The Ultimate Geneva, Switzerland Vegan Restaurant Guide

The Ultimate Geneva, Switzerland Vegan Restaurant Guide

Geneva, Switzerland had some of the best vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants I had experienced in a LONG TIME! Even more impressive is that the options are sprinkled throughout the city which made for a fun self-guided vegan food tour to explore the city.

On top of being a vegan-friendly city, Geneva is beautiful and centrally located, making it a great home base for day trips or weekend trips throughout Europe.

Map of Vegan Restaurants & Markets in Geneva, Switzerland

Vegan Food in Geneva, Switzerland

1. Alive – Vegan

Alive was hands down my favorite vegan restaurant in Geneva Switzerland. I almost walked right out when I saw that a burger was ~$30 USD, but I’m glad that I decided to try the Quesadilla recommended to me by the staff. It was worth every one of the 26 francs that I paid for it (~$28 USD).

It was so good that I wanted to just finish it off in one sitting, but I exercised control to save half of it for my friend back at the hotel. Even as a non-vegan, she loved it too!

The quesadilla was honestly nothing like what I think of when I think of a quesadilla. It consists of sauteed oyster mushrooms, corn, lentil chili, black rice, salsa verde, and veganaise placed between 2 corn tortillas and topped with carrots and pickled onions.

You have to remove the thought of a quesadilla from your mind and just eat it for what it is, because it is DE-LISH-OUS! I can’t even describe what makes it so bomb. It’s just seasoned really well and all of the flavors complement one another REALLY well.

2. Awash – Vegan-friendly

Aside from vegan soul food, vegan Ethiopian is my favorite kind of food. I wasn’t expecting to find bomb vegan Ethiopian food while in Geneva, that’s exactly what we found not too far from our hotel. Awash was just one of the vegan friendly Ethiopian restaurants that I saw around Geneva, so there are options.

Awash has a full vegetarian menu with many vegan options. The staff is very knowlegable, so just ask them what you can have on the menu.

As we were hoping, the 2 person vegetarian platter was more than enough food to feed two people. We were completely full from the meal and even had enough for leftovers! I’m not the biggest fan of sauteed spinach, but I even gobbled that up. So in conclusion, be sure to check out Awash if you like Ethiopian food!

3. Gives a Fork – Vegan

Gives a Fork has a cool chef’s table set up. There is a U-shaped dining bar that wraps around the prep area where the chefs serve the food.

Make sure to book a reservation, because the space is very small (I think there were 10-12 settings). I was almost turned away because of how packed it was, but the chef was kind enough to slide me in.

I went for a light bite and chose 2 of their tacos. I saw a range of other options, like their burgers and nachos, being served, All of them looked delicious and were clearly made with care. We could see the chefs preparing everything right in front of us!

I wasn’t too hungry, so i decided to just try 2 tacos (the Spicy and the Juicy). If you’re hungry for real for real though, I recommend getting at least 3 tacos. The Spicy Taco consists of crispy mushroom, house chi chi sauce, wombak slaw, and pineapple salsa.

I can’t tell what the chi chi sauce or wombak slaw really are, but I can tell you that the Spicy was my favorite of the two tacos!

The Juicy Taco features banana blossom, Yucatan pibil, avocado, pickled onion, coriander, and lime. This taco was good, but not as exciting as the Spicy. Had the banana blossom been a little juicier (after all, it is called the Juicy Taco), I probably would have liked it a lot more. All in all though, I enjoyed my Gives a Fork experience because of the intimate vibe and great food!

4. Arepa Republic – Vegan-friendly

Venezuelan arepas are one of my favorite kinds of foods. You can really give me anything that features black beans, sweet plantains, avocado, and any form of masa, and I’m going to be a fan.

As someone that speaks zero French, but a tad bit of Spanish, I was extra excited to see that there were folks ordering at the food truck in Spanish. I veganized their vegetarian arepa by omitting the cheese to get an arepa stuffed with black beans, ripe avocado, and sweet plantains.

