Ottawa has quietly built one of Ontario's more solid plant-based dining scenes, with options that go well beyond salads: a Hare Krishna-run buffet that predates most of the city's current restaurant scene, a vegan Chinese kitchen in the east end, and a downtown bakery where every doughnut is dairy-free. This list was put together by reading each business's own website or social presence alongside public reviews on Google, Yelp, and Tripadvisor, not by visiting in person.
1. Pure Kitchen
Area: Westboro, Elgin Street, and Kanata · Specialty: vegetarian and vegan bowls, wraps, and brunch · Since: 2015 (Westboro)
Pure Kitchen is the closest thing Ottawa has to a vegan flagship, with three locations across the city serving grain bowls, burgers, and brunch plates built around local, seasonal ingredients. Reviewers consistently point to the food as fresh and colourful rather than austere health food, and the multiple locations make it the easiest entry point for someone new to plant-based eating.
2. The Green Door Restaurant & Bakery
Area: Old Ottawa East (Main Street) · Specialty: pay-by-weight vegetarian buffet · Since: 1988
The Green Door has run its self-serve, pay-by-weight buffet since 1988, rotating daily through mains, grain bowls, soups, and baked goods from its in-house bakery. Every dish on the buffet is labelled for whether it's vegan, organic, or gluten-free, which is part of why it's become a go-to for mixed groups of vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores eating together. It's open Tuesday through Sunday and closed Mondays.
3. Govinda's
Area: Sandy Hill (Somerset Street East) · Specialty: Hare Krishna-style vegetarian and vegan home cooking
Govinda's is Ottawa's oldest vegetarian restaurant, run in connection with the Hare Krishna community and known for homecooked dishes served in a quiet, welcoming space at reasonable prices. It reopened in January 2026, and reviewers describe the food as simple, comforting, and made with evident care rather than restaurant polish.
4. Peace-Garden Vegetarian
Area: ByWard Market (Clarence Street) · Specialty: Indian-style vegetarian dishes and baked goods · Rating: 4.8 on Google · Since: 1992
Peace-Garden has been serving Indian-influenced vegetarian dishes, sandwiches, and breakfast items out of ByWard Market since 1992. One Google reviewer summed it up as "super fresh super clean super delicious," and the restaurant's longevity in one of Ottawa's highest-turnover dining strips speaks to a loyal regular customer base.
5. Chickpeas
Area: Trainyards (Terminal Avenue) · Specialty: organic falafel and hummus
Chickpeas bills itself as Ottawa's first and only dedicated falafel and hummus eatery, soaking large batches of organic chickpeas to build its menu of wraps, salads, and hummus dips. Its "fawaffle," a falafel waffle, gets called out repeatedly in customer reviews as the dish that sets it apart from other Middle Eastern spots in the city.
6. Odd Burger
Area: Old Ottawa South (Bank Street) · Specialty: vegan fast food, burgers, and shakes · Since: June 2024
Odd Burger brought a full vegan fast-food menu, burgers, chicken-style sandwiches, tenders, wings, and shakes, to Old Ottawa South in mid-2024. It's part of a Canadian chain that is publicly traded, and the Bank Street location has ample seating and a patio, making it the pick for anyone who wants drive-thru-style comfort food without the animal products.
7. Yugirolls
Area: East end (Virginia Drive) · Specialty: vegan Chinese food
Yugirolls describes itself as Ottawa's only vegan Chinese food vendor, with a fully plant-based and kosher-certified menu. It fills a genuine gap in the city's vegan scene, since dedicated vegan Chinese cooking is otherwise hard to find in Ottawa.
8. Pho By Night
Area: ByWard Market (Dalhousie Street) · Specialty: vegan pho and Vietnamese dishes · Rating: 4.8 on Google (3,600+ reviews) · Since: operating 25+ years
Pho By Night isn't a dedicated vegan restaurant, it's a long-running Vietnamese spot, but it maintains a full plant-based menu with mushroom-broth pho, tofu and seitan proteins, and vegan banh mi prepared separately from the meat kitchen. Its overall Google rating reflects the restaurant as a whole rather than the vegan menu specifically, but the volume of reviews makes it one of the most reviewed restaurants in the city, vegan or otherwise.
9. Strawberry Blonde Bakery
Area: Westboro (Richmond Road) · Specialty: vegan and gluten-free baking
Everything at Strawberry Blonde Bakery is vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, and kosher, from custom celebration cakes to everyday cupcakes and cookies. It's a bakery rather than a sit-down restaurant, but it's frequently cited in local vegan guides as the place to go when a Green Door or Pure Kitchen meal needs dessert.
10. Little Jo Berry's
Area: Hintonburg (Wellington Street West) · Specialty: vegan bakery and cafe · Rating: 4.6 on Tripadvisor
Little Jo Berry's is a fully vegan bakery and cafe where doughnuts, mac and cheese, poutine, and meatless ribs share a menu with pies and other baked goods. The doughnuts are the draw, reviewers note they regularly sell out, making it worth an early visit if that's the goal.
How We Built This List
This list was compiled from publicly available sources, including each business's own website or social media page, and customer reviews on Google, Yelp, and Tripadvisor. It is not a paid placement, and no business on this list paid or was asked to pay for inclusion. Ottown has not tested or personally visited these restaurants; details here reflect what is published by the businesses themselves and what reviewers have reported. Last reviewed August 2026.
Sources: business websites and listings for Pure Kitchen, The Green Door, Govinda's, Peace-Garden Vegetarian, Chickpeas, Odd Burger, Yugirolls, Pho By Night, Strawberry Blonde Bakery, and Little Jo Berry's, along with review data from Google, Yelp, and Tripadvisor.
