Vegan
Where to Eat Vegan in Williamsburg Brooklyn
Where to eat vegan in Williamsburg, Brooklyn — full-menu plant-based spots and casual counters that aren't a compromise.
The best vegan restaurants in Williamsburg Brooklyn are, at this point, some of the best restaurants in Brooklyn full stop. What used to be a compromise category — a portobello burger, a bowl of quinoa — has become a real cooking movement, and Williamsburg is where a lot of the interesting work is happening.
Modern Love: the Isa Chandra Moskowitz anchor
Modern Love on North 6th is the vegan restaurant that stopped being a “vegan restaurant” and became a Williamsburg restaurant that happens to be vegan. Brunch on the weekends is the move — the Buffalo cauliflower with vegan blue cheese, the mac and cheese with a proper roux made from cashew, and the pancakes that hold up next to any diner in the neighborhood. Dinner is where the cooking gets more ambitious — a rotating menu of comfort food redone thoughtfully.
Blossom du Jour: the everyday counter
Blossom du Jour is the vegan lunch counter that’s been feeding the neighborhood for years, and the menu is deceptively simple: sandwiches, salads, smoothies, and a few hot bowls. The Skyscraper — a sandwich with vegan chicken, ranch, and bacon on a pretzel roll — is the one to order, and it’s a legitimate lunch even if you eat meat the rest of the week.
Screamer’s Pizzeria: vegan slice done seriously
Vegan pizza is often either doughy and sad or overloaded with substitute cheese trying too hard. Screamer’s on Bedford avoided both traps — the crust is thin and blistered, the sauce is bright, and the vegan mozzarella they use actually melts. The white slice with garlic and broccoli is the sleeper order. Get two slices and a Diet Coke and eat on the sidewalk.
Champs Diner: the vegan diner that shouldn’t work but does
Champs Diner on Grand Street does vegan versions of every diner classic — Reuben, Philly cheesesteak, Buffalo wings, disco fries, milkshakes — and none of them feel like a compromise. The Reuben is the standout: seitan sliced thin, sauerkraut, vegan Russian dressing on rye. Comfort food designed for people who want a hangover meal without the meat.
Superiority Burger: the crossover that redefined vegan
Brooks Headley’s Superiority Burger technically moved to the East Village but its Williamsburg pop-ups still happen, and the vegetarian (with vegan options) burger is one of the most influential sandwiches in modern New York cooking. The gelato program is separate and equally serious. Follow their Instagram for pop-up dates in the borough.
Ordering vegan at non-vegan spots
Half the joy of eating vegan in Williamsburg is that most non-vegan restaurants in the neighborhood now have a real vegan option, not an afterthought salad. Lilia has vegan pasta on request. Marlow & Sons has a rotating vegetable-forward menu with vegan dishes marked. Diner (same team) does a vegan burger that’s on the menu quietly. Even the pizza spots — Roberta’s, Ops — do a solid vegan Margherita if you ask.
What to drink at a vegan restaurant
Most Williamsburg vegan spots have wine lists that skip clarifying agents (fined with animal products), and the staff will usually know which wines are vegan-friendly. Beer is almost always fine. Cocktails are worth checking — some syrups and bitters aren’t vegan. Nobody expects you to interrogate the bartender, but if it matters to you, ask.
Vegan brunch as its own category
Williamsburg vegan brunch is a whole scene. Modern Love, Champs, and a few smaller spots like Riverdel (technically Fort Greene but close enough) are the main answer. The waits are real on weekends. Go early, or go on a Tuesday when the same food is available without the line.
Vegan ice cream, vegan pastries, vegan everything
Van Leeuwen makes vegan versions of most of their flavors, and the Williamsburg location is right on Bedford. The vegan cookies and cream is the specific pick. For pastries, Little Choc Apothecary a few blocks east does all-vegan crêpes and pastries, and the sweet crêpes there hold up against any brunch counter in the neighborhood.
The bigger picture
Vegan food in Williamsburg has gotten good enough that vegan-ness has stopped being the interesting thing about it. It’s just food, in a neighborhood full of restaurants worth eating at. Which is exactly what vegan cooking always wanted to become. For a broader look at Brooklyn’s food scene, our Bushwick coffee shops guide picks up right across the L train, and every spot mentioned above is on the NewYorkEatsguide map.
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