Is Lithuania vegan-friendly?


2023-02-22

© Gerda Žemaitytė

Are you planning a trip to Lithuania? Are you worried that after being intoxicated by the beauty of our green forests, sky-blue lakes and oldtown architecture you will fail to find a place that serves plant-based food? Since traditional Lithuanian cuisine is characterized by meat in its dishes, at first it may seem that finding plant-based dishes in restaurants is difficult. But don’t worry, you won’t have to starve!

Although there are still only a few completely vegan places, more and more cafes and restaurants in the country are adding plant-based dishes to their menus. „Čia gali” is a campaign uniting restaurants with plant-based dishes on their menu. If you visit our website, you will be greeted with information and useful tools such as a short description of the restaurants, the ability to filter places by city, links to the restaurants’ own pages and a map.

Currently, the campaign unites about fifty places where you can order dishes without animal products. Of course, it is likely that there are more restaurants that offer plant-based food, but not all of them can brag about the quality and variety of their plant-based dishes, which is closely monitored by the „Čia gali” campaign. Although the restaurants are mostly located in the big cities, Vilnius and Kaunas, the list of restaurants is constantly expanding. In the capital, you can choose one of three completely vegan restaurants. „Rosehip” will surprise you with its variety and colorful dishes – Buddha bowls, loaded potatoes, a wide selection of burgers. The small restaurant „Vieta”, which became completely vegan last year, will welcome you with its daily lunch menu, which changes often, and we suggest visiting „Sultenė” if you want healthier, homemade feeling food. You can even discover the pearls of Lithuanian cuisine here – vegetarian cepelinai!

We are thrilled to see that restaurants in smaller towns are also joining the ranks of the campaign members. For example, if you ever go to Krekenava, we invite you to visit the family restaurant „Laimė kartu” and try their vegetarian Buddha bowls or other vegetarian daily menu dishes. You can also find plant-based dishes at the „Natural Market” restaurant in Klaipėda, and try desserts at the „10 Tiltų” cafe, and when you visit Šiauliai, go to the „Valerijonas” cafe. The food there is simple, healthy and changes daily.

However, these restaurants are not the only ones where you can order plant-based dishes. Our list of members also includes oriental cuisine, pizzerias, both fast-food and healthy food restaurants and dessert bars. Everyone with a sweet tooth is welcome to try plant-based desserts at “Chaika”, “Holy donut”, “Holigans” and “La donuteria” cafes.

We hope that the tools developed by the „Čia gali” campaign, such as a website and an active map of restaurants and social network groups, will help you discover and enjoy plant-based food in Lithuania!

© Eglė Kizelevičė