Hearts Choices has four different vegan and vegetarian branches in Calgary. First, visit the Thai Vegan Café. Their menu includes mock meats, delicious Thai curries, and stir fries. They are also at the Calgary Farmer’s Market, where they began in 2011, and recently opened a new café/market on 6th Street NE. Also look out for their Veggie Truck roaming the streets. It’s Calgary’s only 100% vegan food truck.
The White Rose Vegetarian Kitchen has a menu filled with “truly creative combinations of ingredients, flavours, textures, and seasonings.” The menu includes snack, smaller, and large plate selections, which are made to be shared family-style. The team are also wonderfully willing to work with special dietary requirements, and the menu is almost entirely gluten free. If dining with meat-loving friends, they can order from the restaurant’s Coal Shed Smokehouse menu.
This is a pizza place with a twist, as Avatara Pizza’s menu is a little different to most. Every item is 100% gluten free, and vegan cheese is available. The majority of their menu (70%) is vegetarian, but there’s the option of adding meat. Two popular choices at Avatara Pizza include the Guru (including butter chicken sauce, mozzarella, peppers, red onion, mango chutney drizzle, and fresh cilantro) and the Crusty Cowboy (chilli-lime BBQ sauce, cheese, mushrooms, pineapple, homemade bruschetta, honey drizzle, and crushed cashews).
Buddha’s Veggie Restaurant used to be exclusively vegetarian, but there are now a few meat dishes on the menu. Nevertheless, vegetarians will love the Asian fusion cuisine, with Thai, Malay, Canton, and Singaporean influences. The restaurant has a deal on a daily dish, as well as cheap lunch specials. They also serve dim sum on Saturdays and Sundays.
Opening its doors in the summer of 2016, Raw Eatery and Market is all about fresh, local ingredients and plant-based foods coming together in healthy recipes, created by nutritionist Megan Pope. Their simple vegan menu includes salads with catchy names like the Tangled Thai and the Kale-Mary. There are also tacos and pad Thai options. Raw Eatery and Market was a welcome addition to Calgary’s food scene.
Imagine devouring an all-you-can-eat vegetarian buffet brimming with Indian dishes for a mere $12. This is the reality at Five Rivers Indian Cuisine. Their buffet is all day, every day and includes over 20 rotating main dishes. They also have vegan-friendly options, which the staff can point out. The restaurant also does deliveries, and they have a vegetarian pizza and sweets menu too.
The Coup is all about ethical vegetarian cuisine. This means that most of their ingredients are local and organic, they offset their emissions by planting 36 trees a month through Tree-Canada, and they give weekly donations to LeftOvers Calgary. They have breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus, the latter of which includes their own take on international dishes like a satay bowl, quesadillas, a shawarma, and a delicious burger.
When the owners of Veg-In YYC had difficulty finding pure vegan and vegetarian homemade cuisine in Calgary, they decided to establish their own takeout cafe that transforms traditional recipes. They say they are not just a cafe, but a movement. Menu items include Veggitos (veggie burritos), burgers, signature samosas, naan, and raw vegan desserts.
Dirtbelly has a salad-centric menu. Diners can mix and match their seasonal salads by the scoop, which are all made in-house with as many local ingredients as possible. Some of the wonderful combinations on their spring/summer menu include sweet potato with quinoa, pistachio, and a champagne vinaigrette; or cauliflower, chickpeas, golden raisins, almonds, and a curry vinaigrette. They also serve bacos (half-bread, half-taco), grain bowls, tealadas (tea, fruit and herbs), and cold-pressed juices.
Tamarind is a Vietnamese Grill and Noodle House specialising in vegetarian food. They use mock meats and their own homemade, GMO-free tofu. Their menu includes Vietnamese favourites like pho, vermicelli, crispy spring rolls, and stirfries. A lot of their dishes are also gluten free, labelled on the menu. For reasonably priced, high-quality Vietnamese food, look no further.