19 Vegetarian Restaurants In Lousiville You'll Want To Try ASAP

By LEO Weekly Staff on Thu, Mar 14, 2024 at 11:38 pm

Louisville has a lush variety of vegetarian restaurants and meatless menus to choose from.

From Ethiopian traditional to Vietnamese street food, from Lebanese classics to Mayan farm-to-table, here are some of amazing vegetarian restaurants to check out soon.

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Pho Ba Luu

1019 E. Main St.
This woman-owned Vietnamese restaurant serves Saigon street food like crispy vegetable rolls and lemongrass tofu banh mi along with its traditional dishes like pho noodle soup. And we love the word play of their name and our city's name.

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Shreeji

Shreeji Indian Vegetarian Street Food

1987 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy.
Shreeji offers a broad spectrum of Indian food, from Northern Indian starters like chaats, to Souther Indian dishes like tomato onion uttapam. Our Editor-in-Chief Erica Rucker recommends the “amazing” papdi chaat and the Chinese-influenced bhel, but says, “Anything from the menu is good.”

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Señora Arepa

938 Baxter Ave and 117 St Matthews Ave.
If you’ve never tried an arepa, you’re in for a treat. This Venezuelan arepita features vegetariano and vegano options, and many of its other varieties of arepa are vegetarian anyway.

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Naive Kitchen + Bar via Instagram

Naive Kitchen + Bar

1001 E. Washington St.
In 2022, Naive won Best Butchertown Restaurant and third place in the Best Vegetarian Restaurant category in LEO's Readers' Choice Awards. The chic eatery's menus include a plethora of vegan options including butternut squash bruschetta, kohlrabi curry, pumpkin orecchiette, and avocado toast.

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Roots via Facebook

Roots

1216 Bardstown Rd.
Next to its sister restaurant, Heart and Soy, Roots serves upscale vegetarian dishes, many of which can be made vegan.

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Robin Garr

Heart & Soy

1216 Bardstown R.
We might be cheating a little with this entry because Heart and Soy and the next restaurant in our slideshow, Roots, are technically two restaurants in the same space. Heart and Soy is more casual and navigates most of the carry-out orders, serving Pan-Asian dishes like spring rolls, Singapore noodles, pad Thai, Vietnamese rice noodle salad, and a lot more.

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Havana Rumba

12003 Shelbyville Rd. and 2210 Bardstown Rd.
Although Havana Rumba isn’t a vegetarian-focused restaurant, we were compelled to include it because the Cubano Vegetariano dish is a perennial favorite of LEO writer and photographer Carolyn Brown. The meal includes a delicious spinach and cheese empanada, black beans, rice, boiled cassava roots and plantains. Also, their guacamole is unrivaled.

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Queen of Sheeba

Queen of Sheba Restaurant

2804 Taylorsville Rd.
Adjacent to Bowman Field, this Ethiopian restaurant features aromatic sautéed vegetables like beets, cabbage, carrots, collard greens, lentils, and potatoes over the distinctive sourdough injera bread. Served on large platters, dishes like these are best enjoyed with a group of loved ones and without utensils.

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Simply Thai via Facebook

Simply Thai

12003 Shelbyville Rd. and 323 Wallace Ave.
Simply Thai has a lot of fans in Louisville for a reason. Many of their dishes are (or can be made) vegetarian or vegan. We especially like their spring rolls and of course, their pad thai.

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Eat A Pita

2286 Bardstown Rd. and 100 Daventry Ln.
Serving Greek, Lebanese and other Mediterranean dishes, Eat A Pita’s impressive number of vegetarian and vegan offerings are made with Gardein meatless proteins and Daiya dairy-free cheeses. The vegan shawarma-chicken-style wrap is especially delectable and reasonably priced.

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Shalimar

Shalimar Restaurant

1850 South Hurstbourne Parkway, Suite 125 Much of Indian cuisine is vegetarian-friendly, and this popular East End restaurant’s menu is no exception. We recommend the aloo mattar, masala kulcha, vegetable samosa, and mattar paneer.

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Mayan Cafe

813 E. Market St.
This Nulu cafe serves seasonal and locally coursed Mayan and Pan-Latin foods along with fresh juices and artisanal cocktails. Their plant-based menu items rotate but are always delicious. Reservations understandably fill up in the cozy, low light dining room as well as in the elegant outdoor space.

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DakShin

DakShin South Indian Restaurant

4742 Bardstown Rd
Although they describe themselves as being a South Indian Restaurant, DakShin also offers an extensive menu of North Indian and Indo-Chinese dishes, many of which are vegetarian.

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Addis Bar & Grill

109 S 4th St.
A standout vendor at World Fest, this downtown eatery offers Ethiopian food with Mediterranean options, many of which are vegetarian and vegan. We love how many of their ingredients are locally sourced and that their hot and tangy berbere spice blend is made with organic ingredients.

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Time4Thai

2206 Frankfort Ave.
A Clifton favorite that features a diverse array of vegetarian dishes, Time4Thai is also happy to accommodate diners by adjusting spice levels on request. We recommended that you make time for the papaya salad and the pad kee mao (drunken noodles).

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The Grape Leaf via Facebook

The Grape Leaf

2217 Frankfort Ave.
Chef Nabil Al-Saba opened The Grape Leaf in Clifton in 1992, and it was among the first Middle Eastern restaurants in Louisville. This local favorite serves classic vegetarian dishes like hummus, baba ghanoush, and dolma alongside refreshing salads like fatoush.

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Kashmir

Kashmir Indian Restaurant

1277 Bardstown Rd.
Kashmir serves some of the most aromatic and flavorful food in Louisville. While some of the dishes are traditionally meat-based, most of them can be made vegetarian or vegan to order. They also have a patio!

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Dragon King's Daughter via Facebook

Dragon King's Daughter

1543 Bardstown Rd. in Louisville and 129 West Market St. in New Albany
Owned by a woman and named for first woman to attain enlightenment in the Buddhist scripture the Lotus Sūtra, this Asian fusion restaurant has an array of creative vegetarian dishes. Check out their Veggie Mazizushi menu for rolls like the Buffaroll with fresh mozzarella, the Coco Caliente with spicy tofu and lime, and It Came From The Deep with takuwan and seaweed salad.

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Molly Malone's

933 Baxter Ave.
It can be challenging to find an Irish pub that offers vegetarian options, but Molly Malone’s has an Impossible burger and sides like broccoli Brussels sprouts, as well as an amazing sweet potato salad and several meatless pizzas.

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