Best Vegetarian and Vegan Places in Tenerife Worth Visiting
Words by
Ana Martinez
I've spent the better part of six years eating my way across Tenerife, and if you're looking for the best vegetarian and vegan places in Tenerife, you're going to find that this island punches well above its weight. What surprised me most when I first moved to Santa Cruz was how the local plant-based scene here doesn't feel like it's copying what's happening in Berlin or London, it genuinely grew out of Tenerife itself, rooted in the island's volcanic soil, its fishing village traditions, and the wave of German and British immigrants who brought their own meat-free eating habits decades ago. You'll notice the tapas bar that serves a veganized papas arrugadas, the raw food café run by a former surfer from Puerto de la Cruz, and the market stall in La Laguna that's been feeding university students since before Instagram existed. I ate at every place listed here myself, some multiple times, and I've included what I'd tell a friend who just flew in and doesn't have time to waste on mediocre food.
Two Venues That Built the Vegan Restaurants Tenerife Reputation
1. El Apartamento Calle de la Luz, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Walk down Calle de la Luz, the narrow pedestrian lane that connects the port to the old town, and you'll stumble into this place before you even realize you were looking for it. The owner, Juana, opened El Apartamento back in 2016 with the idea that you shouldn't have to leave the city centre to find a proper plant based food Tenerife meal, and she was right. Their mushroom and papa a rösti stack is something I'd cross the island for, it uses local aubergines from Icod de los Vinos and a chimichurri that gets its kick from the goat-herbs they pick up at Mercado de Nuestra Señora de África on Thursdays. The place is small, maybe eight tables, and the kitchen is right behind a half-open counter so you can watch them plate everything. Juana sources her goat cheese replacement from a farm in Arico and her tofu from a supplier in Güímar that only makes it on Mondays and Fridays.
Local Insider Tip: "Sit at the far-left table near the window if you want the best light for photos of the roasted beetroot salad, but more importantly, order the daily soup before they run out, it changes every morning depending on what the market had, and by 2pm on weekends there's almost never any left."
Parking in the surrounding streets is genuinely difficult after 1pm on weekdays so take the tram to Candelaria and walk five minutes south. I once tried to park on Calle del Castillo in a rented car and spent twenty minutes circling the same block.
2. Restaurante El Callejón Calle de la Noria, La Laguna
La Laguna's medieval layout means half the best eating spots are tucked off streets you'd never find without GPS, and El Callejón is one of them. I found it by accident in 2019 when I literally walked in looking for somewhere to wait out a rainstorm, and it has become one of the spots I recommend first when someone asks about vegan restaurants Tenerife locals actually eat at. They do a veganized version of moreno, the Canarian smoked cheese dish, using house-made almond cheese that they smoke themselves over pine wood. The potato and wild mushroom croquettes arrive golden and feather-light, and I've never once seen anyone send them back. The owner studied cooking in Valladolid before moving back here and opening specifically because La Laguna's university crowd, students from the ULL campus five minutes away, needed somewhere affordable that didn't rely on frozen ingredients.
Local Insider Tip: "Tuesday lunch is the quietest time and the kitchen's least rushed, come then if you want to actually talk to the chef about his smoked almond cheese recipe, he's proud of it and loves to explain the process, he'll sometimes bring out a taste of a new batch if you ask nicely."
The outdoor terrace out back through the kitchen is where you want to sit if the weather is good, which in La Laguna is honestly most days, though the inland microclimate means it can be cloudy when the coast is clear. They don't take reservations for fewer than four people and the wait on Friday evenings can stretch past forty minutes.
The South Island Scene: Where Plant Based Food Tenerife Meets Tourist Territory
3. El Portón Vegetario Urbanización San Eugenio, Adeje
San Eugenio is barely mentioned in most guidebooks, which is exactly why this place has survived in a part of the island that survives on resort tourists who never leave the buffet line. El Portón Vegetario has been on the same block since 2014, and their seitan steak with mojo rojo is one of those dishes that makes carnivores pause mid-bite and reconsider their position. The restaurant sits on a side street in the Urbanización San Eugenio, a residential pocket between Los Cristianos and Costa Adeje where Canarian families live, and the pricing reflects that, you're eating at local tourist-resort-adjacent prices rather than local-market prices. What makes it worth the walk is the house-made seitan. They knead and season it in-house every morning, and the texture is unlike anything I've had from a packet. Wednesday nights they do a €22 three-course fixed menu that I think is one of the best deals on the south coast for vegetarian food that doesn't feel like an afterthought.
