Paella was born in the rice fields around the Albufera lagoon, just south of Valencia, and horchata, the chilled tiger nut drink sold all over town, has been plant-based for centuries. The huerta, the ring of market gardens around the city, still sends artichokes, garrofó beans and tender garlic into the Mercat Central every morning, so vegetables here start out very good.
The best eating clusters in Russafa, then spreads through El Carme in the old city, west into Extramurs and down to the beach at El Cabanyal. These eight places cover Sunday paella in a tiny vegan tavern, burgers under a medieval gate, a vegan Chinese buffet and a bakery that has never used an egg. For more cities, browse all the vegan city guides.
Vegan Valencia at a Glance
- Best for a grown-up dinner: Copenhagen
- Best for Sunday paella: La Tavernaire
- Best for eating at any hour: Café Madrigal
- Best for burgers: Khambú
- Best for cinnamon rolls and cake: Coronats
- Best for a set lunch: Lo de Ponxe
- Best for a bargain feast: The Nature
- Best for a night out by the beach: Mestiza
Best Vegan Restaurants in Valencia
1. Copenhagen: The Grown-Up Dinner in Russafa Vegetarian
Order the katsu sando, the crisp breaded sandwich people keep naming in their reviews this year, then a plate of aubergine, which diners describe as cooked with real care. The croquetas are a favourite, and finish with the cheesecake. Cheese turns up across the menu, so ask for the vegan versions, including the aubergine rolls with cashew cheese.
Copenhagen opened in 2011, long before Russafa became the neighbourhood everyone name-checks, and it still feels like the grown-up dinner of the city. The pale Nordic dining room is a cool place to sit through a Valencian August. Service gets warm mentions in recent reviews, and the staff are good at steering you to the vegan dishes.
💡 Tip: I would book this first for a special dinner, and do book, because the restaurant is small and Russafa fills fast. It is closed on Mondays, serves lunch Tuesday to Sunday and dinner Tuesday to Saturday, and the weekday lunch menu runs Tuesday to Friday.
📍 Carrer del Literat Azorín 8, 46006 Valencia | Russafa | ☎️ +34 963 28 99 28 | 🌐 restaurantecopenhagen.es | 📸 @restaurantecopenhagen
2. La Tavernaire: Sunday Paella, Entirely Vegan Vegan
Come on Sunday for the vegan paella, which recent diners call very, very tasty, and expect a wait because the vegetables are prepared fresh for every pan. On other days order the patatas bravas, fried potatoes under a garlicky aioli that one reviewer called clamorous, plus croquetas and coca de dacsa, a Valencian corn flatbread with toppings.
La Tavernaire calls itself a taverna popular vegana, a neighbourhood tavern, and it looks the part: tiny, busy and full of regulars. The menu is written only in Valencian, the regional language, so have a translation app ready or point at the next table’s plates. One recent diner summed it up as Valencian and vegan, and what more could you want.
💡 Tip: If you only manage one meal in Valencia, I would make it Sunday lunch here. Bring cash, because cards are not accepted. It is closed Monday and Tuesday, opens for dinner from 7:30PM Wednesday to Saturday, and serves lunch from 1PM Friday to Sunday.
📍 Carrer de Dénia 18, 46006 Valencia | Russafa
3. Café Madrigal: All-Day Vegan Cafeteria Vegan
Order the tortilla de patatas, the thick Spanish potato omelette, made here with no egg at all. Recent diners loved the shawarma salad and the avocado bowl, calling both delicious and generous, and the avocado and tomato toast wins the breakfast crowd. Bravas and chili sin carne cover the evening, and the dessert counter is entirely vegan too.
Madrigal is a small, pretty cafeteria a few streets from the Russafa market, and it serves from 10AM until late every single day. That makes it the most useful address on this list, because it keeps cooking through the late afternoon when most Spanish kitchens close. The homemade lemonade is the drink to order on a hot day.
💡 Tip: On weekdays the menú del día, a set lunch, gets you three courses for €15 between 1PM and 4:30PM. It pairs easily with Copenhagen or La Tavernaire for a full day in Russafa.
