Vegan Restaurants on Lake Atitlan
We spent three weeks exploring restaurants on Lake Atitlan that had some sort of snack or meal for vegans. We mostly hung out in San Pedro La Laguna, but can also recommend San Marcos for the widest selection of veggie eats.
Read on to find out what tasty treats we found!
Forbidden Fruit – San Pedro
This is THE best spot in San Pedro for breakfast and a view! Forbidden fruit, an acai girl’s dream. This Restaurant on Lake Atitlan has a wide selection of smoothie bowls, topped with granola, seasonal fresh fruits and other bits and pieces.
They’re open nice and early at 8:30 am every morning, so you could even stop in on your way to Spanish school!
Our favourite regular order was the “Blue Mermaid”, which cost Q50. This included bananas, pineapple, almond milk and blue spirulina for that extra kick! Topped with granola, bananas and desiccated coconut as pictured – yum.
Jakuu – San Pedro
One of the few places in San Pedro where you can get a hearty, vegan Guatemalan meal, is Jakuu.
You can order one of the meals off the menu (ask for the veggie fajitas or burrito to be made vegan), or instead put together a bunch of sides to make a meal.
(eg. when we went, one of us ordered mashed potato, refried beans, a side salad and tortillas).
A wee tip is to always order tortillas to go with your veggies or frijoles! You’ll stay fuller for longer, they’re a delicious essential, and once you start your tortilla journey, you’ll never look back.
Jakku is off the main “Gringo” street and is a nice way to venture into San Pedro local life a bit more. Their portions are huge and always tasty – the veggie fajitas were only Q50.
Kamui – San Pedro
Have you been travelling Central America for a while now, and are craving food with delicious Asian flavours? We’ve got ya back.
One of the restaurants on Lake Atitlan is Kamui. These guys serve mouth-wateringly good Japanese sushi and even offer vegan dumplings.
While it’s not the cheapest spot in San Pedro, it’s nice to have a bit of variety every now and then!
They also sell homemade kombucha if your gut is getting a bit funny. Even better, they do a 2-for-1 vegan sushi deal every Monday for only Q60!
If you’re unsure of what’s vegan on the menu, simply ask, the staff are more than happy to help you out.
Cafe Panorama – San Pedro
Cafe Panorama was recommended by both of our teachers at the Spanish school in San Pedro. So you know it must be a good spot!
To get to this cafe, it’s just a short hike up the road of the Volcán San Pedro (or a Q5 tuk-tuk…hehe).
It’s true to its name, so you get an insane panoramic view of Lake Atitlan from the top.
They don’t actually do vegan food (aside from maybe a fruit platter), however, they do have milk alternatives for your iced caramel latte or chocolate caliente.
We just had to mention it here, as we think it’s the perfect place for a beverage while you admire the vista bonita.
Pita Sabij – San Pedro
San Pedro has a few different spots for your falafel fix. And Pita Sabij is one of them!
Along with whatever delicious food you order, you get the magical view of the lake too.
People watching the folks out on the boats and kayaks while you devour your falafel pita sounds like a solid afternoon activity, doesn’t it?
It’s generally hard to find a decent scoop of hot chips in Central America, but Pita Sabij manages to come close!
The vegan options are marked on the menu; you have the choice of two different filled pitas, or the falafel plate, as pictured. Whatever you choose, you’ll be filled up for sure.
Sababa Restaurant – San Pedro
For tourists, Sababa is the most popular place to be.
With an Israeli-inspired menu, they boast falafel, scrambled tofu, fluffy pita bread (we don’t know what these are called, but it’s some of the best bread we’ve tasted!), avo on toast and more. They’re open for three meals a day!
We had two favourite dishes while we were here, coming back multiple times to order again.
The first was the vegan breakfast platter. This was scrambled tofu with mushrooms, pita, a small side salad and a few different sauces; tahini, refried frijoles, guacamole and pesto.
And the second was the falafel pita. We cannot put into words how genuinely DIVINE this food was. Moist falafel, fluffy bread, the perfect balance of tahini and salsa and good stuff. Gah, we’re drooling just thinking about it.
Sababa also has a bakery next door, which sells pastries (a singular vegan option while we were there; an apple muffin), hot drinks and even loaves of tasty bread if you want some for home!
It’s the place to put your head down and get some work done, as it’s got plenty of plug points and usually fewer people than the restaurant next door. Both venues look out onto the lake.
Salud Para Vida – San Pedro
Salud Para Vida is a fully vegan restaurant with a vegetarian/vegan health food store out the front. The store isn’t entirely vegan, so don’t make our mistake and buy the cheddar crackers thinking it’s dairy-free!
The health food store is expensive but it has everything you need. From chai-flavoured almond milk to chipotle hummus and fresh bagels.
We really (really, really) recommend the raw slices from the containers in the fridge. The vegan walnut brownie and Snickers slice were our favourites, and the chocolate caramel pie was also a treat.
The vegan restaurant is up the stairs towards the back of the shop, boasting a wide range of loaded fries, sandwiches and burgers with a variety of fake meats and grilled seasonal vegetables.
Service is slow, but worth the wait if you can. The rooftop terrace is the perfect place to set up shop to eat your sammy, drink your kombucha and appreciate the views of San Pedro La Laguna.
Tornado’s Coffee – San Pedro
Tornado was one of our favourite ‘chill out’ spots for a cold licuado and our Spanish homework.
The service was always awesome, and always encouraging while we were learning the language!
If you’re after a vego feed, probably miss it unless you’re craving a bowl of fruit. But the coffee is good, the mango licuado is refreshing, and the wifi is full bars!
Zen Eats – San Marcos
San Marcos is one of the neighbouring pueblos of San Pedro and is also known as a vegan haven.
Almost every cafe or restaurant has something a vegan can snack on. You can also easily find carne-free tamales and vegan cookies along the street.
We picked Zen Eats as the spot to try while we were there, as there were lots of positive reviews, and we’d heard good things.
Zen Eats is an entirely vegan restaurant, serving Central American cuisine and fake meats. Things like burritos, quesadillas, tacos and ensaladas, as well as burgers, sandwiches and pasta. They use meat alternatives for things like fish and chicken, and they’ve even got vegan cheeses to add some pizaz!
Their menu is a little overwhelming with the amount of options and combinations, but we loved it here and wish we could have come back to try it all.
Final Thoughts Vegan Restaurants on Lake Atitlan
We hope we’ve laid to rest whatever worries you were having about being able to find vegan food at the restaurants on Lake Atitlan. You’re not going to go hungry! And it’s all really good food.
However, if you don’t want to spend much money or are travelling on a tight budget, the markets are perfect for fresh fruit and veggies, street food and hot tortillas. There aren’t any big supermarkets in the area, so the small ones are pretty expensive. You’ve been warned!
Gracias for reading through our blog, we hope you’ve found your new favourite restaurant!
We always appreciate recommendations, so let us know if we’ve missed anywhere iconic by giving us a follow over on our socials.
If you’re travelling through Guatemala, we’ve also written about the famous Acatenango Volcano hike and our favourite restaurants in Antigua!
Also, you shouldn’t visit San Pedro without taking a Spanish class – check out our post for all the details!