When I say stuffed, I mean STUFFED! With each bite, the filling was pouring out the side. I decided to act like I had some sense and start eating it with a fork. Who knew that arepas could be so portable?! I’m sure lots of folks knew, but I learned that day!

5. biofred – Vegan

Biofred is a cute little vegan eatery that also has a small grocery section featuring vegan dairy products and chocolates. The space inside has countertop seating for two, and their adorable outdoor seating provides enough space for 2 sets of 3.

Their menu includes salads, sandwiches, toasts, juices, smoothies, etc. I decided to go with a toast and it came out so darn cute! It was a little heart-shaped toast topped with hummus, sundried tomatoes, herbs, and cucumbers!

Call me basic, but I was feelin’ the cute outdoor seating and adorable street setting with my heart-shaped toast!

6. GreenGo – Vegetarian

GreenGo was a really great option for someone looking to grab something healthy-ish and vegan on the go. It’s located inside of a food hall with lots of non-vegan options. Not all of their options are vegan, but the ones that were looked pret-ty darn bomb.

I decided to go with the vegetable curry which comes served with white rice. I intended to just have a few bites and then save the rest for later, but yall… I was sitting there in a cute little park taking in the view while chowing down and next thing I knew, the bowl was gone!

All that to say, I highly recommend the vegetable curry option if you’re looking for a quick veggie-packed bite.

7. Be Kind Cafe – Vegan

I unfortunately arrived at Be Kind Cafe too late to order a full meal, but the person at the register was kind enough to offer me some desserts. I was specifically looking for something more unique and true to Geneva, and was directed to this beautiful gluten-free apple tart.

It was flat-out delicious. I also meant to just try a bit of this and save the rest for later, but gobbled it up and went home with no leftovers for later.

8. Brezelkonig – Vegan-friendly

The specific Brezelkonig that I went to was one of the most difficult-to-find spots that I visited in Geneva. Everything else around town was pretty straightforward, except for anything near the Cornavin Train Station, so beware.

I accidentally made it to Breselkonig after wandering around the center. My bus stop to get home later that night though…? Couldn’t find it. Met some fellow tourists that were equally as lost trying to find the same stop. We asked Employees at a nearby restaurant, and they didn’t know where it was either. Not even Google Maps could find it!

Back to Brezelkonig though! They had marked vegan sandwiches, pretzels, and croissants. I decided to be boring and just get a pretzel, but it sho hit the spot!

9. Cafe Spettacolo – Vegan-friendly

I saw a few Cafe Spettacolo’s around town, and finally decided to stop and check one out at a train station. Their options were an apricot croissant and a multigrain croissant. I opted for the sweeter option and got the apricot.

It was light, flaky, and stuffed with the perfect amount of apricot preserves! It was so good, that I wanted to go order another even though the employee that took my order was low-key rude!

10. Envie – Vegan

Envie was the one restaurant that I truly went out of my way to visit. There are so many vegan options right in the heart of the city that this 30-ish minute trip felt like I had navigated all the way to another country.

The inside was like a grungy dive bar meets an influencer’s Instagram backdrop. I was honestly confused, but decor has never stopped me from eating! They had an interesting variety of burgers with different colored buns, but their donut logo had my sweet tooth craving a sweet pastry.

The cinnamon roll was honestly pretty dry and not my favorite, but I’ll just blame it on user error. I saw a few burgers come out that looked tasty, so I’d maybe go back to try one of those out. Definitely wouldn’t travel all of that way for that cinnamon roll though.

11. Aux Deux Portes – Vegan

Aux Deux Portes was another cute little spot with a few seats for dining and a small grocery section. The grocery section includes dry goods like rice, noodles, beans, etc.

Their food options were a range of sides that you could combine to make a plate and pastries. I was on the run, so I grabbed one of their channa bowls for later. In hindsight, I should have gotten some sort of side to go with it. Some rice or bread, or something! It was still good though and had a unique flavor that I have never experienced from a channa dish.

