The Only Kosher Restaurant in St. Louis, by Its Own Count, Serves No Meat at All
Revised November 5, 2026
What to eat out as a vegetarian in St. Louis?
Order a full plate, not a pile of sides. Indian, Ethiopian, Lebanese, Thai, Mexican, and Italian kitchens around St. Louis all carry real vegetarian mains. Anywhere else, ask three things: what the stock is, whether there is fish sauce or anchovy in the dish, and whether the kitchen can leave the meat out. Then order with confidence.
Keep reading ↓The only kosher restaurant in St. Louis, by its own count, serves no meat at all.
A samosa broken open over chhole. A torn piece of paratha dragged through creamy saag paneer. At Gokul Indian Restaurant in the Delmar Loop, just east of the Pageant, nothing on that plate needs a question, because the restaurant calls itself 100% vegetarian and the first and only kosher restaurant in St. Louis. If you’ve ever sent back a “vegetable” soup that tasted like roast chicken, you feel your shoulders drop.
Gokul runs all-you-can-eat lunch and dinner buffets every day, and on Monday nights the dinner buffet goes 100% vegan. Send that to the vegan friend who always ends up with a side salad.
Go hungry. Gokul is at 6101 Delmar Blvd, 314-721-1888, and its posted takeout hours run 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day but Tuesday, when it’s closed.
Everywhere else, you have to ask. The menu isn’t lying to you. It just isn’t telling you everything. Kitchens build dishes around habits, and stock, lard, anchovy and fish sauce are habits so old that cooks forget they’re there. This guide gives you the kitchens that make it easy and the three questions for the ones that don’t.
What to eat out as a vegetarian in St. Louis?
Order a full plate, not a pile of sides. Indian, Ethiopian, Lebanese, Thai, Mexican, and Italian kitchens around St. Louis all carry real vegetarian mains. Anywhere else, ask three things: what the stock is, whether there is fish sauce or anchovy in the dish, and whether the kitchen can leave the meat out. Then order with confidence.
That’s the short version. The long one runs on a single idea: interview the kitchen. Ask what they do. Compare it with what you want. A good restaurant answers straight, and one that gets cagey about its stock has answered too.
Four St. Louis kitchens where vegetarian is the main event
Start with Gokul, then keep going.
Meskerem on South Grand
Meskerem prints its Vegetarian Combo for one right on the menu: miser alecha, miser wat, shiro wat, butecha, gomen wat and two vegetable sides. That’s split lentils cooked mild with ginger and garlic, lentils finished with berbere, ground, highly seasoned chickpeas and chopped collard greens, all on sour, spongy injera you tear with your hand.
SweetArt on Lindell
SweetArt is 100% plant-based, with gluten-free options, dine-in or carry-out. After more than 16 years in Shaw, Chef Reine Keis moved it to a new home on Lindell. Go for the bakery case, too: the shop sells what it calls tender plant-based cinnamon rolls, and there’s a Sunday brunch. If you’re vegan, not just vegetarian, what vegan food actually means in St. Louis goes deeper.
Lona’s Lil Eats in Fox Park
Lona’s is home to the Giant Rice Paper Wrap and calls its cooking fresh Asian cuisine with a soul-food flare. It’s the answer for the mixed table: Lona’s says carnivorous, gluten-free, paleo, pescetarian and vegetarian meals are offered every day. Its own line on pricing is worth repeating to anyone who’s paid extra for a tofu swap: “We don’t tax vegetarians by charging higher prices for no reason other than supply and demand.”
How to identify a vegetarian item?
Look for the V symbol first, read the description second, and ask the server third. The symbol is a shortlist, not a guarantee. Meat hides in the base, not the topping: vegetable soup on chicken stock, refried beans made with lard, Caesar dressing built on anchovy, fish sauce in a curry.
The three questions
One: what’s the stock or broth made from? Two: is there fish sauce, anchovy, or Worcestershire in it? Three: can the kitchen make this without the meat, and what goes in its place? Ask in that order. The first catches soups, rice, and beans. The second catches sauces and dressings. The third turns a no into a yes.
Are eggs considered vegetarian?
Yes, for most vegetarians. Eggs come from a living hen, and a lacto-ovo vegetarian eats them the same way they drink milk. Vegans don’t. Some vegetarians skip eggs on religious grounds, and a kitchen run by such a family may mark egg dishes separately. If the menu is unclear, ask.
Eggs matter at a restaurant because they open up so much of the menu. Frittata. Shakshuka. Egg fried rice. A veggie omelet at a diner in Pacific on a Sunday morning. Fresh pasta is often made with egg, and so are most baked goods, so say which list you’re on.
