Looking for Luna Grill vegetarian options? You’ve got real choices here, not just a sad side salad. The Falafel Plate, the Veggie Kabob Plate, and the vegan Luna Vida Bowl all work, and Luna Grill’s what’s vegetarian approach makes it easy to see what’s safe before you order. Here’s exactly what to get, what to skip, and how to keep it vegan if that’s the goal.
A Quick Look at Luna Grill
Sean and Maria Pourteymour opened the first Luna Grill in San Diego in 2004. Maria grew up around her family’s Greek restaurant and Sean’s family is Iranian, and that combination is exactly what shows up on the menu: Greek salads and stuffed grape leaves next to Persian-style koobideh kabob. The chain started scaling around 2010 and has grown to roughly 60 locations across Southern California and the Dallas-Fort Worth area as of mid-2026, with plans to reach about 67 by year’s end and new stores planned in Arizona (QSR Magazine, July 2026).
Rich Pinnella took over as CEO in August 2025 after six years as president, and Sean Pourteymour moved into the role of executive chairman. Luna Grill has posted five straight years of same-store sales growth, and its estimated annual revenue is around $131 million (ZoomInfo, 2026). Everything is cooked over an open flame, which is part of why the chain gets compared to Mediterranean sit-down spots more than typical fast food.
Luna Grill Vegetarian Options: What to Order
Luna Grill’s menu is built around kabob plates, but the vegetarian and vegan sides of the menu are bigger than they look at first glance. Here’s the rundown before you get into ordering details.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Falafel Plate (5 falafel, rice, pita, tahini) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Veggie Kabob Plate (mushroom, squash, onion, pepper) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* (skip the tzatziki) |
| Luna Vida Vegan Bowl (falafel, chickpea salad, veggies) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Beyond Burger | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* (order without cheese) |
| House Salad | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Modern Greek Salad | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* (skip the feta) |
| Mediterranean Salad (couscous) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* (skip the feta) |
| Apple Walnut Salad | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* (skip the gorgonzola) |
| Hummus and Spicy Harissa Hummus | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Stuffed Grape Leaves | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* (skip the garlic feta sauce) |
| Simply Seasoned Fries (cooked in soybean oil) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Tzatziki Sauce | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (dairy) |
| Chipotle Sauce | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (contains egg) |
| Baklava | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (butter and honey) |
| Gluten-Free Brownies | ⚠️ Check | ⚠️ Check (recipe not published) |
Salads and Bowls
The House Salad is the simplest safe order: lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red onion, and house vinaigrette, all vegan as served. The Modern Greek Salad adds olives, pepperoncini, pickled onions, and crispy chickpeas, and it’s vegan once you drop the feta cheese. Same story with the Mediterranean Salad, which swaps in couscous, mint, and parsley, and the Apple Walnut Salad, which is vegan minus the gorgonzola. The Luna Vida Vegan Bowl is the one dish built vegan from the start: falafel over lettuce with lemon vinaigrette, Greek cabbage, chickpea salad, cucumber, tomato, and a vegan tahini sauce. No substitutions needed.
Plates and Pitas
Every plate comes with warm pita, a sauce, and two sides, and Luna Grill’s own vegan guidance confirms the pita bread itself is vegan. The Falafel Plate is the headline vegetarian order: five rounds of handcrafted falafel with basmati rice, pita, and tahini sauce, and it’s vegan as long as you pick a vegan sauce. The Veggie Kabob Plate is the other solid choice, grilled mushrooms, squash, onion, and bell pepper served with a side of hummus. It’s vegan too, just ask for it without tzatziki. Want the falafel in pita form instead of a plate? The Falafel Pita comes with cabbage, kale, and tomato, and it’s vegan with the right sauce. Luna Grill also sells a Beyond Burger, a plant-based patty that’s vegetarian by default and vegan if you skip the cheese.
