Vegan food in Puerto Rico: Old San Juan & Beyond
Vegan food in Puerto Rico
Vegan food in Puerto Rico is pretty incredible. The island may be known for rice, plantains, and pork, but its cuisine is far more diverse and much of it is vegan-friendly. It’s come a loooong way since my first visit 2008, when I struggled to find a meal made without butter or some type of pig product.
An increasing number of restaurants are offering creative takes on Puerto Rican classics like vegan mofongo and pastelón, while others are specializing in international or fusion cuisine. Vegan food in San Juan, Puerto Rico is definitely the most varied and abundant but know that but meat-free establishments are popping up all over the island. Read on to learn about the best vegan restaurants in Puerto Rico and how to be vegan in San Juan and beyond.
Vegan food in San Juan, Puerto Rico
If you were to do a quick online search for “best vegan food in Puerto Rico”, Old San Juan (Viejo San Juan), Santurce, and Condado typically come up as having the most vegan restaurants and the best vegan food in Puerto Rico. Those restaurants receive the most tourists (and online reviews) because they’re popular neighborhoods for tourists to stay in but they don’t necessarily serve the best vegan food. I’ll admit that these neighborhoods are amazing so read on for links to nice AirBnBs in vegan-friendly areas.
Most of the “best vegan food in San Juan, Puerto Rico” posts out there highlight the most convenient vegan options if you’re staying in Old San Juan. A lot of the suggestions are for meaty restaurants that have one vegan option while completely ignoring fully vegetarian and vegan restaurants that are away from the main tourist drag. The best vegan food in San Juan may require you to take an Uber to get there. I promise, it’s worth it.
Vegan restaurants in San Juan
Just like vegan and vegetarian restaurants around the world, many of the plant-based eateries in Puerto Rico offer eclectic food and vegan staples like falafel and veggie burgers. In my opinion, most of the vegan options in touristy neighborhoods like Old San Juan tend to be more generic vegan (pizza & pasta) and less Puerto Rican-specific. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Old San Juan and I like to stay there when I visit, but I prefer to eat at vegan restaurants that specialize in Puerto Rican food. These restaurants are typically found in non-touristy neighborhoods further out from the city center. As such, I’ll begin listing these non-touristy vegan havens before rounding up restaurants in/near the city center.
Vegan restaurants in non-touristy areas
La Buena Mesa is my favorite spot for vegan Puerto Rican food but their situation is a bit confusing. There’s a couple restaurants with similar names (one has “de Oscar” on the end, one doesn’t) but they’ve undergone management changes and the Facebook page I link to is actually the name of a different restaurant but it has the correct address for this restaurant (1160 Americo Miranda Ave, 00921 San Juan, Puerto Rico). I do this because La Buena Mesa doesn’t have a website or Facebook page yet and their Yelp page has the wrong name and wrong hours but the correct address. Did you get all that? :)
Anyway, the REAL La Buena Mesa is open daily from 8:30am-3pm and has a buffet with spaghetti (which I promise is better than you’d expect), veggie burgers, mashed potatoes, and a good salad bar but the real specialties are the Puerto Rican-influenced dishes. Various bean dishes, soups, and hearty root mains round out the menu though my favorites are the alcapurria (snack food). These savory stuffed potato and yucca treats are filled with garbanzos, mushrooms, soy meat, or mixed vegetables and they are absolutely delicious. They also travel and keep well so I like to get a big box to eat the next day.
Lunch buffet at La Buena Mesa
Vegan alcapurria and carbs to go
Vegan pastelon from Punto Vegano
Just across the bay in the working class Cataño neighborhood is Punto Vegano. In the usual Puerto Rican fashion, buffet lunch is served until it runs out, around 2:30pm, at which point a menu of vegan pizza, sandwiches, and burgers is available. The lunch is the best option and includes veganized Puerto Rican favorites such as pastel (similar to a Mexican tamale, only made with plantain masa) and pastelón, a sort of lasagna consisting of layers of yucca, soy meat, and vegan cheese. If you’re lucky, they’ll have “Impossible sandwiches”, made of a vegan Impossible burger stuffed between crispy fried plantains and topped with melted cheese.
Pro tip: take the ferry from Old San Juan, as it costs only 50 cents each way and is a much more beautiful ride than you’d get in a taxi. The restaurant is a 5-minute walk from the ferry. While you’re in the area, consider catching a cab to the Bacardi Rum factory tour less than two miles away.
This place is just down the street from La Buena Mesa so since they’re both pretty out of the way, I’d recommend eating here and getting a big plate of buffet-food from La Buena Mesa to go and enjoy later. The menu ranges from “hangover garbanzo soup” and seitan ribs to vegan nachos and pizza and they prioritize using local, unprocessed, and sustainable ingredients. The restaurant composts and recycles (which aren’t as common as you may think), they dont give out any plastic utencils, styrofoam, or anything that could be harmful to the island’s ecosystem.
Nestled between auto shops and one-room offices on a busy, unassuming street in the Bayamón neighborhood is this creative, fully vegan restaurant that you’d expect to find in a much trendier area. Instead of hipsters and tourists dining, ConGrek attracts everyday Puerto Ricans, families, and couples. It’s the only place you can find a good vegan breakfast after noon. Like most good vegan restaurants in San Juan, the restaurant is only open until 3pm.
Pancakes at ConGrek are fantastic (I recommend the pumpkin!) and are served with a generous portion of fresh fruit, maple syrup, and chocolate sauce. Lunch items change daily and range from mushroom fajitas with brown rice to lasagna with mixed green salad. Want a great vegan version of Puerto Rico’s quintessential dish, mofongo, this is the place to get it!
