Vegan Restaurants Geneva, Switzerland: A Local's Insider Guide

There weren't many vegan restaurants in Geneva, Switzerland when I lived there from 2010 to 2016. But thankfully Geneva's vegan scene has really grown since then!

Many thanks to Sandra of Going Out Vegan for helping me update this post! Sandra currently lives in Geneva and is on top of all the best vegan eats that have popped up in the city.

In addition to its fully vegan restaurants, an increasing number of mainstream eateries are adapting their menus to cater to vegans. And vegan snacks and ready-made meals are also now easily found in mainstream Swiss grocery stores.

Vegan Restaurants Geneva

These Geneva restaurants serve exclusively vegan food.

Mu-Food

Mu-Food started out as a vegan café inside an LGBT+ cultural center in Pâquis, called Dialogai. They were forced to close that location due to some bureaucratic difficulties, but now they are back!

Their new location is very central on Rue de Lausanne, and they are open for lunch only, Monday to Friday. Choices are limited to the plate of the day, a seasonal plate and a couple of veggie burgers.

But everything is fresh, organic and local, and the servings are quite generous. Available both for dine-in and take away.

Mu Food vegan restaurant Geneva Switzerland

The plat du jour changes daily but is always vegan and organic.

Be Kind Café

This cute little café is fully vegan and offers a daily changing lunch menu. It's also a great place to go for coffee with a slice of cake.

Everything (except for the breads and croissants) is made in house using organic ingredients, without any additives or preservatives. Only open on weekdays.

Coffee and cake with vegan ice cream at Be Kind vegan café Geneva.

Aux Deux Portes

This small café is a great spot for lunch. The food served is all vegan and organic, and there are always gluten-free options available too. It’s located in what used to be a butcher’s shop.

The only owners have really turned this place around! Note that not everything sold in the attached shop is vegan.

Have lunch at the café, or grab some takeaway for dinner

Café Mutin

Unlike the three vegan restaurants and cafés listed above, this one is open on the weekends. From Wednesday to Saturday they serve both lunch and dinner, and on Sundays they offer a brunch with both sweet and savory options.

The menu is fairly small and features healthy bowls, burgers served with country potatoes, and a daily special. There are always gluten-free options available too.

On Sundays, you can choose between the brunch plate and the breakfast burger.

EnVie Vegan

A relative newcomer to the vegan Geneva scene, this vegan restaurant, café and bakery opens for breakfast and lunch on Saturdays and for breakfast, lunch and dinner from Tuesday to Friday.

Whereas the other vegan restaurants in Geneva serve mostly healthy food, EnVie offers more indulgent comfort foods, like hot dogs and doughnuts.

EnVie vegan restaurant in Geneva Switzerland

As EnVie Vegan, you can indulge in vegan treats like cheesecake and doughnuts.

Bouffe Pop

On Friday evenings in the summer, a group of friends get together in a neighborhood square, set up some folding tables and benches, and cook up a huge batch of vegan food for whoever stops by. Sound awesome? Yeah, it is.

Bouffe Pop is a very grassroots movement, and anyone is welcome to join. You simply pay what you can afford. If you’d like to help with the cooking, you can do that too; just arrive a couple hours early. It’s a great cultural experience and a way to see a different side of Geneva.

People of all ages gather for a vegan dinner at Bouffe Pop

Vegetarian Restaurants Geneva

Tonic

Only one vegetarian restaurant in Geneva made it onto this list, and that's Tonic. It's a buffet-style restaurant that serves both breakfast and lunch.

There are always several vegan options, including vegan desserts, and everything is well labeled. Formerly known as Green Spot, this place is open only for weekday lunch and gets very busy.

Vegan-Friendly Restaurants Geneva

While these restaurants do serve meat, they also make a point of catering to vegans by providing clearly-marked vegan items and/or serving a wide range of vegan dishes.

American Dream Diner

Have you ever wanted to visit a retro American diner, just like in the movies? With the chrome interior, bar stools and '50s music in the background? All while eating a vegan burger?? Then let your dreams become a reality.

American Dream Diner is furnished in ‘50s Americana style and serves the typical fare you'd expect – burgers, fries and hot dogs. But they also serve vegan versions of the hot dog and the burgers, including vegan sauce and vegan cheese.

