Clean, healthy vegan meals are great. But what about vegans who want messy, classic comfort food?

Before the plant-based diet’s explosion in popularity in the 2010s, and certainly during the ’90s and early aughts, many Philadelphia vegans would joke that a night out with friends would include a pared-down salad, modified pasta, or French fries for a late-night bite.

Fifteen years later, one would struggle to find a place in Philly that didn’t serve, at the least, a nationally recognized plant-based burger from Impossible or Beyond brands — even in suburban bars. The techniques for vegan dining are pushing the cuisine forward, transforming carrots into Bolognese and broccoli into steak. Meat analogs even go farther than the forlorn black bean burger, to the point where the local grocery store has chicken, pork, beef, and seafood alternatives.

Across Philadelphia is a vast landscape of plant-based options, and not found solely at vegan restaurants. From the corner pub and window takeout spots to the South Philly dive bars and the mom-and-pop vegetarian joints, people who don’t eat meat or dairy products no longer have to settle for the proverbial crumbs.

Philadelphia restaurants like Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby’s Vedge built the mantle on which Philly’s vegan fine-dining scene rests, while chef Ian Graye’s Pietramala has continued to remind national onlookers of the city’s inventiveness. But, these places are where you go to try the most transcendent takes on vegan cuisine, discover new trends, and impress a date — often with food looking just as healthy as it is to digest.

What is a vegan to do when they just want the best messy finger food and classic comforts they’ve known since childhood? This is where vegan spots like Mark Mebus’ long-closed (but never forgotten) Blackbird Pizzeria filled the void, which attracted vegans from hours away and now lives on through 20th Street Pizza and Blackbird Foods.

The latter of which supplies the seitan for the majority of the city’s favorite vegan wings, so much so that if you like a place’s vegan wings, it mostly comes down to the cooking and in-house sauces, because many are serving you the same Blackbird seitan.

Pioneering pubs since the 2000s, Triangle Tavern and Tattooed Mom have carved out their communities, catering to both meat-friendly and vegan palates. Their approach to vegan eats doesn’t stray far from their meat-centric counterparts. Both Triangle and Tattooed Mom use the same rolls, sauces, and preparation for their vegan and meat dishes; the proteins and cheeses are different — creating an equal playing field for nights out with friends who eat different diets.

And while this guide focuses on the places catering to a later crowd, one would be remiss to ignore the Tasty, serving all-vegan, classic diner breakfast since 2016.

Dive into the web of Philly vegan menu items that will leave you satisfied and most likely needing a serviette. Here are just some of the best.

The spiritual successor to Mebus’ Blackbird, 20th Street Pizza carries the torch of redefining Philly vegan pizza — there’s even the beloved Italian sausage “Haymaker” pie still on the menu. A simple takeout pizza shop with a limited menu that emphasizes organic food and local suppliers, featuring a dozen different pizzas, including round and square pies, a single giant calzone on offer, and vegan sides, such as garlic knots and baked meatballs. This is the OG vegan pizza that helped pioneer vegan comfort eating in Philadelphia.

📍108 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19103, 📞 215-398-5748, 🌐 20thstreet.pizza

The midnight munchies crowd can rejoice as this one-stop shop for greasy comfort food, delivering till 3 a.m. on weekends, is at 15th and South Streets. Blazerz Food Joint opened in 2023, leaning heavily into tongue-in-cheek nods to marijuana and “stonerisms‚“ opening at 4:20 p.m. daily and offering late-night hangover cure grub. Both meat and vegan versions of pizzas, cheesesteaks, chicken sandwiches, and wings are available, in the $10 to $15 range. They’ve even imported a New York delicacy, the chopped cheese sandwich, and made it vegan.

📍1436 South St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19146, 📞 445-223-2180, 🌐 blazerzfoodjoint.com

Come for the variety of vegan options, stay for the free jazz and drag shows. For years, Northern Liberties’ Bourbon & Branch has been offering a menu where nearly every food item can be made vegan, spanning more than just typical pub grub — which they have in abundance, like a vegan smashburger or seitan cheesesteak. But think vegan burrito bowls and chicken and (churro) waffles for something different. It doesn’t hurt that they have a vegan chicken Caesar salad, either.

📍705 N. Second St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19123, 📞 215-238-0660, 🌐 bourbonandbranchphilly.com

There is magic happening in the kitchen of Kensington’s brightest new restaurant on Frankford Avenue. Chef Lulu of Casa Borinqueña is taking traditional Puerto Rican dishes cultivated in her San Francisco sister restaurant of the same name, and crafting nearly one-to-one, mouthwatering vegan recreations. Take the pincho de pollo, a famous Boricua street snack featuring skewered barbecue chicken; chef Lulu’s glistens in the light with seitan fried to perfection, providing a crisp crust and tender chicken bite. Mofongo cups, loaded tostones, and pastelillos (fried beef turnovers) are reimagined through seitan chicken, Impossible beef, and mushroom pork. With a sampler plate, enjoy an entrée over arroz con gandules (seasoned rice with pigeon peas), and a side of maduros (fried sweet plantains) and house salad.

