurants on this list that started out as food trucks.

Consider the Bistro Burgers section on the dinner menu, including a BBQ Chick’n Burger with seitan or a BLT burger with fried tofu. The lunch menu features protein grain bowls, and you can order mouthwatering sides and small plates all day long.