Multiple Cities Agritourism & Locally Grown Vegetarian/Vegan

Vegan & Vegetarian Friendly Restaurants in Butte County

If you’re a veg­an, you already know that your trips to the great out­doors can be made more dif­fi­cult due to the lack of options at the restau­rants you may stop at along the way to your des­ti­na­tion. While veg­e­tar­i­ans have it eas­i­er, whether or not a restau­rant has put much thought into their needs can make or break a din­ing expe­ri­ence. So for those meat­less eaters look­ing for adven­ture, fun, and a great din­ing expe­ri­ence here in Butte Coun­ty, we’ve done your home­work for you with this non-exhaus­tive but rea­son­ably com­plete ref­er­ence guide to veg­an- and veg­e­tar­i­an-friend­ly Butte Coun­ty restau­rants.

Always tell your serv­er about your dietary restric­tions before order­ing so they can help you mod­i­fy menu items or find off-menu options that may be avail­able, and always be mind­ful that even restau­rants list­ed here may occa­sion­al­ly go through menu revi­sions, new own­ers, or new chefs. It pays to check out any menu before­hand (and call if you have ques­tions), but the cor­nu­copia of great eater­ies list­ed here have served our plant-ori­ent­ed guests well in the past, and many of them are local favorites that are rou­tine stops for area veg­ans and vegetarians.

Lists are alpha­bet­i­cal, with (*) next to those with par­tic­u­lar­ly robust or spe­cial offerings.

Veg­an-Friend­ly

Aca Taco (Chico) — Two loca­tions in Chico for your con­ve­nience. The menus are not clear­ly labeled, but they are veg­an-friend­ly, and have veg­an rice, beans, and gua­camole — often dif­fi­cult to find!

Ali Baba (Chico) — A sol­id spread of veg­e­tar­i­an options, and much can be made veg­an if you sim­ply avoid the yogurt-based tahini.

Ami­gos de Aca­pul­co (Chico) — Their menu isn’t clear­ly labeled, but they have veg­an rice, beans, and sal­sa, mak­ing most items eas­i­ly modifiable.

*Aon­a­mi Sus­tain­able Sushi (Chico) — A local trea­sure, Aon­a­mi spe­cial­izes in sus­tain­able sushi for those who eat fish, but also has a ded­i­cat­ed menu of veg­an sushi, sev­er­al bowls (try the Jean­nie bowl and order some extra sauce!), and reg­u­lar­ly rotates in veg­an spe­cials, such as their fre­quent­ly sold-out veg­an ramen.

Authen­tic Thai Cui­sine of Par­adise (Par­adise) — This favorite for Thai cui­sine doesn’t have a clear­ly labeled menu, but some of its items are veg­an, and many veg­e­tar­i­an items can be altered eas­i­ly, mak­ing this an excel­lent stop for both veg­ans and vegetarians.

*Bacio (Chico) — A robust and clear­ly labeled menu with veg­an-friend­ly options and eas­i­ly mod­i­fi­able dish­es. One of the few places where it’s easy to get a veg­an catered lunch for a busi­ness meeting!

The Ban­shee (Chico) — They serve Impos­si­ble burg­ers on veg­an buns, plus hearty porta­bel­la burg­ers. The steak fries are absolute­ly top of the line!

Beat­niks Cof­fee House & Break­fast Joint (Chico) — This is a great local café favorite open for break­fast and lunch. They have sol­id veg­e­tar­i­an and veg­an options, and it’s easy to add on some veg­an sides. They gen­er­al­ly car­ry one or two vari­eties of fresh veg­an scones that are worth a vis­it all on their own.

Bellachino’s Café (Chico) — They have sev­er­al veg­an bagel sand­wich­es, and some oth­ers that can eas­i­ly be mod­i­fied. A great stop for a bagel and a cup of joe.

Bull­dog Taque­ria (Oroville) — Con­firmed to have veg­an beans and veg­gie bur­ri­tos, this is a sol­id dri­ve-through option for veg­ans on their way to a hike or pass­ing through town.