📍2557 Amber St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19125, 📞 415-779-5901, 🌐 casaborinquena.com

This half-century pub, named after the Pakistani mountain pass, dates back to 1876 when it first served as a saloon during the Centennial Celebration. It became Khyber Pass a century later and it wasn’t until the 1980s and ‘90s that it became a prized rock venue, booking acts like Smashing Pumpkins, Iggy Pop, and later, My Morning Jacket. Today, the dimly lit Old City dive prides itself on its vast selection of craft beers, New Orleans-inspired cuisine, and its unique vegan menu offerings like boudin balls, Cajun popcorn, a fried chicken po’boy, and classic seitan wings.

📍56 S. Second St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106, 📞 215-238-5888, 🌐 khyberpasspub.com

Monster Vegan runs the gamut of vegan comfort food. Korean barbecue wings? Check. Birria steak sandwich? Check. General Tso’s fried chicken? Yes, and there’ even more once you really explore everything on offer. Here is where chef-owner Ron Tadeo turns oyster mushrooms into crispy fried calamari and where seitan becomes corned beef. While trying their smorgasbord of vegan comforts, it also helps that this place is dripping in dark purple ambience with vintage horror movies projected onto the walls, often for horror watch parties.

📍1229 Spruce St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107, 📞 215-790-9494, 🌐 themonstervegan.com

Nourish is not only home to some of the best vegan fried chicken and cheesesteaks in the city, but also offers appetizers and entrées hard to find elsewhere with vegan scallops, oxtail, and fried “fish.” Much of owner Sarah Scandone’s menu leans into the healthier and vegetable-friendly side of veganism, with enoki mushroom chicken and in-house plant-based meatballs, but there are pure classic comforts like vegan wings, mac and cheese, and steak bites, including jerk and teriyaki.

📍177 W. Girard Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19123, 📞 267-761-9242, 🌐 letsgetnourished.com

Close your eyes and imagine a giant box, stuffed to the gills with the best late-night comfort food, from seitan wings and pepperoni pizza to cheesy loaded fries and smash burgers. Now open your eyes and venture to the nearest Pizza Plus takeout window (in South or West Philly) to make that dream a reality. The mad scientists of vegan comfort food at Pizza Plus are devising bigger and bolder menu items to make local mouths water. We’re talking fried-to-perfection Blackbird seitan wings, cheesesteaks, and some of the best vegan sauces in the city, with in-house vegan ranch, honey mustard, and General Tso’s. Order the $50 to $60 vegan snack boxes for the next game-day tailgate or party, and stop by the West Philly location for individual vegan slices.

📍1846 S. 12th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19148, 4814 Spruce St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19139, 🌐 pizzaplusphilly.com

Tattooed Mom is not only synonymous with Philadelphia street art — with hardly an inch of surface space that isn’t covered in murals, graffiti writing, or stickers — but it’s also home to one of Philadelphia’s oldest vegan bar menus. Here is where manager Ryan “Chubbrock” Pasquale has cultivated a community of regulars that return for the time-honored Tmoms classics, from cheeseburgers to corn dogs, but have a keen eye out for Chubbrock’s next secret menu item. The current special is a spicy fried chicken sandwich dripping in vegan honey with banana peppers and peri peri mayo. Tmoms also opts for Michael Cassidy’s seitan out of Levittown to bring much of their vegan wings to life. Bring a party of different eaters, and there will be something for everyone, as all this pub grub can be made with meat and dairy cheeses, too.

📍530 South St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147, 📞 215-238-9880, 🌐 tattooedmomphilly.com

A pillar in the vegan bar food scene, Triangle Tavern has the most talked about seitan wings in the city, so much so that chef Mike Schwartz sees nonvegan diners regularly order vegan wings as an appetizer and then a meat-based dish for entrées. Schwartz, who previously worked at Mebus’ Blackbird Pizzeria, goes through 600 pounds of Blackbird seitan every week to serve Triangle’s adored vegan wings, cheesesteaks, roast beef, and chicken Parmesan sandwiches. It also requires a lot of cheese, supplied by South Philly cashew-based cheesemaker Bo Babaki of Bandit Cheese. Triangle doesn’t shy away from the elements of meat-centric meals that make them so great: fats and salts. The seitan gets the same treatment as the chicken and beef, just with vegan butters, fats, and cheeses.

📍1338 S. 10th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147, 📞 215-800-1992, 🌐 triangletavernphilly.com

Few dishes are as comforting as a steaming tray of dim sum to savor among friends, likewise a plate of General Tso’s chicken over rice to cure morning-after headaches. While Philadelphia isn’t short of vegan and vegetarian Chinese options, Unit Su Vege is consistently serving some of the city’s best. Explore their gargantuan menu of traditional Chinese and American-Chinese fare, with the majority of dishes able to be made vegan. The dim sum menu is known around town, and plates like shumai, watercress dumplings, and taro cake can’t be ignored. For main courses, get a classic General Tso’s seitan, mushroom braised tofu skins, and for the nonvegans and vegetarians, there is vegetarian Peking duck.

📍2000 Hamilton St. # 106, Philadelphia, Pa. 19130, 📞 215-988-1888, 🌐 unitsuvege.com