Veganuary, where non vegans pledge to eat only vegan for the month of January, has been growing increasingly popular every year. In 2018 around 170,000 were reported to have signed up, in 2019 that figure rose to 250,000 and in 2020 the estimate is that 350,000 people will sign up for Veganuary.
With so many new vegans and vegan curious people it’s no wonder that the big restaurant chains are adding more and more vegans options to their menus. This means that even if you’ve chosen to take part in Veganuary but none of your friends and family have, there are still plenty of places you can eat out together without worry.
To help those new to Veganuary I’ve created this list showing some of the best vegan friendly chain restaurants in the UK. While each town and city will have their own local restaurants, you can be pretty much guarantee that each place you visit in the UK will have at least one of these restaurants.
Vegan Friendly Chain Restaurants in the UK
GBK
Cuisine: Burgers
GBK or Gourmet Burger Kitchen was started by 3 kiwi guys including world-renowned chef Peter Gordon. They pride themselves on handcrafting their burgers from the finest ingredients and now have 4 delicious vegan burgers on their menu. They have classic bean patty burgers, a falafel burger and even a butternut squash & quinoa patty burger with Korean pulled jackfruit.
Check out their full vegan menu online here
Wagamama
Cuisine: Asian
Wagamama is a British chain restaurant that offers Asian cuisine inspired by the flavours of Japan. It’s been a favourite restaurant of mine for many years so I was really please that they offer vegan options.
And it’s not just one or two vegan options, they have a whole vegan menu! Diners can have vegan goyzas, rice dishes, noodle dishes and even their famous katsu curry has a vegan alternative made with seitan.
Check out their full vegan menu online here
Zizzi
Cuisine: Italian
Zizzi is a popular Italian restaurant with over 140 restaurants across the UK and Ireland. They want their customers to enjoy delicious Italian inspired food in an environment designed with individual touches of the local area.
They’ve been working hard to increase their allergen menu so vegans have a lot more choice. The best thing about Zizzi is their vegan cheese tastes so much better than other vegan cheeses! Plus they have a vegan dessert for the chocoholics, their sticky chocolate and praline tart.
Check out their full menu online here
Nandos
Cuisine: Chicken
Originating in South Africa and serving Portuguese style chicken, you might not expect Nandos to offer vegan options but they actually have several dishes that can be made vegan. The hummus with peri peri drizzle is insanely delicious.
The Supergreen burger and the sweet potato and butternut burger can be made vegan by asking for it with no mayonnaise. The fries and sweet potato mash are vegan and even the garlic bread is vegan so you have plenty of options.
Check out their full menu online here
Honest Burger
Cuisine: Burgers
Honest Burger pride themselves on creating freshly made burgers while supporting the local community. Every restaurant serves beer from a nearby brewery and many of the restaurants use ingredients from local food heroes.
While Honest Burger may not have an extensive vegan option they do have the infamous Beyond Meat burger. A plant based burger patty that was making the headlines in America for looking, cooking and tasting like a meat burger and is now (finally) here in the UK.
Check out their full menu online here
J.D. Wetherspoon
Cuisine: British
J.D. Wetherspoon is a British Pub chain commonly referred to as ‘Spoons’. They are known for converting unconventional properties into attractive looking pubs such as an Opera House, a bank and even a church. There are currently almost 900 Wetherspoon pubs around the UK.
Wetherspoon’s is popular with locals for serving up traditional pub grub at a reasonable price. The vegan options have been increasing and now vegans can enjoy a quinoa salad, five bean chilli, sweet potato and chickpea curry, mushroom pie, a full English breakfast and now a vegan burger.
Check out a taste of their menu online here
Hard Rock Cafe
Cuisine: American
Hard Rock Cafe is a famous American style restaurant that actually first opened in London. Each restaurant covers its walls with rock and roll memorabilia which makes it a popular place to visit for tourists visiting a new city.
While it doesn’t yet have an extensive vegan menu, it’s such a popular restaurant it was worth including in this list to show it does indeed have a vegan option. Due to demand from customers they recently added a Moving Mountains plant based burger. However, each location has a slightly different menu so it’s worth double checking.
Check out their full menu online here
Byron Hamburgers
Cuisine: Burgers
Byron Hamburgers started with a single goal. They wanted to produce simple burgers but done properly. They make their burgers with the best ingredients possible and pair them with craft beers or thick shakes.
Byron’s have a pretty good vegan menu with three vegan burgers available. Two are meat substitute patties with different vegan cheese options and one is a beetroot falafel patty full of goodness.
Check out their full menu online here
ASK Italian
Cuisine: Italian
ASK Italian, sometimes simply known as ASK, is a casual dining restaurant serving up fresh and authentic Italian cuisine.
ASK Italian offer quite an extensive vegan menu so there’s plenty to choose from. They have a few starters, build your own vegan pizzas (with vegan cheese!), several pasta options and even a couple of desserts.
Check out their full vegan menu online here
Wahaca
Cuisine: Mexican
After falling in love with Mexico and the incredible flavours conjured up passionate street food, Wahaca was born by co-founders Thomasina Miers and Mark Selby. They aspire to match the freshness and vibrancy of Mexico with locally sourced, seasonal ingredients.
