The Best Nashville Vegan Restaurants

Now, we but one restaurant in Nashville dedicated to vegan cooking (with a touch of cheese optional), and we also have several restaurants with vegetarian options. Most of the places either offer an option or two for those of us who choose to forgo eating animals. Some offer a separate menu. Others have only side dishes that you can piece together into a meal.

And then there are the grisly few that give the veg*ns no option whatsoever. I even spoke to one once that said, "This is a steakhouse. We don't serve tofu!" Awful. For this guide, we are going to ignore those establishments, just like they ignore us!

This Nashville vegan restaurants guide is organized by category: completely vegetarian restaurants, restaurants with many vegetarian options, and restaurants that will create something for you. I include the websites to their menus, when available.

Completely Vegetarian Restaurants with Good Vegan Options

The Wild Cow

The Wild Cow is a fully vegetarian restaurant in East Nashville, off Eastland Avenue. This Nashville vegan restaurant itself has great ambiance and is always filled with an eclectic mix of people, a sight I love to see. Their menu is completely vegetarian, but most dishes either are also vegan or can easily be veganized.

Their menu is dominated by sandwiches and salads. We have tried nearly every sandwich, and have found a few standout favorites. They make a mock chicken salad sandwich that is delicious and interesting, with tiny pieces of seitan and a nice crunch from red grapes. We've also had their Philadelphia cheese steak sandwich, which I find to be a bit small and less filling, but it does taste good.

We've also had their tempeh sandwich with fresh veggies called The Prince Fielder and their Buffalo Grinder. The Prince Fielder is fresh and has great texture. They also just added a French Dip style seitan sandwich with an au jus dipping sauce that was right on the money.

My husband loves the Buffalo Grinder, with its spicy hot sauce and perfectly cooked tempeh. They also make the buffalo grinder into a salad, which is one of our favorite options.

You can substitute in sides instead of chips, such as grilled marinated mushrooms and mac-and-cheese. Their spicy kale is awesome and their dipping sauces are really good too.

They do have some items that are prepared and stored in a handy fridge for take-and-go meals. Other options include a side salad, a pasta salad, hummus, mashed potatoes, and raw desserts.

We've also enjoyed many of their vegan dessert options. Some of my favorites have been a lavender cupcake, an Almond Joy cake with chocolate cake and coconut shreds throughout the frosting, and a gingerbread cake with cinnamon frosting.

We hope that Wild Cow will continue to be wildly successful so they can multiple and spread their vegan fare to other sections of Nashville.

Wild Cow's online menu: http://www.thewildcow.com/twc/menu/

Grins Vegetarian Cafe

Grins is actually located on Vanderbilt's campus, but anyone can eat there. Their menu changes daily, but usually has great vegan options. Just make sure to ask how things are made. They are very accommodating and the prices are nice and cheap. Definitely check out this Nashville vegan restaurant.

One might not naturally think of Indian as an option for a Nashville vegan restaurant, but it's a great option. This is a great Indian restaurant, one of my favorite in Nashville. On the weekend they have a yummy, inexpensive buffet lunch with many chapati, salad, soup, desserts, and several main entrees.

During the week, we like to share one of the special dishes that has an assortment of different entrees and comes with a soup and drink. You do have to ask what is made with ghee, the clarified butter, and also if any cream or milk has been added to the dishes. They are very helpful with finding vegan options.

They don't have a menu listed online.

Restaurants with Vegetarian Options

Bongo Java

Bongo Java is part of a family of restaurants including Grins Vegetarian, and Fido. It is actually a coffee house, but it serves some yummy dishes that many students in the area munch on while studying. There are picnic tables outside and little nooks inside with tables and chairs. Another cool thing about Bongo Java is that they have a theater upstairs where you can hear live music.

They serve all day breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but most of their breakfast items are made with eggs. They do have a side option for veggie sausage, ham, or turkey, but you would need to ask if the fake meat has eggs in it. You could always go with a standard bagel as well, just watch out for sweetened bagels which sometimes have eggs, butter, and/or milk.

