Vegan and Vegetarian Food in Nuremberg: Where to Eat

Vegan and Vegetarian Food in Nuremberg: The Short Answer

Choose Frankenstube or Palais Schaumburg if you want a sit-down German meal with vegetarian and vegan options alongside it. Go to Libbey Restaurant for Ethiopian and Eritrean vegan cooking, Bel Hana for Egyptian food, and Kokoro or Red Curry House when you want Japanese or curry. Hot Tacos, Lammbock Pizzabar, mischbar, Krummbeere and Café Katzentempel fill in tacos, Neapolitan pizza, salads, cake and coffee.

The tourist office's vegetarian and vegan listing is the practical starting point for addresses and short descriptions of each place. It groups the city's meat-free options in one place, which makes it easy to match a venue to the part of town you are already in. For the wider restaurant picture, including Franconian cooking and beer halls, see our guide to the best restaurants in Nuremberg.

What Meat-Free Eating Looks Like in Nuremberg

The local menu is built on sausage, pork shoulder and carp, so a meat-free visitor has two routes. One is a restaurant that cooks Franconian and international food and rounds it out with vegetarian and vegan dishes, which is how the tourism office describes Frankenstube. The other is a kitchen whose whole identity is meat-free or vegetable-forward, such as Libbey or Palais Schaumburg.

Nuremberg also grows produce close to the center: Knoblauchsland, the market-garden belt around the city, supplies regional vegetables that turn up in local kitchens. That matters if you want a plate built on Franconian ingredients rather than an imported vegan menu. If you are after a traditional room with beer on tap, our roundup of traditional German restaurants in Nuremberg covers the classics; check each menu for the meat-free dishes before you commit.

Franconian and German Cooking Without the Meat: Frankenstube, Palais Schaumburg, dasPaul

Frankenstube serves Franconian-international cuisine finished with vegetarian and vegan dishes, which makes it the easiest bridge between local cooking and a meat-free meal. Palais Schaumburg has been running for more than 30 years and offers an unusually large selection of vegetarian and vegan dishes, plus a shady beer garden — the pick if you want to eat meat-free and still sit outside with a beer. dasPaul covers breakfast through the day with a smart, urban menu close to home.

These three are mainstream restaurants with strong meat-free choices rather than vegan-only kitchens, so expect a mixed menu and a mixed crowd. That is usually an advantage when you are eating with people who want a schnitzel. The beer garden at Palais Schaumburg also makes it a sensible stop on a warm evening, when Nuremberg's beer gardens fill up and indoor tables are easier to find.

If your trip leans toward brewery taps and beer gardens, pair a meat-free lunch with an afternoon in the city's brewing history. Our guide to breweries in Nuremberg covers where the local beer comes from, and the Rotbier tradition is worth knowing before you order a dark one with dinner.

Egyptian and Ethiopian Plates: Bel Hana and Libbey Restaurant

Bel Hana sets out to give diners in Germany an enjoyable culinary journey through Egypt in a modern setting, and it appears on the tourism office's vegetarian and vegan list. For a meat-free meal with a different flavor profile from the Franconian rooms, it is one of the more distinctive addresses in the city.

Libbey Restaurant, near the ZOB bus station, serves authentic vegan specialties from Eritrea and Ethiopia. Its location at the central bus station makes it convenient if you are arriving or leaving by coach, and it is the clearest fully vegan sit-down option among the city's listed addresses. Both places reward a shared-plate approach, so bring someone who eats the same way.

Japanese, Curry and Salad Options: Kokoro, Red Curry House, mischbar

Kokoro reinterprets Japanese classics and also serves the popular sushi. Red Curry House makes its curries in-house, without flavor enhancers or artificial additives, according to the city's listing. mischbar covers lighter appetites with fresh salads, soups and stews, exotic curries, snacks, and fresh juices and smoothies.

These three suit different moments: Kokoro for a sit-down Japanese dinner, Red Curry House when you want a hot curry, and mischbar for a quick, lighter lunch. None of them is a dedicated vegan kitchen, so the meat-free choice depends on the dish you order. If you are keeping costs down, our cheap eats Nuremberg guide covers the lower-priced end of the city's eating.

Tacos and Neapolitan Pizza: Hot Tacos City, Hot Tacos GOHO, Lammbock Pizzabar

Hot Tacos runs two Nuremberg locations, City and GOHO, where tacos, burritos and quesadillas are prepared in front of customers using fresh ingredients. Lammbock Pizzabar goes the Neapolitan route, with pizza and drinks in a relaxed setting. Both are casual, order-at-the-counter sort of places rather than long dinner venues.

For a meat-free meal, build the order around vegetables: bean or vegetable fillings in the tacos, and vegetable-topped pizza at Lammbock. This is the fastest route into Nuremberg's meat-free eating when you are hungry and do not want to book ahead.

Cafés and Cake: Café Katzentempel and Krummbeere

Café Katzentempel, near the Lorenzkirche, is a cat café and the oldest of its kind after the Munich location, offering a little time out in the middle of the city. Krummbeere bakes daily cakes by hand, from classic cheesecake to oriental pastries. Both are small, café-style spots that work better for a break than for a full meal.

Katzentempel suits a quiet coffee stop near the Lorenzkirche, while Krummbeere is the place for cake and something sweet. If you are planning a fuller morning meal instead, our guide to breakfast in Nuremberg covers the earlier part of the day.

How to Order Meat-Free in a Nuremberg Restaurant

At a traditional Franconian restaurant, the menu is built around meat, so ask which dishes are vegetarian before you sit down, and be specific about whether you eat eggs and dairy. The city's restaurant listing marks places that explicitly offer vegetarian and vegan dishes, which saves guessing. Frankenstube and Palais Schaumburg are the safest bets for a German meal without meat.

When you want the kitchen to be built around meat-free food rather than accommodating it, choose Libbey for vegan Ethiopian and Eritrean dishes or Bel Hana for Egyptian cooking. The difference matters: at a mainstream restaurant you order around the menu, while at a vegan kitchen you order from it.

Where These Places Sit in the City

Most of the addresses cluster around the old town and the center. Café Katzentempel sits near the Lorenzkirche, Libbey Restaurant is at the ZOB bus station, and Palais Schaumburg's beer garden puts it in the open-air part of the city's eating. Knoblauchsland, the market-garden area that supplies regional produce, lies around the city rather than in the center.

The city's own restaurant directory gives each venue's address and a short description, which is the simplest way to group your picks by neighborhood before you walk.

Which Meat-Free Meal Should You Book First?

Start with Libbey Restaurant if you want a menu built around vegan food, Frankenstube or Palais Schaumburg if you want a German meal with meat-free dishes, and Bel Hana for Egyptian cooking. Keep Hot Tacos, Lammbock and mischbar for a fast lunch, and Katzentempel or Krummbeere for a cake-and-coffee break.