Finding vegan food in Vancouver used to be exhausting. You’d have to call a restaurant in advance or ask for some creative menu swaps when ordering.
Fortunately, Vancouver now has several spots that focus on making delicious plant-based dishes so vegans can go out and enjoy a stress-free dining experience. This list includes healthy, whole-food options as well as decadent indulgences. The first three are completely plant-based, the last one is very vegan-friendly.
2014 Main St., Vancouver; 360-729-9007; open 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.
Vancouver’s first and only all-plant-based restaurant and bar functions as a tasting room for 3 Howls Distillery as well as an all-day cafe. Mornings begin with “Chicken” + Waffles ($16), Breakfast Burrito ($16) and A Big Ol’ Cinnamon Roll ($12). At lunch and dinner, starters include 3 Howls’ incredible Cauliflower Bites ($10-$16) with choice of sauces (Buffalo, Maple Sesame or Backbeat Bourbon BBQ). Main dishes include both decadent and healthful options. The Dirty Byrd is made with spicy buffalo Chick’n cooled by Follow Your Heart Dairy-Free Bleu Cheese Dressing on a Rotello bun ($18), while the Buddha Bowl has quinoa brown rice, roasted veggies, maple sesame cauliflower, avocado, coleslaw, kale and toasted pepitas ($16).
Carefully formulated cocktails featuring 3 Howls spirits ($12-$14) as well as impressive mocktails ($8-$11) round out the menu. Someone could easily slip into 3 Howls thinking it’s just a cool place with excellent food and drink and have no idea that the meal was completely plant-based.
1300 Washington St., Vancouver; 360-713-8762; open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday through Monday.
This vegan breakfast truck behind Tap Union serves some of the best plant-based dishes in Vancouver. The short menu includes The Scratch Burrito ($15) with vegan egg substitute, potatoes, vegan cheddar and chipotle aioli; a breakfast sandwich on a pretzel bun ($13); sweet potato hash with mushrooms, onion and kale in a creamy poblano sauce ($15), and French toast ($15), as well as coffee from Relevant ($4). Ordering ahead by phone is recommended. Food is also available through DoorDash.
After 11 a.m., Scratch Breakfast patrons can eat inside Tap Union, which recently expanded its space and added some video games.
Vancouver Farmers Market; Eighth and Esther streets, Vancouver; open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Black Bird Alchemy owner and baker JoJo Reily has been selling her vegan baked goods at the Vancouver Farmers Market for years. She makes every luscious brownie and chewy cookie she sells. On a recent visit, her well-stocked bakery stand was filled with classic chocolate chip cookies, dark chocolate cherry coconut cookies, lemon lavender tea cakes, and thick, rich, chewy chocolate brownies. Cookies are $1 each, six for $5 and 13 for $10. Muffins are $8. Hand pies and quiches are $13. Breakfast burritos are $13. She also sells her baked goods at The Mighty Bowl and 3 Howls Remedy House.
108 W. Eighth St., Vancouver; 360-433-9925; open 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Mighty Bowl has always offered plant-based bowls ($13-$17), smoothies ($8-$9.50) and juices ($8) at the downtown restaurant. Grain bowls are either vegan (the Esther Short comes with brown rice, broccoli, chipotle soy curls, mushrooms, avocado and cashews, $16) or easily modified to be plant-based. Toasts ($7), smoothies and juices are all plant-based.
The Mighty Bowl also has food trucks around town that serve the namesake black bean and brown rice bowls with a choice of sauce — including lemon curry Mighty Sauce — that can easily be modified for a vegan diet by omitting cheddar cheese and sour cream.
This business isn’t 100 percent plant-based (chicken and dairy products are offered), but everything can be made vegan and the menu focuses exclusively on healthy, whole foods. Happy hour at the downtown restaurant runs weekdays from 3 to 6 p.m. when all bowls are $3 off. The downtown location also has a grab-and-go vegan burrito with soy curls, rice, beans, salsa and plant-based sour cream ($6).