For lunch and dinner, there is a black bean chili and a salad option, as well as a few hummus dishes and a black bean quesadilla that can be made without cheese and sour cream. They also have a black bean burger served on a multi-grain bun.

Here is their menu: http://www.bongojava.com/images/rev1breakLUNCH.pdf

Bongo Java also has an East Nashville location with many of the same food options as the Belmont location, making it another top option as a Nashville vegan restaurant.

This is their menu:
http://bongojava.com/images/BJRC_LUNCH_MENU.pdf

Fido is the brother to Bongo Java and has much of the same coffee house cool atmosphere. It's located in Hillsboro Village.

Their breakfast items have more vegetarian and vegan options than at Bongo Java. For instance, several of them either have tofu scramble instead of eggs or fake meat replacing the usual meat (again, check for eggs in them.) They also have the bagels and sandwiches, one with hummus, another with peanut butter and banana.

For lunch, they serve a mean black bean burger (request it without mayo), and a grilled portobello and eggplant sandwich (request it without cheese.) For side dishes, they have hummus, fries, corncakes, and yummy sweet potato fries. A few of their salads can also be made without cheese for a vegan meal.

Here is Fido's dinner menu:
http://www.bongojava.com/FIDOdinner.pdf

Jasmine Restaurant

Jasmine is a great Thai restaurant in Brentwood, right off I-65. Their restaurant is located in a strip mall, but has a nice fresh ambience.

We found they are very willing to help accommodate both vegetarians and vegans, and all you need to do is specify up front how you want the dishes prepared, and specifically remember to ask for no eggs, fish sauce, shrimp paste, or dairy products.

They have a nice fried vegetable spring roll and a fried tofu appetizer. For entrees, there are two sections that contain options for vegans; noodles and entrees. In both sections, you can choose vegetables or tofu, or a combo of both. They have some nice sauces such as a ginger, cashew nuts, and peanut sauce to choose from, as well as a stir fried veggies dish and spicy eggplant.

This definitely deserves to make the list of Nashville vegan restaurants.

The Smiling Elephant

Another great Thai restaurant with vegan options is The Smiling Elephant. It's in a small building off 8th avenue south, across the street from Fiddle Cakes. The tables are very close together, but service is fast and friendly, and they are make every dish to order, so you can specify to your heart's desire.

To start, we love the fresh rolls appetizer. They have great vegetables and a small pickled thing on top, and the dipping sauce is delicious. Their coconut milk-based soup and lemongrass soups are both refreshing and light.

They bill themselves as the best pad thai in Nashville, and that may be true. We get ours without egg or shrimp paste and it's still tasty. There are also several other entree noodle dishes that can be made without animal ingredients; all you have to do is ask.

Here is The Smiling Elephant's menu: http://thesmilingelephant.com/menu.php

Tin Angel

Tin Angel is a cute little restaurant on West End Avenue that considers itself one of the original neighborhood restaurants.

They have a Mediterranean salad that comes with shrimp and feta, but you can request it without and it's very tasty. They also have a similar pasta with the same ingredients, and again, you can get it without cheese. They also have another pasta, and at lunch they serve a veggie dish and a quesadilla that can be made without cheese and sour cream.

The prices are a little higher, but still affordable. On a side note, they use filtered water rather than serving bottled water in an effort to reduce plastic waste!

Here is Tin Angel's menu:
http://www.tinangel.net/PDF/menudinner.pdf

Sunset Grill

This is a great upscale restaurant with a nice outdoor patio, and where supposedly you can spot celebrities. I haven't seen one there personally, but that's the word on the street.

They have a tasty hummus starter that can be brought out without feta cheese, and a few salads that can be adapted to be vegan. For entrees, they have three dishes that I zeroed in on: an Asian stirfry, a Mediterranean pasta, and a veggie pasta called voodoo. The Mediterranean is great and vegan, as is the stirfry. When ordering vegetarian voodoo, ask for a different kind of pasta as the original dish is made with egg noodles.

