The Best of Vegan Food in Lisbon: Where to Eat, What to Order
Our recent visit to Portugal was filled with great food experiences. We started up in Lisbon, which is easily one of the most vegan-friendly cities we’ve come across. Apart from having a growing vegan food scene, it’s also a lovely city to explore in general – so definitely one to have on your travel list!
There were no issues finding vegan food in Lisbon and we also found a lot of traditional ‘veganized’ dishes to eat (which is surprising and good because Portuguese cuisine is known to be extremely heavy on animal products). There’s a lot to cover on vegan in Lisbon, so I’m going to give you the best dine out spots based on these categories:
Almost all the places mentioned here are vegan – that’s the great thing about Lisbon – plenty of complete plant based restaurants. There are a dozen more that I can’t cover in this blog (I try to fit in only the best not-to-miss ones). We found that a lot of the vegan restaurants are upscale and pricey but there are a few affordable ones too. We ate all our meals out in the 5 days we were in town, so I won’t be covering grocery shopping in detail – I’m sure you can find plenty of vegan products at the Celeiro stores or any Bio Mercado.
Things to do and where to stay in Lisbon requires another blog post altogether, which I will share on this blog as soon as it’s done!
Here’s a helpful map with a list of all the Lisbon vegan food spots mentioned in this post. Please check opening times on their socials before you visit and make reservations where needed.
Vegan in Lisbon – top restaurants and cafes for vegan food
Breakfast & Brunch
This goes straight at the top of the best cafés and brunch spots in Lisbon! It’s a bakery with everything lovely – croissants, brioche, empanadas, pastel de nata – all vegan! We had 2 chocolate croissants, a puff pastry, a cheese toastie, ‘fish’ nuggets, along with 2 espressos and all this amounted to only 20€.
Just found out that their physical cafe has closed December 2023 (I’m in disbelief at how many vegan places have shut in the past few years..) They still offer catering for desserts and cakes.
Largo de São Sebastião da Pedreira 49, 1050-010 Lisboa
This vegan café & restaurant is women owned and offers food with fresh seasonal ingredients. We sat outdoors on this pleasant day and ordered the quiche, mung wrap, banana bread and a latte. You can also indulge in one of their ‘Wellbeing Lattes’ on menu. Everything tasted good and filling. Coffee & cake was great. And after brunch, you can walk from here over to Parque Eduardo VII and enjoy the rest of the day in Lisbon!
• Veganeats Caffe
R. Cavaleiro de Oliveira 42, 1170-088 Lisboa
I was really looking forward to this one but it turned out to be randomly closed when we arrived in the morning. I found an update on their Facebook that they’d open late that day. So this little is a bit outside Lisbon centre but worth a visit for affordable simple homemade breakfast! We then went to Raffi’s Bagels nearby which had vegan bagel and chia pudding.
Rua da Boavista 90, 1200-085 Lisboa
This breakfast/brunch spot offers a range of vegan and gluten free options! The prices may be a bit above average and they charge 60 cents for plant milk. Still might be worth checking out for the Chai Pancakes?
R. Monte Olivete 20, 1200-280 Lisboa
I heard this is a good veggie café for brunch pancakes but sadly they were closed for renovations while we were in Lisbon. I do hope you manage to check it out! They have good vegan brunch options like tofu scramble, avo toast along with cakes and coffee.
For something fresh and light, we found Oakberry and had a bowl of granola with açaí – these kiosks can be found at a couple of locations in Lisbon.
Lunch
Av. Duque de Ávila 30 A, 1000-141 Lisboa
Our first lunch in Lisbon was memorable, and we chose The Green Affair, which was conveniently right near our place of stay in Saldanha. They do have another branch in Chiado. It’s a European style plant-based restaurant with a large space, so preferably dine in here. There is a pretty good lunch combo where you get a starter, a main dish and non-alcoholic drink.
We ordered the Tofu Lagareiro, a good twist on the traditional Portuguese dish and a Katsu curry, which wasn’t bad! Our starters were the fried dumplings and focaccia, a bit on the fine side portions.
Calçada do Sacramento 36, 1200-394 Lisboa
This is a little gem also serving vegan buffet and cake in Chiado area. The buffet can include a variety of hot and cold dishes, such as salads, pakoras, vegetable dumplings, pasta, black bean, chickpeas curries and brown rice. It’s known to be reasonably priced and is frequented by locals. Worth checking out if you’re in the area!
