Vegan Munich

Munich wrote its most famous food rule in 1516, when Bavaria’s purity law limited beer to water, barley and hops, and the city has taken what goes into its glasses and onto its plates seriously ever since. The plant-based kitchens carry on the habit: a vegan Wirtshaus (Bavarian tavern) serving schnitzel and Kaiserschmarrn, sourdough pizza topped with kimchi, and pho good enough to cross town for.

Most of these places are a short U-Bahn ride from Marienplatz, the main square, spread across Maxvorstadt, Glockenbach and the Westend, with one across the Isar river in Haidhausen and one out in leafy Neuhausen. Eight of the nine are fully vegan and the ninth is a vegetarian classic from 1984. For more cities, browse my vegan travel destinations.

Vegan Munich at a Glance

• Best Bavarian classics: Bodhi
• Best pizza: Doctor Drooly
• Best weekend breakfast: Max Pett
• Best weekday lunch deal: Soy
• Best courtyard brunch: Emmi’s Kitchen
• Best French toast: Om Nom Nom
• Best with cats: Katzentempel
• Best near Marienplatz: Prinz Myshkin
• Best döner: Erbil’s Vegan

Best Vegan Restaurants in Munich

1. Bodhi: Bavarian Tavern Classics, All Plant-Based Vegan

Order the Schnitzel Wiener Art, breaded and fried until golden, which diners keep calling amazing, with its tangy potato and cucumber salad, smoked tofu and lingonberries on the side. The Kaiserschmarrn, torn caramelised pancake with almonds, raisins and apple compote, has almost as big a fan club. Bring an appetite, because the portions here are properly Bavarian.

For a second round, the bodhi-Pfanderl is the house classic: a crispy plant-based steak in dark beer gravy with red cabbage and potato dumplings. Loaded fries and spicy cauliflower wings keep the beer company. Bodhi is a proper Wirtshaus, with wooden tables, loud Saturday nights and every dish on the menu made in house and 100% vegan.

💡 Tip: Bodhi opens at 5PM Monday to Friday and at 12PM on Saturdays and Sundays, so a weekend lunch is the easiest way in. Reserve through the website for Friday and Saturday nights.

📍 Ligsalzstraße 23, 80339 München | Schwanthalerhöhe (Westend) | ☎️ +49 89 41142458 | 🌐 bodhivegan.de | 📸 @bodhivegan

2. Doctor Drooly: Sourdough Pizza With Cashew Parmesan Vegan

Order the Kimchi Oyster, the pizza regulars name as their favourite, or the Truffle Potato if you want something rich and earthy. The base is a slow-fermented sourdough, and people describe the crust as perfectly crispy under a rich tomato sauce. The house cashew parmesan goes on almost everything, and you should let it.

If you are ordering for two, add the Jane Birkin, which has its own loyal fans, and an Italian lemon soda to drink. Doctor Drooly is a small, casual pizzeria on Häberlstraße where every pizza is vegan, and the mood is part neighbourhood hangout, part cheerful queue on the pavement on Sunday evenings.

💡 Tip: It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, opens at 5PM Wednesday to Saturday and 12PM on Sundays, and closes at 9:30PM. Arrive at opening or expect up to a 30-minute wait for a table.

📍 Häberlstraße 7, 80337 München | Isarvorstadt | ☎️ +49 89 51702709 | 🌐 doctordrooly.de | 📸 @doctordrooly

3. Max Pett: Soy Schnitzel and Weekend Breakfast Near Sendlinger Tor Vegan

Order the soy schnitzel Wiener Art with fries, a crisp breaded cutlet with a big following, or the Käsespätzle, soft noodles baked with melted vegan cheese and fried onions. In the colder months, look for the lentil and nut roast with celeriac mash and kale, which one regular called a dream. Everything on the menu is vegan.

Save room for cake, because the vegan cakes are so loved that Max Pett takes orders for whole ones. The restaurant is calm and modern, with a terrace under tall shady trees that is perfect for people-watching in summer. Prices sit at the higher end for Munich, and the careful cooking justifies them.

💡 Tip: Breakfast runs from 10AM to 12:30PM on Saturdays and Sundays only, and lunch starts after that. It is closed on Mondays and opens at 5PM Tuesday to Thursday, so book ahead for weekend breakfast.

