Vegan(a) in Chile

 When I first moved to Santiago, Chile in September 2009, I was a vegetarian. I thought it might be challenging to find food that I enjoyed in a country that prided itself on asados (bbqs) and carne (meat), but I learned to get by. Back then I ate a lot of cheese empanadas and cooked at home. I was a volunteer and then employed by an NGO making enough money to pay rent, so eating "out" wasn't necessarily a thing. Food on the go was crackers, granola bars and sopaipillas (Chilean street food: fried pumpkin bread with salsa (pebre) on top, so yummy). 

In 2011 still in Santiago, I decided to go vegan. This was more of a challenge. Since I hadn't really loved the cheese options I found in the grocery store (in my budget) it wasn't a huge challenge to give up milk and cheese at first, but eating vegan in Chile?? It means you like salad and more salad. It means you don't say "No como carne" to a Chilean because they'll give you chicken soup (real experience). 

My (now husband) and I lived together and we found little trends nearby such as Barrio Bellavista had a health food store, Planta Maestra, that sold some veggie empanadas, quinoa and other vegan/vegetarian food you couldn't find in the grocery store. I would find little places all over Santiago (one falafel stand near Patronato), a Chilean selling black bean burgers by Metro Baquedano and mostly I made things from scratch. I made hummus from dried garbanzo beans, I made tacos from corn flower, I made pasta sauce from tomatos (I didn't have kids and obviously had time to cook), one of our most popular dishes was curry, you could find coconut milk in the store and I would mix a variety of veggies with curry powder and coconut milk over rice. There was one brand of soy milk in the store and no joke, there was usually one available when Nico and I went grocery shopping, sometimes there was none. 

Fast forward to 2024 on our trip back to visit Santiago and being vegan is a THING. Like nearly every restaurant you go to has several vegan options, and not just your typical veggie or beyond burger with fries you find in Boston. Like real food, yummy Chilean dishes made vegan. Put vegano in your maps and boom here comes several vegan restaurants, but what impresses me more than that is the grocery store. SO much variety. There is this NOTco company that has taken a variety of foods and made them vegan, they don't specialize in just one thing, they have ice cream, cheese, milk, burgers, condiments, etc

Here were some of our favorites:

Santiago:

  • Restaurant Zanzibar (Mediterrean, tons of vegan options)
  • Poga Heladeria (All vegan, amazing ice cream)
  • Quinoa (All vegan, so yummy)
  • Kiara Nikkei (Sushi-vegan options)
  • Papa John's Pizza (Vegan pizza!)
  • Tea Connection (Vegan options, healthy and different)
  • Think Cafe (coffee mostly, yummy treats)
  • Streat (Vegan burger options)
  • Dunkin (vegan majar!)
  • Melba Cafe (mostly vegetarian, will make vegan)
  • Upa (service center like McDonalds)
  • El Arbol (Vegetarian with vegan choices)

  • Huechuraba (suburb of Santiago):

    • AlmaVeg (Vegan cafe)
    • MDG Panadería y Pastelería argentina (Vegan empanadas, desserts, pizzas, so great!)
    • Happy Days Waffles (some vegan options, great service)

    Pirque:

    • Mercado Origen & Casa Origen (beautiful spot with cool playground for kids)
    • Cafetería y Heladería Bendita Fe (great vegan options-vegan ceviche)

    Valparaiso:

    • Papa John's Pizza (again vegan pizza options!)
    • IL PAPARAZZO RISTORANTE & WINEBAR (Seperate vegan menu, upscale, delicious)
    • Terruá Bistro (great spot for coffee and desserts)

    Pomaire:

    • La Fuente de mi Tierra (vegan pastel del choclo, impressed, very nice!)

    The tea Connection

    Kiara Nikkei
    yummy drinks too!

    Vegan Pastel De Choclo
    La fuente de mi tierra

    Vegan Cheesecake
    Quinoa Restaurante

    Vegan empanadas
    MDG Pasteleria

    Melba Cafe


    Vegan Donuts! With vegan manjar
    Dunkin!

    Upa (Fast food)
    Vegan options!


    Il Paparozzo Ristorante

    Il Paparazzo


    Think Cafe

    Il Paparazzo Ristorante

    Vegan Panna cotta

    Happy kid



    Poga Helderia

    Love the natural juices!



Places:

CASONA LO AGUIRRE Hotel y Convenciones


It's worth mentioning as well a beautiful place we visited our very first day in Santiago, we drove an hour to Talagante in the country on the way to Melipilla. This was a beautiful boutique hotel. 

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