Let’s face it: Colombia is not a great country to travel in as a vegetarian. Meatless meals frequently consist of beans and rice, and even then you can’t be 100% sure the beans weren’t cooked in pork fat. Communicating about your needs is a constant struggle. The good news is, Medellin is a refreshing break from these challenges, with a huge selection of excellent vegetarian restaurants. The largest concentration is in Poblado, the backpacker neighborhood. In this post, I’ll share with you the best restaurants in Poblado Medellin for vegetarians.
None of these Medellin restaurants will break the bank — you can eat at any of them for less than $10 US, and many are much cheaper. Save your money for activities while still eating well!
Best restaurants in Poblado Medellin for breakfast
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day — doubly so if your day is going to consist of exploring the many amazing things to do in Medellin. Whether you’re looking for something cheap and quick to grab on your way to a day trip to Guatape or you need a big breakfast before the four-hour-long Medellin walking tour, I’ve got you covered.
Best big breakfast in Poblado: Al Alma
Okay, so this place is barely in Poblado, and it doesn’t really count as a vegetarian restaurant since much of their menu includes meat. But it’s still without a doubt the best place to have a huge morning meal in the area, it’s walkable from the heart of Poblado (and convenient to the metro), and it can be veggie-friendly.
Al Alma is a gorgeous independent coffee house in a leafy-green part of Poblado, well away from the hustle and bustle of the traveler center. It has indoor seating, but the better bet is to snag one of the handful of tables on the sunny patio.
The menu is enormous, and you really can’t go wrong with anything you choose. I ordered Eggs Benedict (one of my favorites that I never get at home). It came with a bowl of fruit on the side and was so big that I couldn’t finish it. But you could go for French toast, a bagel sandwich, about 50 variations on egg dishes, or a simple fruit and granola bowl instead. They have an English menu and the staff speaks English pretty well, so ordering is not a problem, and they can hold the meat on most dishes.
On top of the food being amazing, Al Alma also has some of the best coffee in this part of Poblado. The beans are freshly roasted and the baristas know what they’re doing. Order a cappuccino for a real treat.
Al Alma opens at 7 am during the week, 8:30 on Saturdays, and 9 am on Sundays. Breakfast dishes run about 15,000 COP.
Best cheap and cheerful brunch (with a huge menu): D’Andre Gourmet
If you’re a picky eater and you need to find the best restaurants in Poblado Medellin that will suit your tastes, your first port of call should be D’Andre Gourmet.
The menu is enormous and covers breakfast dishes from across Colombia and the world. You can get anything from a fresh-baked bagel with cream cheese to a full English breakfast. Vegetarians will be pleased to see omelette options that don’t include meat.
Staff speak English, it’s never overwhelmingly crowded, and — best of all — the prices are super reasonable. I paid just 8,000 COP for a couple fried eggs with cheese arepas and an orange juice.
Best fast-food breakfast in Poblado: Buñuelos Supremos
Sometimes you don’t have time to sit down for a proper meal before you run off to your sightseeing for the day. Luckily, Medellin has you covered with a wide variety of awesome street food. But the quality varies widely — you could easily pick up some overly greasy empanadas or already-cold arepas.
For a reliable, quick morning meal, your best bet is Buñuelos Supremos. It has a convenient location right on Parque El Poblado and some of the best deep-fried morning treats in Medellin. (Note: If you’re after something healthy, just go to the market and buy some fruit. You won’t find quick and healthy breakfasts when backpacking Colombia.)
Buñuelos are always my quick breakfast of choice in Colombia. They’re deep-fried corn flour/cassava pastries stuffed with cheese. But if you’re not a fan, you can always go for arepas (corn patties stuffed with egg or cheese). Buñuelos Supremos has all of the above for prices starting at just 500 COP, and everything except the empanadas are veggie-friendly. Two or three buñuelos should be plenty to hold you over until lunchtime.
Best liquid breakfast in Poblado: Juice bar in the Centro Comercial
Sometimes you just don’t feel like eating breakfast–especially if you’re having tummy trouble while traveling. (I get it — I got horrible food poisoning while traveling from Bogota to San Gil and still felt like garbage three days later when I arrived in Medellin!) Unfortunately, if you’re looking for the best restaurants in Poblado Medellin where you can get something very light, you have limited options.
