Vegan-friendly
Lacto
Pizza
International
Western
Juice bar
Beer/Wine
Honey
Australian

Licensed vegetarian restaurant serving a wide range of food, including pizza, burgers, stir fries, noodle dishes, curries, pasta and desserts, as well as smoothies and alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Open kitchen and extra long communal table seating. Open Mon-Fri 11:30am-9:00pm, Sat-Sun 11:00am-9:00pm.


199 Reviews

First Review by Aloo

veganjenny

Points +65

Vegan
11 Mar 2011

Very busy but great food

I've gone to this restaurant a few times and have been really impressed by the menu. Although it is always packed full of people (even at 9pm on a Sunday or Monday night) the food has been varied, satisfying and fairly priced.

Definitely one of the better veggie places in the city but dont go expecting a chilled out or relaxing dinning experience, dinner sometimes feels like your at a crowded city bar on a Friday night (although obviously that appeals to many people!).

Pros: Lots of different options on menu, Quality food, decent price

Cons: very crowded, noisy

Veronica01

Points +168

Vegan
18 Jan 2011

Good food, bad service, and no doggy bag?

My husband and I went here on a recommendation. We checked out the menu on another website and decided to try it. It was a Tuesday night, the music was very loud and it was fairly busy. It continued to become packed and even noisier as they cranked up the music and there was a huge line out the door.

We ordered 2 soups, rice balls, the cajun stew special and the risotto. It was very good, very hot and came pretty timely.

The service was not so great, you didn't know who your waiter was and they all ran around and never asked if you needed anything else.

We did not finish all of our meal and when we asked to get it to go, the waitress flat out said no and it was part of their food safety policy. WTF is that? I have never in my life heard of that, and especially ordering vegan food with no animal products to go bad, this does not make sense, it was some rice and vegetables for God's sakes. I can't believe they think it's better to just take your money and throw out the food than let you enjoy it later that evening or the next day. Totally unacceptable. I looked it up too and it's not illegal to allow to go or doggy bags, next time I will bring my own tupperware and tell them off if they try to take my food away.

We said no to dessert and then were left alone for another 15 minutes after our food was done. No offer to bring the bill, no coming back to ask if there was anything else. I don't get why they ignore you when you're done and the table is empty and they have a lineup out the door. Do they not want more customers to be seated?

We had a really good time until the rude waitress threw out our food, left us at the table with no bill and the music was cranked even higher.

It really put a sour taste in our mouths and we were looking forward to coming back, but now we're just pissed off with the place.

Pros: good flavour, good presentation, vegan friendly

Cons: loud as hell, aloof staff, no to go/doggy bag allowed

JaimieCS

23 Nov 2011

The majority of restaurants in Melbourne no longer allow doggy bags.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/mixed-bag-may-leave-you-sick-as-a-dog-20111015-1lqnl.html

Swampwallaby

Points +48

Vegan
05 Oct 2010

Fantastic!

The food was absolutely fantastic! Lost of GF and Vegan choices. The GF+Vegan Choclate cake was to die for. The Singapore noddles was huge and delicious, feeding two of us easily. The Rice Balls where yummy and the Tomato and Vegie pasta was a big hit as well. Tons of food, fast service, nice 'busy' atmosphere, we loved it! Wish we weren't leaving tomorrow so we could go back.

Pros: Fast Service, Big Serves, Friendly Staff

JaimieCS

Points +30

Vegan
13 Jul 2010

Amazing

The Vegie Bar is a stalwart, I've eaten nearly every vegan dish on the menu and never had a less than amazing meal.

It's loud and busy and you nearly always have to wait for a table but I've always had excellent service, (the staff are all awesome) despite the size of the place and only once have I waited a bit long for my meal to come out.

The dishes are very generous and it's good value for money.

