In this guide
Portland’s vegan scene stopped being a niche a long time ago. The best plant-based restaurants here are simply good restaurants with a strong point of view: a worker-owned Sri Lankan kitchen on Belmont, Thai-rooted dinners with serious cocktails, handmade dim sum, cornmeal-crusted “catfish,” a Jewish deli with carrot lox, and doughnuts worth crossing the river for.
Every place on this list is fully vegan, so nobody at the table has to read the fine print. We spread the picks across dinner, brunch, comfort food and sweets, and confirmed each one was open when we updated this guide. Hours shift, so check before you go.
Updated November 2026
Mirisata
Belmont
Mirisata is the place to start. The worker-owned cooperative on Belmont cooks 100% vegan Sri Lankan food, and bills itself as both Oregon’s first Sri Lankan restaurant and the world’s first vegan Sri Lankan restaurant. Build a rice and curry plate from at least four daily specials and 18 signature dishes. Willamette Week readers voted it Best South Asian Restaurant in 2025 and again in 2026, up against plenty of non-vegan kitchens.
- Good for
- Flavor chasers, big group dinners, and a late bite on weekends.
- Know before you go
- Mirisata is tip-free, with no fees or surcharges. Reservations are only needed for parties of 6 or more. Open daily from 11 a.m. (10 a.m. on weekends) and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. The rice and curry specials are always gluten-free and soy-free.
Norah
Belmont
Norah is the polished date-night answer. Co-founder Ketsuda “Nan” Chaison grew up with the Thai dishes that anchor the menu, and with co-founder Prae Nobnorb and chef Evan Bond, the kitchen pulls in flavors from across Asia. Everything is vegan, and cocktails like the Coco Pandan Negroni help it feel like a real night out. The Belmont original opened in 2022, and a second Norah followed on Alberta in 2024.
- Good for
- Date nights, cocktails and shared plates, and friends who aren’t vegan.
- Know before you go
- Both locations are open Tuesday through Sunday, with lunch from noon to 3 p.m. and dinner from 4 to 9 p.m.; closed Mondays. Reservations are booked online. The kitchen doesn’t do substitutions, and parties of 6 or more get a 20% gratuity added.
Jade Rabbit
Hawthorne
Jade Rabbit makes vegan dim sum by hand, along with pan-Asian plates, tea service and zero-proof drinks. Head chef Cyrus Ichiza, who has been cooking vegan food in Portland since 2016 and formerly ran Ichiza Kitchen, designed the restaurant’s vegan meats, made in Taiwan from fermented heirloom soy. The family-friendly restaurant is queer-run and worker-owned.
- Good for
- Groups who like to share, weekend brunch, and a long pot of tea.
- Know before you go
- The website lists a new location at 3632 SE Hawthorne, so confirm the address when you book. Reservations through Resy are strongly encouraged; it books up for weekend brunch and every dinner. Order your whole meal at once, since the small kitchen works through a queue. A 22% service fee replaces tipping, and tables are held for 90 minutes for small parties. The kitchen can’t cook soy-free.
Obon Shokudo
Central Eastside
Obon Shokudo serves vegan Japanese comfort food on SE Grand: onigiri, bento and curry, teppanyaki, fried agemono plates, and soups and noodles, with sake and umeshu to drink. It’s an easy, unfussy lunch or dinner, and a good way to show a skeptic how satisfying Japanese food without fish can be.
- Good for
- Weekday lunches, comfort-food cravings, and quieter meals.
- Know before you go
- Open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; closed Tuesdays. The online menu has a gluten-free section, and Obon also caters.
Dirty Lettuce
Beaumont-Wilshire
Dirty Lettuce cooks Southern soul food with a goal of fooling carnivores and strict vegans alike. Its founder was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and raised vegan and vegetarian in the heart of the meat-loving South. The menu runs on seitan made in house every day: fried chicken, cornmeal-crusted catfish and BBQ ribs, with collard greens, Cajun mac and hushpuppies on the side. The Infamous Bowl stacks popcorn chicken on mashed potatoes and gravy.
- Good for
- Comfort-food cravings, skeptical meat-eaters, and takeout nights.
- Know before you go
- Open Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 9 p.m.; closed Mondays and Tuesdays. The menu is nut-free, but nothing is gluten-free, and the in-house seitan makes the kitchen unsafe for anyone with celiac disease.
Ben & Esther’s Vegan Delicatessen
Alberta
Ben & Esther’s runs a full Jewish deli menu without a single animal product: bagels with schmear and house-made carrot lox, matzo ball soup, knishes, latkes with applesauce, and a Reuben on marble rye. The egg-and-cheese bagel sandwiches are reason enough for an early trip up NE Alberta.
- Good for
- Weekend breakfasts, deli cravings, and picnic supplies.
- Know before you go
- Open daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. A gluten-free bagel is available. Ben & Esther’s also has a location in San Diego.
Epif
Kerns
Epif is a daytime vegan brunch spot on NE 28th with South American touches on the plate: a mung bean scramble drizzled with ají verde, a baked empanada with soyrizo and mushrooms, and Farmer’s Cornbread piled with black beans, corn and jalapeño-mint crema. There’s a full bar for brunch cocktails, and the colorful room makes it easy to linger.
- Good for
- Weekend brunch, slow daytime dates, and nut-allergy households.
- Know before you go
- Brunch only, Friday through Monday. The whole menu is nut-free. Potatoes are fried in the same oil as items with gluten.
Secret Pizza Society
Montavilla
Secret Pizza Society brings a different kind of vegan energy: playful, quirky and proudly pizza-obsessed. Two breakfast cooks started it as a side project, and since 2019 the shop on NE Glisan has been turning out 100% vegan pies with organic, local ingredients and hand-tossed dough, baked by a pizza robot. The walls double as a gallery, and the art is for sale.
- Good for
- Pizza nights, casual group dinners, and a stop after a walk on Mount Tabor.
- Know before you go
- Gluten-free crust is available. Indoor and outdoor seating. Opens at 11 a.m. on weekdays and 1 p.m. on weekends, closing at 9 p.m. (10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays).
Petunia’s Pies & Pastries
Downtown
Petunia’s has been baking gluten-free and vegan since 2009, and calls itself Portland’s first bakery café to do both. Downtown on SW 12th, it works as a breakfast and lunch stop as much as a bakery, with doughnuts, cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, pie and ice cream in the case. Whole cakes and special-event orders make it a lifesaver for mixed-diet birthdays.
- Good for
- Dessert runs, downtown coffee breaks, and celebrations with dietary restrictions at the table.
- Know before you go
- Open daily, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas. Street parking is usually available within a block or two, and there’s an underground lot across the street at First Presbyterian Church.
Doe Donuts
Hollywood
Doe is a woman-owned shop on NE Sandy making vegan doughnuts and ice cream from scratch: no premade mixes, no fillings from a tub, no glaze from a bucket. Produce comes fresh from local farmers, and all the chocolate is certified fair-trade through the Food Empowerment Project. Willamette Week readers ranked it second for Best Doughnut in 2026.
- Good for
- Weekend treats, office doughnut runs, and anyone who still thinks vegan baking is a compromise.
- Know before you go
- Open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday; closed Thanksgiving and Christmas. Doe never sells day-old doughnuts and likes to sell out, so go early for the full case.
Know a spot we missed? Tell us about it.