📍 Pettenkoferstraße 8, 80336 München | Ludwigsvorstadt | ☎️ +49 89 55869119 | 🌐 max-pett.de | 📸 @maxpettmunich

4. Soy: Vegan Vietnamese Pho and Asian Tapas in Maxvorstadt Vegan

Order the pho, which one diner called the best food they ate in Germany, with a broth that is deeply flavoured without leaning on chilli. The Asian tapas are the other big draw: seaweed salad, dumplings and summer rolls with peanut sauce, all made for sharing. Laksa, red coconut curries and the hot pot cover colder nights.

Finish with the mango lassi, which gets its own fan mail, or the panna cotta. Soy sits in Maxvorstadt, the university and museum quarter, with a terrace in summer and an air-conditioned dining room for hot days. The rice-table sets for two, a spread of several dishes at once, are made for long dinners.

💡 Tip: The weekday lunch menu, served 11:30AM to 2:30PM, costs just under €12 with a summer roll or soup included. Bring cash or a German debit card, because Soy takes no credit cards. It is open daily 11:30AM to 2:30PM and 5PM to 11:30PM.

📍 Theresienstraße 93, 80333 München | Maxvorstadt | ☎️ +49 89 54540886 | 🌐 soy-muenchen.com | 📸 @soy.muenchen

5. Emmi’s Kitchen: Cinnamon Rolls in a Glockenbach Courtyard Vegan

Order the cinnamon roll first, because it is the dish people talk about most. Then go savoury with the tofu scramble or a bagel, and add the avocado bread if you are sharing. Regulars also rave about the rice pudding and the vegan chocolate cake, while the pancakes and granola cover the sweeter end of breakfast.

Emmi’s Kitchen hides at the end of a small driveway off an ordinary street in Glockenbach, the bar-lined quarter south of the old town, and opens onto a leafy courtyard garden that one reviewer called an oasis. Inside is bright and cosy, the music stays low and service is quick. Vegan sausages and burgers cover lunch.

💡 Tip: It is open every day from 9AM to 5PM, so plan it as breakfast or lunch. Weekend mornings fill up, so aim for a courtyard table at 9AM.

📍 Buttermelcherstraße 11-15, 80469 München | Glockenbach | ☎️ +49 89 55261878 | 🌐 emmis.kitchen | 📸 @emmis.kitchen

6. Om Nom Nom Café: French Toast and Truffle Toasties in Neuhausen Vegan

Order the French toast, which reviewers call incredibly fluffy, topped with fresh berries and pistachios. For something savoury, the Truffle Melted Sandwich layers melty vegan cheese and artichoke on excellent bread, and the grilled cheese has a following of its own. Add a matcha blueberry swirl or a cortado, because the coffee here is taken seriously.

Om Nom Nom is a small, friendly café on Volkartstraße in Neuhausen, a residential district west of the centre, and it is plant-based down to the cookies. Portions are filling, there are gluten-free options, and the welcome is warm enough that people come back twice on the same trip. Book a table online for weekend brunch.

💡 Tip: It is closed on Mondays and open 9AM to 4PM Tuesday to Sunday, with hot food served until 2PM. Bring a card, because it is cashless.

📍 Volkartstraße 70, 80636 München | Neuhausen | ☎️ +49 89 76702464 | 🌐 om-nom-nom.de | 📸 @omnomnom_muc

7. Katzentempel: Rainbow Bowls and Cheezburgers With Resident Cats Vegan

Order the Rainbow Bowl, a big, colourful rice bowl that regulars order on repeat, or the double Cheezburger if you want something heartier. Club sandwiches, breakfast plates and a long list of fresh juices and coffees fill out the menu, and the chocolate cake is the dessert everyone photographs. Try the Mewjito, the house take on a mojito.

Katzentempel translates as cat temple, and the rescue cats who live here wander between the tables while you eat. If you are lucky one will stop by for a stroke, but the cats decide. Everything is vegan, portions are filling, and it sits on Türkenstraße in Maxvorstadt, a short walk from the Pinakothek art museums.

💡 Tip: It opens at 10AM Monday to Friday and 9AM on weekends, closing between 8PM and 9PM. Book a table online for weekend afternoons, when it is busiest.

