BOULDER, Colo.–Today, Vegetarian Times, owned by Outside Inc., announced its first Best New Plant-Based Restaurants list, starting a new annual tradition for the 47-year-old magazine. The list features restaurants that set a new standard for vegan and vegetarian dining across the United States.

“When I took over as editor of Vegetarian Times in the summer of 2021, I realized we needed to provide our readers with a list of the best plant-based restaurants in the country,” said Brittany Martin, editor of Vegetarian Times. “It particularly makes sense to do a best new restaurants list now, to celebrate the resilience and innovation of the hospitality industry and serve the surge in diners now seeking meat-free dining.”

Given the pandemic’s toll on restaurants, Vegetarian Times took a broad view of “new” when reviewing candidates for inclusion in the list. Where future years will focus on openings from the prior twelve months, this special inaugural edition includes restaurants that opened from September 2019 to September 2021. To find the picks, the Vegetarian Times team put out calls to friends, food writers, and scouts across the country, and then personally visited as many places as possible. The list is not ranked and includes full-service, fine dining restaurants, casual neighborhood spots, and take-out only windows.

Vegetarian Times Best New Plant-Based Restaurants 2021

• Bloom Plant Based Kitchen – Chicago
• Cadence – New York City
• Fat Choy – New York City
• Lion Dance Cafe – Oakland
• Liora – Baltimore
• Planta Queen – New York City
• The Plot – San Diego
• Saffron – Las Vegas
• Somebody People – Denver
• Wildseed – San Francisco

“No list is ever going to be perfect, and I’m sure there are great places we missed,” Martin notes. “But this whole project is about uplifting and discovering. I would love nothing more than to discover more great new vegan and vegetarian restaurants when readers point out the hidden gems we didn’t include. And the list is not meant to be conclusive; our journalists are always working throughout the year to bring attention to exciting restaurants new, old, and around the world.”

The flagship Best New Restaurants list is accompanied by a list of some of the Best Classic Plant-Based Restaurants that have stood out over several years, and a list of the Best Vegan Burger concepts across the country. All three lists launched simultaneously on October 18, 2021.

About Vegetarian Times

Founded in 1974, Vegetarian Times is among the oldest magazines covering sustainable food, culture, and lifestyle. Vegetarian Times is part of Outside Inc., which believes that life is best spent outdoors, experiencing healthy, connected, and fulfilling lives. The magazine is an authority on the rapidly-growing plant-based sector; while other food magazines offer one-off issues with vegetable-forward recipes or articles about environmental responsibility, Vegetarian Times has led the category full time for nearly 50 years.

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Contacts

To learn more about Vegetarian Times or the Best New Restaurants list, please contact Brittany Martin, bmartin@vegetariantimes.com