Vegan News
San Antonio makes showing on list of top 20 vegan cities in U.S.
A new survey of the top 20 cities in the U.S. where it's best to be a vegan has determined which city is the most vegan of all. Spoiler: It's not San Antonio. Boo.
But San Antonio did make the list, coming in at No. 13, boasting 202 restaurants that are vegan or offer vegan options.
The survey by the team at Meal Delivery Experts set out to determine which cities have the most vegan food options. They compiled the 20 most populous cities in the U.S., then used data from TripAdvisor to count how many restaurants or food venues in each city offers at least one vegan option.
New York came in at No. 1, blowing everyone else away with 1464 restaurants or food venues offering vegan options — more than double the number than any other city on the list.
Los Angeles was in second place, with 705 restaurants or food venues offering vegan options. Los Angeles has among the widest variety of cuisines including vegan Korean, Ethiopian, and Thai food.
No. 3 was Chicago, with 489 restaurants or food venues offering vegan options, surprising since Chicago is such a meaty town, although the city is best known for deep-dish pizza, and many Chicago restaurants now offer a vegan alternative.
Among Texas cities, Houston and Austin both make the top 10. Houston comes in at No. 6, with 312 restaurants — snatching the surprise win for top vegan city in Texas away from Austin, which has a bigger reputation for being veg-friendly; Austin is No. 8 on the list with 286 restaurants.
Dallas just noses out San Antonio at No. 12, with 209 vegan- or vegan-friendly establishments.
San Antonio's vegan scene is noteworthy in that it's the birthplace of some serious innovators including Earth Burger, the pioneering fast-food burger chain, and Project Pollo, the vegan chicken chain that recently appeared on Shark Tank.
Fort Worth comes in last place, with 68 restaurants or food venues offering at least one vegan option. Despite what the numbers say, Fort Worth has a buzzy vegan scene with places like Pizza Verde, Zonk Burger, and Mariachi's Dine-In; it's also home to Texas' most famous vegan restaurant, Spiral Diner.
Whether motivated by health, environmental, or ethical reasons, the number of vegans in the US is rapidly increasing, reaching new heights in 2022. One in ten, or 10 percent, of Americans now consider themselves vegan or vegetarian.
The dollars are also there, with the plant-based industry worth over $7 billion in the US in 2022.
The milk substitute market is valued at over $3 billion in 2022.
The meat substitute market is valued over $1 billion in 2022.
The full list, by ranking:
- New York - 1464
- Los Angeles - 705
- Chicago - 489
- San Francisco - 467
- San Diego - 385
- Houston - 312
- Seattle - 309
- Austin - 286
- Denver - 261
- Philadelphia - 258
- Phoenix - 234
- Dallas - 209
- San Antonio - 202
- Charlotte, NC - 176
- Jacksonville, FL - 140
- Indianapolis - 140
- Columbus, Ohio - 137
- San Jose - 80
- Oklahoma City - 80
- Fort Worth - 68