Which cuisines make it easy around St. Louis?
Indian, Ethiopian, Lebanese and the wider Mediterranean, Thai, Mexican, Italian, and Vietnamese. In those kitchens a vegetarian main is a dish somebody’s grandmother made on purpose, not a meat dish with a hole in it. Start there when you’re new. Branch out once the three questions feel automatic.
Indian and Ethiopian
Indian menus are the easiest in the metro, and it isn’t close. Whole sections are vegetarian by tradition: chana masala, palak paneer, dal, aloo gobi. Ghee is dairy, so it’s fine. Ask whether the naan has egg if that matters. Our guide to the best Indian food in St. Louis walks the menu. Ethiopian kitchens nearly always offer a veggie combo of lentils, split peas, and collards on injera.
Mediterranean and Lebanese
Falafel, hummus, baba ghanoush, tabbouleh, fattoush, stuffed grape leaves, spinach pies. Order a mezze spread and dinner is done. Two things to check: whether the rice pilaf is cooked in chicken broth, and whether the grape leaves are the meat-filled kind.
Thai and Vietnamese
Tofu versions of most stir-fries and curries exist, and Thai kitchens will usually swap it in. The catch is fish sauce. It goes into the curry paste, early. Ask whether the kitchen can use soy sauce instead. Many can. Some can’t, because the paste arrives premade. Our guide to the best Thai food in St. Louis has more. Vietnamese kitchens often list a tofu pho, but the broth may still be beef. Ask.
Mexican and Italian
Beans are the question at a Mexican place. Refried beans are traditionally made with lard, and some kitchens still do it that way. Rice may be cooked in chicken stock. Once those are cleared, cheese enchiladas, bean burritos, and chiles rellenos are normal orders. Italian is generous with pasta and pizza, and a margherita is nearly always safe. Watch for pancetta in sauces, anchovy in puttanesca, and rennet in the hard cheeses.
Appetite for heights? Read what first-time skydiving costs and feels like.
What should I order for dinner as a vegetarian?
Order one dish that stands on its own, with a protein in it, and refuse the row of sides. A real dinner has a center, a starch, and a vegetable. Center: beans, lentils, tofu, paneer, eggs, halloumi, a veggie patty. Starch: rice, bread, potato, pasta, polenta. Vegetable: whatever’s in season. Order that shape anywhere and it feels like dinner.
At a steakhouse
Steakhouses are better than their reputation. The sides are the strongest part of the menu: creamed spinach, roasted mushrooms, baked potato, a wedge salad. Ask whether the mushrooms are cooked in beef fat and whether the mac and cheese has bacon in it. Then ask for a mushroom plate as an entree. A client dinner in Lake St. Louis doesn’t have to mean bread and a salad.
At a BBQ joint
Harder. The meat is the menu. But the sides were built to carry it: slaw, potato salad, cornbread, mac and cheese. The beans are the trap, since pit-house beans almost always have pork in them, and the greens usually get a ham hock. Ask. Some pits now smoke a portobello or do a jackfruit sandwich. Otherwise, a loaded baked potato with slaw is honest food.
At a sports bar
Veggie burger, black bean burger, cheese pizza, nachos, a big salad. Ask whether the bean patty shares the grill with the beef. Then order it with a fried egg on top. Suddenly it’s dinner.
At a wedding
Tell the couple when you RSVP, or the caterer will hand you the stuffed pepper. Caterers plan a vegetarian plate for every event, and they plan it better with a count. If the invitation didn’t ask, text the host. At the reception, the pasta station and the salad course are usually safe.
Is it less expensive to eat vegetarian?
At the grocery store, usually. Beans, lentils, rice, eggs, and seasonal vegetables cost less by weight than meat nearly everywhere. At a restaurant, not reliably. Kitchens price by the plate, not the ingredient, and a vegetable entree often sits right beside the chicken on the page. In our experience the gap narrows or vanishes in most St. Louis dining rooms.
Where you do save is in the cuisines above, because those kitchens built their prices around vegetarian dishes. At a steakhouse the vegetable plate is a courtesy, priced like one. We’ve found the best value comes from ordering what a kitchen makes best, not the cheapest line on the page.
How to eat vegetarian for beginners?
Start in the cuisines that make it easy, learn the three questions, and get comfortable saying them out loud. The first month is about habits, not perfection. Order what you already like without the meat, find a protein you enjoy, and forgive yourself the tortilla soup that turned out to be on chicken stock.
