There is something genuinely freeing about arriving in a city and realizing you are not going to have to work hard to eat well. No scanning menus for the one option. No explaining to a server what vegan means. No settling for plain pasta because nothing else works. Being vegan in Vancouver is that experience — and we knew it going in. The city has a reputation as one of the best vegan destinations in North America, known especially for its vegan comfort food scene, and we arrived with high expectations. It delivered on every single one of them.
We spent four days in Vancouver before boarding our Alaska cruise and one final day in the city after disembarking. In that time we ate at fully vegan restaurants, found a dedicated vegan grocery store where everything on every shelf was fair game, discovered a vegan Reese’s cup that our kids are still talking about, and ate some of the best burgers of the entire trip at a spot we stumbled into on our last afternoon. This is everything worth knowing.
Since we were traveling with family that is not vegan, it was also very easy to find vegan friendly restaurants that had many options to choose from instead of just one which made it easy for all of us to eat out with ease!
Fully Vegan in Vancouver Restaurants
Chickpea
Chickpea was our dinner one evening after a long day at the Vancouver Aquarium and it was exactly what we needed — warm, generous, and genuinely delicious. Fully plant based with a menu that felt creative without being precious about it. We ordered the chick’n wrap, the zaatar fries, and the big ol’ burger. Everything was well seasoned, well made, and affordable. The zaatar fries especially were a standout — not a combination we’d encountered before and one we’d order again without hesitation. At $48 CAD for our whole order it felt like very good value for the quality and quantity.
Chickpea — fully vegan. $48 CAD for our family order. Highly recommended.
Vegan Friendly Restaurants Worth Knowing
Sushi Maro — Yaletown
Sushi Maro had something we don’t encounter often enough — an entire dedicated vegan menu. Not a few options tucked at the bottom of the regular menu. A full separate vegan menu. We found it in Yaletown on our first evening in Vancouver after arriving from the Amtrak and it was the perfect introduction to the city’s food scene. We ordered avocado rolls, yam rolls, mango rolls, king rolls, and dynamite rolls. Everything was fresh, well made, and exactly right after a travel day. Yaletown itself was lively and full of energy — a great neighborhood for an evening wander before or after dinner.
Sushi Maro, Yaletown — full vegan menu available. $60 CAD for our family of four.
Aiyaohno Cafe
Our very first meal in Vancouver on arrival day was at Aiyaohno Cafe — a vegan friendly spot that got us off to a great start. We ordered the vegan chicken sandwich and tofu and rice, spending around $30 CAD for two entrees. Simple, fresh, and exactly what we needed after a morning on the Amtrak.
Aiyaohno Cafe — vegan friendly. Around $30 CAD for two entrees.
Ignite Pizzeria — Gastown
We have a Friday night pizza and movie night tradition at home that we refuse to let travel interrupt. In Vancouver that meant Ignite Pizzeria in Gastown — a vegan menu available and a great find for keeping our family ritual alive on the road. There is something really satisfying about sitting down with a vegan pizza in a city you’ve never been to and having it feel completely like home. Gastown made the perfect backdrop for it.
Ignite Pizzeria, Gastown — vegan menu available. $32 CAD for two small pizza’s (big enough for the 4 of us to eat).
Blaze Gourmet Burgers
We found Blaze Gourmet Burgers on our last day in Vancouver after disembarking from the cruise — and it was one of the best comfort food meals of the entire trip. Most of their menu can be modified to be vegan which makes it a great option when you’re with non-vegan family members too. We ordered the vegan crispy chicken poutine and the vegan chipotle chick’n blaze for Matt and I — both outstanding — and the kids had vegan chicken tenders and cheeseburgers that came with fries and apple or orange juice. Everything was exactly what you want after a week at sea. We got there via a short Lyft from Gastown and walked off the meal through the neighborhood afterward.
Blaze Gourmet Burgers — most items can be modified vegan. Vegan crispy chicken poutine $16.95 CAD, vegan chipotle chick’n blaze $16.95 CAD, kids meals $14.95 CAD with fries and juice. $64 CAD total for our family.
Triple O’s at Science World
If you’re spending a day at Science World — which we strongly recommend — Triple O’s inside has a veggie burger and fries that works well as a quick lunch. Nothing groundbreaking but solid and convenient so you don’t have to leave the museum to eat.
