I’ve been a vegetarian for more than twenty years now, and I was recently in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Germany isn’t exactly known for its traditional vegetarian cuisine, but fortunately Leipzig has lots of contemporary restaurants that offer innovative vegetarian and vegan dishes on their menus.
In this guide to vegetarian food in Leipzig I’m going to highlight a few of the restaurants where I ate during my visit and that I’d recommend you check out as well! If the restaurant made the list then I enjoyed my vegetarian meal there (and if I didn’t like my food I didn’t include the restaurant here).
It’s important to note that this list is not exhaustive! I was only in Leipzig for a week, and I stayed in an apartment off the Karl-Heine Canal that had a kitchen. Thus, I did a lot of cooking at home, and only ate out occasionally. Also, the restaurants below are vegetarian-friendly, which means some are fully vegan, some are fully vegetarian, and others have good veggie options alongside meat dishes.
OUAI – Simply Vegan
If I could recommend one restaurant for vegetarians in Leipzig, it would be OUAI – Simply Vegan. Germany has many vegan Vietnamese restaurants, but this one in the Zentrum-Süd district really stands out.
I had such a hard time deciding what to eat here as I wanted to try everything on the menu. I started with their Forever Young tea, which was iced Assam tea with orange flower water, tamarind seeds and rice milk. It was so good and so unexpected.
For my main course I had the Long Life, which was “spicy fried tofu and seitan on lemongrass with fresh herbs, crisp salad, rice noodles, roasted onions, peanuts and homemade vinaigrette”. Again, it was so good. The flavors were just so fresh and vibrant, and each ingredient added to the dish.
I wasn’t really hungry but my tea and main course were so good that I ordered a dessert as well. Their version of a mango sticky rice was called Mango Tango, and it had sweet mango with sticky rice in a coconut milk cream with peanut salt. Peanut salt! Why is there any other kind of salt?
OUAI gets busy so consider booking a table. As well, at the time of my visit they didn’t take credit cards, so payment was either with cash or Paypal.
Vleischerei Leipzig
I remember when I got off the tram on my way to the apartment I’d rented in Leipzig, and I saw a vegan donair shop literally right in front of where I was staying. I knew I’d picked the right neighborhood!
The absolute perfect meal after a long day of travel, Vleischerei’s vegan kebabs, donairs and gyros are so good. As a twenty year vegetarian I honestly have no idea what the difference between a kebab, donair and gyro is, and I have no idea which one I ordered, but I know it was huge and delicious. They also do veggie burgers, loaded fries and even a salad plate (don’t worry, it has fried tofu!). Everything here is 100% vegan, including the ten different sauces you can choose from – I recommend the herb sauce!
⭐ Read my new guide to spending one day in Leipzig, Germany! ⭐
Moini Pizza
I have a love-hate relationship with the pizza shop in the courtyard of the supermarket in front of the apartment where I was staying in Plagwitz. I hate that it felt like it took forever to get my pizza, and (full disclosure) I seriously had to pee. I love that when my pizza was finally ready (more than 30 minutes after ordering) it was so good.
Are you noticing a theme here? Leipzig has some darn good vegetarian and vegan food!
The pizza I ordered was called Daddeln and it was topped with “white sauce, dates, red onions, feta, Gorgonzola and roasted walnuts, without tomato sauce”. Just thinking about how delicious this pizza was is making me sad that it’s now halfway across the world from me.
Moini had seven other vegetarian pizzas on the menu (including a slightly-similar option with “white sauce, mozzarella, pear, feta, red onions, rucola and roasted walnuts”) plus a few meaty options. They have seating in the covered courtyard of the REWE supermarket, but it’s nicer to either take the pizza home or take it down to the canal (just across the street) for a picnic.
MEGS – Coffee & Brunch
Again, this is another vegetarian-friendly and vegan-friendly restaurant within steps of my accommodation on Karl-Heine Strasse in Leipzig. Super-busy for weekend brunch, you’ll want to get to MEGS early or visit on a weekday when things are more chill.
The vibe here is mid-century modern and the menu features coffees, cakes and light breakfast dishes. I was so torn between the muesli bowl with homemade granola and fresh fruit, and the avocado toast on sourdough bread, with tomatoes, balsamic drizzle and her salad. Obviously you can tell from the photo that I chose the latter, and my only regret is that I didn’t have another day in Leipzig to go back and try something sweet!