Local Insider Tip: "Tell them you want the 'plato del día' specials board chalked up near the entrance, not the printed menu, the printed menu is fine but the daily board is where they put the stuff sourced from the Tuesday and Friday farmers' markets in Valle de San Lorenzo, and it's usually about a third cheaper than the same dish appears on the main menu weekdays."
Seat outside under the awning in the evening. The San Eugenio area doesn't get the coastal winds that hit Costa Adeje directly, so dinner outdoors here stays comfortable even in July.
4. Bakanicocha Plaza de la Candilera, Adeje
Bakanicocha is technically a bakery, but calling it only a bakery is like calling the Teide only a hill. Run by a couple from Buenos Aires who opened in the Plaza de la Candilera in central Adeje town in 2018, this is one of the few places on the south side that makes its own sourdough using a watermelon seed starter they developed themselves. Their vegan pastries, the medialunas with homemade almond cream and the pistachio and rose tart, hold up against anything in Santa Cruz or La Laguna. I buy their seeded rye loaf every time I'm south and I have never brought it home without eating a slice in the car. The owner, Marta, rotates her pastry menu every ten days based on what fruit is available from local growers, so if you see the fig and walnut tart, get it immediately, they disappear by noon.
Local Insider Tip: "If the medialunas sell out before you arrive, ask about the 'rebatidas,' these are their reshaped-day-olds that are 40% cheaper and honestly taste almost identical because the dough is so well-made, the staff won't offer them unless you ask."
The bakery is on a pedestrianized section of the plaza, which means no car access. Park on Calle La Rosa and walk two minutes. My biggest complaint is their opening hours, they close at 2pm most days and are shut Sundays, so plan around it.
5. Del Abaco Verde Calle el Topo, Los Cristianos
Los Cristianos has a reputation as the budget end of the Tenerife resort strip, but Calle el Topo, the little street that runs parallel to the seafront behind the old town, is where some of the most interesting meat free eating Tenerife has to offer is happening quietly. Del Abaco Verde opened here in 2017, and the owner, Tato, cooks a加纳利岛风格的黑豆炖菜 with ingredients he sources from Aguimón and Fasnia, two of the island's oldest farming areas. The cafetaria service only opens for weekday lunch, from 12:30 to 4:30pm, and the seven-euro set menu includes bread, a starter, a main, and either flan or fruit. Tato's wife, Elena, handles the front of house and speaks more German than Spanish because they lived in Hannover for a decade before moving back. The cake selection is enormous and most of it is vegan, the chocolate orange torte I had here last month still appears in my dreams.
Local Insider Tip: "Order the house wine with your set menu if you're there for lunch, it comes from Bodegas Frontos in La Orotava and they pour a generous glass that would cost you four euros on its own elsewhere, nobody tells you this because it's technically meant for regulars."
This place shuts completely on weekends. I've driven here on a Saturday twice and cursed myself both times. The interior ceilings are also quite low and warm by mid-afternoon, which makes summer visits a bit stuffy.
Northern Roots: Where the Best Vegetarian and Vegan Places in Tenerife Tell the Island's Story
6. Casa Chocolate Calle de Santo Domingo, La Orotava
La Orotava is the town I'd bring someone who wants to feel like they actually visited Tenerife rather than a resort, and Casa Chocolate on Calle Santo Domingo sits right in the old town behind the Iglesia de La Concepción. This isn't primarily a vegan restaurant, the chocolate making tradition here runs back to the eighteenth century when cacao arrived from Venezuela through the port. But the owner, Pino, whose family has run the cacao roasting business for three generations, developed a full vegan chocolate tasting experience, seven single-origin chocolates served with local wine, that now accounts for half the business. I sat through the tasting last October with four friends who are devoted carnivores, and every single one ordered a box of the 85% Arriba banana-infused bar on the way out. The plantation photographs on the wall date from the 1930s and show her grandfather's farm in Valle de la Orotava.