Burg­ers and Brew (Chico) — You can ask for a veg­an menu, and they’ve got Impos­si­ble pat­ties and Veg­e­naise avail­able for easy and excel­lent veg­an burg­ers, plus some deli­cious fries and an impres­sive array of beer.

Burg­er Hut (Chico) — A DIY burg­er joint with two loca­tions in Chico, they offer Beyond pat­ties and veg­an buns.

*Café Coda (Chico) — A top choice for a veg­an break­fast or lunch! They have a sep­a­rate veg­an menu with sev­er­al options that reminds guests that main menu choic­es can be made veg­an as well, and they have a nice selec­tion of veg­an breads to choose from.

Coco­dine Thai (Chico) — The cur­ries here are not veg­an, sad­ly, as they use seafood extracts, but much of the menu is veg­a­ni­z­able. Be sure to try the veg­an spinach wrap appe­tiz­er, spicy fried rice, and egg­plant tofu!

*Drunk­en Dumpling (Chico) — Grown up from a food cart, Drunk­en Dumpling offers a num­ber of sump­tu­ous and clear­ly labeled veg­an options. This place is an absolute delight, and no vis­i­tor to Chico with a pen­chant for Asian food — veg­an or omni­vore — should miss it!

*Farm Star Piz­za (Chico) — Anoth­er Chico sta­ple, Farm Star offers some great veg­an options, and they have veg­an cheese far supe­ri­or to what’s avail­able at most piz­za places. These cre­ative piz­za offer­ings should sat­is­fy every­one in your party.

*Gogi’s Café (Chico) — If you’re look­ing for deli­cious Indi­an cui­sine with a veg­an touch, Gogi’s is a per­fect choice. After their son went veg­an, the pro­pri­etors of this local icon made sure to include a robust num­ber of veg­an options every day, all of which are deli­cious. If that isn’t quite enough, let them wow you with their veg­an naan and veg­an las­si, or cel­e­brate Thanks­giv­ing with them and their annu­al Veg­an Thanks­giv­ing Buffet.

Grana (Chico) — While the menu is intim­i­dat­ing for a veg­an, and one should be sure to inform servers of their dietary restric­tions, the chefs here are always hap­py to work with their patrons, mak­ing this a great high­er-end choice for veg­an din­ers. Don’t miss the unbe­liev­able flat­bread and fresh hummus.

Guzzetti’s Indi­an Food & Cater­ing (Chico) — Their grab-and-go offer­ings are all clear­ly labeled (and of course, deli­cious), mak­ing them easy for veg­ans and veg­e­tar­i­ans, and even those with oth­er dietary restric­tions, to enjoy.

The Han­dle Bar (Chico) — They offer an Impos­si­ble pat­ty, a porta­bel­la muf­falet­ta, Daiya cheese, and Veg­e­naise, mak­ing this an easy choice for a beer and a bite. In fact, take a Brews Cruise with their sam­pler while you’re at it!

*Ike’s Place (Chico) — This favorite hang­out of CSU, Chico stu­dents also has a great veg­e­tar­i­an and veg­an menu! Some menu lay­out changes have recent­ly made things a lit­tle more con­fus­ing for veg­ans, but ask the friend­ly servers for what you want and chances are they can accom­mo­date. Even the on-menu items are sub­stan­tive, and you won’t go away hungry!

La Coste­na de Aca­pul­co (Oroville) — A sol­id, clear­ly-labeled veg­e­tar­i­an menu can be found here with veg­gie-ori­ent­ed tacos and bur­ri­tos that are eas­i­ly veganized.

La Flor De Michoa­can Pale­te­ria y Nev­e­ria (Chico) — Three loca­tions serve up sweet treats, includ­ing many non-dairy, water-based freezes and pops. Ask about non-dairy options, and you’ll end up with some good fruit juices, smooth­ies, and paletas.