And there's a vegan chili sin carne on the menu as well. No vegan desserts yet, but I'm told they are working on it.

Retro '50s décor in the American Dream Diner

Greens

This health-conscious takeaway shop inside Geneva’s main train station (called Gare Cornavin) is perfect for picking up a quick bite to eat before your next trip. They always have at least one vegan sandwich and one vegan salad, usually more.

Le Végé Sandwich at Greens

Qibi (2 locations)

This cheap and cheerful restaurant has plenty of vegan and gluten-free options. In fact, most of the menu can be made vegan, as the salads and wraps are all customizable. Just choose the organic tofu as your “protein”. Two locations, one on each side of the Rhône river.

Takeaway lunch from Qibi

Slup

The tagline for this restaurant is “healthy food for all”, and they certainly do aim to please everyone. There are always three daily lunch specials: one with meat, one with fish and one vegan. In addition, the menu also includes gluten-free, raw, and refined sugar-free options. The emphasis is on seasonal, local and organic ingredients.

UPDATE October 2020: Slup has closed its original location on Rue Grand Pré, but they do plan to reopen somewhere else soon. Check their website or social media profiles for the latest updates.

Slup Vegan Burger - Vegan Food in Geneva

Putting the finishing touches on the vegan burger at Slup

Ou Bien Encore

This stylish, artsy café has a large terrace for outdoor dining in the warmer months, with a variety of vegan options year-round. Gluten-free options are also available, and the focus is on healthy, local and environmentally-sustainable food.

Save room for the chocolate caramel cake at Ou Bien Encore!

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Ethnic Cuisine Restaurants in Geneva

While traditional Swiss cuisine is not very vegan-friendly, there are dozens more cuisines to choose from in this über-cosmopolitan city. Some of these cuisines are naturally plant-based, or at the very least include several dishes that are naturally vegan. Here’s just a sampling:

Italian Restaurants Geneva

Pizza Leggera

Cozy Italian restaurant with a lovely décor and a very vegan-friendly menu. There are four different vegan pizzas on offer, as well as some pasta dishes and a “pizza salad”, which is a salad that comes in an edible bowl made of pizza dough. Wait, what?! They also do gluten-free pizza.

The Pizza "Verde" at Pizza Leggera

Luigia

Another great pizza place that offers an amazing pizza marinara. This place is always busy, but their pizza is just so good. There are also a few vegan pasta options on the menu.

Luigia's beautiful pizza marinara with lots of basil

Middle Eastern Restaurants Geneva

Al Amir

This Lebanese restaurant may not have the classiest atmosphere (it’s located just a block or so away from Geneva’s red light district), but it does have some of the best Middle Eastern food in the city, and at quite reasonable prices.

There are a number of vegan dishes that can be ordered à la carte, but the best deal is probably the vegetarian plate (assiette végétarienne). Just ask to substitute the labneh (strained yoghurt) with extra hummus.

The vegetarian plate at Al Amir is a winner!

There's loads of Lebanese food around in Geneva, so here's a short list of other options:

For take-out, Saj Eat serves man'ouche (flatbread) with two vegan options. More "hip" places include Street Beirout and Homous & Co (though all their food is prepackaged, which is not very sustainable).

And for a more traditional upscale restaurant-experience, try La Caravan Passe or Cedres du Liban, which both have vegan mezze plates.

Eritrean/Ethiopian Restaurants Geneva

Red Sea Restaurant

Due to the large number of refugees and asylum-seekers from Eritrea, Geneva has a plethora of Eritrean restaurants to choose from. In my opinion, this family-run place is the best, hands down.

Every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, Elsa and her crew offer an all-you-can-eat buffet for just CHF 21, and more than half the dishes in the buffet are vegan.

If you’ve never had Eritrean food, it’s very similar to Ethiopian food. And if you’ve never had either, then you’re in for a real treat. Some other popular Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurants in Geneva are Nyala Barka and Awash.

Messy but delicious! There's no cutlery at Red Sea. Just grab some injera!

Indian Restaurants Geneva

Gandhi Café

When I lived in Geneva, this was my favorite spot for vegan Indian food. The staff were very accommodating and happy to adapt many of their vegetarian dishes to make them vegan.

But it seems they've now changed the concept of the restaurant to focus on thalis. And Sandra from Going Out Vegan didn't have a very positive experience there. So try it for yourself, but be aware it might have changed for the worse.