Luckily the Centro Comercial (shopping center) right by the Poblado metro has a great little juice bar where you can get a water, milk or yogurt-based juice for just a couple thousand pesos.
The juice bar is right next to the bank when you enter the shopping center. They make everything with fresh fruit. I highly recommend the strawberry-guava smoothies. A medium is actually pretty filling, especially if you order it with yogurt. Since it’s all so fresh it can take 5-10 minutes to make your juice to order.
Best coffee shops in Poblado
Medellin is at the center of coffee country in Colombia, so it’s not hard to find a great cup of coffee anywhere in the city. But a few places really stand out from the crowd. Whether you’re a serious coffee connoisseur or you just need a simple morning pick-me-up, don’t miss these coffee shops in Poblado.
The absolute best coffee in Medellin: Pergamino
This place tops every list of best restaurants in Poblado Medellin when it comes to coffee — and with good reason. I wanted to be skeptical and find a less gringo-centric favorite. But all it took was a single sip of Pergamino’s Cold Brew and I knew this was the best coffee I would find in Medellin.
Pergamino is a small, family-owned chain of third-wave coffee shops. The most popular branch is just a couple blocks from Parque Poblado. You’ll have to wait in line to order, but it has plenty of tables to accommodate the crowds. If you’re a digital nomad it would be a great place to work from as the WiFi is super fast.
You can order coffee by preparation method, stick with a favorite espresso beverage, or keep it simple with the Cold Brew (highly recommended!). It’s not cheap, but it’s not totally unaffordable either, and the quality is worth it. Expect to pay 4-6,000 COP for most drinks.
You can also buy beans to take home. They’d make great gifts!
The best competitor to Pergamino: Velvet
Right across the street from Pergamino’s Poblado branch, you’ll find everybody’s other favorite Medellin coffee shop. Velvet has a lot in common with its top competitor — great beans, good service, and an extensive coffee menu. But the vibe is quite different.
You can sit in a comfy lounge chair while enjoying your beverage. It’s rarely crowded and you can always find a seat. Unfortunately Velvet’s outdoor seating is limited compared to Pergamino’s though.
Velvet is also slightly cheaper than Pergamino. Coffees run in the 3-6,000 COP range. Don’t get me wrong, the coffee is still fantastic — I just enjoyed it ever-so-slightly less than Pergamino.
The best less-touristy coffee shop in Poblado Medellin
I know I already mentioned it under best breakfasts, but Al Alma deserves another mention here as the best place to escape the tourist crowds for a cup of great coffee.
Additionally, while Pergamino and Velvet are solidly pretentious third-wave coffee shops, Al Alma is much more down-to-earth. If you just want to order a coffee of the day without trying to figure out the difference between an aeropress and an French press, this is the coffee shop for you.
Coffee is very affordable at Al Alma — just 2-5,000 COP depending on what you order. You can get takeaway coffee as well.
Best restaurants in Poblado Medellin for lunch and dinner
Poblado isn’t just a great brunch spot in Medellin. It has plenty of awesome places to get a vegetarian-friendly bite to eat all day long.
If you happen to be in the neighborhood around lunchtime, look out for places offering a menu del dia. The “plate of the day” typically costs around 10,000 COP — a steal — and includes multiple courses plus a drink. Many of the best restaurants in Poblado Medellin for vegetarians serve a menu del dia during the week, but it’s harder to find on weekends.
The #1 must-try vegetarian restaurant in Poblado: Verdeo
Verdeo is legendary among South America travelers and locals in Colombia. My meat-loving free walking tour guide in Bogota even recommended it to me from halfway across the country!
And it truly lives up to the hype. The meal I had here was one of the best vegetarian meals I’ve had anywhere, ever. Really. Out of all the restaurants in Medellin Colombia, this is the one you cannot miss.
The menu is extensive, with an emphasis on salads and wraps playing on flavors from around the world. Many of their offerings are vegan, and gluten-free folks will have several good choices. But the real highlight is the roasted rosemary potatoes and homemade pesto. I still dream about them. My mouth is watering just writing this.
Verdeo also has a good drink menu — everything from cocktails to beer to mocktails to fresh-squeezed juices.
The atmosphere is casual. You can sit on the terrace or inside. And prices are affordable. Expect to pay around 20,000 COP for a meal with drinks. It’s open for lunch and dinner during the week, but it’s completely closed on Sundays.