R. da Rosa 51, 1200-382 Lisboa
DaTerra has several locations around Portugal and this one is in central Lisbon. They are known to be fully vegan and offer simple food of fresh, organic ingredients and all-you-can-eat buffet. Lunch (and dinner) buffet include options ranging from salads, soups, pastas, risottos, gratins, quiches, pizzas, burgers and falafel, to tempting desserts such as mousse, pudding and ice cream. It maybe worth checking out.
• Lisbon Vegan Restaurant
Rua de Arroios 177, 1150-053 Lisboa
This was one of the most surprising finds in Lisbon. I walked to this spot on my first night in Lisbon imagining a huge happening space, but it was more like a cafeteria with a small buffet and a few tables. The staff is welcoming and the restaurant is Indian cuisine focused. It’s run by brothers, originally from Punjab, India!
You can find homemade vegetable curries, basmati rice and salads on the lunch and dinner buffet, as well as an al-la-carte menu including beverages such as wine and beer. Very affordable. They are open Monday – Saturday from noon till 11 PM with siesta hours.
Av. Duque de Ávila 11-13, 1000-138 Lisboa
We were looking forward to trying out Indian food in Lisbon and this vegetarian restaurant was right near where we stayed. Authentic Indian food and a happening restaurant. I suggest going here for lunch and with reservation as it was packed and noisy when we went for dinner. We had to wait a while for a table and then to give our order.
What we ordered – samosas, aloo chaat, sev puri, rotis, jeera rice and a green Guajarati curry. All this cost us about 35€. The curry was pretty dense – a puree of greens and spices and can be had with rice or as a dip with roti. I regret not ordering a thali though.
The restaurant claims vegetarian values as they serve food ‘that doesn’t harm a single animal’ but use dairy products, which shouldn’t be considered vegetarian in that case. I don’t get why all these ‘pure vegetarian’ Indian restaurants can’t just go vegan!
Dinner & Tapas
R. do Crucifixo 30, 1100-183 Lisboa
For our last dinner in Lisbon we luckily checked out Kong, a chill vibes no-fuss place that delivers! Here we again found veganised versions of Portuguese dishes. Comfort food at it’s best, quick and friendly service – don’t miss it in Lisbon.
I tried the fish and rice dish and didn’t know how I’d feel about the vegan ‘fish’ made of celery root. The end result was, however, incredible. Not exactly tofish but something of it’s own. We also got the Bitoque ‘seitan steak’ with egg – tasty! Probably our favourite dine out in Lisbon.
Rua Dom Luís I 19, 1200-109 Lisboa
Ortea is a large garden like space, which focuses on whole foods. Excellent service and atmosphere. Great wine and artisan cheese on menu. Reservation recommended for weekend nights.
This turned out to be our most expensive dinner in Lisbon but worth it for a special night out! It did include a couple of glasses of wine, a starter, two mains and dessert. I like the idea of fresh whole foods but the bowl was maybe too much for me to finish and a bit ‘raw’. I preferred the hot dish of wild rice and shroom steak. Oh, and their cake of the day was yum:
• Bar Boca (Boca Bistro)
R. do Vigário 44, 1100-405 Lisboa
I was excited to check out a natural wine & vegan tapas bar. Bar Boca is an intimate wine bar in Alfama district. It’s fine but casual in a way. Reasonably priced food with a good selection of plates.
Our sharing plates were: the ‘meatballs with padron peppers’ – perfect texture and flavour, ‘artichoke tartar with chips’ – tasty snack dip topped with eggy ‘yolk’ and the ‘eggplant with almond ricotta’ – simple but good. The staff recommended us dishes and wines to go with it.
Unfortunately our experience was cut short by a boisterous group on another table. Since it’s a small space, it made it impossible for us to talk or enjoy over this, so we left soon. I do however, very much recommend this place to you for the food and drinks!
• O Gambuzino
Rua dos Anjos 5A, 1150-032 Lisboa
Another plant-based tapas bar in Lisbon! It’s pricey but creative. They have starters, small plates and main dishes of exotic flavour. We got the Bibimbap bowl of kimchi, seaweed, mushroom, brown rice topped with ‘egg yolk’. We also tried the mushroom-based scallops in green peas foam – very interesting!
Food was filling and well presented. All in all a pleasant dining experience, but a bit outside the main centre. Reservation needed.