They also have a few great side dishes like steamed veggies, quinoa pilaf and sweet potato fries. The prices are a little higher here, but still reasonable for vegetarian entrees.

Here is Sunset Grill's menu:
http://www.sitemason.com/files/dewmT6/Dinner.pdf

California Pizza Kitchen

This may seem like an unlikely selection to see on this page, but CPK does actually have a few vegan options, and they are really tasty.

We tried their asparagus soup, which is creamy without cream, as an appetizer since I wasn't in the mood for their other vegan option; hummus.

Their grilled vegetable salad is awesome; it's made with asparagus, green beans, corn, onions, and avocado, and tossed with a vinaigrette. We also had a mushrooms pizza, which was tasty, but we would love it with a whole wheat crust. Their crust options are either the standard white or a honey-wheat crust.

Here is California Pizza Kitchen's vegetarian menu:
http://www.cpk.com/menu/pdfs/vegetarian-gluten.pdf

Calypso Cafe

Calypso is a Caribbean style Nashville vegan restaurant that is very vegan-friendly. Their menu specifies which items either are vegan or can be made vegan with substitutions. This seems like a simple way to make all your guests happy (meat-eaters can just ignore the little symbol), but I am surprised that more restaurants don't add it to their menus.

I love their take on "beans" and three, which gives you a choice of three sides like a wild rice mix, spiced sweet potatoes, bean and corn salad, mustard greens, and fruit. They also have a veggie burger option.

Check out Calypso Cafe when looking for Nashville vegan restaurant options. Yummy!

Here is Calypso Cafe's menu:
http://www.calypsocafe.com/menu.htm

Margot Cafe and Bar

Margot is a cute little upscale French and Italian restaurant right at the corner of Five Points in East Nashville. While they are not vegetarian, they have one vegetarian dish available on the menu, which changes seasonally. They also have a few starter items that can be made vegan; such as the herb infused olive oil (made without cheese) and the housemade potato chips (served without aioli.)

Here is Margot's menu:
http://www.margotcafe.com/pages/chef_and_menu.html

FiddleCakes

Fiddlecakes is a cute new European-style cafe and bakery in Berry Hill that offers several sandwiches, soups, and salads, as well as baked goods. They usually have 3-4 vegan baked goods like banana-split cupcakes and vegan gingerbead, and the offerings rotate each day.

They definitely qualify as a Nashville vegan restaurant!

Check out their menu online:

Website: www.fiddlecakes.com

Restaurants That Will Create a Vegan Dish for you

Flyte

Flyte is my husband's favorite restaurant, and while it's not a pure Nashville vegan restaurant, they have a few options for us. It's chic and upscale, but has a friendly atmosphere where the owners are out in the main room and remember their frequent visitors. They support local farms and try to serve humanely raised animals.

Their menu varies with the seasons, and so do their options for veg*ns. They have some great appetizers that aren't on the main menu-- they are a la carte items written on a little menu like a sushi menu. I love their hummus, olive plate, and they usually have a bean spread, last time it was a white bean spread with garlic and rosemary.

They also have a few salads and soups that are made without cream and are delicious. On the main menu, there is always one vegetarian dish that can be made vegan, and they are very open to satisfying the customer by making what you need.

Here is Flyte's menu:
http://www.flytenashville.com/menus/dinner/

Restaurants With Veggie Burgers

You will need to check with your waiter to see if they are vegan, but a few places do have a good veggie burger:

• Blackstone
• Boscos
• Bricktop’s
• J.Alexander’s

I hope you enjoyed this Nashville vegan restaurant guide! If you find any other options for Nashville vegan restaurants, please contact me and I can add it to the page.

Share Your Nashville Veg Restaurant Experience

Have you traveled to Nashville and found great places to eat? Share your experience here. We'd like to know where you went, what you ate, and whether you'd recommend the restaurant. If you live in Nashville and have a recommendation for a Nashville veg restaurant, we'd love to hear your story as well.

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