If you’re a fan of vegan fast food, get yourself to Berlin pronto. There are lots of vegan takeout places, but just a handful of fancy and casual places where you can sit down and enjoy a meal. Personally, I don’t really like typical fast food. Mock meat products made with soy don’t get me very excited. But sometimes, eating a big, greasy meal can be a nice treat. John, on the other hand, loves this kind of stuff. I owe him a big thank you for helping me eat my way through Berlin’s vegan fast food scene. If you’re like me and prefer to eat healthy meals most of the time, you’ll be happy to know it’s not all burgers and pizza. Berlin also has some semi-healthy takeout options for you and me.

Vöner

Vöner is one of the best known vegan fast food joints in Berlin. We went there twice and can safely say it’s worthy of all the praise it receives. From the outside, it looks similar to other Middle Eastern takeout places and kebab shops. Their house made vegan meat is cooked on a vertical spit, just like doner meat, and sliced off to order. The vegan meat consists of about 35% vegetables (carrots, onions, leeks, celery, etc.), 25% wheat protein (seitan), 20% soy, 15% water and 3% olive oil.

Hot slices of their wheat/soy/veggie creation are wedged between a piece of thick pita bread and garnished with the sauce of your choice and some fresh veggies. Served up in generous proportions, two people can easily share one Vöner sandwich and be more than full for just €3.40 Euros ($4.32 USD).

If you’re really hungry, add a portion of Vöner’s special chips to your order for €2.80 Euros ($3.56 USD). For the special chips, they smother their french fries with grilled onions, cheesy sauce and some spices. Be sure to specify you want the vegan cheese sauce because they do have real cheese.

They’ve got a fridge full of drinks but the Bio Cocktail pina colada (alcohol free) drink made with soy milk grabbed our attention. It made for a nice liquid dessert and cost €1.80 Euro ($2.29 USD). We later discovered you can find this drink much cheaper, around €1.00 Euro ($1.27 USD), at organic and health food stores.

On our second visit, we decided to pay a few cents more and order the Vöner wrap for €3.80 Euros ($4.83 USD). Containing all the same goodness you’ll find in the sandwich, the wrap made for a very satisfying dinner.

As you can see above, it was as long and as wide as John’s lower arm. We split the wrap and were totally stuffed.

On the Vöner menu, you’ll also find seitan nuggets with fires and salad, fish ‘n chips, and some daily dessert options like cookies or cake.

Check out this video to see the Vöner slicing in action!

Vöner
www.voener.de
Boxhagener Straße 56
10245 Berlin, Germany
Tel: (030) 9926-5423

Vego

Vego is an all vegan fast food restaurant serving up burgers, chips, milkshakes, pizzas, nuggets and more. After looking over the huge menu, we finally decided to share the Hawaiian burger with chips for €5.50 Euros ($6.99 USD). At the last moment, we added a mango lassi to our order for an additional €2.60 ($3.31 USD). The burger was pretty darn crazy. Huge, for starters. The big, puffy bun was overflowing with the contents. Squeezed in there was a soy burger, thick pineapple ring and melting cheesy slice, as well as some tomato, lettuce and a creamy curry sauce. It was one of those meals you eat knowing you’re going to feel sick afterward. It’s just too much.

The mango lassi was a nice side, made with mango and soy yogurt. They had an avocado shake on the menu that I really wanted to try but they were out of ripe avocados.

If you’re in the Prenzlauer Berg area and up for a big, greasy vegan meal, this just might be the place for you.

Vego Foodworld
www.vego-foodworld.de
Lychener Straße 63
10437 Berlin, Germany
Tel: (030) 6092-3968

Yoyo Foodworld

Yoyo Foodworld is very similar to Vego, but has been open longer. Actually, from what I’ve heard, Yellow Sunshine was the first vegan fast food restaurant in town. Yoyo’s and Vego came later as the concept of vegetarian fast food was proved to be very popular. Over time, different Yellow Sunshine staff members moved on to start their own restaurants. Having already tried a vegan burger from Vego, we decided to order the Hawaiian pizza at Yoyo’s for €6.50 Euro ($8.26 USD). It was made on a fresh crust, topped with generous amounts of soy cheese, vegan bacon and pineapple. How was it, you ask? Well, I didn’t really like it. For me, it confirmed I really don’t like fake cheese and meat. However, so many people I’ve talked to love Yoyo’s and rave about its pizza. Don’t be afraid to give it a try.