Best menu del dia in Poblado: Marietta
Marietta is a hidden gem among the crowded vegan spots in El Poblado. It only has about four tables, and it’s completely empty most of the time. But for those in the know, it has incredibly creative and extremely affordable meals, making it one of the best restaurants in Medellin.
The menu consists exclusively of a menu del dia, which they offer on weekdays and Sundays (they’re closed Saturday). As far as I could tell, it’s the only veggie restaurant in Poblado where you can get a Sunday evening menu del dia.
Every day they have two different options. At least one, and sometimes both, are vegan-friendly. Both come with soup, main courses, drinks and a small dessert. When I went the main course was plantain lasagna served with rice, beans, and a large salad. It sounds weird but it was super delicious. They gave me a tiny slice of chocolate cake for dessert at the end.
Marietta is also super easy on the wallet. All that food will run you just 12,000 COP.
Best restaurant in El Poblado if you really, really just want a salad: Crepes and Waffles
When you’re traveling, do you ever crave some dark leafy greens in a way you never even knew was possible at home? I sure do. I guess there’s something about eating deep-fried junk for days on end that makes me want something light and fresh like it’s nobody’s business.
When the craving hits, the best place to go is Colombian chain Crepes and Waffles — a mainstay on the Medellin restaurant scene. I know, that sounds like more junk food, right? Wrong! It actually has a top-notch pay-by-weight salad bar with all the delicious, fresh veggies you’ve been craving.
If you want something more substantial, you can also try one of their many veggie-friendly crepes. The Mediterranean-themed one, with tahini, lentils, and roasted vegetables, is particularly tasty.
Crepes will run you 15,000 COP or so. But if you just want a salad, you can easily keep prices under 10,000 COP.
Best restaurant in Poblado to visit with a group: Cafe Zorba
A lovely candle-lit patio. Excellent drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Veg and vegan options galore. It’s hard not to love Cafe Zorba, a great little oasis on the outskirts of El Poblado and one of the top restaurants in Medellin.
The menu encompasses two general categories — Mediterranean-themed mezze (the hummus is to-die-for) and wood-fired pizzas. Both are delicious and great for sharing.
You also can’t leave without trying one of their infused sparkling water drinks. The watermelon one is very refreshing if you’ve been outside exploring all day long.
The only downside of Cafe Zorba is it gets packed. A line starts to form by around 6 pm. Come early, get a drink, and order a couple appetizers — this is a place that you can easily linger for awhile. But if you do end up needing to wait, trust me, it’s worth it.
Cafe Zorba isn’t the cheapest option on this list. You’ll have a hard time getting out of there for less than 20,000-25,000 COP per person, but go in a bigger group to share more and keep prices down.
Medellin is easily the best city in Colombia for vegetarians. In addition to the above highlights, you’ll also find awesome veggie burgers, places with traditional badejo paisas served with vegan sausages, plenty of hipster grain bowls, and even vegan sushi. You could spend weeks eating your way through this city without getting bored. It’s such a refreshing change after visiting places like Cartagena, with its emphasis on seafood, or Bogota.
I hope this list has helped you narrow down your options for the best restaurants in Poblado Medellin!
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OK everything I see here is just mouthwatering! I’m not a vegetarian but i do appreciate some good veggie food!
Yeah, sometimes even if you eat meat veggie food is a good break from the deep-fried stuff you get too much of when traveling.
This is truly a massive and detailed guide! I’m still trying to find my way to South America but I’m definitely keeping this list for future reference (coffee’s a must-try for me lol)
Thanks Brooke! And omg I totally plan my vacations around coffee.
South America is so veggie-friendly! I would love to have cheesy arepas for breakfast (… and lunch.. and dinner…).
Hahaha it’s pretty great for a couple days — at some point you have to start mixing in some green stuff tho :).
Such a mouth-watering post! As vegetarian I always appreciate guides like this especially for countries I am scared of finding that re not that veg-friendly! I am going to pin it so I can use it when I visit Medellin thank you so much!!
Thanks so much Val! Colombia as a whole was a pretty serious struggle — I ended up eating LOTS of veggie burgers because that’s the typical “vegetarian option” available, or beans and rice. But Medellin really stood out as better.
I love Colombia but haven’t made it To Medellin yet. Thanks for this list
Medellin is the BEST! I hope you get to visit someday.