Vegan Restaurants in Charleston, South Carolina: 13 Amazing Options

Is anyone else looking forward to traveling again?? A few weeks ago, my husband and I traveled to another big city for the first time since last March. We went to Charleston, South Carolina for a few days—and it felt glorious to be out of Ohio and experiencing a new place! 

One of the most important things to me when we travel is (you guessed it) food! I’m always looking for vegan restaurants when we travel, since I eat plant-based and that’s the easiest way to make sure I can get a quality meal that’s not a salad made up solely of wilted iceberg lettuce, bland tomatoes, and soft carrots. I get hungry, and I need more substance than that! 

I was leery of Charleston, since it’s a city in the south—and from where I’m sitting, “southern food” typically means butter, meat, carbs, and more butter. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of vegan options in this southern city though! 

In this post, I thought I’d give y’all a rundown of the vegan restaurants where we ate, and then a few of the other options I found that we just didn’t have time for. Here goes!

13 Amazing Vegan Restaurants in Charleson, South Carolina

1. Three Little Birds Cafe

We went here for brunch, and it was delicious! They had lots of outdoor tables where we could sit (always my jam, especially in COVID times) and excellent breakfast and lunch items. They have several plant-based options on their menu, including:

• Birdhouse Burrito
• Crispy Tofu Tacos
• Hummus & Veggie Wrap

They also had several other vegetarian options that would be easy to order without cheese. You can also avoid those dairy-laden sides by ordering a fruit cup as a side.

2. Gnome Cafe

This is one of three fully vegan restaurants in Charleston (one of three that I found, but someone please correct me if there are more)! That means you can order anything, and it will be completely plant-based! 

When you go to a purely vegan restaurant, you also typically get a balanced meal of some protein, grain, and veggies. What’s not to love?

We got the mushroom BLT, brussel sprouts, and a veggie burger, which were all phenomenal. They’re a cafe, so their seating in general is fairly limited, but they had a few outdoor tables and some indoor seating. 

They serve breakfast and lunch and are the perfect place for a lighter meal in the middle of the day as you explore downtown. Their coffee was also delicious if you’re looking for coffee with plant-based milks. 

And if you’re looking for vegan grits, they have them! I didn’t get to eat them, but they sounded delicious. 

3. Neon Tiger

This is the second of the vegan restaurants in Charleston that we visited, and it was fabulous. They have indoor and outdoor seating, and the inside has a plant wall with real plants in between the booths! 

Neon Tiger does some plant-based seafood like their Crispy Konjac Shrimp and Trumpet Mushroom Calamari. Do. Not. Hesitate. On that Crispy Konjac Shrimp. I wasn’t expecting much, but seriously it tasted like actual shrimp! 

We got the shrimp, lentil ragout, and a veggie bowl. It all tasted great, but I cannot speak highly enough of the shrimp if you want some seafood but don’t want to eat actual shrimp. 

4. Beech

This place serves smoothies, juices, acai bowls, and poke bowls. It’s not entirely vegan, but it was easy to make a plant-based poke bowl, since they give the option of ordering tofu as the protein. 

We got two poke bowls (both were delicious) and an acai bowl for dessert. The acai bowl was absolutely amazing, and if you’re looking for a lower-sugar dessert, this is the place to go! 

5. Annie O’ Love’s Cafe of Sweet Abundance

This is the third solely vegan restaurant in Charleston. They sell cookies, desserts, waffles (think chicken and waffles), and sandwiches that are all vegan AND gluten free. 

They also have these mason jar desserts they call “Jars of Abundance,” which are cake/cookie/cookie dough balls with a ton of toppings. That also looked delicious, but we were not in the mood to eat that much sugar when we went there, so we got the MacDaddy Crispy Chick’n sandwich and a Happy Healer cookie. Both were delicious! 

If you want a more traditional hot sandwich with cheese and meat, this restaurant is probably your best bet as well. It’s a little outside of downtown in West Ashley, but if you’re like me and the food is the main attraction when traveling, it’s worth the drive! 

6. Fleet Landing 

We did not get food here, but we went for the vibes. This restaurant is on the water and if you want to sit outside with a drink and get lost in the waves, this is the place to go! We went here between activities to chill for a while, and it was the perfect spot to relax. 

Other places I found, but we just did not have time to visit in during our trip: 

• Off Track Ice Cream: not solely vegan, but it has vegan ice cream options. One of my friends who lives in Charleston loves this place!
• BKeDSHoP: serves donuts, fritters, and coffee. They have both vegan and non-vegan options (great for an omni family)! They also have a plant shop in their space. I’m a huge plant person, so if I’d realized this sooner, we definitely would’ve gone here—but alas, I did not.
• Butcher and Bee: This place has some good vegan and non-vegan options, including vegan desserts!
• Bon Banh Mi – Menu includes salads, banh mi, tacos, and bowls. They serve meat, but also have tofu as an option.
• Sorghum and Salt – This place is a little nicer than what we were looking for, so we didn’t visit. But it seems to be great for a date night! If you call ahead and tell them you’re vegan, they’ll print a vegan menu. And if you walk in and tell them you’re vegan, they’ll point out which items on the menu align with veganism.
• Leyla Lebanese – Also a nicer restaurant that has several Lebanese vegan options including hummus, grape leaves, falafel, and moussaka.
• Basil Thai – Thai food (obviously) which has tofu as an option for protein and has really good reviews online.

Bonus Suggestion for Meat Eaters: Lola

Usually when we go on vacation I eat meat at least once, mostly because it’s very hard to find a wide variety of vegan foods when traveling. This place serves Louisiana cajun food and, yes, I did eat meat here. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to eat real cajun food since I haven’t perfected plant-based versions at home yet. 

Seriously, though, if you don’t care about eating meat, Go. Here. First. We got boudin balls, etouffee, and jambalaya, and they were spicy, flavorful, warm, and all the things I want out of cajun food. 

Conclusion

This is, of course, not an exhaustive list of vegan options in Charleston. We didn’t travel very far outside of downtown, so I definitely know there are more places to eat. But I was so impressed with the vegan options available in this southern hub that I had to share this list with you!

In fact, in my research I found the Charleston Plant, which is a website outlining vegan options in Charleston, SC. Go visit their page if you’re looking for more! 

Another thing I did is that I joined the local vegan Facebook group. The Cincinnati Facebook group always has restaurant options, and the Charleston Facebook group did not disappoint! And then, of course, there’s always Happy Cow (the vegan/vegetarian guide to restaurants practically everywhere) if you’re traveling and don’t want to do quite as much research as I did. 

I hope this is helpful to some of you. As the world opens up, hopefully we’ll all get back to traveling and be able to experience more food hotspots like Charleston. And in the meantime, if you’re looking for classic southern foods with a vegan twist to tide you over while you wait for that plane ticket, check out our vegan chili, crispy breakfast potatoes, and vegan banana bread recipes!

Happy traveling,
Elana