New York · United States
Gillian McKeith's guide to healthy restaurants in New York.
Written by Gillian McKeith
New York sets the pace for plant cooking around the world, and it also produces more health-branded noise than any city on earth. Think of this page as my filter, built from years of eating there and being told a great many things that were not true.
In Manhattan, Dirt Candy is the benchmark: Amanda Cohen treats vegetables with more imagination than most chefs bring to protein. abcV in the Flatiron District is the vegetable-led room from Jean-Georges, and it earns its place. Eleven Madison Park is the three-star gamble that went plant-based at the top end. For Korean vegan cooking, Hangawi in Koreatown and Franchia nearby both do it with discipline. Le Botaniste is the fast-casual counter that gets the macrobiotic bowl right, Peacefood serves simple vegan comfort near Union Square, and Blossom and Avant Garden cover the elegant end of vegan dining.
Brooklyn matters too. Champs Diner does vegan diner food without irony, Ras Plant Based brings Ethiopian vegetables to Bedford-Stuyvesant, Superiority Burger on the Lower East Side turns out tiny vegetable sandwiches with a cult following, and Urban Vegan Kitchen in the West Village keeps soul food honest. Cadence does vegan soul food with real depth, Coletta is vegan Italian in the East Village, PLANTA Queen does plant-based Asian in NoMad, and Beyond Sushi does exactly what the name promises.
I chose every one on ingredients and cooking alone. Not a single restaurant paid to be here, and none ever will.
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17 restaurants in New York
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abcV
$$$New York, United States
Jean-Georges's sun-bathed Flatiron room, vegetable-forward, vegetarian, with a full vegan menu on request.
Best for: A polished vegetable-led meal from a kitchen that actually sources.
Avant Garden
$$$New York, United States
Small, candlelit East Village room doing vegetable cooking with fine-dining precision.
Best for: Plant-based small plates that feel like a proper restaurant.
Beyond Sushi
$$New York, United States
Vegetable-only sushi built on black rice, and far better than the concept suggests.
Best for: Vegan sushi when you want the roll without the fish.
Blossom
$$$New York, United States
Long-running Chelsea fully vegan dining room, global comfort cooking and an extensive organic wine list.
Best for: Elegant vegan dining without the lecture.
Cadence
$$New York, United States
Black American soul cooking, entirely plant-based, from the Overthrow kitchen family.
Best for: Vegan soul food with depth and proper seasoning.
Champs Diner.
New York
Champs Diner
$New York, United States
A full vegan diner in Bushwick, pancakes, melts, milkshakes, all of it.
Best for: Vegan diner food that does not wink at you while you eat.
Coletta
$$New York, United States
Vegan kosher Italian, pizza, pasta and cheeses made in house.
Best for: Vegan Italian in the East Village that makes the pasta the point.
Dirt Candy
$$$New York, United States
Amanda Cohen's Lower East Side vegetable-only restaurant, playful, technique-driven, no fake meat.
Best for: Vegetable cooking with more imagination than most tasting menus manage.
Eleven Madison Park
$$$$New York, United States
Daniel Humm's three-Michelin-starred Madison Square dining room, rebuilt as a fully plant-based tasting menu in 2021.
Best for: The plant-based fine-dining experiment at the very top end.
Franchia
$$New York, United States
Hangawi's more relaxed sibling: vegan Korean plates and a serious tea list.
Best for: Vegan Korean small plates and tea in the middle of Manhattan.
Hangawi
$$$New York, United States
Shoes-off Korean temple cuisine in a hushed room off Fifth Avenue.
Best for: Korean vegan food in a calm room off a busy street.
Le Botaniste
$$New York, United States
Organic plant-based bowls served in a room styled as an old Belgian apothecary.
Best for: A fast macrobiotic bowl that does not taste like penance.
peacefood
$$New York, United States
All-day vegan cafe near Washington Square, best known for its baking.
Best for: Honest vegan comfort food near Union Square.
PLANTA Queen
$$$New York, United States
Loud, handsome pan-Asian room where everything on the menu is plant-based.
Best for: Plant-based Asian food, dumplings and noodles done smartly.
Ras Plant Based
$$New York, United States
Ethiopian cooking in Crown Heights, naturally plant-based and beautifully spiced.
Best for: Ethiopian vegetables and injera with real heat.
Superiority Burger
$New York, United States
Brooks Headley's East Village counter, a James Beard-winning vegetarian burger joint that converts skeptics.
Best for: A tiny vegetable sandwich that justifies the queue.
Urban Vegan Kitchen
$$New York, United States
West Village comfort food, all vegan, all unapologetically indulgent.
Best for: Vegan soul food in the West Village with no pretending.
Been here? Write a review
If you have eaten at any of these New York kitchens, click through to the restaurant page and leave a review. I read every submission before it goes live.
Eating well in New York: your questions
- Where can I eat healthy in New York City?
- Start with Dirt Candy on the Lower East Side for vegetable-led fine dining, abcV in Flatiron for a polished plant-based meal, or Le Botaniste for a fast macrobiotic bowl. In Brooklyn try Ras Plant Based or Champs Diner.
- What is the best vegan restaurant in NYC?
- Dirt Candy for ambition and execution, Eleven Madison Park if you want a three-star plant-based tasting menu, or Champs Diner in Brooklyn for everyday vegan comfort food.
- Where can I eat vegan sushi in New York?
- Beyond Sushi has locations across Manhattan and does exactly what the name says. For a more inventive take, PLANTA Queen in NoMad serves plant-based Asian food including dumplings and noodles.
- Is there good vegan Italian food in New York?
- Coletta in the East Village and Pura Vita in Los Angeles both do vegan Italian seriously. In New York, Coletta makes handmade pasta and cashew-based cheeses the main event.
- Do I need to be vegan to use this NYC guide?
- No. This guide is plant-forward, not plant-only. Some kitchens are fully vegan, others simply treat vegetables as the point of the plate. Meat eaters are welcome.
- Can a New York restaurant pay to be listed?
- It cannot. I choose every entry on sourcing, freshness and what actually reaches the plate. Money has never bought a line in this guide and it never will.
Every New York restaurant in the Gillian McKeith Restaurant Guide
Every New York kitchen in the guide, with my notes on each.
- abcV
- Avant Garden
- Beyond Sushi
- Blossom
- Cadence
- Champs Diner
- Coletta
- Dirt Candy
- Eleven Madison Park
- Franchia
- Hangawi
- Le Botaniste
- peacefood
- PLANTA Queen
- Ras Plant Based
- Superiority Burger
- Urban Vegan Kitchen
Eating a particular way in New York
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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 New York 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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