Milwaukee’s plant-based dining scene is getting a week of its own. From Nov. 3-9, 29 local restaurants are joining forces for the city’s inaugural Milwaukee Vegan Restaurant Week, offering special menu items, events and tastings to celebrate vegan and vegan-curious diners.

The week-long celebration was dreamed up by Wendy Mireles, owner of Café Corazón, who wanted to highlight the city’s growing vegan offerings.

“Our hope for Milwaukee Vegan Restaurant Week is simple,” Mireles says. “We want to shine a bright spotlight on all of the options we have for dining out in our amazing city. Just like we do at Café Corazón, we don’t want folks to eat our vegan menu items because the dishes are vegan. We want guests to love our vegan offerings because they are delicious and just happen to be vegan, as well.”

Local Favorites Get Creative

Participants range from fully vegan restaurants to spots where vegans and non-vegans dine side by side.

Among the featured eateries are  Beans & Barley, Beerline Cafe, Café Corazón, Central Standard Crafthouse & Kitchen, Classic Slice, Comet Cafe, Dead Bird Brewing, Gather Bakehouse, Haven Cafe, Hen’s Deli, Honeypie Cafe, Ian's Pizza Milwaukee, Karma Cafe & Smoothie Bar, Lucky Ginger,  LuLu Cafe and Bar, Odd Duck, Paloma Taco & Tequila, Palomino Bar, Purple Door Ice Cream, Ruta's Fresh Indian Fare, Screaming Tuna Sushi, Solful Kitchen, Strange Town, Temple Goddess Cafe, Thai-namite, Trickleebee Café, Twisted Plants, VEGAN SOUL, and Wonderland.

Restaurants are getting creative with specials and events, including:

• Café Corazón: Vegan Meetup & Menu Tasting for Charity; new specials like nopales as a protein option, vegan flan, and a specialty cocktail; free Happy Hour House Margarita on Thursday, Nov. 6.
• Comet Cafe: Vegan twist on the Compact Turkey Dinner with plant-based “turkey,” sage stuffing, chive mashed potatoes, and vegan gravy.
• Honeypie Cafe: Returning favorites like pulled jackfruit hoagie “The Klug,” mushroom stroganoff, tofu banh mi, and new warm kale salad with roasted peppers, eggplant, capers, quinoa, and herbed tahini dressing.
• Purple Door Ice Cream: Vegan Purple Moon shake plus rotating vegan ice cream flavors.
• Screaming Tuna Sushi: Wisconsin’s first-ever vegan omakase and Vegan for Two sushi platter for the week.
• Solful Kitchen: Pop-up at Trickleebee Café on Monday, Nov. 3, featuring “Jerk & Tingz”—vegan jerk plate with jackfruit eggrolls, fried cabbage, plantain fritters, jerk mushrooms over rice & peas, and salted caramel banana pudding.
• Strange Town: Will run a maitake walnut burger special in addition to their fully vegan menu and natural wine list.
• VEGAN SOUL: Pop-up at Trickleebee Café on Tuesday, Nov. 4, offering Carolina Gold BBQ Ribz Tips, Cheezy Mac N Cheeze, Crazy Greens, candied sweet potatoes, golden cornbread, and Bourbon Peach Cobbler.
• Trickleebee Café: Fully vegan pay-what-you-can menu and 50% off café merchandise.
• Thai-namite: Complimentary veggie spring roll with every vegan order (dine-in only).
• Palomino Bar: Veggie Po’ Boy with black-eyed pea falafel, slaw, tomato, garlic chipotle aioli, and vegan fried “chicken” sandwich; fried buffalo cauliflower, fried pickles, and Honeypie Bakeshop vegan apple pie.
• Classic Slice & Ian’s Pizza Milwaukee: Discounts on vegan pizza slices, breadsticks, and cheese sticks.
• Central Standard Crafthouse & Kitchen: $2 off all vegan brunch, lunch, and dinner options.
• Twisted Plants: 15% off orders for customers mentioning Milwaukee Vegan Restaurant Week.
• Odd Duck: Multiple daily ever-changing vegan options from snacks to small plates and desserts—reservations recommended.
• Gather Bakehouse: Vegan donuts, sandwiches, cheesecake, croissants, and other surprises.

Other restaurants will offer everything from veggie spring rolls at Thai-namite to house-made seitan subs at Hen’s Deli and Crispy Tofu Tacos at Paloma Taco & Tequila. A full schedule of events, specials and new menu items will be released leading up to Nov. 3 on the Milwaukee Vegan Restaurant Week Instagram feed.

Open Invitation to Restaurants

Milwaukee Vegan Restaurant Week is still welcoming new participants. Restaurant owners or managers interested in joining can contact Stephanie Vienonen, Café Corazón’s Vegan Community Ambassador, at steph@corazonmilwaukee.com.

Looking ahead, Mireles hopes the week becomes an annual tradition. “We hope it continues to expand. We’d love for folks in 5 years to look back at our humble beginning in 2025 and be amazed by how much Milwaukee Vegan Restaurant Week has grown and evolved since this inaugural week.”

Whether you’re a lifelong vegan or just curious, Nov. 3-9 is the perfect opportunity to explore Milwaukee’s plant-based side, one delicious plate at a time.