Vegetarian · no tourist traps · no paid placements

The 5 best vegetarian restaurants in Leeds

// 5 of 8 vetted Leeds spots · updated September 2026

A grilled-vegetable plate bolted onto a steakhouse menu is not a vegetarian restaurant. These are the Leeds kitchens where the meat-free cooking is the reason to go — Kerala Indian, Indian Street Food and Spanish Neighbourhood among them: 5 spots, 2 of them fully vegan, pulled from the 8 we have vetted in the city. Chosen the way locals choose, never through a marketing budget.

1. 1★4.7

   Kerala Indian

   Tharavadu

   Allergy friendly

   Tharavadu cooks Kerala food on Mill Hill — seafood curries, appam and fish molee, a long way from the standard curry-house script. Local food guides have repeatedly named it the best Indian restaurant in Yorkshire, and the reason is regional focus: the coastal South Indian repertoire, coconut and tamarind rather than cream and heat, prawn biryani and fish curry among the dishes regulars order without looking. The menu is genuinely strong for vegetarians and the kitchen handles allergen requests as routine. Mains sit around £15, dinner only, and booking is sensible. It is one of Leeds's best arguments that a city centre restaurant can be both specific and affordable.

   Dietary: Vegetarian options are on the menu.

   View restaurant

2. 2★4.7

   Indian Street Food

   Bundobust Leeds

   Bundobust started in Leeds on Mill Hill, pairing Indian street food with craft beer — an entirely vegetarian menu, and a serious beer list. Okra fries, dhal puri and pani puri are the dishes the format is built on: small, sharp, designed to be ordered in rounds alongside whatever is on tap. The vegetarian-only decision was never framed as a restriction, which is largely why it worked and why the group has since spread beyond the city. The original site keeps its unfussy character — shared tables, order at the counter — and dishes around £12. Leeds treats it as a local rather than a destination.

   Dietary: Vegetarian options are on the menu.

   View restaurant

3. 3★4.6

   Spanish Neighbourhood

   Iberica Leeds

   Iberica brings Spanish regional cooking to Call Lane, in the converted Victorian rooms of Hepper House. It is the Leeds outpost of a Spanish restaurant group, and it keeps the things that made the group's name: jamón ibérico, patatas bravas, and fish specials that follow the day's delivery rather than a fixed card. Mains sit around £20, which is what turns it from an occasion into a habit, and the vegetarian side of the menu is substantial enough to order from properly. For a city that once had to travel for this kind of food, Iberica has become the default answer — a full Spanish meal on a Leeds night out, without ceremony.

   Dietary: Vegetarian options are on the menu.

   View restaurant

4. 4

   Tapas

   Viva Cuba

   VeganGluten-free

   Viva Cuba has held its corner of Kirkstall Road for over twenty years, pouring Cuban warmth into a stretch of Leeds most visitors never reach. The kitchen works in tapas: pork ribs, chorizo, lamb, beef meatballs, prawns, mussels, squid rings and halloumi, plus jamon iberico and salads to build a table around. It reads Spanish and Cuban at once, which is the point — the food follows the same route the music did. Bartenders mix to order at the back. Independent and single-site, it has picked up local recognition for world cuisine without ever becoming a place you need to book weeks ahead. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free dishes run through the menu.

   Dietary: Vegetarian options are on the menu.

   View restaurant

5. 5

   Coffee Shop

   Laynes

   VeganGluten-free

   Laynes began as an espresso bar on New Station Street, seconds from the Leeds station exit, and it still treats coffee as the main event. Around that sits a genuine kitchen doing breakfast and lunch, with pastries and sweet things baked at the company's own bakery over in Armley. Later in the day a short list of wines, beers and coffee cocktails takes over. Prices are gentle — around nine pounds for a plate — and vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options run through the menu. There are a few tables outside. For anyone arriving by train, it is the first good thing in the city.

   Reservations: Book online — the restaurant takes reservations through its website.

   View restaurant