12. Le Phare – Vegan-friendly

I loved Le Phare because it’s a Queer-friendly bar located on a block filled with rainbows! The empanada that I got there was iite, but I truly appreciated the space itself. It’s a bar/cafe with lots of outdoor and indoor seating.

Most of their menu options are vegan, but don’t go there looking to grub. In terms of food, I would say that it’s more of a spot where you just want something light to go with your drinks and hold you over until you go to dinner or hit up your late-night munchies spot.

13. Foound – Vegan-friendly

Foound is a cute coworking space. You can pay a little extra for access to a more private part of the workspace (I did not), or just buy something to grab a seat in the front and get the wifi code. I was confused by an area that looked like a barber shop in the corner, but I decided to mind my business and just sip on my drink while I capitalized on the free wifi.

There’s lots of natural light and plants in the space, making it an all-around nice place to get some work done while you sip on your caffeinated (or decaf) beverage of choice and nibble on some light bites

14. Cafe Mutin – Vegan

Words can’t express how excited I was to dine at Cafe Mutin. I booked a reservation in advance, literally skipped alongside some school kids on my way to the restaurant, and stood outside taking pictures before I even went in. The people that were dining as I entered seemed to really be enjoying their food!

However, I did not enjoy my food, and I can’t even blame the restaurant. I’m still not too sure why this is, but beets give me a headache. Maybe I’m allergic, I don’t know. What I do know is that my heart sank when I bit into the crepe that I ordered and the flavor profile was beets on beets on beets!

I scraped it off as best as I could, but I wasn’t feeling the meal after that. I decided to keep Cafe Mutin on the list because I think it was a “me” thing, not them. Check out the menu for yourself and see if you’d want to give them a try!

15. Windows at Hotel d’ Angleterre – Vegan-friendly

I came to Windows PURELY because they have a vegan tea party. I’m from the US, so “having tea” isn’t really a thing. In the rare event an establishment has an afternoon tea option, it’s usually not a vegan thing.

So yes, I booked a reservation just to have my vegan tea time to say that I did it! It was very fancy (and expensive), but I don’t care! I had an English tea party on the lake!

You choose your tea, which is brought out in a cute little teapot first. The 3 tiered snack set featured some relatively bland sandwiches, some equally as bland tarts & biscuits, and some not very sweet scones.

They were served with jam though, so I smothered some of those pastries in it. Unfortunately, there was no saving the bland sandwiches though. I ended up taking them home with hopes of being able to spruce them up with some other leftovers or convincing my friend to eat them (it worked).

So if you’re actually hungry or just looking to throw down on some bomb food, don’t go to Windows. Check out one of the places that I listed in my top 3 instead.

Vegan Chocolate in Geneva, Switzerland

Switzerland is known for its chocolate, so I tried to play along. I am not the biggest chocolate fan at all, and if I do engage in some chocolatey nonsense, it’s usually something extra diluted with vegan milk/cream and sugar.

I was on a mission to find chocolate that I liked in Switzerland, so I literally tried over a dozen different vegan chocolates during my time in Geneva.

Considering my rough relationship with pure chocolate that I outlined above, my favorite vegan chocolate in Switzerland ended up being this white nougat crisp chocolate that I found at Alna. My heart broke when I returned to get more, only to find them all sold out.

My second favorite chocolate in Geneva was the Natur Kostbar brand of chocolates that I found at biofred. There were different flavors and textures, but the boxed praline kind was my favorite of all of the options.

Lastly, I appreciated the experience of buying chocolate at Sprungli. It’s an upscale chocolate shop that has non-vegan and vegan options. The staff is very knowledgeable about their vegan options and also made some great recommendations after asking me a few questions.

They also provide samples if you want to try them before you buy. None of their chocolates blew me away, but I still bought a couple because the staff there was so nice.