📍 Carrer de Puerto Rico 41, 46006 Valencia | Russafa | ☎️ +34 963 01 87 35 | 🌐 cafemadrigal.es | 📸 @madrigal.cafe
4. Khambú: Vegan Burgers by the Torres de Quart Vegan
Order a burger, because the patties are made in house and reviewers keep saying they are far more elaborate than the usual supermarket kind. Add the rice-based calamari, which one diner said was exactly like the real thing, with the alioli they called to die for. For dessert, the cookie and the bombas get raves for being rich without being too sweet.
Khambú sits under the Torres de Quart, the 15th-century stone gate into the old city, and it is the place for something fast, filling and fully plant-based. Portions are generous, the staff happily steer anyone who cannot decide, and prices stay low. A burger with fries makes an easy lunch before a walk through El Carme.
💡 Tip: The Quart kitchen serves lunch from 1PM to 4PM and dinner from 7:30PM every day. A second Khambú sits by the Russafa market at Carrer dels Tomasos 4, closed on Mondays, if you are staying that side.
📍 Carrer de Quart 41b, 46001 Valencia | El Carme | ☎️ +34 963 12 09 01 | 🌐 khambu.com | 📸 @khambufood
5. Coronats: The Bakery That Never Used an Egg Vegan
Get a cinnamon roll, ideally warm from the oven, because that is what reviewers rave about most; one called the apple pie version phenomenal. Then pick from red velvet and carrot cakes, brownies, blondies and cookies. If you want something savoury, the empanadas, little filled pastries, and slices of quiche make a proper lunch to carry away.
Coronats is a tiny obrador, a working bakery, on Carrer de la Corona, a few minutes from the Torres de Quart, and every single thing on the counter is vegan. There is no seating, so most people buy and walk, which is easy with El Carme on the doorstep. The owner speaks English and Spanish and gets warm words in every review.
💡 Tip: It is closed Monday and Tuesday, so plan your sweet tooth around it, and go early in the day before the cinnamon rolls run out. They also deliver around Valencia by bike courier, handy if you have an apartment.
📍 Carrer de la Corona 32, 46003 Valencia | El Carme | ☎️ +34 613 85 05 30 | 🌐 coronats.es | 📸 @coronats.es
6. Lo de Ponxe: Macrobiotic Cooking Near the Botanic Garden Vegan
Order the set menu, which recent diners love for its shared starters, main and dessert at €22. The kitchen writes it fresh each day, so dishes change, but reviewers have praised a cream of fennel soup and black rice with hummus. Everything is fully vegan and macrobiotic, cooked from seasonal produce, and there is always a gluten-free option.
Lo de Ponxe has been running for over nine years on Guillem de Castro, the wide avenue on the western edge of the old city, and it has the easy feel of a place locals actually use. It is colourful and informal, and the tapas come out in the evenings when the dinner crowd arrives with a glass of wine.
💡 Tip: Lunch runs Monday to Saturday from 1PM, with dinner from 8PM on Friday and Saturday only, and it is closed on Sundays. Book ahead, because it gets busy, and check their Instagram stories for the day’s menu.
📍 Carrer de Guillem de Castro 80, 46008 Valencia | Ciutat Vella | ☎️ +34 665 50 02 88 | 🌐 lodeponxe.com | 📸 @lodeponxe
7. The Nature: A Fully Vegan Chinese Buffet Vegan
Load your plate with the seitan with mushrooms, the sesame noodles and the tofu dishes, then go back for sushi and spring rolls. Recent diners loved it as a classic Chinese buffet at a good price, with every tray vegan. Save room for the flan, and for the free ice cream one happy diner was too full to try.
The Nature sits on Plaça de Vannes in Extramurs, a residential square most visitors never reach, and it has been feeding the neighbourhood for well over a decade. The owners are friendly and happy to explain what is in each dish, including the gluten-free ones. Being able to eat everything without asking a single question is the whole joy of it.
💡 Tip: Arrive right at opening, 1:30PM for lunch or 8:30PM for dinner, when the trays are at their hottest and freshest. It is closed on Mondays, and on Sundays it serves lunch only.
📍 Plaça de Vannes 7, 46007 Valencia | Extramurs | ☎️ +34 963 94 01 41 | 📸 @thenatureveganbuffet
8. Mestiza: Plant-Based World Food in El Cabanyal Vegan
Order the Greek moussaka, which one diner this year called the best they have had, and the Korean cauliflower, which another said you must try. The mushroom ceviche, pakoras and pad thai all get recent praise, and the plates are sized for sharing, so order several. Finish with the brownie or the cheesecake, both singled out as very good.
