The Best Vegan & Vegetarian Restaurants in Nashville

Get healthy at these green eateries.

If one of your goals in 2022 is to eat a little cleaner and healthier, Nashville has all sorts of great vegetarian and vegan dining options to help you on your journey. Fortunately, we’re right in the middle of a very fertile area for growing the best vegetables, so these chefs take full advantage of regional and seasonal produce to create some really flavorful food. Even if you’re just trying to cut back on your meat intake, try out some of these spots for some delicious dishes.

The BE-hive

East Nashville
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The BE-Hive spends most of the week creating their 100% plant-based meat substitutes that show up on menus all over town, but on weekends they open a deli of their own. The deli menu features burritos, sandwiches, and wraps made using The BE-Hive’s delicious versions of pepperoni, bacon, sandwich meats, and meatballs. Guests can also purchase any of these products at retail to take home for later.

Butcher & Bee

East Nashville
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“The Bee,” as it is affectionately known, is the sort of restaurant where diners can finish a delightful meal without realizing that no meat crossed their plate. Certainly, they do cook a mean lamb kebab at Butcher & Bee, but the kitchen really shows off when they combine Mediterranean and Israeli flavor profiles with the freshest vegetables available from local farms. Guests can also just put themselves in the hands of the cook with a chef’s choice option, and that’s the power move.

Honest Indian Restaurant

Nolensville Road
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This chain restaurant based out of Ahmedabad started out as an Indian street food cart and has expanded into a global phenomenon. Along the way, the menu expanded as well, now offering an astonishing 150+ options representing regional cuisine from around India. Every single item on the menu is either vegetarian or vegan-friendly, and all made from scratch.

Available for Delivery/Takeout

Deep Sea Vegan

East Nashville
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Deep Sea Vegan is a pop-up enterprise working toward opening a bricks-and-mortar restaurant to showcase its version of plant-based foods. Founded by a couple of brothers who are avid scuba divers, the menu features a signature vegan fried “fish” sandwich plus other savory and sweet dishes. With heart of palm standing in for fish, that spicy and crispy specialty does not disappoint.

Available for Delivery/Takeout

Copper Branch

Downtown
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Unlike other cafes that might offer a few vegetarian options beyond salads and a black bean burger, Copper Branch is 100% committed to plant-based, all-natural ingredients throughout their menu, with many gluten-free options available as well. From power bowls to burgers and sandwiches, soups, salads, and smoothies, there’s something for every appetite at this Canadian-based eatery. Nashville is fortunate to be home to one of only two US locations.

Available for Delivery/Takeout

Koko’s Ice Cream

West Nashville
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Order online and pick up curbside at this home to guiltless plant-based frozen treats. Selling cones and “kubes” of vegan ice cream, Koko’s products are vegan, soy-free, gluten-free and nut-free. What they do have is all sorts of cool seasonal flavors. You’ll never believe creamless ice cream could be so good!

Available for Delivery/Takeout

Radical Rabbit

Various
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Popping up at farmers’ markets around town on a fairly regular schedule and offering delivery services through Hot Poppy, Radical Rabbit has earned a rabid fanbase with a changing menu of vegan soul food. From “rad ribz” to vegan to fried jackfruit and mac and cheeze, Radical Rabbit proves that you can be healthy and soulful at the same time.

Vui's Kitchen

Various
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This fresh Vietnamese restaurant has expanded to three locations from its original outpost near 100 Oaks. It’s not an exclusively vegetarian restaurant, but the majority of the menu items can be substituted for veggie options by adding either a fried egg or lemongrass tofu in place of the meat. Some of the most popular dishes include the bánh mì sandwich, pho, spring rolls, and the bun noodle bowl.

Available for Delivery/Takeout

Woodlands

West End
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A longtime favorite for Indian food in Nashville, Woodlands is also a completely vegetarian restaurant. The menu includes many authentic Indian dishes including paper masala dosa and vada pav. On the weekends it has a special buffet that is incredibly popular and includes varied options, which makes it a great choice for those new to Indian cuisine.

Available for Delivery/Takeout

Graze

East Nashville
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Now a stalwart in the East Nashville scene, Graze is the sister restaurant to The Wild Cow and has quickly become a favorite spot for veggie lovers. Serving a completely plant-based menu, Graze has plenty of delicious options for vegetarians and vegans alike. We’re particularly fond of the mac & chorizo, which is pasta covered in a cashew-based cheese sauce and topped with seitan chorizo. Graze has a brunch and dinner menu, but don’t forget that it's closed on Mondays.