Wahaca has plenty of vegetarian options and several vegan options too. There is vegan guacamole available, a sweet potato burrito, a mushroom taco and several side options. There is also a vegan set menu available with extra options.
Check out their full menu online here or the vegan menu pdf here
Pho
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Pho is a family run business started after the couple visited Vietnam and fell in love with the food. They wanted to start the restaurant to offer great value, healthy Vietnamese street food.
The great thing about Vietnam is there is a lot of vegan friendly dishes available which means Pho has plenty of options for vegans. They have spring rolls, rice dishes, noodles, buns, desserts and of course pho.
Check out their full vegan menu online here
Prezzo
Cuisine: Italian
Since 2000 Prezzo has been using Italian recipes to bring a touch of Italy to the UK. Their goal is to bring delicious Italian classics in beautiful settings.
They have several vegan options available including a couple of starters, veggie pizzas that can be made vegan, pasta dishes and even a couple of desserts. The latest on the menu is a delicious triple chocolate tart.
Check out their full menu online here
TGI Fridays
Cuisine: American
TGI Fridays is an American style casual dining restaurant. They pride themselves on adding passion and personality to their restaurants. TGI Fridays is all about having fun and celebrating which is why they always have a buzzing atmosphere.
Recently they have been adding more vegan options to their menu and now have a couple of starters, fajitas, pasta, a plant based burger and a dessert.
Check out their full vegan menu online here
Wasabi
Cuisine: Japanese
Since 2003, Wasabi has aimed to make the best sushi and bento available to all. Using the freshest ingredients, their sushi and bento is freshly prepared in-store. They want everyone to have the chance to sample quality sushi at an affordable price.
The great thing about Wasabi is they have plenty of vegan options available. There are several hosomaki rolls, seaweed onigiri, noodle bowls, katsu curry, tofu curry, tofu soup and some vegetable gyozas.
Check out their full vegan menu online here
Wildwood
Cuisine: Italian
Wildwood are a pizza and pasta style restaurant who pride themselves on producing high quality food sourced from the finest ingredients.
They want to produce food for everyone which is why they want to make sure that their menu offers something for vegans. Wildwood have a separate vegan menu which includes a burger, a Philly cheese sandwich pizzas with vegan cheese, pastas, risotto and a sorbet for dessert.
Check out their full menu online here or the vegan menu pdf here
Cosy Club
Cuisine: American
Founded by a trio of friends who simply wanted somewhere to eat and drink themselves. Cosy Club celebrates the joys of relaxed dining, drinking and lounging in a fabulous setting. Each Cosy Club is housed in a unique building, taking an iconic listed building and turning them into luxurious spaces.
Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, they have several different vegan options across their menus. Breakfast choices include vegan fry up, vegan sausage sandwich, avocado on toast and a vegan shakshuka. Lunch and dinner menus include a vegan burger, vegan fish & chips, falafel sandwich and even a vegan cheesecake.
Find your nearest location to see their menu here
Bill’s
Cuisine: British
Bill’s restaurant is a British style restaurant chain that started out as a green grocer to celebrate great British fruit and vegetables. A cafe was introduced and the quality of the food was so good the restaurant chain was born.
As well as Bill’s classic dishes, the restaurant serves up daily specials and seasonal dinner menus so the menu does change throughout the year. While the vegan menu isn’t the largest, the food they offer is so fresh tasting. For vegans they have a couple of starters, a few salads, a mushroom wellington and coconut ice cream.
Check out their full menu online here
The Real Greek
Cuisine: Greek
Serving up food from the diets of Eastern Mediterranean where people have a passion for food, The Real Greek serves up delicious dishes from Greek. The atmosphere of the restaurants are designed to bring back the memories and spirit of Greece.
The great thing about Greek food is that it’s easy to make vegan dishes. At The Real Greek vegans have plenty of choice from the cold mezes, hot mezes, grilled mezes, wraps, salads and desserts.
Check out their full vegan menu online here
Greene King Pubs
Cuisine: British
Greene King is a leading pub retailer and brewer with over 2,700 pubs, restaurants and hotels across the UK. Founded in 1799, they’ve learned how to brew award winning beers and how to operate pubs you’ll want to visit.
While their vegan options are still pretty limited and do vary for each pub, with so many of them in the UK they are worth including in this list. Depending which pub you visit, the options available include no chicken katsu, mushroom and ale pie, vegetable curry and a vegan burger.
Find your nearest location to see their menu here
Vegans in the UK May Also Like….
- Vegan Sushi Cooking Class
- The Gin Lovers Afternoon Tea Bus
- Vegan Friendly Restaurants in London
- Bombay Sapphire Distillery Tour
- Almodovar: Veggie Hotel in Berlin
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I am surprised to learn that there are so many vegan friendly restaurant chains in the UK. Even though I am not vegan, on occasion I do enjoy a vegan dish. I’m happy to know there are so many options in the UK.
I have never found a lot of veggies in any of the restaurants I visited in London. Surely these people must eat veggies in their home cooking. Having some vegetarian options are great for the next time I visit.