Local Insider Tip: "Ask Pino to pour you the 'catador's drip' before the formal tasting starts, she does a small pour of whatever chocolate bar she's currently most excited about from an unlabeled tray behind the counter, and it's free, it's never on the menu, and it's usually the best thing you'll taste all day."
The tasting experience is available from Tuesday to Saturday and you need to book at least a day ahead through their WhatsApp number on the website, walk-ins rarely get accommodated. The shop is cool and small, maybe fifteen seats, but the ceramic tile work on the interior is original nineteenth century and worth seeing.
7. Natur Bakery Producers Mercado del Agricultor de Tacoronte, Tacoronte
Tacoronte's Saturday morning farmer's market fills the Plaza del Cristo and the surrounding streets with producers from across the north coast, and the Natur Bakery stall has been there since before the market formalized its layout. I first tried their almond and lemon scone on a cold January Saturday while sheltering from a downpour near the church, and I've gone back at least thirty times since. The stall sells a rotating range of fully vegan baked goods, savory empanadas stuffed with local spinach and garlic, a walnut and date bar that I think is addictive in the clinical sense, and fresh sourdough that's baked at their small bakery in El Sauzal overnight and driven to the market before sunrise. By 11am on a busy Saturday, everything is gone. The cold north wind that sweeps across the market square in winter means the line moves slowly, which is where that extra cup of coffee from the neighboring tamarind stall comes in.
Local Insider Tip: "The market starts at 8am but the Natur Bakery stall often doesn't finish setting up until around 8:40, arrive at 8:20 and you'll be in the first five customers they serve, and you'll get first pick of whatever they've made that week, including the seasonal chestnut scones that appear from November to January and get mentioned exactly nowhere online."
They don't exist outside the market, no shop front, no website to speak of, just the Saturday stall. The market runs year-round but the stall occasionally skips weeks around Christmas and Easter.
A Coastal Secret and a Mountain Stop
8. Bowls & Souls Playa de las Américas, Avenida Litoral
Playa de las Américas is the part of Tenerife that even people who live here will openly mock, and I get it, the strip between the Siam Park roundabout and Fanabé can feel like a never-ending concrete corridor. But Bowls & Souls on Avenida Litoral does something this area desperately needed, a quick, affordable, entirely plant-based lunch place that the local surf instructors and water-sports workers eat at. Everything here is under nine euros, the açaí bowls come piled with local banana that they buy by the crate from Médico de la Palma, and the savory rice bowls with black beans and roasted sweet potato are big enough to anchor you through an afternoon of surfing. I went here three days in a row last August after discovering that two friends who teach paddle boarding practically live here during summer season. The owner, Raúl, is from Puerto de la Cruz originally and claims the ocean-view seating at the left-hand side of the terrace is the best spot for a late lunch with light that makes even a mediocre bowl look beautiful.
Local Insider Tip: "The 'Souls Wrap,' which is a turmeric chickpea and avocado wrap, doesn't appear on the main wall menu, it's on a small card at the counter, and it's 6.50 for something that easily fills you up for an afternoon, the wall menu pushes the pricier bowls."
This place gets absolutely slammed between noon and 2pm, especially when the cruise ships are in. Go at 3pm and you'll have the terrace to yourself. The downside is that the acoustics inside are terrible, bare concrete walls, so if you prefer quiet conversation, sit outside even in cooler months.
