Like many modern cities, Hamburg is home to countless vegetarians and vegans. In recent years, it’s become a particularly welcoming place in terms of cafés and restaurants, with menus catering to local herbivores with meat-free meals, dairy- and egg-free baked goods, and lattes made with plant-based milks. Here are some of our favourite cafés that keep vegetarians and vegans in mind. While not all are 100% vegan, each of them offers delicious options for anyone who eschews animal products entirely or is just looking to cut down. Vegetarians will find food at every café in the city.
Café Koppel (St. Georg)
Koppel 66, 20099 Hamburg
Located in a courtyard building parallel to the Lange Reihe street in St. Georg, it takes a little searching to find Café Koppel. But rest assured - the search is worth it! In summer visitors can sip their coffee or eat their cake in the garden. Most of the products are organic and many are homemade as well, but herbivores in particular are in good hands here: with a daily rotating menu of exclusively vegetarian and vegan dishes, there is no shortage of plant-based variety. Even the VEBU (Vegetarierbund Deutschland e.V.) are fans, having made Café Koppel a regular meeting place in Hamburg.
Hüftgold Café (Winterhude)
Winterhuder Weg 142, 22085 Hamburg
You needn’t be a morning person to enjoy breakfast at Café Hüftgold on Winterhuder Weg - the most important meal of the day can be enjoyed all day long. Visitors can also browse daily newspapers while the hearty flan, soup or salad is prepared. All cakes are homemade and highly recommended.
Café Unter den Linden (Sternschanze)
Juliusstraße 16, 22769 Hamburg
Café Unter den Linden is a small oasis of peace in the middle of the bustling Schanzenviertel. The friendly café has been spoiling its guests with home-made cakes and dishes since 1982. The furnishings are fondly reminiscent of a classic Viennese coffee house. In summer you can relax on the terrace with a coffee or a beer from 9:30 a.m. until 1 a.m., and the large selection of newspapers and magazines also ensures you'll never be bored.
El Rojito Café Ottensen (Ottensen)
Große Brunnenstraße 68, 22763 Hamburg
Located in the heart of Ottensen, this lovely café sells vegan cakes made with spelt flour from the Eichel organic pastry shop in Eimsbüttel. In addition to other sweet pastries, you can satisfy your hunger with hearty dishes, rolls and baguettes. A soy latte or cappuccino goes nicely as well, and it's worth noting that the fair trade coffee is particularly tasty here.
Café Panter (Karoviertel)
Marktstraße 3, 20357 Hamburg
The food at Café Panter is freshly prepared and most of the ingredients come from organically controlled cultivation. There are salads and warm dishes like pasta, as well as homemade paninis, cakes and brownies. The large café is furnished with wooden and leather furniture inviting you bask in its cosy atmosphere for hours.
Kaffee Stark (St. Pauli)
Wohlwillstraße 18, 20359 Hamburg
The name says it all: here the coffee is '100% fair trade, 100% espresso, 100% strong'. The cakes are lovingly home-baked and many are also vegan and even gluten-free. In the evening the café is transformed into a cosy, shabby-chic bar, with fair beer prices and cosy sofas.
Katzentempel (Sternschanze)
Kleiner Schäferkamp 24, 20357 Hamburg
If you’ve ever heard of cat cafés, then you probably think of places like Tokyo and Taiwan before Hamburg. But believe it or not, the Hanseatic city is home to Katzentempel (lit. ‘Cat Temple’), a cat café in Sternschanze. The feline residents all come from shelters and have found a rescue home in the café. They’re welcome to visit with the guests or retreat to the guest-free backroom if they’d prefer. Guests are expected to respect their feline hosts and interact with them only at the cats’ initiation. All the food (prepared in the cat-free kitchen) is vegetarian/vegan, so animal lovers have plenty to celebrate here.
Mother's Fine Coffee (St. Pauli)
Davidstraße 29, 20359 Hamburg
The small corner shop sells delicious soy lattes and a variety of vegan sandwiches, including ones with vegan cheese options. Great for a small breakfast!
Weltcafé ElbFaire (HafenCity)
Shanghaiallee 12, 20457 Hamburg
Fair and fresh is the motto at Weltcafé ElbFaire in HafenCity, which serves cakes and small dishes like soups and salads as well as a variety of coffees, teas, juices and wines. The café opens onto a green courtyard with a large terrace and playground. A varied vegetarian lunch menu is available Monday through Friday from 12 to 2:30.