Triple O’s at Science World — veggie burger and fries available.
Coffee and Sweet Treats
Blendz Coffee
Blendz became our go-to morning spot and we visited twice during our stay. They have vegan pastries that are genuinely good — we ordered the gluten free vegan date banana bread both times and it was wonderful. Oat milk lattes were around $7 CAD each which is reasonable for a city center coffee shop. A warm, welcoming spot that felt like a neighborhood place rather than a chain even though there are multiple locations.
Blendz Coffee — vegan pastries, oat milk available. Around $7 CAD per latte. $22 CAD first visit, $21 CAD second visit.
Sunters Coffee — Gastown
On our last warm morning in Vancouver — 86 degrees, the city at its absolute best — we stopped at Sunters Coffee in Gastown for a final send off before heading to the airport. Oat milk lattes with syrup for $6.20 CAD each and an oat milk hot cocoa for $6 CAD. Sitting in Gastown in that sunshine with those coffees was a perfect last Vancouver moment.
Sunters Coffee, Gastown — oat milk available. $6.20 CAD oat milk latte with syrup, $6 CAD oat milk hot cocoa.
Starbucks
Reliable as always when you need something quick. Two hot cocoas and a coffee ran $18 CAD. Worth knowing that Canadian Starbucks locations have the same plant milk options as US locations.
Starbucks — oat milk and other plant milks available. $18 CAD for two hot cocoas and one coffee.
Grocery and Specialty Stores
Vegan Supply — Chinatown
This was one of our favorite Vancouver discoveries and worth seeking out specifically. Vegan Supply is a dedicated vegan grocery store in Chinatown where everything on every shelf is vegan — no label reading required, no second guessing ingredients, just shopping. For a vegan family that spends a lot of energy navigating regular grocery stores, walking in here felt like exhaling.
The selection was impressive — lots of snack options, specialty items, and products we don’t find at home in Hawaii. We picked up vegan deli meats and cheese to make sandwiches for our days out, stocked up on snack foods, and found vegan Reese’s cups for the kids which are not something we come across often. The look on their faces when we handed those over was worth the trip to Chinatown on its own.
It runs a little expensive but for the convenience and the discovery factor it was completely worth it. Budget accordingly and treat it as a specialty shop rather than your main grocery run.
Vegan Supply, Chinatown — dedicated vegan grocery store. Worth visiting for specialty items and products you won’t find everywhere.
Whole Foods
Reliable for stocking up before a long travel day. We stopped on our final evening to grab dinner items and snacks for the overnight flight — quick, easy, and exactly what we needed. $69 CAD on our visit.
Whole Foods — reliable vegan options throughout. $69 CAD on our final visit.
A Local Gem — Farmers Stand Raspberries
On our last afternoon wandering between Gastown and Yaletown we came across a local farmer selling fresh raspberries. A large basket for $9 CAD. We sat on a bench by the waterfront and ate them in the sunshine. Sometimes the best food moment of a day has nothing to do with a restaurant.
Fresh raspberries — local farmers stand. $9 CAD for a large basket.
Tips for Vegan Families in Vancouver
- Yaletown and Gastown are your best neighborhoods for vegan friendly dining — both have high concentrations of restaurants with plant based options and are beautiful areas to walk between meals
- Make Vegan Supply a priority stop early in your trip rather than at the end — you’ll want to shop there and actually use what you buy
- Plant milk is widely available at coffee shops throughout the city without having to ask twice — a small thing that makes a big difference day to day
- Bring your own lunch to the Vancouver Aquarium — vegan options there are limited and having food sorted means you can stay as long as you want without having to leave
- The farmers markets and street stands are worth keeping an eye out for — fresh local produce at reasonable prices and the kind of spontaneous find that makes a trip feel real
Is Vancouver a Good Destination for Vegan Families?
It is genuinely one of the best we have visited anywhere. The combination of fully vegan restaurants, vegan friendly menus across mainstream spots, a dedicated vegan grocery store, and plant milk available everywhere made eating well completely effortless for four days. We came home with a long list of places we didn’t get to try and that is always the best kind of problem to have.
If you’re planning a trip to Vancouver as a vegan family — go. Eat everything. Start with Chickpea and work outward from there.
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