Live Life Juice Company

If you’re look­ing for some­thing that’s both healthy and deeply sat­is­fy­ing, Live Life Juice Co. in Chico has what you’re look­ing for, with a huge array of fresh juices on offer, in addi­tion to veg­an pies, veg­an soft-serve, and an excit­ing spread of sweet and savory to-go food options, all of which are high qual­i­ty and deli­cious. The only non-veg­an thing in the store is the very occa­sion­al use of hon­ey, so veg­ans will go away happy.

Madi­son Bear Gar­den (Chico) — This long­stand­ing Chico insti­tu­tion is focused on meat, with­out a doubt, but a house-made veg­gie pat­ty can be used on any of their burg­ers, and they do have a sin­gle ful­ly-veg­an burg­er on the menu if you’re a vis­it­ing veg­an or CSU, Chico stu­dent who wants to hang out with a larg­er group. Sand­wich­es and sides are large­ly meat-focused, though veg­e­tar­i­ans have plen­ty of options for fries.

*Momona (Chico) — Veg­an ramen in Butte Coun­ty? You bet! Clear menus and help­ful staff will get you some fan­tas­tic veg­an ramen, in addi­tion to veg­an bao made with suc­cu­lent oys­ter mush­rooms (which can also be added to your ramen). A vari­ety of import­ed beer and sake make an after­noon walk­ing down­town extra pleasant.

MOD Piz­za (Chico) — A make-it-your­self piz­za place with veg­an crusts, cheese, and sauce, this is a great place for the whole family.

Nori Asian Kitchen (Oroville) — While there is lit­tle veg­an pres­ence on the menu, locals tell us that you can get a con­sid­er­ably bet­ter than aver­age bowl of veg­an phở here, with good fla­vor despite the ingre­di­ent changes, and a hearty rice plate with tofu.

Noo­dle House (Chico) — Their veg­e­tar­i­an spe­cial” menu is actu­al­ly veg­an, mean­ing there’s a decent num­ber of choic­es at this local noo­dle spot.

Park­side Tap­house (Chico) — Though the menu isn’t par­tic­u­lar­ly well-labeled, your servers can direct you to Impos­si­ble pat­ties and a few ele­gant, tasty veg­an side options here.

Peek­ing Chi­nese (Chico) — If you look over the veg­e­tar­i­an menu and ask to avoid chick­en broth, this place has a par­tic­u­lar­ly nice selec­tion of dif­fer­ent faux meats to choose from. If you’re look­ing for veg­an-friend­ly Chi­nese com­fort food, this is your place.

Pita Pit (Chico) — This chain restau­rant is worth­while due to the fact that it’s got tons of veg­eta­bles, its sauces are not­ed as veg­an or not, and you can build your food from the ground up! A great choice for any veg­an or vegetarian.

Phở Noo­dle House (Oroville) — A per­fect choice for veg­e­tar­i­ans, and a sol­id choice for veg­ans. While some sauces and most soups can­not be made veg­an, the menu has a num­ber of safe options, tofu can be sub­sti­tut­ed for any meat, and orders can be mod­i­fied to exclude unwant­ed items. One of the tasti­est spots in Oroville!

Piz­za Riot

The first 100% veg­an restau­rant in Butte Coun­ty, Piz­za Riot is a Chico favorite. It’s got a delight­ful array of piz­zas and cal­zones, from straight com­fort food to more high-mind­ed cre­ations. Great sides like drum­sticks and loaded hot dogs make for great extras or a change of pace. Even omni­vores should find some­thing meaty enough here to sat­is­fy despite the whol­ly plant-based menu. Find their pack­aged offer­ings in Chico at Chico Nat­ur­al Foods Coop­er­a­tive and S&S Pro­duce and Nat­ur­al Foods, and keep an eye for announce­ments about pop-events on their Face­book page.

Priya Indi­an Cui­sine (Chico) — Their naan is tra­di­tion­al, and thus not veg­an, but there are usu­al­ly many veg­an and non-dairy dish­es avail­able at this pop­u­lar Indi­an restau­rant, mak­ing it a reli­able choice. And the food is delicious!