The first month
Week one: an Indian or Lebanese place, and order whatever you want. No questions needed. Week two: a Thai or Mexican kitchen, and practice the fish-sauce and lard questions. Week three: an ordinary American restaurant, and build a plate from the shape above. Week four: a family dinner where you’re the only one. By then the questions come out on their own.
Protein, briefly
Every uncle at every cookout in Wood River is going to ask about protein. Short answer: beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, eggs, dairy, nuts, and whole grains cover it, and one of those at the center of the plate covers a meal. Don’t turn it into a lecture. Don’t let anyone turn it into one for you, either. Order the dal. Eat the dal.
Ready to pick a table? Browse vegetarian food around St. Louis on St Louis Near Me Directory, scan each kitchen’s posted menu for one real main, and call ahead with the question that matters to you.
If you run a kitchen that feeds vegetarians well, this part is for you. The diner reading this page is hungry, has already been burned by a chicken-stock soup, and is searching on a phone for a place that gets it. A Gold listing on St Louis Near Me Directory helps those customers find your door first. List your restaurant.
Frequently asked questions
How to eat vegetarian for beginners?
Start in kitchens where vegetarian mains are traditional: Indian, Lebanese, Ethiopian, Thai with tofu, Mexican with beans. Learn three questions and say them out loud until they feel normal: what’s the stock, is there fish sauce or anchovy, can you make it without the meat. Order dishes you already like, minus the meat, and put a protein at the center of the plate.
What are some good vegetarian dishes to eat at a restaurant?
Chana masala, palak paneer, or dal with rice at an Indian place. A veggie combo on injera at an Ethiopian one. Falafel with hummus and tabbouleh at a Lebanese kitchen. Tofu green curry made without fish sauce at a Thai spot. Cheese enchiladas with lard-free beans at a Mexican restaurant. At an American grill, a black bean burger with a fried egg, or a mushroom plate built from the sides.
What should I order for dinner as a vegetarian?
Order one dish with a protein at its center, a starch beside it, and a vegetable, and skip the plate of three sides. Beans, lentils, tofu, paneer, eggs, halloumi, or a veggie patty can be the center. If the menu has no vegetarian main, ask the kitchen to build one and be specific. Most St. Louis kitchens will make a mushroom plate or a vegetable pasta on request.
Are eggs considered vegetarian?
Yes, for lacto-ovo vegetarians, which is most of them. Eggs are not meat, and no animal is killed to produce them, so they sit alongside milk and cheese in the standard definition. Vegans don’t eat eggs. Some vegetarians skip them for religious reasons, and kitchens run by those families may mark egg dishes separately. Say which kind you are, because eggs turn up in fresh pasta, baked goods, and fried rice.
What cheese can’t vegetarians eat?
Cheeses made with animal rennet, an enzyme from a calf’s stomach, if you’re strict about it. Parmigiano-Reggiano, Grana Padano, Pecorino Romano, and Gorgonzola use animal rennet by rule, and traditional Manchego usually does too. Some cheddars use it and some don’t. Many cheeses now use microbial or plant rennet, and a label that says vegetarian rennet is safe. Decide where you stand, then ask about the grated cheese.
How to identify a vegetarian item?
Look for the V symbol or leaf icon, then read the description for stock, broth, bacon, pancetta, anchovy, lard, gelatin, and fish sauce, then ask the server. The symbol is a shortlist, not a promise. Meat usually hides in the base of a dish rather than on top: soup stock, refried beans, Caesar dressing, Worcestershire, greens with a ham hock. One question about the stock clears most of it.
Is it less expensive to eat vegetarian?
At the grocery store, usually yes, since beans, lentils, rice, eggs, and seasonal vegetables cost less than meat by weight. At a restaurant, not reliably. Kitchens price by the plate, and a vegetable entree often sits near the chicken on the menu. In our experience you save most in cuisines that treat vegetarian mains as normal food, and least at steakhouses, where the vegetable plate is a courtesy.
What is a flexitarian?
A flexitarian eats mostly plants and sometimes meat, on purpose, without calling it a lapse. It’s a style rather than a rule, and it’s the easiest on-ramp for someone cutting back rather than quitting. At a restaurant a flexitarian can order the vegetarian main most nights and the burger when they want it. The three questions in this post still help, because the point is choosing, not guessing.
Written by a dedicated team of St. Louis locals who live, work, and play right here in the St. Louis metro. Founder Lane Forman and team are committed to building the region’s most trusted directory by verifying listings and connecting local businesses with loyal customers across Missouri and Illinois.