The Ultimate Guide to Vegan-Friendly Restaurants in South Africa
Vegan and vegetarian eating is on the rise in South Africa, and residents—especially Capetonians—seem intent on making kinder and healthier food choices. With the ever-growing demand for vegetarian and vegan food, many restaurants have become more accommodating or even completely vegan. Here’s a delightful list of wholly vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants and cafés to visit in the nation’s most popular cities:
Cape Town | Johannesburg | Durban
Restaurant chains
Cape Town
Plant
100 percent vegan
Plant is a tasty, healthy, and nutritious vegan restaurant that opened in Cape Town CBD in 2013. See the website, which will tempt you to visit in no time.
Recommended: nachos, burgers, hot chocolate, sweets, and cakes
Raw and Roxy
100 percent raw vegan
This gorgeous hidden café, located at 300 Albert Rd., Woodstock, offers a delightful and healthy raw-vegan food experience. Visitors leave feeling guilt-free and light. Raw and Roxy also offers exciting raw food “un-cooking” classes. Visit its website to learn more about its food and moving vision.
Recommended: juices, detox boxes, and rice paper rolls
Sexy Food
vegetarian and vegan-friendly
Sexy Food is a health café inspired by James Kuiper’s amazing life journey. Its mission is to make people more aware of the environment and of what they’re putting into their bodies as well as to help them make healthier food choices while leading a busy urban lifestyle. The restaurant is located in the beautiful surrounds of 190 Bree St., Gardens. While Sexy Food is not a completely vegan café, it does offer many vegan-friendly dishes as well as vegan substitutes.
Recommended: hummus, wraps, juices, and veggie burgers
SpiritCafe
vegetarian and vegan-friendly
SpiritCafe is a cozy, friendly, and spiritual café in Constantia Village offering only vegetarian and vegan foods that are quick, healthy, and available for takeout.
Recommended: chili hot chocolate and berry cheesecake
Nü
vegetarian and vegan-friendly
This chain health-food café in Cape Town stands for health and wellness. It offers nutritious, fresh global food options in a friendly, comfortable environment. To find a location, check the chain’s website.
Recommended: fruit smoothies, breakfast bowl, salads, and soups
Wellness Cafe
vegetarian and vegan-friendly
Comfy, casual Wellness Café serves healthy food to people on the move. It specializes in raw, vegan, superfood, and carb-conscious options, including smoothies. The café has locations on Kloof Street and on the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront.
Recommended: smoothies, quinoa breakfast, and salads
Scheckter’s RAW
vegetarian and vegan-friendly
This popular up-and-coming café, situated in Sea Point, offers deliciously prepared and beautifully presented gourmet health-food options in its loving, caring environment as well as a relaxing atmosphere for visitors to enjoy.
Recommended: juices, matcha flapjacks, wraps, and smoothies
The Hungry Herbivore
100 percent vegan
This friendly vegan eatery, at 11 Orphan St., provides customers with delicious, plant-based comfort foods as well as snacks that are rich in nutrients and free from preservatives.
Recommended: raw pizza, ice-cream sandwich, and other desserts
Looking for more vegan-friendly restaurants in Cape Town? Check out these eateries: Zucchini’s, 61 + ate, Nooka, Inside & You’re Out (best vegan burger), Kind Cafe and Deli, Maria’s, Maharajah Vegetarian, and Sababa Kitchen and Deli.
Johannesburg
Conscious 108
100 percent vegan
Conscious 108, in Greenside, was founded by three vegan Buddhists, who cater for a large number of people. They offer plant-based versions of “regular” foods to show people that they don’t have to forgo familiar options in order to go vegan. The concept for this restaurant derives from a philosophy of kindness.
Recommended: Chickpea Bunny Chow, peanut butter chocolate cake, and crunchy tofu wrap
The Greenside Café
vegetarian and vegan-friendly
All the food at this vegan haven is made with love, integrity, mindfulness, and respect for all living beings and the planet. The café actively encourages the community to go vegan and green and also tries to educate people about the planet as well as the importance of making kind, humane choices.
Recommended: burgers, juices, salads, and desserts
Leafy Greens Café
vegetarian and vegan-friendly
This restaurant prides itself on making a difference. It’s located on a heavenly and relaxing organic farm in Muldersdrift and provides visitors with a holistic plant-based dining experience. A bonus is that the café is pet-friendly, so you can take your animal companions along with you!
Recommended: juices, cakes, sushi wraps, and kale crisps
Elemental Café
vegetarian and vegan-friendly
This new Johannesburg restaurant serves delicious vegetarian and vegan dishes. Visitors can enjoy their food in a beautiful, serene, and spacious garden setting in Linden. It’s a great place for the whole family to visit.
Recommended: soups, breakfasts, soy-free burgers, wraps, and salads
Durban
Chilliplum
100 percent vegan
This restaurant, deli, and bakery offers all-vegan food that is whole, organic, and unprocessed. The owners believe that plant-based cuisine represents the future of food. Find Chilliplum in the Richdens Village Shopping Centre in Hillcrest.
Recommended: chocolate-and-coconut cake, butternut-and-cinnamon bonbons, sweet-potato chips, mango-and-coconut bombs, and the mushroom burger
Conscious Café at The Castle
vegetarian and vegan-friendly
This café proudly offers pure vegetarian health food as well as tips and advice about making conscious, happy, and healthy lifestyle choices. It also has a unique and beautiful setting in a “castle” situated in Hillcrest, where visitors can sit on the porch or under the trees. Conscious Café is one of the few restaurants that offer great vegan and vegan-friendly meals in Durban.
Recommended: wraps, salads, and nondairy hot beverages
Earthmother Organic
vegetarian and vegan-friendly
This organic café and supermarket specializes in organic and natural vegetarian and vegan foods. It has a natural, outdoorsy atmosphere and offers delicious, healthy meals. The almond milk is freshly prepared each day.
Recommended: tofu, almond milk, and freshly prepared specials
Falafel Fundi
vegetarian and vegan-friendly
Falafel lovers need look no further! Falafel Fundi makes outstanding fresh, homemade, and authentic Middle Eastern cuisine. You can request vegan preparation of meals. The restaurant is situated in Morningside.
Recommended: falafel (of course), chickpea curry, spicy curry dishes, and hummus
It’s All Good Café
vegetarian and vegan-friendly
This establishment offers a quiet, friendly, relaxed, and unpretentious atmosphere. It serves organic, vegetarian, and vegan whole foods, with gluten-, dairy-, and sugar-free options. Visit this café and grocer on Mackeurtan Drive, Durban North, La Lucia.
Recommended: falafel salad, sweet treats, and beetroot soup
Also, keep these vegetarian and vegan-friendly chain restaurants you can find throughout South Africa in mind:
- Tashas: This stylish and popular franchise offers a variety of healthy vegetarian dishes, and vegan substitutions are available.
- Kauai: You can find a wide selection of vegan salads, wraps, sandwiches, and smoothies here.
- Col’Cacchio: This nationwide Italian restaurant chain offers wheat-, yeast-, sugar-, dairy-, and gluten-free options.
- Osumo: This chain keeps its food simple, fresh, wholesome, and tasty to promote clean, healthy eating.
Written by PETA Asia intern Kristen Fay
