Where can I find healthy restaurants in Melbourne?

Start with Smith & Daughters in Fitzroy for dinner, Vegie Bar or Sister of Soul for everyday eating, and Patsy's if you want vegetable cooking in a smarter room. Wazzup Falafel and Trippy Taco cover a cheap, clean lunch.

Is Melbourne good for vegans and vegetarians?

It is one of the best cities in the world for it. Smith & Daughters, SHU, Red Sparrow Pizza and Wazzup Falafel are entirely plant-based, and most Melbourne kitchens handle vegan requests without any drama.

Do I have to be vegetarian to use this guide?

Not at all. This guide is for anyone who wants to eat well. I include kitchens serving meat and fish whenever they treat vegetables, pulses and grains as serious food rather than as a side plate.

How does a Melbourne restaurant get onto this page?

I choose it, and nobody buys their way in. My test is purity, wholesomeness, organic where the chef can manage it, and an abundance of fresh vegetables, pulses, grains and seeds.

Melbourne · Australia

Healthy food in Melbourne: where to eat well.

Written by Gillian McKeith

Melbourne has been quietly ahead of most cities on this for years. The laneways are full of kitchens cooking vegetables properly, and they do it without turning dinner into a lecture. That is exactly what I want to see.

Smith & Daughters is the one people name first, and rightly so: Spanish and Latin cooking, entirely plant-based, with the confidence to be a proper restaurant rather than a health project. SHU Restaurant does Sichuan food with real heat and no animal products in sight. Patsy's brings Mediterranean vegetable cooking into a grown-up dining room, and Green Man's Arms proves a pub can serve plants and still feel like a pub. For everyday eating, Vegie Bar in Fitzroy has been feeding this city for decades, Sister of Soul is the sort of place you can eat at three times a week, and Wazzup Falafel and Trippy Taco cover lunch cheaply and well.

If you want the fun end, Red Sparrow Pizza and Green Acre Pizza Bar make pizza worth eating rather than pizza worth apologising about, and Brother Bon handles Southeast Asian food with a light hand.

My standard does not shift because a city has a good reputation. Purity, wholesomeness, organic where the kitchen can manage it, and an abundance of fresh fruits, vegetables, pulses, grains and seeds. Meat and fish are welcome on any menu here, provided the vegetables are treated as food rather than garnish.

No restaurant on this page has paid me a penny, and none ever will.

11 restaurants in Melbourne

Open in full directory

Vegan, Southeast Asian

Brother Bon

Melbourne, Australia

Family-run 100% vegan restaurant in Northcote serving bold, flavourful plant-based Asian dishes.

Best for: Best for: light Southeast Asian plates and fresh herbs.

Pizza, Vegan-friendly

Green Acre Pizza Bar

Melbourne, Australia

Sustainability-focused Brunswick pizza bar with extensive plant-based swaps and gluten-free bases.

Best for: Best for: a table of mixed eaters who cannot agree.

Pub, Plant-based Australian

Green Man's Arms

Melbourne, Australia

All-veggie Carlton North pub serving healthy, sustainable, plant-based pub fare and drinks.

Best for: Best for: a pub meal you do not have to negotiate.

Mediterranean, Vegetarian

Patsy's

$$$

Melbourne, Australia

Mediterranean-inspired vegetarian wine bar opposite Queen Victoria Market built around seasonal harvests.

Best for: Best for: a long Mediterranean lunch built on vegetables.

Pizza, Vegan

Red Sparrow Pizza

Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne's only 100% vegan pizzeria, serving plant-based pizzas, burgers and cocktails in Fitzroy.

Best for: Best for: pizza night without the dairy hangover.

Vegan, Sichuan Chinese

SHU Restaurant

$$$

Melbourne, Australia

Modern vegan Sichuan restaurant in Collingwood known for its plant-based degustation and yum cha.

Best for: Best for: proper Sichuan heat without any animal products.

Vegetarian, Vegan, Global

Sister of Soul

Melbourne, Australia

St Kilda favourite serving global vegan and vegetarian comfort food with raw and gluten-free options.

Best for: Best for: everyday eating in St Kilda when you want to feel well after.

Vegan Spanish-Latin

Smith & Daughters

$$$

Melbourne, Australia

Fitzroy fully vegan kitchen with Spanish and Latin American leanings, paella, croquetas, churros, mezcal.

Best for: Best for: dinner with people who claim they do not like plant-based food.

Mexican, Vegetarian

Trippy Taco

Melbourne, Australia

Long-standing Fitzroy taqueria serving vegetarian Mexican street food with vegan and gluten-free options.

Best for: Best for: quick vegetarian Mexican with no heaviness.

Vegetarian, Vegan, International

Vegie Bar

Melbourne, Australia

Fitzroy institution since 1988 serving a wide, wholefood-focused vegetarian and vegan menu.

Best for: Best for: Fitzroy at its most reliable, decade after decade.

Vegan, Palestinian-Jordanian, Middle Eastern

Wazzup Falafel.

Melbourne

Vegan, Palestinian-Jordanian, Middle Eastern

Wazzup Falafel

Melbourne, Australia

Vegan falafel canteen in Northcote serving Palestinian-Jordanian street food made fresh in-house.

Best for: Best for: the cheapest genuinely good lunch in the city.

Eating well in Melbourne: your questions

Where can I find healthy restaurants in Melbourne?: Start with Smith & Daughters in Fitzroy for dinner, Vegie Bar or Sister of Soul for everyday eating, and Patsy's if you want vegetable cooking in a smarter room. Wazzup Falafel and Trippy Taco cover a cheap, clean lunch.
Is Melbourne good for vegans and vegetarians?: It is one of the best cities in the world for it. Smith & Daughters, SHU, Red Sparrow Pizza and Wazzup Falafel are entirely plant-based, and most Melbourne kitchens handle vegan requests without any drama.
Do I have to be vegetarian to use this guide?: Not at all. This guide is for anyone who wants to eat well. I include kitchens serving meat and fish whenever they treat vegetables, pulses and grains as serious food rather than as a side plate.
How does a Melbourne restaurant get onto this page?: I choose it, and nobody buys their way in. My test is purity, wholesomeness, organic where the chef can manage it, and an abundance of fresh vegetables, pulses, grains and seeds.

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Gillian McKeith, author of the Gillian McKeith Restaurant Guide

About the author

Written by Gillian McKeith

I'm Gillian McKeith: television presenter, creator of the global hit show You Are What You Eat, writer, nutritionist, and the editor behind this guide. Every Melbourne entry here is chosen and written by me. I judge kitchens on the things that actually matter: real ingredients, honest sourcing, vegetables cooked with care, and food you feel better for eating.

Nothing on this page is a paid placement. Restaurants cannot buy a recommendation, and any listing marked as sponsored is labelled as such. If a kitchen slips, it comes out of the guide.

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