Mexico City Vegan Scene
Vegan eating in Mexico has increased exponentially over the past couple of years.
Nine percent of Mexicans identified as vegans in 2017, and just two years later, 20% said they had changed to a plant-based lifestyle.
Plant-based eating at home has been relatively easy in Mexico because of the country’s wealth of readily accessible fresh fruits, vegetables, tortillas, and grains.
Yet now vegan dining options and stores, at least in the capital, are becoming less scarce. So, what’s Mexico City’s vegan scene? Veamos 8 restaurants and food trucks.
1. Querida Simona was innovated by Carla Celis, a young entrepreneur originally from Monterrey, Mexico who migrated to CDMX nearly eight years ago.
Carla says that when she first got to the capital she wanted to eat more plant-based, but “always ended up eating meat or cheese because of the inaccessibility to vegan food” near her office in the city of nine million inhabitants.
Once she started her own vintage clothing business in 2018, Carla had more time to cook. She began to experiment with Mexico’s rich layers of chiles and spices, combining these complex flavors with vegetables and grains. The result — killer oyster mushroom pibil, carrot tinga, and soy ceviche, along with taco and rice bowl options that now make up the menu at Querida Simona that opened in October 2019.
That menu also includes a rico mole tamale a la vegana, brownies, and the Mexican classic, cafe de la olla made with hints of cinnamon, clove, and unrefined cane sugar.
Ms. Celis is not just forward-thinking in terms of food, but also socio-economics.
When scoping spaces to set up shop, she found a great spot in the city’s trendy Roma neighborhood, but it was too much for her needs and budget.
So, she paired with her architect, interior designer friend, Myriam Bolanos. The two opened La Nación de Todos — a cooperative that now houses Querida Simona, Celis’ vintage clothing kiosk, Bolaños’ designer furniture, Biophilie (organics supplies store) and a yoga studio, among other businesses.
2. Around the corner from Querida Simona is the cozy La Pitahaya Vegana.
A veteran in the Mexico City vegan restaurant scene, La Pitahaya Vegana is another great example of young Mexicans transforming the nation’s traditional flavors to give them a plant-based spin.
The most fundamental Mexican staple — the tortilla — is made of not only maiz at La Pitahaya, but also with amaranth, quinoa, and a dash of beet juice to give the restaurant’s signature tortillas a fuchsia hue.
The restaurant’s traditional Mexican al pastor rub is made of guajillo chiles, garlic, laurel, and achiote that bathe oyster mushrooms rather than the traditional pork pairing.
Everything is house-made and gluten-free at La Pitahaya Vegana, including the creamy chocolate ice cream.
3. Speaking of desserts, head to the Elk Vegan Bistro and Deli for not only some of the best chocolate vegan cupcakes in the capital, but the capital’s best cupcakes. Period.
Moist and bouncy, chocolatey and with the perfect amount of sweet, you’re gonna wanna get a few of these cupcakes para llevar. Best yet, during Pride Month these cakes are decorated in a delish delish naturally-flavored mint frosting with rainbow-colored dragées.
After dessert, try one of Elk’s main dishes from the menu that includes enchiladas, chilaquiles, tortas (giant hard-roll sandwiches), sopa Azteca and chiles relleno. They also serve vegan hamburgers, hotdogs, and pancakes.
5. Alongside Elk’s Vegan Bistro and Deli is VeganVille, the city’s biggest vegan food store. You can pick up all your vegan grains, flours, dairy, drinks, and Beyond Meat meats. VeganVille also offers cooking classes.
6. Head farther south to the less touristy area of Del Valle to Veganisimo. This food cart is located in a lower-income area of the city, showing that the vegan lifestyle (and simply good food) crosses all classes and geographies of this massive city. This busy kiosk serves up traditional food truck fare — tortas and tacos — but uses mushroom, seitan, and soy as bases, rather than their typical meat counterparts.
7. Veguisima is a popular plant-based restaurant in the Condesa serving innovative foods like pulled pork sandwiches, molletes, and gringas, all a la vegana. The burritos — 12 inches of deliciousness served with vegan cheese in a wrap (one that’s actually good) — are what I recommend.
8. In the Historic Center, go to OVNI CDMX for an out-of-this-world vegan experience. OVNI (UFO in Spanish) is one of the only plant-based restaurants in the capital that serves international foods, offering an Indian curry, Italian lasagna, Lebanese falafel, and French shepherd’s pie.
The Beyond Meat burger is served on a tender, house-made roll infused with activated charcoal.
Stores and Such
Across the sprawling city, you can find several small dry goods stores, including Botanica Granel that sell tree nuts, dried fruit, grain, and any flour your heart desires. Granel shops dot the city, as does Mr. Tofu, which carries a variety of plant-based meat and dairy products. The Green Corner is another locally-run chain that provides lots of fresh, organic fruits and vegan products, but is not 100% plant-based.
Luckily, these stores deliver as do strict vegan online stores like Eden Artesanal, Abasto Vegano, and Vegan Label.
Vente! The Mexico City plant-based and vegan scene is sprouting.
