A Vegan Road Trip Down I-95: Where to Eat From Boston to Miami

I-95 runs about 1,900 miles from Maine to Miami, and the vegan eating along it is wildly uneven. The Northeast is the easiest stretch of road in the country to eat well on: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington all have several fully vegan kitchens. South of Virginia the options thin out fast. This guide runs north to south using the restaurants in our directory, and every name links to its listing.

Restaurants close and hours change, so tap through to the listing and check before you plan a day's driving around a meal.

In Boston, My Thai Vegan Cafe on Beach Street in Chinatown cooks an all-vegan Thai menu, and Whole Heart Provisions in Allston does fully plant-based bowls. Plnt Burger on Harrison Avenue is the fast option before you get on the highway. An hour south in Providence, Veggie Fun on Dorrance Street serves an all-vegan Chinese menu downtown.

In New Haven, Caribbean Style Vegan is the fully vegan stop on the I-95 route. If you're cutting north on I-91 instead, Fire-N-Spice Vegan Restaurant & Sports Cafe in Hartford adds another.

New York has more fully vegan restaurants than any other city in our directory, so the hard part is choosing. Manhattan's East Village and Lower East Side are the densest pocket: Avant Garden on East 7th Street does candlelit plant-based small plates, and Caravan of Dreams on East 6th Street has been a vegan fixture for decades. Bodhi on Mulberry Street serves vegan Chinese food in Chinatown. In Brooklyn, Dun-Well Doughnuts on Montrose Avenue makes a good coffee stop on the way out of town, and our New York City guide has more.

Philadelphia has more than two dozen fully vegan kitchens in our directory, a lot for a city its size. Vedge on Locust Street does all-vegan fine dining, Bar Bombon near Rittenhouse cooks plant-based Puerto Rican food, and Dottie's Donuts Queen Village is one of four all-vegan doughnut shops the bakery runs around the city. Our Philadelphia neighborhood guide maps the rest.

Baltimore has a cluster of fully vegan spots north of downtown. Red Emma's Cafe, the worker-owned café and bookstore, and My Mama's Vegan are a few blocks apart on Greenmount Avenue, and Mahjong on Saint Paul Street cooks vegan Chinese food. The Land of Kush on North Eutaw Street does vegan soul food near downtown. For bread and pastry, Motzi Bread on Guilford Avenue and Harmony Bakery on Chestnut Avenue are both fully vegan; both keep short weekly hours.

In D.C., Nu Vegan Cafe on Georgia Avenue cooks vegan soul food near Howard University, and DC Vegan on P Street does sandwiches and burgers. PLNT Burger on Florida Avenue covers the fast end, and Pow Pow on I Street does Asian-inspired plates.

Two hours south, Richmond has Tiny Vegan on South Sheppard Street and Minglewood Bakeshop on West Cary Street, both fully vegan. It's the last city with several fully vegan options on the route for a long while, so eat well here.

This is the hard part. In our directory, the last fully vegan stop on I-95 before Florida is Vibe Gastropub on Hay Street in downtown Fayetteville, North Carolina. From there to Jacksonville, roughly 400 miles through South Carolina and Georgia, we have no fully vegan restaurant mapped anywhere near the highway.

There are a few ways through it. Raleigh is a short detour west on I-40 from the junction near Benson, and its fully vegan kitchens include The Fiction Kitchen and Pure Vegan Cafe. Charleston, about an hour off the highway on I-26, has around 30 vegan-friendly listings in our directory, though none of them fully vegan. Otherwise, pack food: a cooler stocked in Richmond or Raleigh will beat anything at a highway exit.

If you know a fully vegan place in Florence, Savannah or anywhere along this stretch, tell us through the suggest form. It's the biggest gap on the route, and the one we'd most like to close.

Jacksonville breaks the drought with Sweet Theory, a fully vegan bakery on King Street. The coast south of there is thin in our directory too, so if you're detouring to Orlando, Veggie Garden on East Colonial Drive is fully vegan.

In Miami, Love Life Cafe on NW 5th Avenue in Wynwood cooks plant-based food with a Latin accent, Vegan Cuban Cuisine on Southwest 72nd Street does what its name says, and Under the Mango Tree on NE 2nd Avenue is a good last stop for something sweet. In Coral Gables, L'Artisane bakes fully vegan French pastry, which makes a fine end to a 1,900-mile drive.