The staff at Gandhi Café are happy to adapt their dishes for vegans

Sajna

Another great Indian restaurant is Sajna. Their service is great, and they have several vegan dishes on the menu.

Additionally, they are super flexible with making dishes vegan on request by subbing cream for coconut milk. Instead of the (not vegan) naan, try the chapati. Also, they make vegan desserts if you request it when reserving.

There are several vegan curries on the menu at Sajna.

East Asian Restaurants Geneva

Akiko

A fast-casual place with a few locations in Geneva. They serve East Asian fusion, including delicious spring rolls, rice and noodle dishes. You choose the ingredients, so it's very customizable. They also have bubble tea and mochi.

Bubble tea and Asian food at Akiko

Mexican Restaurants Geneva

Taco Rico (2 locations)

Taco Rico is a Mexican food place that has vegan options marked on the menu. They serve TexMex food like tacos and nachos.

Since you can pick yourself what you want in your taco or burrito, you can customize your order any way you want.

Bonus: the vegan options are cheaper, and you don't have to pay extra to add guacamole!

Taco Rico is the place to go for TexMex in Geneva

Quick Bites and Take Away in Geneva

Boréal Coffee Shop

This local coffee shop first opened in 2010 and now has four locations in Geneva. They offer soy milk for their coffee drinks, and they also serve a vegan lemon cake. Some locations carry more substantial dishes, and at those outlets you may find a quinoa salad or other savory vegan option.

Boréal Coffe Shop - Vegan Food in Geneva

Relax with coffee and cake at Boréal Coffee Shop

Brezelkönig

This Swiss chain has locations throughout the country and can often be found in Swiss train stations. They bake fresh brezels, which are big, doughy pretzels like the ones sold in American shopping malls.

While some are filled with non-vegan ingredients, all the unfilled ones are vegan, including the ones covered in pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, etc.

These are even labeled as vegan in the display case. Be careful though, as sometimes the labels may be placed incorrectly.

The pretzels at Brezelkönig are scrumptious!

Gelatomania (5 locations)

Gelatomania makes authentic Italian gelato from scratch. As is the case with most Italian gelato, the fruit flavours here are all vegan. As an added bonus, so is the dark chocolate!

On hot summer days, the queue often snakes out the door, especially at their very popular Pâquis location. There are benches in the square across the street where you can sit and enjoy your ice cream. Alternatively, Lake Geneva is just a short walk away.

Gelato is the perfect treat on a hot summer's day

Manu (5 locations)

Gelatomania used to be the undisputed king of ice cream in Geneva, until Manu came along. The company grew quickly and now boasts four different locations in the city. One of these is just down the street from Gelatomania in Pâquis and often has shorter queues.

A few years ago, they won the Tigel Ice Cup and were crowned as the makers of the best homemade ice cream in Switzerland. While they’re fruit flavors are vegan, their dark chocolate flavor unfortunately contains egg yolks.

Manu has been giving Gelatomania a run for its money

Corde Coffee

This new coffee place opened recently and is located in a cool industrial space in Eaux-Vives. They serve coffee with a variety of plant milks and have a few vegan pastries and vegan quiche.

Pastries at Corde Coffee, some of which are vegan.

Hot Dog Faktory

A small take-out place in the centre that sells hot dogs, including a vegan version!

Nero's

Sells focaccia and pizza al taglio. The latter is pizza by the slice and is a common street food in Italy. They also have a special vegan focaccia, and the marinara pizza is vegan.

Nero's is a typical pizza al taglio joint, as you would find on the streets of Italy.

Urban Health

This small shop sells juices, focaccia, salads and sandwiches. The vegan focaccia with hummus and grilled veggies is great!

Les Ciboulettes

All food sold here is spherical. Vegan options include vegan balls with quinoa and rostiballs. This is a round version of rosti, one of just a few traditional Swiss dishes that are vegan.

Notice how every food item in this photo is round?

Supermarkets and Health Food Stores

Whether you want to grab a quick bite on the go or cook up a full meal for yourself, you can find plenty of vegan ingredients and ready-made meals in Geneva’s mainstream grocery stores. For specialty items like tempeh, seitan, vegan cheeses, etc., health food stores are your best bet.