Available for Delivery/Takeout

Mitchell Deli

East Nashville
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It's a fact that Mitchell’s has some of the best sandwiches in the city, but as it turns out, its menu includes several amazing vegetarian sandwiches as well. The BBQ Asian tofu sandwich is the most popular one, but there are quite a few other veggie options for you, too.

Available for Delivery/Takeout

The Wild Cow

East Nashville
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One of Nashville's most well-known vegetarian and vegan restaurants, The Wild Cow naturally has plenty of options for all you non-meat-eaters out there. The restaurant recently moved to Five Points from their long-time original location, so even more neighbors will be exposed to their fine fare. With a great group of chefs who are always creating new dishes, it has constantly rotating specials, including tons of desserts, and its website is updated daily with the specials, so check there before going. And don’t forget: It's randomly closed on Tuesdays.

Available for Delivery/Takeout

Sunflower Cafe

Berry Hill
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This little cafe in Berry Hill is an all-vegetarian and -vegan restaurant with a rather extensive menu that includes over eight veggie burger options, vegan BBQ, and several filling vegetable bowls. It’s basically the mecca of veggie restaurants in Nashville. The Sunflower Cafe also has a full catering service, which is great for groups with dietary restrictions.
 

Available for Delivery/Takeout

Red Bicycle

Various
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This crêpe joint has plenty of great options for vegetable lovers. The menu features a nice variety of both sweet and savory crêpes and even the ability to design your own crêpe. It’s a great veggie option for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Plus, they’ve really upped their coffee game to give even more reasons to visit.

I Dream Of Weenie

East Nashville
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When you hear "hot dog stand" you’re not likely to think that it’s a suitable place for a vegetarian to eat. However, this iconic weenie stand has an extensive menu of delicious dogs, and the best part is that you can get anything on the menu with a vegetarian (tofu) weenie. I Dream of Weenie has a regular menu and a seasonal menu that rotates daily, although you can always depend on the Sunday brunch menu with an eggs Benedict weenie on it.

Available for Delivery/Takeout

Avo

West Nashville
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While Avo is no longer strictly raw vegan like when it first opened, this popular eatery still prepares 100% delicious food using 100% plant-based ingredients. The menu offers a wide variety of inventive bowls, sandwiches, wraps and salads, plus there are plenty of thoughtful kosher and gluten-free offerings available. Avo also features a surprisingly robust cocktail, beer and wine menu to accompany your meal.

Available for Delivery/Takeout

Vege-licious

North Nashville
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Just because you’re eating clean doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the Nashville hot chicken craze. This cozy little vegetarian soul food cafe serves a legit plant-based simulation of the fiery fowl along with down home vegetarian sides and vegan desserts. The Saturday brunch offers a variety of pancake plates and breakfast tacos as well.

The Southern V

North Nashville
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This family-owned favorite moved from a stall at the Farmers’ Market to a tiny shack to their first full-fledged restaurant as their growing legion of fans followed them from spot to spot. Their healthy take on Southern comfort foods substitutes ingredients like seitan, tofu, and jackfruit for the pork, chicken, and beef you’d expect from a local meat and three. They also offer a weekend breakfast that will stick to your ribs without clogging your arteries.

Available for Delivery/Takeout

This new vegan bakery is the sister restaurant to Sunflower Cafe with more of a focus on gluten-free and vegan baked goods. Specializing in allergy-friendly treats, Sunflower Bakehouse also offers savory dishes at breakfast and at lunch with burgers, sandwiches, pot pies, and pizza rolls. There’s a little something for everyone!

Available for Delivery/Takeout

Riddim N Spice

North Nashville
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While it’s not strictly vegetarian, diners can choose a vegan protein as the base of any of the delicious bowls at this vibrant Caribbean eatery near Meharry and Fisk. Choose a flavorful rice base to top with jackfruit or seitan strips and then pick four toppings from a long list of options to create a fantastic quick lunch dish. The kitchen can make it as hot as you want it, and beware of the highest spice levels. They aren’t messing around.

Available for Delivery/Takeout

Chaatable

West Nashville
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Celebrity chef Maneet Chauhan’s fourth Nashville restaurant is a wildly popular homage to the Indian street foods of her youth. The dining room is a riot of colors, and the food is equally vibrant (in fact, we named it one of Nashville's best new restaurants of 2019). Much of the menu is vegetarian as well, from mint cilantro crispy potato peels to semolina puffs to a delicious rice casserole spiced with onions, nuts and saffron. They offer a separate vegetarian menu to help diners decide, but it still isn’t easy.

Chris Chamberlain is a food, drink, and travel writer. If Nashville was the Love Boat, he’d like to think he’d be Julie, your cruise director. In truth, he’s probably more of a Gopher. Join him on the Lido Deck on Twitter @CeeElCee.