TRAVELWITHZOE

Grenada definitely isn’t the best island for vegan food in my opinion, but you can still survive there easily. The food just probably won’t be the highlight of your trip (which is fine because there are plenty of other highlights).

If you’re staying in self-catering accommodation, you can easily head to any supermarket or the market in St. George (or other markets) and buy basic ingredients like rice, lentils and local vegetables without paying crazy prices, but if you want more specific ‘vegan’ things like almond milk, it’ll be expensive because they have to import it from America or elsewhere.

Personally, although there was a kitchen where I was staying, I didn’t bother to cook anything because I found it more interesting to eat out.

My favourite place to get vegan food, by a very long way, was Vegan Vibes in the capital city, St George’s. The easiest way to explain how to get here is… If you’re coming from the bus terminal, cross the road and then go up a small street called St. John’s Street. You’ll pass a shop on your left called Fastcash, and then you’re looking for a little alleyway, also on the left, just before a coconut vendor who has a sign on the wall saying Ultimate Hustler.

(EDIT 2023 – IT HAS NOW MOVED LOCATIONS TO NEXT TO THE LAGOON ROAD ROUNDABOUT, but I’m leaving the old information in this post for memories etc).

Go down the alleyway, and you’ll end up in the front yard of a family home, next to a painted hut which is the kitchen / takeaway:

They open around midday and close whenever the food finishes (maybe 4pm-ish), and they’re open every day except Sundays. All their food is vegan, and a container of whatever they cooked that day is $10EC (approximately £3.50).

Here are two examples of the food I got there…

Vegan version of the Grenadian dish called oil down – basically yam, green banana, callaloo etc. in coconut milk and spices:

This one had rice, split peas, salad and a veggie burger kind of thing:

The owner is also super friendly. He even gave me free mangoes one day when I was there before the food was finished cooking because he didn’t want me to be hungry!

For me, the main beauty of this place was the atmosphere. On more than one occasion, I sat there for about two hours because it was such a friendly and peaceful place with great conversation with the other customers and the owner.

I specifically remember a conversation with one old rasta man –  We were talking for about half an hour about England/Grenada and he was telling me about his farm, and the fact that he doesn’t understand why so many people want to leave Grenada, as he thinks it’s a paradise and he wouldn’t want to move somewhere where he couldn’t grow the food he eats.

Another very friendly place in St. George that I’d recommend is Tropical Squeeze, a smoothie shop near the bus terminal. To get there, stay on the same side of the road as the bus terminal, and walk along the road, keeping the bus terminal on your left. After less than 5 minutes, you’ll reach Tropical Squeeze:

(UPDATE 2023 – TROPICAL SQUEEZE HAS ALSO MOVED. I didn’t make it to the new venue but you can check them out on Instagram for info).

Tropical Squeeze is open every day except Sunday, from about 10am to about 8pm. It’s $5EC for a small and $10EC for a large, and you can choose any combination you want. Normally they’re made with milk, so make sure you tell AJ (the owner) that you want yours with water instead.

AJ is really interesting to talk to (that’s him in the photo below). I went there for a smoothie once (sometimes even twice) per day when I was there, and he even gave me a free smoothie on my last day.

The third place I went to a few times in St. George for vegan food is Grenada Gourmet Burgers. They also have a branch in Gouyave which I didn’t go to, but the one in St. George’s is very easy to find. If you’re at the bus terminal, cross the road and walk along in the same direction as Tropical Squeeze and you’ll see it after one minute on your right.

The menu is mainly meat/fish based, but they have 3 veggie burgers which are all vegan. Just make sure you specify which sauces you want (I got mustard and pepper sauce) to avoid getting mayonnaise.

The three burgers all cost $15EC and you can choose from “sweet veggie burger” (sweet potato and pumpkin patty), “the green veggie burger” (breadfruit and callaloo patty) or “the brown veggie burger” (mushroom and bean patty). I went for the brown one every time but I’m guessing they’re all quite nice.

Other than these specific places, you can always try going to a regular food place and asking for vegetable roti. You can also go to a Chinese and get vegetable/tofu noodles or some kind of rice, or you could try and find a Trini doubles vendor, but they tend to be there more in the mornings than any other time. Of course you can also go to the market for fruit to snack on, and drink coconuts for some extra energy.