Coop

The number of vegan products sold at Coop supermarkets has exploded just in the past year or two, and new ones continue to be added. Coop has their own vegetarian line of products, called Karma, that includes microwavable dinners, seasoned tofu, kale chips, and takeaway sandwiches and wraps, among other things.

In addition, Coop has recently added to their shelves a number of vegan products made by the Veganz supermarket chain. They now offer vegan cookies, ice cream, white chocolate and more!

Coop now offers plenty of vegan ready-made meals and snacks

Migros

Migros is the other main supermarket chain in Switzerland, and together with Coop they form a duopoly. While they do not yet offer as many vegan products as Coop, they do carry some vegan ready-made meals, such as frozen spring rolls or Chinese dim sum, in addition to plenty of accidentally vegan products. They also stock the Coco Ice Land coconut milk ice cream.

Migro has fewer meat and dairy replacements compared with Coop, but they do have some good products. Tip: check the Migros-To-Go section of the store for the 'vegan coquerli', a.k.a. vegan sausage bread! It's clearly marked as vegan.

They also have some small blueberry and apricot pies that are vegan and labelled as such.

Their online store, called LeShop.ch, has a search function that allows you to see all Migros' vegan products at a glance. These include a wide range of Alnatura products (an organic and fair trade brand with many vegan items) that are not found in their brick and mortar stores.

Vegan sausage breads at Migros

Alna

Alna is a local institution; it’s the oldest health food store in Geneva and has been around for more than 80 years! The staff is helpful and eager to stock more vegan products.

If you're looking for something and don't see it, ask. They just might order it for you! Carries tempeh, setain, vegan meats and cheeses, nut butters, etc. They also sell some ready-made foods like sandwiches and energy balls, some of which are vegan.

Geneva's oldest health food store, founded in 1930

Bio c Bon

Chain of organic shops. Has lots of vegan foods that are hard to find in other places, like Soyanada sour cream and seitan. Also sells personal care products.

Marché de Vie

This health food store in Eaux-Vives is a bit larger than Alna and so is able to stock a wider variety of products. In addition to food, they also carry home cleaning and personal hygiene products with the vegan label. In the chilled section, look out for the delicious homemade cashew cheeses from the Crèmerie Végane!

From cookies to cream cheese to cleaning products, Marché de Vie has just about everything

Nature en Vrac

This relatively new arrival in Geneva follows an innovative concept: a packaging-free grocery store. They sell everything in bulk, from nuts to spices to olive oil to shampoo. Bring your own reusable containers, or you can purchase some here if you don’t have any. A great eco-friendly concept and a beautifully-decorated store.

You can buy just about anything in bulk here. Just bring your own containers!

Bocal Local

Another packaging-free store. In addition to the usual suspects (flour, oil, soaps, etc.), they also sell some vegan sweets.

Bio Fred

Super small organic shop that also serves breakfast and lunch, including vegan options. There are only a few tables, so it's mostly for take away.

Other Vegan Geneva Stuff

Joy Madal

Hidden inside this gift shop near Plainpalais is a fully vegan ice cream parlor! They serve lots of different flavors and also have vegan cones.

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4 Comments

Marjorie
October 27, 2016 at 4:15 pm

It’s so interesting to see how food is in different countries. I’ve been thinking about visiting Switzerland but haven’t been able to do so. It’s nice to see that they have a lot of nice restaurants that cater to the vegan lifestyle.

- Wendy Werneth
  October 27, 2016 at 4:55 pm
  
  Hi Marjorie,
  I hope you get to visit Switzerland one day! It’s an amazingly beautiful country. And yes, like elsewhere throughout Europe, more and more restaurants here are catering to vegans.
  
Claire Smith
July 29, 2017 at 9:11 am

You are missing in your list the vegan and organic food truck Beyond Eat Gourmet Vegan Street Food, which is based in Geneva, attends the Marché de Carouge every Thursday, and sells at events around Geneva, such as Fetes de Genève (3 – 13 August), Octopede (25-27 August), Street Food Festival (15-17 September). You can always find out where they are as it is continually updated on the handy Agenda so come check it out!

- Wendy Werneth
  July 29, 2017 at 12:10 pm
  
  Oh, fantastic, I didn’t know about that one. Thanks for the info!

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Where to Find Vegan Food in Geneva, Switzerland