Looking for Snooze vegetarian options? This Denver-born breakfast chain runs a scratch kitchen full of bacon, sausage, and pork belly. It still keeps a real vegetarian menu if you know where to look. The Vegan Banana Bliss Pancakes, a build-your-own veggie scramble, and a secret tofu swap all work. A few dishes that sound safe, like the Biscuits & Gravy, aren’t. If you’ve ever wondered what about the vegetarians who show up for brunch, here’s the full rundown of what to order and what to skip.
A Quick Look at Snooze
Jon and Adam Schlegel opened the first Snooze, an A.M. Eatery, in April 2006 in Denver’s Ballpark neighborhood, a few blocks from Coors Field. The brothers spent about five years pitching investors and banks before anyone said yes, and they lived above the restaurant when it finally opened. They built Snooze as a “finer diner,” a scratch kitchen with a farm-to-table streak and a menu that swaps standard diner fare for pancake flights and eclectic benedicts.
David Birzon took over as CEO in 2012 and led the chain through its biggest growth stretch. Stripes Group bought a majority stake in 2016. Brentwood Associates added a minority investment in December 2020 alongside existing investor Alliance Consumer Growth. Josh Kern, formerly of SPB Hospitality (the company behind Logan’s Roadhouse and Krystal), replaced Birzon as CEO in October 2025 after a slower 2024. Today the chain runs roughly 70 company-owned locations across 10 states, including Colorado, California, Texas, Arizona, and Georgia. Systemwide sales topped $201 million in 2024, according to restaurant-industry tracker Technomic.
Snooze Vegetarian Options: What to Order
Snooze doesn’t mark its menu with vegetarian or vegan icons the way some chains do, so the safest bets are the dishes built without meat by default, plus a couple of swaps worth asking for. Here’s how the core menu breaks down.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Vegan Banana Bliss Pancakes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Garden Harvest Omelet | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (eggs, cheese) |
| Tofu Scramble (ask your server) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* |
| Smashed Avocado Benny | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (egg, hollandaise) |
| Sweet Potato Veggie Smash Up | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (confirm no butter) |
| Whipped Cottage Cheese Bowl | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (dairy) |
| Abbot’s Plant-Based Chorizo (side) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Biscuits & Gravy | ❌ No (rosemary sausage gravy) | ❌ No |
*The Tofu Scramble isn’t always printed on the menu, but Snooze’s own help center confirms staff can build it, and it’s a regular order among vegan customers.
Breakfast Classics and Egg Dishes
Most of the snooze vegetarian options on the breakfast side live here. The egg menu splits cleanly into meat-forward and vegetarian-friendly. The Garden Harvest Omelet is the vegetarian pick in the “Classics From The Hen” section, next to the meat-based Denver Omelet, Protein Trio Omelet, and Corned Beef Hash. In the Weekday Eats section, the Sweet Potato Veggie Smash Up and the Protein & Veggie Egg White Scramble both work as vegetarian orders. The Whipped Cottage Cheese Bowl and Basil & The Bee Burrata Toast are vegetarian too. Both carry real dairy, cottage cheese, burrata, and a drizzle of honey, so neither one is vegan.
The benedicts are trickier. Most, like the Ham Benedict III and Habanero Pork Belly Benny, come with meat by default. The Smashed Avocado Benny is the vegetarian option, built on a poached egg and smoked cheddar hollandaise. That hollandaise deserves its own note. It’s made with egg yolk and cheese, so it’s vegetarian but never vegan, and it shows up on more than one dish.
Pancakes and Sweet Plates
Pancakes are what Snooze is known for, and this is the strongest vegan corner of the menu. The Vegan Banana Bliss Pancakes are confirmed vegan by the chain’s own customer help center, made without eggs or dairy in the batter. Every other pancake flavor, Blueberry, Chocolate Chip, Cinnamon Roll, Pineapple Upside Down, Strawberry Shortcake, and Sweet Potato, uses a standard egg-and-dairy batter. They’re vegetarian, not vegan. Gluten-free pancakes and a Pancake Flight sampler are also on offer if you want to try more than one flavor, and both stay vegetarian-friendly under the same swap rules.