Red Tav­ern (Chico) — Be sure to talk to your serv­er, but this place has veg­an off-menu spe­cials and an accom­mo­dat­ing kitchen, mak­ing it a nice option for veg­ans look­ing for some­thing slight­ly more upscale.

Rice Bowl (Chico) — Chi­nese and Japan­ese favorites can be found here on menus that are not clear­ly labeled, but the kitchen is veg­an-friend­ly and can pre­pare a sei­tan-based chick­en replace­ment for any meat item. 

Savor Ice Cream (Chico) — This all-organ­ic arti­sanal ice cream shop always serves up veg­an fla­vors (made in a sep­a­rate machine) in addi­tion to their dairy-based ones. Plus, the waf­fles cones are veg­an, so every­one can have their scoops to go!

Sier­ra Neva­da Tap­room and Restau­rant (Chico) — A vari­able menu makes this some­times more viable than oth­ers for veg­ans, but the cur­rent chef has always pro­vid­ed a cou­ple of veg­an options on the small menu. And Sier­ra Nevada’s beer is famous­ly all veg­an, using irish moss rather than isin­glass dur­ing fil­tra­tion, mak­ing the tap­room a no-brain­er for veg­an beer enthusiasts.

Sofi’z Kitchen and Bar (Chico) — The only restau­rant in Chico spe­cial­iz­ing in authen­tic Pak­istani cui­sine also fea­tures a vari­ety of deli­cious veg­an and veg­e­tar­i­an dish­es, all made fresh dai­ly and to-order with real spices from Pakistan.

Sipho’s Jamaica (Chico) — Chico’s only Jamaican restau­rant, Sipho’s offers a small veg­e­tar­i­an sec­tion on the menu, which is most­ly veg­an. There are also veg­an appe­tiz­er and side options.

Sushi King and Boba Tea Zone (Chico) — Sev­er­al of their sushi bur­ri­tos” are veg­an, as are a num­ber of sides and their fla­vored teas. The menu isn’t clear­ly labeled, but they’re great about list­ing their ingre­di­ents, mak­ing it a great stop for veg­ans — and kids adore it!

Tea Bar & Fusion Café (Chico) — A nice selec­tion of lean­er food, there’s always some­thing to sat­is­fy veg­ans here, includ­ing some excel­lent bowls topped with deli­cious tofu and sauces.

Tacos Mary (Chico) — Their rice and beans are veg­an, mak­ing this local col­lege hang­out a per­fect choice for Mex­i­can food lovers. No que­so, no cre­ma” is all you need to veg­a­nize any meal with­out meat!

Taque­ria Maria’s (Oroville) — Your mileage may vary with much of the menu here, but they serve up a big veg­gie bur­ri­to that can be made vegan.

*Ten­der Lov­ing Cof­fee (Chico) — With a few recent changes, Ten­der Lov­ing Cof­fee is now the go-to cof­fee shop for veg­ans. All drinks come stan­dard with oat milk, and their menu of open sand­wich­es and break­fast fare is entire­ly veg­an. Make sure to grab your­self a cup of one of their gourmet cof­fee blends (and take some beans home too) to go with the excel­lent veg­an cof­fee cake and oth­er veg­an treats and pastries.

Time Phở Boba (Oroville) — What seems like a straight-up boba shop actu­al­ly has a sur­pris­ing food menu. Bear in mind that foods are cooked in the same facil­i­ties and cross-con­t­a­m­i­na­tion is pos­si­ble, so the strictest veg­ans may have trou­ble, but they’re hap­py to cus­tomize orders and use tofu in place of meat.

Tong Fong Low (Oroville) — While this his­toric Butte Coun­ty sta­ple doesn’t have clear­ly labeled menus, many of their items are veg­an-friend­ly. This doesn’t include their chow mein noo­dles, sad­ly, but their won­der­ful­ly greasy, over­sized egg rolls make up for it! Be sure to give the szechuan tofu and green beans with gar­lic sauce a try while you’re there.