The prettiest bar in Lisbon? If you’re into a bright pink, retro disco theme, then yes! Machimbombo bar in central Lisbon at the time, was also serving food from Legumi (a vegan sushi restaurant nearby). We were able to place our order at the bar and they brought it to the table. Machimbombo is mainly a bar but tend to have some vegan food options. You can also just visit Legumi to take away.
• Organi Chiado
Calçada Nova de São Francisco 2, 1200-300 Lisboa
Ok, so we’d heard lots of nice things about this place and managed to get here for dinner on one night. It’s not a huge space and outdoor seating was closed so they usually require a reservation. Their menu is pretty limited since they work with seasonal organic ingredients. What we ordered was a simple soup and pasta for mains. Taste-wise, it was fresh and wholesome and price-wise, a bit over the top. Service was just ok. The pecan pie, however, was heavenly.
R. Horta Seca 5, 1200-213 Lisboa, Portugal
A highly rated vegan restaurant in Lisbon. We had to choose between Orteá and Ao 26 for a dinner (they are within walking distance to each other) so we didn’t try this one. It seemed similar to Orteá (and run by the same owners) with their gourmet menu. They do also have Portuguese dishes on menu. If you try it, let me know in comments!
Junk Food & Desserts
Praça Duque de Saldanha 1, 1050-094 Lisboa
My first stop in Lisbon was this vegan junk food spot – they have 4 locations in town and I was at Saldanha shopping centre food court. Hungry after the flight to Lisbon via Paris, I ordered a burger with fries and a large Oreo milkshake (knowing full well I wouldn’t be able to finish it). J arrived at Lisbon a day later so he didn’t get to share this. It was pretty decent and I liked the little slogans they have here and there. Recommend!
Rua das Portas de Santo Antão 78 1150-269, Lisboa
This is THE place if you’re looking for doughnuts, waffles and ice cream in Lisbon. Scoop n Dough can be found in Rossio area – we walked by one night and had a scoop (sadly the waffles out of stock) of the award winning (n)ice cream. And it’s all vegan, handmade and perfected!
R. da Oliveira ao Carmo 9, 1200-307 Lisboa
Not sure how we missed this spot, it was on my list but Lisbon had an overwhelming number of good restaurants to check out and we were there only 5 days. The food here looks droolworthy – Neapolitan pizzas, burgers, tacos, momos and what not. Some call it vegan junk food paradise.
R. Luciano Cordeiro 28, 1150-300 Lisboa
A trendy spot that claims to have Lisbon’s best vegan burgers! This place remids me of the Vegan Junk Food Bar. They also have a blog Vegan Junkies Club promoting vegan friendly places in Lisbon.
Small bakery style café with 3 branches in Lisbon, see map. They sell vegan Pastel de Nata – those creamy fluffy Portuguese custard tarts at 3 different locations around town. Don’t miss one (like we did).
Other options – Pans & Co, Pizza Hut, Starbucks
Just to touch on a few more options outside of plant-based restaurants: Pans & Company local fast food chain had a veggie menu – their Heura subs were superb! Pizza Hut in Portugal had a vegan pizza promo at the time we were there – surely they still have a vegan pizza on menu. Starbucks delivered good vegan options as well. The Green Street in Lisbon has plenty of restaurants with vegan food choices 🙂
Vegan food in Lisbon!
Hope you find this guide useful and maybe it helps make up your mind on which places to check out while in Lisbon. If you’ve been to Lisbon, what are your favourite food spots? – let me know in the comments!
More on Portugal: Have you checked out our Algarve Vegan Travel Guide yet?
Map of Lisbon:
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*note: Only honest reviews here. We paid for every single meal and none of these reviews are sponsored.
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Last updated on March 2nd, 2024
4 Comments
plantbasedandwelltraveled
We had a great time in Lisbon! The food was so good but that was in 2017! We need to go back soon. We almost booked a holiday in Porto for this summer but decided on Seville instead.
Veganhaven
You should go again! There’s plenty of new plant-based food spots that have popped up since then. I’ve heard good things about Porto – it’s on our list for next time.
Margaret McCue
Thank you for this! I am planning a trip to Portugal with my daughter who is vegan and this is very helpful. The food, looks and sounds delicious.
Veganhaven
Nice to hear! Such a good variety of (vegan) food to be found in Lisbon – I tried to include all the best ones here : )