Vegan pancakes at ConGrek
Vegan lasagna at ConGrek
Vegan restaurants in Old San Juan
Viejo San Juan doesn’t have a ton of exclusively-veg places but there’s decent vegan options at many restaurants. Many, many restaurants have clearly marked menus that distinguish between vegan and vegetarian and staff tend to be fairly knowledgeable.
Looking for upscale vegan cuisine? Then Marmalade is your jam. Get it? :) Spiced chickpea sausage, hand rolled black truffle pasta, and spaghetti squash red curry ramen definitely make this the most interesting (and delicious) vegan-friendly restaurant in Old San Juan, though prepare to spend $75-100 per person. Wine pairing is also available.
The vegan breakfast platter (tofu scramble, veggie sausage, and toast) is the best vegan breakfast you’ll find in Old San Juan simply because breakfast tends to be the hardest for vegans. For lunch or dinner, vegan Bolognese, tacos, and tofu round out the menu. The location is convenient, which is why so many blogs list this as one of “the best” vegan restaurants in San Juan, but the food is pretty basic.
If you’re stuck with meat eaters that refuse to go to an all-veg place, then you can find vegan mofongo and vegan piña coladas at Barrachina. It’s not the best vegan mofongo you’ll find in the city but the restaurant is the birthplace of the piña colada so it’s a good compromise for mixed groups.
Vegan mofongo and piña colada at Barrachina
Vegan nachos from Cocobana in San Juan
Vegan restaurants in Santurce and Condado
Cocobana feels exactly like you’d expect a vegan restaurant to feel. It’s a large, sunny restaurant in Condado that doubles as a work space should you need to bust out your laptop and take advantage of their free Wi-Fi. Their pancakes are great but breakfast is only served until 11am. After that point, order a sandwich or wrap off the menu or check out the lunch buffet, which changes daily and includes items like layered eggplant and black bean-stuffed bell peppers. Cocobana is also known for their fresh coconut milk smoothies – I recommend the coconut and papaya or the coconut and ginger.
Vegan donuts? Yes, please! Technically, Kudough’s isn’t exactly in Condado, it’s just outside, but it’s right between Condado and Santurce so it’s the perfect place to grab dessert after eating in either neighborhood (vegan desserts aren’t so plentiful in most restaurants). Flavors rotate but keep your eye out for vegan chocolate almond, toasted coconut, and passion fruit donuts! Want more than just dessert? Check out their big burger and other vegan entrees.
Vegan donut from Kudough’s
Healthy spring rolls at Volando Bajito
This adorable bar/restaurant is a trendy joint offering innovative food. Though it’s a mostly meaty place, their vegan options are some of the best in the city, particularly the fried cauliflower wings and the vegan sliders. The restaurant offers a #HealthyThursday promotion, where you can get the vegan wings half off from 5-7pm. Quick note to those with mild taste buds, the spicy sauce is much hotter than you expect it to be!
Often described as a “vegan sanctuary”, Bori Vegan offers tasty dishes like their famous “bori nachos”, poke bowls, and stuffed avocados, all of which go well with their smoothies.
AirBnBs in Vegan-Friendly Neighborhoods
I already mentioned that a lot of the best vegan food in San Juan is found in residential neighborhoods a bit far from the places most visitors want to stay. Though I don’t think Old San Juan, Santurce, or Condado have the absolute best vegan food, they do have good options, and I think they’re the best neighborhoods to stay in because there’s so much interesting architecture, live music, and street art, and so many museums, beaches, and generally awesome things to do.
To help you plan your trip, I’m including below some links to AirBnBs in these neighborhoods that I think you’ll like. If it’s your first time using AirBnB, check out my referral code to save $35 on your first trip!
Old San Juan
2-BR apartment in a unique 1920s building w/ balcony
Budget room in a shared apartment overlooking the plaza
Trendy loft-style apartment in a guesthouse with rooftop
Sunny, modern penthouse with a swing and rooftop patio
Affordable room in a shared apartment with rooftop patio & hammocks
Me in Old San Juan in January, 2020
Street art in Santurce
Santurce
Cozy, affordable apartment with a patio
Super budget room in a shared condo
1BR apartment with roof terrace and free parking
Affordable 3BR apartment with washer/dryer
Condado
Modern luxury loft with ocean views
Affordable boutique hotel near the beach
Cueva Ventana near San Juan
Endless beaches in Puerto Rico
Planning Your Trip to Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico may be a small island but it is JAM PACKED with things to do. From surfing, scuba diving, and snorkeling to hiking, paddle boarding, and inner tubing down rivers, the island is the perfect place for enjoying nature and outdoor activities. Gorgeous beaches are all over the place and the entire island is easy to explore by car. Puerto Rico hosts a large Veg Fest each April and Plants n Potatoes has a helpful Facebook map of vegan-friendly food around the island for those planning their own trip.
Renting a car is the best way to get around the island but if you’re sticking to San Juan and don’t have a car, just catch an Uber or a taxi. Head over to the northwest corner, a short drive from San Juan, where you can stay at a vegan guesthouse in Rincón.
Flight prices have recently dropped to Puerto Rico so dig around on Expedia.com and Orbitz.com to see which airlines are currently offering the best deals. If you’re not into AirBnB, check out hotel deals on Hotels.com and Booking.com.
Travel insurance is SO important while traveling and covers everything from unexpected injuries, trip cancellations, flight changes, lost baggage, or having to cut your trip short due to an emergency back home. I’ve bought World Nomads travel insurance for EVERY trip I’ve taken in the past four years and highly recommend them.
I’ll be launching a vegan-friendly group trip to Puerto Rico in 2021 and I’d love you to join. Want to get updates about vegan-friendly and fully vegan trips to Puerto Rico, Mexico, Cuba, and beyond, sign up for my newsletter below.
Have any questions or suggestions about vegan food in Puerto Rico? Drop a comment below!
