San Francisco leans Japanese ramen on signatures with 18 venues serving it, but the 5-star essentials tell a different story, running from Moya on the Ethiopian end to LH Bakeshop and whack donuts! on the dessert end, with The Butterfly Joint holding down American and Torraku Ramen anchoring the ramen side. The real surprise sits in the sweets lane: LH Bakeshop leads the 5-deep cake lineup while Bi-Rite Creamery tops ice cream and Next Level Burger - Potrero Hill anchors the burger five. American and Mexican cuisine both go 10-deep.
Ranked by overall rating, signature dish strength, and how much reviewers praise the food. If you only have a weekend, start here.
Try the vegan miso ramen, highly recommended by many reviewers
Try the vegetable sampler, a large and delicious vegan option
Try creative flavors like cinnamon spice, Thai tea, horchata, and s’mores
Try the mushroom steamed buns and vegetable gyoza with chili soy sauce
Try the vegan chocolate coconut and mixed berry coconut flavors
Try the creamy vegan ramen and vegan gyoza
Try the vegan sorbet flavors like mango and lemon
Try the crispy chick'n burger and loaded fries
Try the vegan xiao long bao, vegan egg tarts, and fried glutinous dumplings for standout dishes.
Dishes ranked by how well this city's plant-based venues make them, compared to the other 157 cities we track.
5 places worth stopping for donut
Try creative flavors like cinnamon spice, Thai tea, horchata, and s’mores
Try the vegan gluten-free donuts
Go early for best vegan donut selection
Go early as vegan donuts often sell out by midday.
18 places worth stopping for ramen
Try the vegan miso ramen, highly recommended by many reviewers
Try the Niwa vegan ramen for a hearty meal
Try the creamy vegan ramen and vegan gyoza
Try the creamy vegan ramen with crispy kale and green gyoza
8 places worth stopping for banh mi
spinach · Vegan Food Guide All 529 San Francisco venues on the map. Filter by what's open, save what you'd return for, get walking directions in two taps.
Completely plant-based kitchens. No swaps, no asking, no surprises.
Try the Lemongrass Deluxe vegan chicken dish
Order cakes in advance via social media for pickup
Enjoy live Latin music and dance shows available on weekend nights
Try creative flavors like cinnamon spice, Thai tea, horchata, and s’mores
Mainstream restaurants where the vegan side of the menu is treated seriously.
Try the vegan lentil miso burger
Try the vegetable sampler, a large and delicious vegan option
Try the stuffed falafel and falafel wrap for satisfying vegan meals
Try the mushroom steamed buns and vegetable gyoza with chili soy sauce
Open before 10, good coffee, the kind of place you walk back to on day two.
Weekday fuel and weekend stretches.
Try the Gobi Manchurian as a spicy vegan appetizer
Try the vegan lamb kibbeh, praised for its crispy and umami flavor
Try the stuffed falafel and falafel wrap for satisfying vegan meals
Try the vegan miso ramen, highly recommended by many reviewers
The reason you planned the trip.
Enjoy live Latin music and dance shows available on weekend nights
Try the oyster mushroom skewers
Try the vegan lasagna, a consistently praised dish
Try the vegan lamb kibbeh, praised for its crispy and umami flavor
Date night. Birthday. Tell them you're celebrating.
Enjoy live Latin music and dance shows available on weekend nights
Try the coconut dessert, a highly recommended light and fresh option
Try the king oyster mushroom tostados
Try the mushroom and corn empanadas
Ice cream, pastry, and the honest dessert case.
Try creative flavors like cinnamon spice, Thai tea, horchata, and s’mores
Try the vegan chocolate coconut and mixed berry coconut flavors
Try the vegan sorbet flavors like mango and lemon
Try the Freckled Mint Chocolate Chip vegan flavor
Quiet rooms, unhurried pace, under $$.
Wifi, outlets, no judgement for a 3-hour sit.
Most drinks can be made vegan with plant milk
Try the vegan pastries from Wholesome Bakery
Try the vegan banh mi sandwich, noted for its delicious tofu skin filling
Enjoy outside seating with views of the Golden Gate Bridge
Busy rooms with tables big enough for eight.
Enjoy live Latin music and dance shows available on weekend nights
Try the vegan paella, highly praised by guests
Try the vegan lamb kibbeh, praised for its crispy and umami flavor
Try the oyster mushroom skewers
Menus kids recognize, staff who don't flinch at strollers.
Cities where the donut signature also earns a spot in the top essentials — pack a weekend around one.
Yes — San Francisco has 529 vegan-ready venues. The top-ranked are LH Bakeshop, Torraku Ramen - Lombard, Moya. Spinach ranks them daily on overall rating, signature dish strength, and reviewer praise for the food.
San Francisco scores 79.2/100 on the Spinach vegan city index. The city has 67 vegan-friendly venues and 154 high-quality restaurants out of 529 analyzed.
San Francisco has 25 fully vegan restaurants and 14 vegetarian restaurants. 67 venues score B or higher on the Vegan Friendliness grade.
San Francisco's top signature dishes for vegans are donut, ramen, banh mi, and the city also does cake and burger well. Signature dishes are ranked by how the city's venues score against the other 157 cities we track.
The vegan scene in San Francisco leans American, Asian, Japanese. American is particularly strong, with 10 venues serving quality plant-based options.
LH Bakeshop is ranked #1 in San Francisco by the Spinach Essentials algorithm, which weights rating, signature dish performance, and reviewer praise. See all 15 Essentials for the full ranking.
Spinach ranks vegan venues using the same algorithm the mobile app runs: a composite of Google Maps rating, the Spinach Rating (Wilson-confidence scored), dish-quality Wilson scores from extracted review signals, and city-specific signature dish strength. Essentials add a tier weighting; category lists add their own mood/occasion weights. No pay-to-play.
The ranking refreshes daily from Supabase. The last refresh is stamped at the top of this page. Venue data comes from Google Maps, HappyCow, and Spinach's own review-analysis pipeline.