I also want to add that the staff here were super friendly. Actually, everywhere on this list had friendly staff, which is sometimes not the norm in Saxony…
☕ Love vegetarian brunches? Dresden also has great vegetarian brunch restaurants – you can read about them in my new guide to vegetarian restaurants in Dresden! 🥐
Wullewupp Soup Bar
I can’t believe I almost missed this Leipzig restaurant, as it ended up being one of my favorite vegetarian meals in the city!
Wullewupp is a soup bar with a rotating weekly menu of different soups. There’s always at least one vegan or vegetarian soup on the menu, and at times there are two or three meatless options to choose from. As well, they typically have a warm rice pudding option for dessert.
I rolled in at the tail end of lunch hour but was able to get their last bowl of tomato soup with rosemary gnocchi. You can also add on croutons, fresh herbs, cheese and sesame seeds (at no extra cost). Looking at some of their more recent menus, the vegetarian options have included a coconut and sweet potato soup with falafel, chili “sin carne” with crumbled tortilla chips, and a cauliflower cream soup with truffle oil and fried arugula (!).
Kaiserbad Leipzig
Kaiserbad was recommended in my Lonely Planet Germany guidebook, and I was happy to find that a place they highlighted as having vegetarian options was right across from my accommodation.
This would be a great restaurant option for vegetarians who are traveling with an omnivore, as the menu has a few veggie options but generally is more meat focused. I started my meal with their flatbread and dip plate, and then had the salad shown above, with fried tofu and avocado. It’s no longer on their menu, but their current meatless offerings do include a salad with baked sweet potato, feta, peanuts and berries, plus a spaghetti dish with edamame pesto, cherry tomatoes, snow peas and fresh herbs.
Unfortunately I do have to note that the service here was not great. I seemed to be dining on the same evening that a few companies were having corporate parties, so my little table of one was vying for my server’s attention against a few tables of 10 to 30 very boisterous people. At their price point (€17 for the salad shown above) I don’t think it should take 30+ minutes to get the bill when you’re done eating.
Wendl Bakery & Konditorei
Wendl is a Leipzig-based chain of bakeries that also has locations in a few other cities in Saxony, including Chemnitz and Delitzsch.
Obviously, most of their pastries here are vegetarian, including the poppyseed cinnamon bun (and coffee) I had for breakfast one morning.
However, they also have quite a few breakfast options that you can order from their menu, including egg-and-cheese sandwiches, omelettes, and muesli bowls. Some can be ordered as a combo with orange juice, coffee and/or additional bread. If you’re on a budget, breakfasts here are more at the fast food price point than the cool café price point.
Other Vegan & Vegetarian Restaurants in Leipzig
Leipzig has lots of vegetarian-friendly and vegan-friendly restaurants, and I didn’t have time to eat at all of them! However, here are a few more that I noticed and would try to visit on a future trip:
- Auerbachs Keller – This is Leipzig’s most famous restaurant, as it is featured prominently in Goethe’s play Faust. You won’t have to make a deal with the devil to eat here, though, because this upscale restaurant does have clearly-labeled vegan and vegetarian dishes on their à la carte menu.
- An Chay Vegan Diner – I randomly chose between OUAI and An Chay for dinner one night. OUAI was a favorite but I would head to this nearby Vietnamese vegan restaurant next time to see how they compare.
- Café Hin & Veg – My biggest culinary regret about my time in Leipzig is that I didn’t eat any veggie burgers. The vegan burger on the menu here looks great.
- Quan Xanh Veganes Restaurant Leipzig – I ate here but I can’t find my photos! This is a good, simple vegan Vietnamese restaurant near the Karl-Heinz Canal.
- Zest – This high-end vegan restaurant in the Connewitz neighborhood is supposed to be very good. The menu changes seasonally.
The area along Karl-Heine Strasse, from the canal (to the west) to Zschochersche Strasse (to the east), and a block or two in either direction, is densely packed with restaurants that have vegan and vegetarian options. This is definitely the best area of town for anyone who prefers plant-based restaurant meals.
I’m slowing building out my library of Saxony travel guides! Before you go, see if one of these new posts piques your interest!
🎨 The Secret Art Passage in Dresden
📽️ 15+ Things To Do in Görlitz, Germany
🚂 How to Ride the Historic Steam Train from Zittau to Oybin Castle
🥂 A Guide to Visiting The Chemnitz Wine Festival
💎 10 Things to Do in Freiberg, Saxony
🥗 My Guide to Traveling in Germany as a Vegetarian
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