When to Go and What to Know
The best months for eating across Tenerife are October through April, when the island's farms are at full production and the daytime temperature sits between 20 and 23 degrees. Restaurants in the tourist south, Adeje, Los Cristianos, Playa de las Américas, stay busy year-round but are January through April and September through November, more pleasant to walk around. North-side spots, La Laguna, La Orotava, Tacoronte, are busier on weekends and quieter midweek, which is exactly when you want to visit for unhurried meals. Most places accept card but the Tacoronte market stalls are cash only, as is true of many of the older markets in La Laguna and Santa Cruz. Tipping is not expected anywhere on the island but rounding up or leaving five to ten percent at sit-down restaurants is common and appreciated. Vegetarian options are now standard at Canarian restaurants across the island, even the oldest guachinche bars in the north now serve at least one full plant-based main. Ordering in Spanish is appreciated everywhere, though in Santa Cruz, La Laguna, and the tourist south most staff speak English well enough to take an order without difficulty.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the tap water in Tenerife safe to drink, or should travelers strictly rely on filtered water options?
The tap water in Tenerife comes either from desalination plants or underground galleries and is technically safe to drink, but most locals and long-term residents use filtered water or bottled water because the desalinated supply can taste flat or slightly salty, particularly in Santa Cruz and the southern coastal towns. Restaurants across the island routinely serve bottled water, and it is rare to receive a carafe of tap water unprompted. A 1.5 liter bottle from a supermarket costs between 0.30 and 0.60 euros, making it one of the cheaper items in your daily budget.
How easy is it to find pure vegetarian, vegan, or plant-based dining options in Tenerife?
As of 2024, there are at least forty fully vegetarian or vegan restaurants across Tenerife, with the highest concentration in Santa Cruz, La Laguna, and the Costa Adeje corridor. Every town of meaningful size has at least one dedicated plant-based café or restaurant, and traditional Canarian restaurants, even small guachinches, now routinely list at least one or two vegan mains on their daily menus, typically vegetable-based stews or papas arrugadas with mojo sauces. Grocery stores including Mercadona, Hiperdeco, and Lidl stock an increasingly wide range of plant-based products, including vegan cheeses, hummus, and pre-made falafel, particularly in towns with significant European expat populations such as Los Cristianos and Puerto de la Cruz.
Are there any specific dress codes or cultural etiquettes to keep in mind when visiting local spots in Tenerife?
Tenerife has no specific dress code at restaurants, and casual attire is acceptable everywhere from market stalls to the more refined restaurants in La Orotava and Tacoronte. It is polite to greet staff when entering small restaurants, a simple "buenos días" or "buenas tardes" is appreciated and expected even in tourist-heavy areas. Mealtimes on the island run later than in most of northern Europe, lunch is typically served from 1:30 to 3:30pm and dinner from 8:30 to 10:30pm, and arriving at a popular restaurant outside these windows may mean finding it closed or operating on a limited menu. Tipping is not compulsory but is increasingly common, particularly at sit-down restaurants.
Is Tenerife expensive to visit? Give a realistic daily budget for mid-tier travelers?
A mid-tier daily budget for Tenerife, excluding accommodation, runs approximately 55 to 80 euros per person. This covers two restaurant meals, one at a casual lunch spot for 10 to 15 euros and one at a proper restaurant for 20 to 35 euros, local transport by tram or bus for 3 to 5 euros, a coffee and pastry at a bakery for 4 to 6 euros, and a grocery stop for snacks or breakfast items for 5 to 8 euros. Car rental adds 25 to 40 euros per day depending on season. December through March and July through August are the most expensive months for accommodation, while May, June, October, and November offer the best value, with apartment rentals in La Laguna or La Orotava available from 50 to 70 euros per night.
What is the one must-try local specialty food or drink that Tenerife is famous for?
Papas arrugadas with mojo sauces are the single most iconic food item on the island. These are small unpeeled Canarian potatoes, boiled in heavily salted water until they wrinkle and develop a thin crust, served with two sauces, the red mojo rojo made with peppers and garlic and the green mojo verde made with coriander or parsley. They are entirely plant-based when ordered without the accompanying sausage or meat that sometimes appears on mixed platters, and every guachinche, market stall, and traditional restaurant on the island serves them. Malvasía wine, produced from vines grown on volcanic slopes near Icod de los Vinos and La Orotava, is the island's most historically significant drink and pairs naturally with the island's cuisine.
Enjoyed this guide? Support the work