📍 Türkenstraße 29, 80799 München | Maxvorstadt | ☎️ +49 89 20061249 | 🌐 katzentempel.de | 📸 @katzentempel

8. Prinz Myshkin: Vegan Ravioli in the Old Town Since 1984 Vegetarian

Order the vegan ravioli, which recent diners named their favourite, or the vegan gnocchi, both in generous portions. In summer the gazpacho and ratatouille get glowing write-ups, and a Hugo, the elderflower and prosecco spritz, turns lunch into a long afternoon. The staff will walk you through the menu in English and point out the vegan dishes.

Prinz Myshkin has been cooking meat-free in Munich since 1984, long before the rest of the city caught up. It is vegetarian, so dairy and egg appear in some dishes, and you should ask for the vegan version when you order. The dining room is elegant and modern, a few minutes on foot from Marienplatz.

💡 Tip: It is open daily from 11AM to 11PM, with the kitchen running until 9:30PM. Look at the lunch menu on the website before you go, because it is the best-value way to eat here.

📍 Hackenstraße 2, 80331 München | Altstadt (old town) | ☎️ +49 89 265596 | 🌐 prinzmyshkin.com | 📸 @prinz_myshkin

9. Erbil’s Vegan: Seitan Döner and Moussaka East of the Isar Vegan

Order the Royal Seitan Döner, as a dürüm wrap or stuffed into bread, because nearly every reviewer mentions it, and add a vegan ayran, the salty yoghurt drink. One regular called the döner plate the best they had ever eaten. Falafel, moussaka and a tofu schnitzel plate with a spread of salads cover the rest of the table.

Finish with baklava or cheesecake. Erbil’s is a small, warm and fully vegan Mediterranean restaurant in Haidhausen, five minutes on foot from München Ost station, and everything is home cooked. Prices are fair, portions are generous, and the owner and staff greet you like a regular even on your first visit.

💡 Tip: It is open every day from 10:30AM to 8PM, which makes it an easy early dinner before a train from München Ost.

📍 Breisacher Straße 13, 81667 München | Haidhausen | ☎️ +49 89 32747807 | 🌐 erbils-vegan.de | 📸 @erbilsvegan

Munich Beer Gardens and the Bring-Your-Own-Food Rule

Munich’s traditional beer gardens let you bring your own food and buy only the drinks, a custom so old that Bavaria wrote it into law in 1999. The bare wooden tables without tablecloths are the ones meant for picnickers. That makes a beer garden the easiest vegan dinner in town: pick up a takeaway box from Erbil’s or Max Pett, then buy a Mass, a one-litre beer, on site.

The Chinesischer Turm in the Englischer Garten, the city’s huge central park, is the famous one, set around a wooden pagoda. Augustiner-Keller on Arnulfstraße sits under old chestnut trees a short walk from the main station, and Hirschgarten, near Nymphenburg Palace, is the biggest of them all, with deer grazing in an enclosure next door. Most run from spring to early autumn, weather permitting.

Vegan Munich: What to Know Before You Go

• Plenty of kitchens close one or two days a week, most often Monday and Tuesday, so read each tip before you plan a day around a place.
• Payment varies: Soy takes only cash or German debit cards, while Om Nom Nom is card only. Carry some cash as well as a card.
• On German menus, vegan means fully plant-based, but vegetarisch (vegetarian) dishes can contain Ei (egg), Sahne (cream) or Butter, so look for the word vegan itself.
• In traditional Bavarian restaurants, Semmelknödel (bread dumplings) and Spätzle (soft egg noodles) normally contain egg, so save those cravings for Bodhi and Max Pett.
• At bakeries, a plain Brezn, the Bavarian lye pretzel, is usually made without dairy. Skip the Butterbrezn, which comes split and spread with butter.
• Oktoberfest runs from mid-September to the first weekend of October, and hotel prices jump during it, so book early if your dates overlap.
• Carrying on through Germany? My guides to vegan Berlin, vegan Hamburg and vegan Frankfurt cover the next stops.

When to Visit Munich

May to September is beer garden season, with long light evenings and the terraces open at Max Pett, Soy and Emmi’s Kitchen. Oktoberfest fills the city from mid-September into early October, and while the Wiesn (the festival grounds) is heavy on roast chicken and sausages, Bodhi and Max Pett make easy stops before or after.

December brings the Christkindlmarkt, the Christmas market on Marienplatz, with roasted chestnuts and Glühwein (mulled wine) under the town hall tower. January to March is cold and quiet, the best time to find a table without booking ahead.

Vegan Munich FAQ

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