Vegan Food in Berkeley: Where Plant-Based Eating Lives
The vegan food court was the heart of every Berkeley Earth Day festival, and for good reason. Few places in America have eaten plants so enthusiastically for so long. Whether you are vegan, curious or just hungry, here is how to eat well in Berkeley without animal products.
A long plant-based tradition
Berkeley's food culture grew out of the 1960s and 1970s counterculture, food co-ops and the farm-to-table movement that put the city on the culinary map. Vegetarian cookbooks, natural food stores and collectives flourished here early, and the University keeps a steady stream of adventurous young eaters in town. Today almost every restaurant in Berkeley offers vegan options, and many menus mark them clearly.
Where to shop
- Farmers' markets: the Ecology Center runs Berkeley's farmers' markets, with markets on different days in downtown, south and north Berkeley. Check the current schedule before you go. Expect seasonal produce, tofu and tempeh makers, bread, nuts and dried fruit.
- Independent grocers: Berkeley Bowl, with two stores in the city, is famous for its enormous produce section, including unusual fruit, mushrooms and greens you rarely see elsewhere.
- Co-ops and natural food stores: great for bulk grains, beans, plant milks and vegan cheeses.
Cuisines that make vegan easy
You do not need a dedicated vegan restaurant to eat well. Many of the cuisines that are well represented in the East Bay have plant-based traditions:
| Cuisine | Look for |
|---|---|
| Ethiopian and Eritrean | Lentil and split pea stews, greens and injera; many places offer a fasting (vegan) platter |
| Middle Eastern | Falafel, hummus, baba ghanoush, tabbouleh |
| Indian | Chana masala, dal, aloo gobi; ask for no ghee or cream |
| Chinese and Taiwanese Buddhist | Tofu, mock meats and vegetable dishes |
| Thai and Vietnamese | Tofu curries, pho with vegetable broth, fresh rolls; check for fish sauce |
| Mexican | Bean and vegetable burritos, tacos with mushrooms or potatoes; ask about lard in beans |
Eating out: practical tips
- Ask how dishes are cooked. Butter, ghee, fish sauce and chicken stock hide in surprising places.
- Pizza places and burrito spots often have vegan cheese or will leave it off.
- Bakeries increasingly sell vegan pastries; morning is the best time to find them.
- Bring a reusable container for leftovers. It also helps you avoid the disposable container charge under the city's foodware rules (see zero waste in Berkeley).
Food justice matters too
Plant-based eating in the Bay Area is not only about personal health or animals. Food justice groups point out that farmworkers face low pay and heat stress, and that many low-income neighbourhoods lack good grocery stores. Speakers at past Berkeley Earth Day festivals often made that link, and it is worth keeping in mind when choosing where to shop. Our article on plant-based food and the climate looks at the environmental side.
Vegan Berkeley quick guide
- Markets
- Ecology Center farmers' markets, several days a week
- Groceries
- Berkeley Bowl, co-ops, natural food stores
- Easy cuisines
- Ethiopian, Middle Eastern, Indian, Chinese Buddhist
- Ask about
- Ghee, fish sauce, stock, lard
- Bring
- Reusable cup and container
A day out, plant-based
A perfect car-free vegan day in Berkeley might start with coffee and a pastry downtown, a morning at the farmers' market, a walk up to the campus or into the hills, and an early dinner of falafel or an Ethiopian platter before catching BART home. Add a film screening or a talk and you have recreated the best parts of the old festival, on your own schedule.
The same habits travel well. Plant-based options have spread far beyond the Bay Area: many of the big casino resorts in Reno and Las Vegas now mark vegan dishes on their café and buffet menus, so a weekend over the mountains no longer means living on fries and side salads.