The 9 Best Vegan Restaurants in Edinburgh (2026)

Holy Cow is the fully vegan sit-down meal I'd point most people to first. It has been going since 2016, one of Edinburgh's original 100% vegan cafes, and it earned its cult status on the burgers: a proper spread built from tofu, mushroom, jackfruit, beans and celeriac rather than one lonely bean patty. It sits in a snug basement room off Elder Street near St Andrew Square, so it's central, quick to reach from Waverley, and genuinely a restaurant rather than a novelty. Everything is plant-based, organic and fairtrade, and the full vegan breakfast (around £16, with Italian-style sausage, tempeh bacon, scrambled tofu and a potato scone) is the other order to know about.

The honest catch is space. It's a small room and it gets busy, so book a table for weekends rather than turning up and hoping. Hours are Monday to Thursday from midday and Friday to Sunday from 10am, both to 10pm. If you want one fully vegan meal in the city centre and you don't want to trek to Leith for it, this is the one I'd book.

Novapizza Vegan Kitchen is the fully vegan Italian, and it's the real thing. A Roman family have run it on Howe Street since 2015, making it the first meat-free pizzeria in Edinburgh, and the whole menu is plant-based: Roman-style stone-baked pizzas on their own dough, pasta including a vegan carbonara, and a vegan tiramisu worth leaving room for. Pizzas run roughly £13 to £16. It's a New Town walk from the centre, down toward Stockbridge, and it's a small, warm room that rewards a proper sit-down over a takeaway.

Two things to plan around. It's evenings-only, and it's closed Tuesday and Wednesday, so this is a Thursday-to-Sunday (or Monday) dinner, not a spontaneous lunch. And because the room is small and the family cook everything to order, book ahead through OpenTable at weekends. Get that right and it's the best vegan pizza in the city.

Paradise Palms is where I'd go for vegan Mexican and a good time in equal measure. It's a fully vegetarian and vegan tropical dive bar off Bristo Square, running since 2014, with a record store, a wall of neon and bunting, and a kitchen turning out a vegan take on Mexican street food. The quesa birria (three grilled tortillas with vegan steak birria and a chipotle consommé to dip, £14.95) is the dish to order; tacos run £8.95 to £9.95, and the cocktails are a big part of the appeal.

Be clear on what it is: a bar first, restaurant second. It's walk-in (they deliberately keep space for walk-ins, and during the Fringe it's walk-in only), the kitchen runs until quarter to ten, and on a Friday night it's more party than quiet dinner. Come for the birria, the margaritas and the atmosphere, and it's one of the most fun vegan meals in town. Come looking for a calm sit-down and you've picked the wrong room.

The Sly Fox is the fully vegan Leith cafe I'd build a morning around. It grew out of a street-food stall and now has a permanent, women-run home on Henderson Street, serving hearty, Czech-influenced comfort food: goulash, a well-reviewed mac and cheese, potato rosti with sauerkraut, dirty falafel, and brunch plates like tofu scramble and 'salmon' cream on toast. Plates land around £8 to £12, portions are generous, and at 4.9 on Google it's one of the highest-rated vegan spots in the city.

The one thing to know is the hours. It's daytime only and closed Monday and Tuesday, so it's a brunch or lunch plan, not dinner, and it's a small room, so at weekends you may wait. Pair it with a wander round the Shore and it's a lovely Leith morning.

FacePlant Foods does one thing and does it brilliantly: grilled cheeze sandwiches, entirely vegan, made with their own plant-based meats and cheese. This tiny Duke Street spot in Leith is the place for a haggis melt with caramelised onion chutney, a jackfruit and kimchi toastie, or the mac and two cheeze, with most sandwiches around £8 to £10. It's a 4.9 on Google and a proper local favourite, not a tourist trap.

The catch is access. It's open Thursday to Sunday only, daytime hours, with very little seating, though you can order through Deliveroo if you'd rather eat at home. Time your Leith day around it (it's a five-minute walk from The Sly Fox, so you can do both) and it's one of the most satisfying quick vegan lunches in Edinburgh.

Black Rabbit is Edinburgh's best fully vegan brunch, and that includes for people who aren't vegan. It's a tiny plant-based cafe on Brougham Street in Tollcross, and the tofu benedict is the dish that keeps appearing in reviews, usually with a note of surprise that vegan eggs benedict can taste this good. The full vegan breakfast is hearty and properly seasoned, the haggis and cheese toastie works, and the cinnamon rolls and cakes are excellent. Plates are around £8 to £11, and at 4.9 on Google it punches well above its size.

The honest limitation is that it's essentially takeaway. There are about ten seats, so most people order and carry it across to a bench in the Meadows, which on a dry day is no hardship at all. It's closed Mondays and it's daytime only, so make it a late-morning plan. For a plant-based breakfast in the city centre, it's the one I'd send a friend to.

David Bann is the restaurant I'd book for a proper dinner, with one honest caveat: it's fully vegetarian, not fully vegan. Roughly half the all-day menu is vegan and the kitchen will happily adapt more, so in practice you eat very well as a vegan here, but you're ordering from the vegan side rather than the whole card. It's a smart, candlelit room on St Mary's Street, two minutes off the bottom of the Royal Mile, it's Michelin-Guide-listed, and the cooking is genuinely creative: global, seasonal, with desserts people talk about afterwards.

Prices are gentle for the quality, with a set menu at £24.50 for two courses or £31 for three, plus à la carte. It's open daily from midday, and it takes bookings, which you'll want at weekends. If you're vegan and want the one dinner that feels like an occasion rather than a cafe, and you don't mind that the venue is vegetarian rather than strictly vegan, this is my pick.

Kalpna is the other vegetarian institution worth knowing, and it's older than most of the city's vegans: it has been serving on St Patrick Square in the Southside since 1975. The cooking pulls from Gujarati and South Indian traditions, there's a clearly marked vegan section, and the signature dum aloo Kashmiri (potato barrels in a ginger, honey and tomato sauce, £14.95) is a good place to start. The weekday lunch buffet, Monday to Saturday, is the value option and a low-stakes way to try a spread.

Two honest notes. Its Google score is more middling than the newer vegan cafes, which reflects the occasional off night and the dated decor more than the food, which long-time regulars still rate highly. And the lunch buffet runs Monday to Saturday only, though the kitchen is open seven days a week for à la carte. Book ahead through the website for dinner, order across the vegetarian and vegan menu, and treat it as the reliable, characterful Indian it has been for fifty years.

Go Go Beets is the plant-based lunch to build a Portobello afternoon around. It's a small, brightly coloured veggie cafe and deli on Portobello High Street, almost entirely plant-based, where everything is made to order: the roll with leeks, veggie haggis and a tattie scone is the local favourite, and the HLT sandwich with a lime and coriander drizzle converts committed carnivores. Rolls and sandwiches run around £6 to £8, nearly everything has a gluten-free option, and the cakes and empire biscuits are excellent. It holds a rare 5.0 on Google, admittedly across a smaller review count than the big central spots.

The only real drawback is that there's essentially one table, so this is a grab-and-go. That's no bad thing here: get your lunch, walk two minutes to the promenade, and eat it looking at the sea. Note it's closed Monday and Tuesday and it's a 30-minute bus from the centre, so it's a deliberate trip rather than a passing stop, and worth it on a sunny day.