Killingsworth’s all-vegan taqueria serves tacos, tortas, nachos, and burritos filled with extra juicy made-from-scratch seitan. First-timers can experience the Los Angeles-meets-Baja California style taco trio: cilantro lime, al pastor, and asada, served on hand-pressed-to-order, Three Sisters Nixtamal tortillas, and garnished with pico de gallo and cashew crema. Customers will also find La Casa De Mamá conchas and Xicha Brewing beers at the taqueria. As a way of giving back to the vegan and LGBTQ communities that supported them since their pop-up days, Polo Bañuelos and Carlos Reynoso offer a pay-it-forward program and free meals for trans people of color.

Mississippi’s vegan scoop shop, Kate’s Ice Cream has accrued a following for its organic coconut cream-based creations, with options like marionberry cobbler, salted peanut butter brittle, and cookie dough. If the flavors don’t evoke childhood nostalgia, the cheery pastel-hued shop, complete with rosy ombre tiling and a sunshine yellow door, will. Customers can enjoy scoops in vegan and gluten-free house-made waffle cones, ice cream cookie sandwiches, and warm brownie sundaes topped with rainbow sprinkles and vegan marshmallows. Pick up pints of seasonal flavors and host birthday parties with ice cream cakes at the shop, too.

Hailing from Mississippi, Alkebulan Moroski serves entirely vegan Southern comfort foods made with Moroski’s own seitan, meticulously crafted to resemble traditional meats. Here, tangy barbecue ribs and crispy-fried “chicken” arrive alongside a rotating selection of equally delicious sides, like mac and cheese, black-eyed peas, and mashed potatoes with gravy. But even beyond the dialed-in main menu, Moroski often introduces specials like Louisiana “seafood” boil and okra etouffee, which he announces on Instagram. The Fremont restaurant also serves as a vegan corner store, carrying Dirty Lettuce’s cornbread mix and heat-at-home seitan chicken, as well as snacks, home goods, and pottery from local makers.

Located within the Zipper, Boxcar Pizza is Portland’s only all-vegan Detroit-style pizzeria. Odie O’Connor first made waves in the pizza scene with his now-closed wood-fired pizza cart Baby Blue, but continues to wow with Boxcar’s spongy, golden brown, thick crust. The square pies come loaded with coconut-based mozzarella, with toppings like marinated “steak,” roasted tomatoes, and house-made chimichurri, or Buffalo “chicken” with generous dollops of dairy-free blue cheese. To go with the pizza, the shop offers a couple sides: leafy kale Caesar salads and soy drumsticks. Watch Instagram for specials like the Chiky Parm made with Dirty Lettuce seitan fried chicken and the occasional Baby Blue “return of the rounds” pop-up.

Built around a giant tree limb, Epif offers a vegan twist on traditionally meat- and seafood-heavy South American fare. Pepe Arancibia slings small plates like baked empanadas with house ají verde salsa, pimentones rellenos (stuffed pickled sweet peppers), and sopaipillas, fried pumpkin bread drizzled with apple juice-based vegan honey. The bar program focuses on infused pisco cocktails, but also includes thoughtfully balanced mocktails, like the pineapple-ginger-lime Tropic Topic. The warm, intimate dining room — accented with repurposed materials, an antique front door from Peru, and a colorful mural depicting a magical llama — makes for an excellent date night spot on 28th Avenue’s restaurant row.

Wrapped in floral wallpaper and turquoise walls that channel a moody Palm Springs vibe, Fortune is the place to catch vegan cocktails and snacks, while DJs spin tunes beneath the neon “We Back” sign. Brian Steadham from now-closed Belmont food cart Dinger’s Deli has found a new home at the downtown nightclub, serving leafy beet salads and Thrilling Foods bacon-wrapped dates to pair with cocktails like the serrano-infused Oaxacan Garden and floral strawberry-basil-rhubarb This Must Be The Place. For sharing, mozzarella sticks from Buddy’s Cheesesteaks and charcuterie plates with Vtopian cheese and Steadham’s scratch made wheat-based salami are good options. Those who miss Dinger’s delightfully messy sandwiches can find them on the menu as rotating specials.

Justin Miller and Mike Mendiola built their reputation at farmers markets and local retailers before opening a fully vegan cheese shop and deli in the vegan strip mall on Stark. Ranging from soft brie to smoky gouda, the small-batch vegan cheeses display a distinct funkiness reminiscent of traditional milk-based varieties; the cheesemakers ferment cashews with the same cultures found in dairy cheese to achieve this effect. In addition to classic wheels and seasonal wedges, Cultured Kindness carries add-ons like seitan salami, dried fruit, and crackers to build your own vegan charcuterie boards. Cheese-based menu items, like apple-gouda paninis, baked brie puff pastries, or ube cheesecake, make the shop a particularly strong lunch option.

Obon Shokudo found success at farmers markets before opening its restaurant on Grand Avenue. Humiko Hozumi and Jason Duffany specialize in vegan Japanese homestyle fare, like bouncy handmade udon noodles and kenchinjiru miso vegetable stew. One of the restaurant’s greatest strengths is its Japanese curry, simmered with spices and vegetables, and served with sprouted brown rice and panko-breaded tofu katsu. However, another great way to experience Obon is to nibble through a bento of curried korokke, kakiage fritter, extra large panko-crusted tater tot, and umeboshi pickled plum onigiri, while sipping on a sake flight. And the dog sushi freebie is always a hit among Portland pups.

Norah, the newest vegan restaurant on Belmont, references owners Ketsuda Nan Chaison and Prae Nobnorb’s Southern Thai roots, but the menu is a mix of small plates, noodles, and rice dishes with a variety of pan-Asian flavors — not just Thai influences. A full meal can be built out of starters like tangy tom yum fried tofu, larb croquettes on cucumber rounds, and lotus root salad. However, entrees like the fermented mushroom crispy rice salad and mushroom linguine with coconut-galangal cream sauce are not worth missing. For now, Norah serves nonalcoholic beverages, like the fittingly named Find Me In The Garden dipped with Sweet Creature chamoy, until its liquor license comes in.

At Belmont’s “friendly neighborhood beneficial bacteria emporium,” Aaron Adams explores the broad spectrum of flavors and textures fermentation can provide in an accessibly delicious way. The hefty namesake burger, with a shio-koji-glazed millet and black lentil tempeh patty, continues to be one of the restaurant’s highlights. For dinner, choose from fermentation-centric starters like kefir cheese with kombucha “honey” and winter greens dressed in hazelnut ranch, before moving onto larger plates of scratch-made bucatini with creamy pesto-like kale sauce. Fermenter is also a weekend brunch destination, serving flaky biscuits and maple-glazed pinto bean breakfast sausage to go with dreamy botanical kombuchas. Through specials like tempeh picadillo empanadas, Adams explores his Cuban heritage and family recipes — something he’ll be pursuing further at his upcoming small plates concept Workshop.

Collectively owned by its employees, this vegan pop-up turned restaurant on Belmont made a splash in Portland with Sri Lankan plates and street eats, including spicy pigeon pea fritters and curried polo cutlets with green chile sauce. Available as a plate or family-style meal, the rice and curry, with house-made sides and relishes like deviled potatoes and coconut sambol, is the heart of Mirisata’s menu. The slow-simmered vegetable curries rotate weekly, but “meatier” ones made with jackfruit, Impossible meatballs, and soy-gluten chicken are always available. For lunch, simpler curry plates with string hoppers or coconut roti are a good option. The restaurant also serves Sri Lankan Chinese dishes, like deviled soy curl “pork” stir-fried with chunks of banana pepper, served over fried rice.