A Vegetarian’s Guide to Medellin, Colombia

We absolutely loved the vegetarian food in Medellin during our month staying in Laureles – a neighborhood that we would highly recommend staying in if you’re interested in heading to Medellin. As a consequence, most of the restaurants we list below are in or near Laureles.

Almost all of the places we listed below we went back either a second or a third time because they were just that good. We tried to cover a variety of different types of food depending on what you’re in the mood for – Medellin has it all, you might just have to look hard for it!

Govindas 

Govindas is a quiet, comfortable oasis above the hustle and bustle that takes place on the streets surrounding Plaza Botero in downtown Medellin. Located on the third floor, this low key restaurant has a relaxing atmosphere and tables setup on the balcony overlooking the madness below. 

This place is a vegetarians dream; fresh, delicious food for an incredible value. For just 12,000 COP ($3.78 USD) each we got the “menú del día” which included a bowl of soup, a plate completely jammed with food, fresh fruit juice, and even a small dessert of rice pudding. Not to mention, the food was insanely good!

A stop at Govindas is perfectly paired with a stop at Plaza Botero and Museo de Antioquia, both of which are on our list of the best things to do in Medellin – check it out if you are planning to travel to Medellin! Located just two blocks away, it’s a perfect lunch spot once you’re done seeing the sites. It’s a little difficult to find – there is a narrow doorway that leads up the stairs to Govindas. There is a small sign but it’s easy to miss.

Saludpan

Saludpan doubles as an organic food store and a restaurant; we knew Saludpan primarily for their incredible lunch deals. For just 13,500 COP ($4 USD), you can get their vegetarian menú del día which is always something new and exciting each day.

While we were in Medellin, we ate at Saludpan 3 times (honestly, I wish we ate there more) and every time it was such a different, healthy meal. The menú del día is always a soup, an entreé, juice, and a dessert – such a great deal! If you are staying in Laureles, you absolutely have to check out Saludpan – it’s a game changer.

We also bought some local wine made in Medellin (well, in Parque Arvi) and organic quinoa from Saludpan. If you enjoy health foods and organic products, give Saludpan a look – the prices seem very agreeable as well.

Naan Indian Restaurant

Whenever we are checking out a new destination, we always search for Indian food because they are always delicious vegetarian spots. However, in Medellin, we hit the jackpot; Naan is one of the coolest Indian fusion restaurants we have ever been to!

The food at Naan is a fusion because while it’s definitely Indian spices and recipes, they use local ingredients and bring a South American flare to the cuisine. This is another must for vegetarians located in Laureles. 

Compared to other vegetarian restaurants, it can get a little expensive if you get drinks, an appetizer, and dessert – but it’s well worth it!

Crepes and Waffles

We held out for weeks before going to Crepes and Waffles because it never felt like the perfect time for crepes and waffles. Boy, were we wrong! When we finally made it to Crepes and Waffles, we saw they had an absolutely huge menu with all kinds of options including delicious soups and a large vegetarian section of crepes.

We ended up going to Crepes and Waffles twice and we loved it both times. Their savory crepes were so good, and the waffle with Nutella and ice cream was just phenomenal. Overall, a surprisingly awesome vegetarian spot and also a great spot for well priced, delicious dessert options.

Simon’s Pizza and Beer

As New Yorkers, I’ll admit it; we are huge pizza snobs. We expected to come to Colombia and just avoid the pizza like the plague because “there is no way they could make pizza as good as New York”. I’m happy to say that we were proven wrong. 

A few weeks into our trip, we were craving a simple meal of pizza and beer – sometimes that’s all you need. Simon’s had the best reviews we could find, and that’s definitely for a reason. Not only was the pizza good, they had Tres Cordilleras beer on tap, and a pitcher ended up being a great deal.

There was about 4 vegetarian pizzas on the menu to choose from and, having tried a few of them over our 2 visits, I highly recommend Simon’s for a decent pizza. And again – this is coming from two New Yorkers who were dead set on not liking the pizza, so that says something.

Tacuate Mexican Restaurante

I’d say that most Mexican places we went to in Medellin were very similar – they had about 2 to 4 vegetarian options on the menu and it usually included a quesadilla and a burrito. Tacuate was no exception, but thankfully they were actually really good.

We ordered the Quesadilla and the burrito to split, and it seemed like the same ingredients were in both but we ended up enjoying the Quesadilla much more. We were able to sit outside on their porch which was great on a nice sunny day.

We also enjoyed the 2 for 1 special on margaritas (a weekday lunch special) – work hard, play hard right?

Lenteja Express 

The first time we went to Lenteja Express, we ordered a vegetarian burrito and the vegetarian lasagna, and they were pretty good – not the best food we had ever had, but we definitely appreciated the good assortment of vegetarian options.

We later learned that they are well known for their vegetarian burgers, so we decided to give them another try. Afterall, Medellin is packed with burger restaurants and we were dying for a nice veggie burger. The vegetarian burgers we got were very good – worth a visit if you are particularly craving a nice veggie burger.

Naturalia Café

Naturalia Café was a breath of fresh air from the moment we walked in the door; there were plants everywhere and the restaurant was really open and welcoming. There were plenty of vegetarian options on the menu, but thankfully they had a vegetarian menú del día so we went with that.

The food was really good – unfortunately, we only went to Naturalia Café once; we were planning to go back to have lunch and work for a while since it was such a comfortable, calming environment. It just gives us a reason to come back to Medellin!

Conclusion

We were so surprised and happy about how accommodating Medellin was to vegetarians. We ate at so many restaurants, and very rarely was it difficult to find something on the menu we could eat! Writing this was torture – I want all these meals again!

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