Vegan and Vegetarian Restaurants in State College

Vegetarian restaurants in State College are easier to find than in many small cities, because a university town brings students, researchers and visitors with many diets. A tag is never a guarantee, so ask the kitchen about stock, butter and shared fryers before you order.

How do you find vegetarian restaurants in State College?

Walk the streets at the campus edge and read the windows. Menus are usually posted, and meat-free dishes are often marked. A kitchen that cooks plant-based food on purpose lists several dishes, not one token salad, and often says which are vegan and which only vegetarian. Cafes, noodle shops, taquerias and Indian and Middle Eastern kitchens are strong places to start.

Ask a student, or a graduate student, or a researcher on a long contract. Those who eat plant-based have already tested every counter within a mile, and they know which kitchens welcome a special request on a busy weekend. Check recent ratings from people who ate there lately, because menus at student-town restaurants change with the semester. A list from last year may point you to a dish that has gone.

Where is vegan food near Penn State?

Around the downtown and the campus, in cafes, bowl shops and sit-down restaurants that mark vegan items. Smoothies, grain bowls, wraps, tofu and tempeh dishes, falafel and bean-based plates are common. Bakeries sometimes carry vegan cookies and cakes. Menus change with the semester, so a place that was strong last year may have trimmed its list. Student-run groups and campus dining halls also publish plant-based options, which can be a useful guide to what the town expects. If you are visiting for a short time, pick one or two kitchens from your search and eat there twice rather than sampling widely, so you learn what the menu does best.

Coffee shops often stock plant milks, which is useful for a morning.

What does plant-based State College look like at dinner?

Mixed. Larger restaurants may offer a vegetarian pasta, a vegetable curry or a grilled vegetable plate, and smaller kitchens can adapt a dish if you ask. Italian, Indian, Thai, Mexican and Mediterranean cooking all lend themselves to meat-free eating. Pizza counters sell cheese and vegetable pies. A group with one vegetarian is easy to please.

For strict diets, call ahead and ask the kitchen what it can do. Kitchens appreciate the notice.

What should you ask about stock and butter?

Hidden animal products are the main trap. Ask whether soups and sauces are made with meat or fish stock, whether vegetables are cooked in butter or lard, whether beans contain pork and, if it matters to you, whether the cheese uses animal rennet. For vegan diets, add honey, eggs, dairy and gelatin. If the server is unsure, ask them to check with the cook. A menu label is only a starting point.

How does the Vegetarian tag work in the Mosey app?

While rating a place you can pick tags, and Vegetarian and Vegan sit among them with Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free and others. They help a diner narrow the Find sheet and they feed badges. If your dish was clearly meat-free, add the tag and name what you ate. A first badge needs five different places, and a tag is always one person's note, so it never replaces a question to the kitchen.

How do you eat plant-based on a game or parents weekend?

Plan ahead. Busy weekends strain every kitchen, and a place that handles a special request calmly on a quiet Tuesday may struggle on a crowded Saturday. Phone early, ask whether the vegetarian dishes are available all day and choose a simple dish when the kitchen is busy. Picnic food from a market is a good backup.

Tailgate food is meat-heavy, so bring your own. If you are staying with a student who cooks, a market haul and a simple dinner at home can be the best meal of the visit. Many dorm and apartment kitchens are small, so keep the recipe short: pasta with vegetables, a big salad, beans on toast or a tray of roasted vegetables will feed four people without a fuss.

How should you rate a meat-free meal?

Rate the food, not the label, and be fair to a kitchen that is trying something new. A vegetarian plate can be dull or wonderful, so give it stars for how it tasted and say whether it filled you up. Mention how the kitchen handled your request, since that detail helps the next diner most. If friends were with you, tag them and they can add their own view of the same meal.

Where next in State College?

The farmers market guide covers fresh produce, and the coffee shops guide covers the morning. For vegan dining in another college town, see vegan restaurants in Eugene, and the US food guides hold the rest of the country.

Heading somewhere else in Pennsylvania? The Food in Pennsylvania page links the rest.

Top 3 in the Mosey app keeps up to three ranked places per category in a city, built from questions about places you have actually eaten at, one at a time. After a few meals in State College you will have your own order for the best vegetarian dishes you have tried.

After a good meat-free meal, open the Mosey app, rate it by the dish, add the Vegetarian tag if it fits and share a plant-based State College list with the friend who is always asking.