For contrast, most of Luna Grill’s plate menu is built around meat. The Chicken Kabob Plate uses tender, boneless chicken pieces, sliced and grilled over the open flame. The Koobideh Kabob is minced beef, seasoned Persian style, and the Gyro Meat Plate blends beef and lamb carved off the spit. There’s also a marinated Bistro Beef Kabob and a Grilled Salmon Plate with sustainably raised salmon, so if you’re ordering for a mixed group, the chicken, beef, lamb, and salmon plates all need to stay separate from the vegetarian order.
Starters, Sides, and Sauces
Hummus and Spicy Harissa Hummus are both vegan, made from chickpeas, tahini, lemon, and spices. Stuffed Grape Leaves are rice and onion wrapped in grape leaves, vegan once you ask for hummus or tahini instead of the garlic feta dip that usually comes with them. The Lunatic Sampler bundles falafel, stuffed grape leaves, couscous, pita, and tahini sauce, and it can be made fully vegan with the same swaps. On sauces, Tahini, Schug, Harissa, House Dressing, Pomegranate Salad Dressing, and Lemon Vinaigrette are all vegan. Tzatziki has dairy, and the Chipotle sauce contains egg, so both are vegetarian but not vegan. Fries are cooked in soybean oil, not a shared meat fryer, so they’re safe for vegans too.
What’s Vegan at Luna Grill?
Luna Grill’s vegan lineup is genuinely solid for a kabob-focused chain. The Falafel Plate, Falafel Pita, Veggie Kabob Plate, and Luna Vida Vegan Bowl are the four mains that work vegan, and the Beyond Burger gets there once you drop the cheese. Salads go vegan with one or two swaps (skip the feta or gorgonzola, use a vegan dressing), and hummus, stuffed grape leaves, rice, pita, and fries round out the sides. The two things to watch are tzatziki (dairy) and the Chipotle sauce (egg), since both show up as default add-ons on several dishes.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
Luna Grill isn’t an allergen-free kitchen, and shared prep space means cross-contact is possible even on items built to spec. A few specific things to flag: the Chipotle sauce contains egg, which surprises people who assume a spicy mayo-style sauce is dairy-only. Tzatziki and the garlic feta sauce both contain dairy, and they show up as the default sauce on some plates and grape leaf orders, so you have to ask for a swap rather than assume. Baklava is vegetarian but not vegan, since it’s made with butter and honey. If you have a diagnosed allergy, ask the staff at your location for their allergen chart before ordering, since ingredients can vary slightly by supplier and region. The same dietary filters that work on Luna Grill’s app also show up when you order online, so guests with allergies or strict diets can double check every item before it ships to the kitchen.
Tips for Vegetarians at Luna Grill
- Start with the Falafel Plate or Veggie Kabob Plate if you want a full meal that’s vegetarian without any changes.
- Order the Luna Vida Vegan Bowl if you want something built vegan from the start, no substitutions to remember.
- Ask for tahini, hummus, schug, or harissa instead of tzatziki or garlic feta sauce to keep any dish vegan.
- Skip the Chipotle sauce if you’re vegan. It contains egg even though it doesn’t taste like a typical egg-based sauce.
- Build your own plate with the Veggie Kabob and two vegan sides (rice, pita, fries, or chickpea salad) for a filling, fully vegan meal.
- Check the dietary filters on Luna Grill’s online menu before you order. The site lets you filter by vegan and vegetarian directly.
Conclusion
Luna Grill vegetarian options hold up well against most fast-casual Mediterranean chains, mostly because the Falafel Plate and Veggie Kabob Plate were built to be meatless from day one, not bolted on as an afterthought. Order those two, the Luna Vida Vegan Bowl, or build your own plate with vegan sides, and you’re set. For more on eating meat-free at restaurants generally, check our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants, or browse our full restaurant guide directory. If you like Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavors, also see what’s vegetarian at Nick the Greek, The Halal Guys, and CAVA.