Unwined Kitchen and Bar (Chico) — Unwined gets high marks for both clear menus and accom­mo­da­tion. Veg­ans and veg­e­tar­i­ans should find them­selves wel­come here, and sub­sti­tu­tions or alter­ations should be eas­i­ly man­aged by the help­ful staff.

*Wine Time (Chico) — With a goal of hav­ing a menu that every­one can enjoy,” Wine Time reg­u­lar­ly offers new veg­an and veg­e­tar­i­an spe­cials. A clear­ly labeled veg­an menu with some sol­id options and easy changes make this a great stop for veg­ans, and the vari­ety of soups and even a veg­an Cesar sal­ad put this at the top of the list for a week­end lunch with a glass of wine.

Woodstock’s Piz­za (Chico) — While it lacks the same num­ber of options as oth­er veg­an-friend­ly piz­za places, Woodstock’s has been serv­ing area veg­ans for a long time. Daiya cheese makes their veg­etable piz­za a great choice, espe­cial­ly since their Down­town Chico loca­tion is great for gatherings.

Veg­e­tar­i­an-Friend­ly

*Bid­well Perk (Chico) — This cof­fee shop only offers a sin­gle veg­an Greek sand­wich, but has plen­ty of bagels, break­fast options, sand­wich­es, sal­ads, and small plates for vegetarians.

Broad­way Heights (Chico) — While you won’t find veg­e­tar­i­an appe­tiz­ers or din­ner entrees here, there are a cou­ple of veg­e­tar­i­an sand­wich­es and a sol­id hand­ful of veg­e­tar­i­an piz­za options to be had, all clear­ly labeled on their menu.

Casa Lupe Mex­i­can Restau­rant (Gri­d­ley) — A Gri­d­ley favorite, Casa Lupe serves its veg­e­tar­i­an patrons with a vari­ety of options and a small but ded­i­cat­ed veg­e­tar­i­an menu. Veg­ans aren’t explic­it­ly pro­vid­ed for, but may be able to work some­thing out with the chef.

Crush Ital­ian Cui­sine and Lounge (Chico) — Crush has a notice­ably meat-heavy menu, but one that still offers enough veg­e­tar­i­an options to be veg­e­tar­i­an-friend­ly. And don’t for­get to grab a sump­tu­ous dessert!

Morn­ing Thun­der (Chico) — This down-home eatery has no inter­est in serv­ing veg­ans, and isn’t a veg­gie-heavy menu oth­er­wise, but every sec­tion of the menu does fea­ture at least one or two sol­id veg­e­tar­i­an options that make it a worth­while vis­it for vegetarians.

Nic’s (Par­adise) — While the menu doesn’t appear too friend­ly to non-car­ni­vores, locals con­firm there are a lim­it­ed num­ber of veg­an options avail­able, and cus­tom options should get veg­e­tar­i­ans where they want to go, though most of the on-menu items are focused on meat.

Rail House Pub and Grill (Gri­d­ley) — While the sand­wich menu is exclu­sive­ly meat-cen­tered, any of the sub­stan­tial vari­ety of burg­ers here can have the beef pat­ty switched out for a veg­gie pat­ty, and there is an entic­ing selec­tion of veg­e­tar­i­an com­fort-food appetizers.

Sin of Cortez (Chico) — A local favorite that’s unsuit­able for veg­ans since it cooks most of its veg­e­tar­i­an items in but­ter, and their Bud­dha Bowl uses a fish-based lemon­grass paste. But veg­e­tar­i­ans should find plen­ty of options to sat­is­fy them­selves here.

*Upper Crust Bak­ery & Café (Chico) — This local sta­ple is per­fect for veg­e­tar­i­ans, with a wide array of dif­fer­ent veg­gie options to work with on their sub­stan­tial menu. Veg­ans may be able to work with servers and chefs to get some­thing, but the menu is decid­ed­ly unfriend­ly to vegans.