Protein Swaps, Sides, and Drinks
The protein list at Snooze leans heavily on bacon, pork belly, ham, sausage, chorizo, braised beef, and chicken sausage. All of them are easy to skip once you know they’re the default add-ons. The good news is Snooze sells two meat-free proteins outright: Abbot’s Plant-Based Chorizo and plain tofu. Either one swaps into an omelet, scramble, taco, or burrito in place of the meat option. That single swap turns almost any egg dish on the menu into a vegetarian or vegan plate.
Coffee drinks come with almond milk and coconut milk alongside dairy, and a standalone Honey Oat Milk Latte uses oat milk. That latte itself isn’t vegan because of the honey. You can still ask for oat milk in a plain latte or cappuccino instead. Snooze doesn’t currently list a soy milk option.
What’s Vegan at Snooze?
Among all the snooze vegetarian options, the vegan list is short but real. The Vegan Banana Bliss Pancakes are the only fully vegan item Snooze confirms itself. A Tofu Scramble or an Abbot’s Plant-Based Chorizo scramble built without cheese or butter is the next-best bet. Neither is printed on every menu, but regular vegan customers order both successfully. Request almond, coconut, or oat milk in place of dairy for drinks, and stick to black coffee or tea if you want zero guesswork. Double-check the Sweet Potato Veggie Smash Up for butter before assuming it’s vegan, since a full ingredient breakdown for that dish isn’t published anywhere.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
Common allergens, dairy, eggs, gluten, sesame, shellfish, and soy, are marked on the digital menu, but Snooze doesn’t use separate vegetarian or vegan icons. You have to cross-reference item by item. The chain’s own help center states plainly that its scratch kitchen can’t guarantee zero cross-contact for any allergy. That matters if you’re strict about avoiding meat residue on shared cooking surfaces. Shrimp & Grits is also on the menu, so shellfish is present in the kitchen.
A few specific gaps are worth flagging. Cheese rennet source isn’t published anywhere, so strict vegetarians who avoid animal rennet should ask before ordering anything with melted cheese. Some Bloody Mary mixes may include Worcestershire sauce, which traditionally contains anchovies. No vegan substitute has been confirmed, so check with your server before ordering a Bloody Mary if you want to stay vegetarian.
Tips for Vegetarians at Snooze
A few habits make ordering snooze vegetarian options faster and more reliable.
- Order the Vegan Banana Bliss Pancakes if you want a guaranteed vegan plate with zero substitutions needed.
- Ask for a Tofu Scramble even if you don’t see it printed on the menu. Staff can build it.
- Skip the Biscuits & Gravy. The gravy is made with rosemary sausage, not a plain flour-based version.
- Swap Abbot’s Plant-Based Chorizo or tofu into any omelet, scramble, taco, or burrito that lists a meat protein by default.
- Ask for oat, almond, or coconut milk in your coffee order if you want to skip dairy.
- Confirm the Sweet Potato Veggie Smash Up and Spuds Deluxe are made without butter or bacon bits before you order, since Snooze hasn’t published full ingredients for either.
- If you avoid animal rennet, ask about the cheese before ordering a benedict, omelet, or toast with melted cheese.
Conclusion
Snooze built its name on bacon flights and pork belly benedicts, but it hasn’t forgotten vegetarians. Stick to the Vegan Banana Bliss Pancakes, the Garden Harvest Omelet, or a scramble built around tofu or Abbot’s Plant-Based Chorizo, and skip anything with sausage gravy or a meat protein as the default. For more on eating meat-free at chain restaurants, check out our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants, browse the full restaurant guide list, or read up on vegetarian options at other breakfast chains like IHOP, Denny’s, and First Watch.
