El Borracho: What’s Vegetarian Editorial Review

El Borracho is a fully vegan Mexican restaurant and dive bar inside Pike Place Market, at 1521 1st Ave in Seattle. Every item on the menu is plant-based, so you don’t have to ask about substitutions or read fine print. The owners opened El Borracho in 2012 and switched the full menu to plant-based food in 2021. Today you’ll find Impossible beefy crumbles, a plant-based chunk steak barbacoa, vegan bakon, and house queso where the meat and cheese used to be. If you’re visiting Seattle and want vegetarian Mexican food in a bar with dive character, start with El Borracho.

What’s vegan and vegetarian at El Borracho

Everything on the menu. Every dish is vegetarian and vegan by default. Expect tacos on handmade corn tortillas or 6-inch flour tortillas, nachos with house queso, two salads, a bean-and-cheese burrito, and a whole section of loaded hot dogs called Danger Dogs. Tacos are a la carte. Fillings include Tex-Mex style Impossible beefy crumbles, chunk steak barbacoa, and blackened salmon, all plant-based. Add soy-free queso fresco to any taco for $2.50. Order the nachos and you get a $12 plate piled with cheese, pico de gallo, guacamole, chipotle sour cream, pickled jalapeño, black olives, and refried beans.

Signature dishes to order

Sharing? Start with the $12 nachos, which reviewers often call a must-order. You’ll pay $8.75 each for the chunk steak barbacoa and blackened salmon tacos, and $8.50 for the Impossible beefy crumbles taco. Gluten-free diners should get the Impossible taco, which the owners mark gluten-free. Hot dog fans should try the Barbacoa Dog ($16.50), topped with barbacoa, grilled onions, pico de gallo, avocado verde salsa, pickled red onion, and fiesta strips. Or get the Seattle Dog with bakon and cream cheez for $15.75. To drink, you can order horchata or a tamarind or jamaica agua fresca for $4.95, and the bar serves cocktails until close.

How to order

Bring your phone. Each table has a QR code, and you scan it, order, and pay without a server ever coming by to take your order. No reservations, either. Grab the first open table you see. El Borracho opens at 11am every day and closes at 10pm Monday through Saturday and at 9pm on Sunday, but after 5pm the bar is 21 and over, so bring ID if you’re going for dinner. Use the Order Now link on El Borracho’s website for takeout or delivery. Parking around Pike Place is tough. Walk or take transit.

Before you go

Reviewers split on the service, mostly because of the small staff and the QR ordering. Some diners love the speed. Others find the setup impersonal, especially when they can’t get the ordering page to work. Because of the 21-and-over rule after 5pm, families with kids should plan on lunch. Prices are fair for Seattle, but at $8.50 to $8.75 a taco, you won’t eat cheaply. The owners warn that their food may contain soy, tree nuts, peanuts, seeds, and gluten through cross-contamination, so ask before you order if you have an allergy. We found only the Pike Place location on El Borracho’s website, so skip the old Ballard address. In June 2026, El Borracho held a 4.0 on TripAdvisor across 254 reviews.

Is El Borracho worth a stop at Pike Place?

If you want fully vegetarian Mexican food in Seattle, yes. For location, El Borracho is unbeatable, right in Pike Place Market between Pine and Pike streets. There are enough fillings to try something new on a second visit, and the bar pours cocktails until close. You won’t get table service or white tablecloths. You will get flavorful vegan tacos in one of the city’s best people-watching spots, with no menu to decode.