Vegan Groceries

Migros – Vegan-friendly Market

The very first place I went in Geneva was Migros. I had no cell phone service, but ended up walking past the airport Migros to get to my hotel. Decided to pop in and see what Swiss grocery stores are hittin’ like. I stumbled upon a wall of pure vegan gold!

There were multiple grab-and-go vegan sandwiches. So I grabbed two. Lots of vegan quick meal options that you quickly heat up in a skillet or microwave. So I grabbed a few of those too! There were even some impressive yogurts and ice creams that I found.

Over the course of my time in Geneva, I tried all 3 of the pictured sandwiches and decided that the Bacon Style was my favorite. Packed a few of those for the road during my long days out and about.

So to my fellow vegabonds, hit up a Migros on your way in or out if you end up with a whack meal on your plane and need something to hold you over!

Alna – Vegan-friendly Market

Alna was another great location to find some vegan goodies. They had lots of refrigerated options, including vegan dairy products, but I was mainly interested in their vegan chocolates. One of the best chocolates that I had in Geneva came from Alna, and I nearly cried when I went back to find them all sold out.

If you’re looking to stock up on some goods for your kitchen though, Alna is a good option if you’re already in that part of town.

Getting Around Geneva, Switzerland

You have the typical options to get around Geneva, with public transportation being a clean and dependable option. What I found to be most convenient was the city bus. My hotel provided me with a free pass for public transportation, so be sure to check with your hotel if you’re staying in one.

If you don’t get a free public transpo pass, there are kiosks at every station. You must buy your ticket before entering the bus because there aren’t ticket machines on the buses (aside from ones that have routes that lead outside the city).

There is also an option to purchase via text with a Swiss sim card. Check out the Geneva Public Transport site for more details on purchasing a ticket or pass. Once you have your pass, you just hop on and ride. No scanning. No swiping.

My next favorite way of getting around the city was on the 2-10: 2 feet, 10 toes! Geneva is a very walkable city (about 6 square miles), especially if you’re trying to get around the heart of the city.

There were times that I would just walk rather than take the bus to explore the town. I felt very safe walking around Geneva during the day and at night. I will acknowledge that the sense of security (debatable whether or not it’s false) that I feel as a result of being a relatively tall person contributes to how safe I felt.

However, I will also point out that my friend that walked around town at night with me also felt safe. Do what you want with that information.

All in all, Geneva is a very beautiful city with lots of beautiful architecture and natural sights to be seen. If Geneva isn’t enough for you though, there are PLENTY of day trips and weekend trips that you can take, so keep reading if you are interested.

Day Trips and Weekend Trips from Geneva, Switzerland

Pretty much any city in Switzerland (including Bern and Zurich) as well as Milan, Italy are all within a 4 hour-train ride of Geneva. With Geneva being pretty smack dab in the middle of Europe, most major cities are even a shorter plane ride away.

My friend and I did a quick 1 hour train ride to Lusanne during our time in Geneva, but you can get to Bern in 2 hours or Zurich in 3 hours. There are lots of options for exploring Lake Geneva or just more of the country in general. If you are looking to venture outside of the country, there are lots of options for you as well.

Want to hit up Paris? There are one hour direct flights for less than $150 USD roundtrip. Amsterdam? Get there in an hour and a half for less than $200 for the round trip flight. Barcelona? Find a round trip flight for less than $200 USD that will take less than 2 hours each way.

Hopefully you’re picking up what I’m putting down here, so go check out sky scanner, Google Flights, or your flight search tool of choice to book a trip within your trip!

Conclusion: The Ultimate Geneva, Switzerland Vegan Restaurant Guide

In conclusion, there Geneva is a great place for a vegan to visit. Lots of great vegan food ranging from Ethiopian veggie platters to English tea spreads.

There are even lots of vegan chocolate options that you can find throughout the city at vegan-friendly markets and vegan restaurants alike. For those that want to take advantage of Geneva’s location in the heart of Europe, you can also take a quick day or weekend trip via train or plane.

Your options as a vegabond in Geneva are endless!