Pros: great food, great service, good value

Cons: noisy

vgough

Points +57

Vegetarian
09 Apr 2010

variable

Been to the Veggie Bar quite a few times. It's great to have large licensed vegetarian venue so close to the city, generally good bistro-style food with ample menu and generous portions for reasonable price.
Mostly I've had good service but some staff (maybe they are inexperienced and need more supervision) seem more interested in being "Brunswick-cutting-edge-cool" than in ensuring customers get good service. Waited 45 mins for burgers, it wasnt v.busy, others got served well ahead and staff person's attitude was really dismissive when we politely inquired. Not o.k.-- it's a mistake for any restaurant to rest on its laurels no matter how good business seems.
The "mostly greens" with tempeh is yumm, so are the pizzas.
Most of the staff are great too, I'll go back if I'm in the area but I wouldn't take guests and I wouldn't make a point of travelling there.

Pros: all veg food, generous portions, style

Cons: variable service, 'attitude'

jamtoenail

Points +43

Vegetarian
14 Feb 2010

A breath of fresh food

This place is wonderful. Perhaps not the very swiftest staff in the world. Yes, you might well have to wait for and/or share a table. But there is a terrific variety of great food.

I would not strongly recommend the burgers. I've tried the tempeh and lentil burgers, but as another reviewer said: meh. Be more adventuresome. Oh, and check the specials board.

As an American on vacation (er, holiday), I was lucky to even hear about Vegie Bar. I searched Happy Cow for restaurants in Melbourne, and Vegie Bar is in Fitzroy. But Fitzroy is a very, very near suburb -- Veggie Bar is 10 minutes from Melbourne's central business district on the easy-to-find, easy-to-use tram system (route 112).

Do yourself a favor and go there.

Pros: variety, vegan-friendly

Cons: crowded

Raydoggy

Points +357

Vegan
11 Jan 2010

Not To Be Missed

First of all I'm shocked to see a few not so good reviews. I've been eating at the Vegie Bar for 22 years and yes I think in the past there was a bit of attitude from the old manager and some staff, but in last ten years, the service couldn't be better and the staff are very friendly and helpful. For the amount of people that go through this oasis, I'm astounded that they can get the food out so quickly.

I've eaten at veg places all over the world and this is my favourite. It's not a restaurant, it's a cafe, and a fun one at that. The atmosphere is always up and the staff are quick as a flash, the problem is that it's so popular that sometimes it can be impossible to get everyone served straight away, sometimes you might have to wait a couple of minutes, but just sit back and enjoy the atmosphere. Life is not a race.

I never get bored with the Vegie Bar. It's the first place I head for when I get back to Melbourne. Try the Mostly Greens with tempeh and extra satay sauce. Also the menu pizzas, especially the Zen pizza. You could live off one of their burgers a day and only $7.50 Aust, that's about 4.00 Euro for a sit down meal that is huge. Slightly extra for a small bowl of extra satay.

The only meal I've ever not raved about was a curry, many years ago, but I haven't tried it since, so maybe even their curry is OK now.

Love the Vegie Bar, long live the Vegie Bar. I wish I could give a 6 cow rating.

After dinner, go to Bar Open up the road for some great indie music, but beware, the drinks can be expensive.

Pros: Tasty, Nutritious, Reasonably priced

Cons: No WiFi

tessha_m

Points +60

Vegetarian
29 Apr 2008

a great lunch!

i really enjoyed my lunch at the Veggie bar. I had a stirfried dish off the specials board and a tempeh stirfry from the menu. both were great. i was very happy.

Pros: veg food!, location

Cons: i hear it can be hard to get a table, a tad pricey, not too bad.

Petesternz

Points +1447

Vegan
15 Apr 2007

Really disappointing

We were really excited about Vegie Bar after arriving late in Melbourne one Friday evening. The menu was amazing. Full of great looking dishes of every type. Unfortunately, not one of them turned out to be particularly good. Everything was average - at best. My seitan burger was nothing like it was advertised, and was about 1/4 the size of the bread and drowned in salad. Frozen french fries and a below average smoothie made it an average overall experience. There are MANY better veggie restos in Melbourne... Pizzas were better choice

Pros: selection, atmosphere

Cons: food quality, rushed feeling

Aloo

Points +7705

Vegan
16 Feb 2007

Burgers are better

These burgers are huge and tasty, and one of the items that has made this place what it is. Good variety on the menu, fresh juices and lots of vegan options. Always busy, and therefore a bit too much noise and movement to be really relaxing. I also feel a little rushed, like they need your table ASAP, which is not pleasant.

Pros: burgers, juice cocktails

Cons: too busy




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