John was in the mood for something light and ordered six “chicken” nuggets that came with some sweet chili dipping sauce and a side salad for €2.99 Euros ($3.80 USD). He really liked these and was happy to have a breaded vegan option for the first time in awhile. Most of the time, breaded soy products contain egg and are only suitable for vegetarians.

Yoyo’s has lots of vegan options. In addition to the pizzas, burgers and nuggets, they have things like cheese noodles, an Alaskan salmon patty (weird!!!), spaghetti, sausages, soup, and some desserts, including tiramisu.

Yoyo Foodworld
www.yoyofoodworld.de
Gärtnerstr. 27
10245 Berlin-Friedrichshain, Germany
Tel: (030) 4978-7384

Smart Deli

Okay, let’s take a break and look at a healthier option for a few moments. Not far from Yoyo’s, right in Friedrichshain, you can find Smart Deli. They are a Japanese shop with takeout sushi and lots of imported food products. Everyday, they prepare boxes of vegan sushi for takeout. Every time I visited, they had something different, all ready to go in a cute little box.

Look at this! Four little makis, each one with different vegetables, and two larger pieces of a vegetable sushi roll topped with nori and sesame seeds. All this cuteness for just €1.50-2.00 Euro ($1.91-2.54 USD) per box of 6-8 pieces!

As you can see, the boxes are always filled with something unique prepared by their creative staff. In the rolls and makis, they used tofu, yellow radish, cucumber, red bell pepper, mushrooms, avocado and sesame seeds. They also made really nice inari for €1.00 Euro ($1.27 USD). Yum!

It was always such a pleasure to buy sushi and edamame from the friendly staff.

Smart Deli
www.smartdeli.org
Grünberger straße
Berlin-Friedrichshain, Germany
Tel: (030) 2068-7037

Nil Imbiss

Nil Imbiss isn’t a vegetarian restaurant, they do have some meat on their menu, but they have a lot of great vegetarian and vegan options. Veg options are labeled and the staff is knowledgeable about what we can eat. I popped into grab some takeout and was greeted by the friendly Hisham who went over the menu with me and convinced me to order the vegan platter so I could try everything. I’d head about this place from other vegans who raved about the peanut sauce. I kept asking Hisham about it until I made him laugh. He told me not to worry, everything comes with the peanut sauce. The vegan platter consisted of some falafel, mashed beans, maniok fries (a root vegetable) fries, salad and pita bread. All this variety for just €4.50 Euros ($5.72 USD).

It was a hot day, so I drank a glass of their house made karkade, hibiscus flower juice, before taking off. It was cool and refreshing.

This place has a great vibe and some unique menu items. The food inspiration comes from Sudan, which is in norteast Africa. For me, it was something different, tasty, and interesting. I think I can count this as my first experience with Sudanese food.

Nil Imbiss
www.nil-imbiss.de
Grünberger Straße 52
10245 Berlin, Germany
Tel: (030) 2904-7713

Dada Falafel

When writing about vegan fast food, it would be a shame not to mention falafel. Of course there are many falafel places in Berlin. We only ate at one, both on our first day and last night in the city. If you’re craving something more exciting than a wrap, Dada Falafel serves up fancy platters with falafel, vegetable salad, spicy rice salad, hummus, and pita bread for €4.50 ($5.72 USD). Ask them to skip the yogurt sauce and you’re all set. They’re located just around the corner from Kunsthaus Tacheles, a former department store that has been run by an artist collective for more than 10 years and is packed with art exhibits and graffiti. It’s definitely worth checking out and is a safe place to visit during a meal time when you know this friendly falafel joint is just around the corner.

Dada Falafel
www.dadafalafel.de
Linienstraße 132
10115 Berlin, Germany
Tel: (0171) 359-7392