El Cabanyal is the old fishermen’s quarter of tiled house fronts a few streets back from the beach, and Mestiza is its fully vegan dinner spot. The dining room is decorated like a cheerful living room, with a small terrace out front, and the kitchen roams the world from arepas, Venezuelan corn cakes, to tacos and pad thai.
💡 Tip: I would save this for the last night of a trip. Book ahead, especially on weekends, because it fills fast. Dinner runs nightly from 7:30PM, and lunch is served on weekends from 1:30PM, so a Sunday lunch here pairs well with a walk on the beach.
📍 Carrer de la Reina 186, 46011 Valencia | El Cabanyal | ☎️ +34 963 36 02 02 | 🌐 mestizavalencia.eatbu.com | 📸 @mestiza_cabanyal
The Turia: A River Turned Into a Park
In 1957 the Turia river burst its banks and flooded much of Valencia, so the city moved the river south and turned the old riverbed into a park. The Jardí del Túria now runs for about 9km through the middle of town, sunk below street level, with old stone bridges crossing overhead.
It is the nicest way to get between the places on this list. Rent a bike, roll down into the park near the Torres de Quart for Khambú and Coronats, and ride east past the orange trees and football pitches to the City of Arts and Sciences. From there El Cabanyal and Mestiza are a short ride to the sea.
Vegan Valencia: What to Know Before You Go
- Lunch runs from about 2PM to 4PM and dinner rarely starts before 9PM, and many kitchens close completely in between. Café Madrigal keeps serving through the afternoon.
- Learn one line: soy vegano or soy vegana, sin carne, pescado, huevo ni lácteos (I am vegan, no meat, fish, eggs or dairy).
- In general restaurants a paella de verduras, a vegetable paella, is often cooked in fish or meat stock, and jamón, cured ham, gets scattered over vegetable dishes as a garnish. Ask what the stock is.
- Horchata is vegan, but the fartons, the long sugared buns served with it, usually contain egg and milk. Drink it neat and get something sweet from Coronats.
- Carry some cash, because La Tavernaire does not take cards.
- The Mercat Central, the huge covered market, is open Monday to Saturday mornings and is a lovely hour for fruit and vegetables.
When to Visit Valencia
April to June and late September to November are the sweet spots: warm enough for the beach, cool enough to walk the Turia at midday, and every place on this list running normal hours. Las Fallas, the fire festival from 15 to 19 March, fills the centre with giant papier-mâché sculptures, fireworks and crowds, so book everything well ahead if you go then.
July and August are hot and humid, and in August many independent restaurants close for a couple of weeks while the city heads for the coast. Ring before you go in August, because summer hours change.
Vegan Valencia FAQ
Is Valencia good for vegans?
Yes. Valencia has plenty of fully vegan kitchens, from burgers at Khambú to a vegan Chinese buffet at The Nature, and the market gardens around the city mean the vegetables are excellent. Russafa alone could keep you fed for a long weekend.
Can you eat vegan paella in Valencia?
Yes. Go to La Tavernaire in Russafa for Sunday lunch, when it cooks fully vegan paellas fresh to order. In general restaurants, a vegetable paella is often made with fish or meat stock, so always ask.
What is the best vegan restaurant in Valencia?
For a fully vegan night out, Mestiza in El Cabanyal, with its moussaka and Korean cauliflower. For something distinctly Valencian, La Tavernaire. For a smarter dinner, Copenhagen is vegetarian with plenty of vegan dishes.
Where can I eat vegan in Valencia in the afternoon?
Café Madrigal in Russafa serves from 10AM until late every day, so it keeps cooking when most kitchens close between lunch and dinner.
Is there a vegan bakery in Valencia?
Yes. Coronats in El Carme is a fully vegan bakery known for its cinnamon rolls, cakes and empanadas. It is takeaway only and closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Is vegan food in Valencia expensive?
No. Café Madrigal does a three-course weekday lunch for €15, Lo de Ponxe has a set menu at €22, and The Nature is an all-you-can-eat buffet. Burgers at Khambú are good value too.
Is horchata vegan?
Horchata itself is made from tiger nuts, water and sugar, so it is vegan. The fartons served alongside usually contain egg and milk.