SAN DIEGO — A new WalletHub study ranked San Diego the fourth best city for vegans and vegetarians out of the 100 most populated U.S. cities. San Diego scored high in the diversity, accessibility and quality category.
"Things like variety of vegan or vegetarian restaurants, restaurants that cater to vegans and vegetarians while not being fully so, a number of salad shops per capita, access to certified organic farms per capita, and vegetarian cooking classes, things like that," WalletHub Editor Christie Matherne said. "So San Diego did really well in this category."
San Diego ranked:
- 29th for % of restaurants with vegetarian options
- 25th for % of restaurants with vegan options
- 8th for farmers markets and CSA Programs per capita
- 1st for juice and smoothie bars per capita
- 13th for salad shops per capita
- 34th for vegetable nurseries per capita
Chani's Donuts is a vegan-friendly spot in Kearny Mesa. Their donuts are vegan, gluten-free and top 10 allergen free.
"We pretty much checked all the boxes there for people so that they can come in," Owner Chantelle Harris said. "We want to have a treat that everybody can enjoy together."
Tom and his son aren't vegan or vegetarian, but they come by Chani's often. He said there's many plant-based restaurants where he lives in Encinitas.
"Especially up our way close to the coast and stuff, it's like, every third restaurant or something," Tom said.
He appreciates how many options are available when dining out.
"It's great, I mean I'm happy to do, you know, anything organic, vegan, whatever," he said. "I'm not like strict about it, but it's nice to have."
Chula Vista was ranked 99th on the list out of the 100 cities in the report. A Gallup poll from last year found 4% of Americans said they are vegetarian and 1% said they were vegan.
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