BaoVegan — Restaurant in Cancún

I was on my way elsewhere when I happened to notice this restaurant for the first time so I decided to go look at the menu. It wasn't posted on the door so I went in. From the outside, it looked empty because no one was sitting at the outside tables (how I usually find places to eat here) but inside, everyone was enjoying the coolness and respite from the brutal heat and humidity of Cancun in the summer. All but one little table was occupied, which I took as a sign. It's got a nice vibe inside.

I had enchiladas verdes for about five bucks, and they were delicious and flavorful. I almost always forget to take pictures of my food but trust me, the presentation was also lovely.

Beverages come in mason jars with handles (how very "vegan restaurant" of them lol). I had a cafe helada and normally I abhor coffee with anything other than half-and-half (which doesn't exist in Mexico), but this coffee was frothy with almond milk and actually yummy enough that I had two.

Not so much a locals spot from what I can tell, it seems like the kind of place people coming back from Tulum eat at before heading to the airport to fly back to the States. If you need them to, the staff will speak English.

Also - if you're staying in the area for a while, you can buy Dr. Bronners soap here in bars and different sized bottles, which is nice.

The only maybe I have about this place is the kombucha. It is bottled beautifully and looks like it was made with loving care and there are a lot of flavors - mango, plum, aloe vera and others... I took the aloe vera as it seemed like a good idea to nurture my gut intensely since I'm eating all kinds of everything and going through major cosmetic dentistry (hence a lot of medications for a body that is not used to a lot of medications) - but the kombucha is a little flatter than I'm used to and the lack of fizz is kind of disappointing.

But the food is light, healthful, and flavorful, the service is kind and polite, and the restaurant itself is...

I had higher hopes for BoaVegan. I had just picked up a friend from the airport. She is on a restricted diet right now and we thought this sounded like a great idea. This place only had one other table when we arrived. We got a great table outside and our server was very friendly. We were both very hungry and ordered right away. We started to joke that they must be growing the vegetables in order to make our food because after 20 of waiting for our guacamole we knew this was going to be a long one. My burger arrived first and o gave my friend my fries because she was so hungry. We both ordered some pastor tacos and they were nowhere in sight. As soon as the burger hit the table we ordered more fries. 20 minutes later and the tacos still hadn't come out of the kitchen! They finally arrived, but no fries. We kindly reminded the server (only one other table, of one guest ordering). We finished our food and had to ask again for our single order of fries. We eventually ordered the bill and the fries to go. Soggy. The tacos were made from marinated, shredded zanahoria. Strange choice, but the flavour was nice. The burger had decent flavour but the pattie was way too soft and soggy for my liking.

I am willing to give them a try again. I liked the food, they just seemed as if they were not prepared to serve any of it. There were 3-4 people in the kitchen...

Love love love this place. I come here every single time I’m in Cancun, so maybe twice a year. We are vegans and came here when they first opened. The soups were admittedly a bit better back then, but the tortilla soup is still really good now. I recommend the pastas if you’re hungry, but the enchiladas are very good, so I alternate between the two along with the lentil ceviche and tortilla soup. Cakes there are also incredible.

My ONLY issue, and I’d love if the owners could help with this one, is that they apparently have a second location but I cannot find it anywhere! I looked on the BaoVegan Facebook, their Instagram, and even on google maps and the only location listed is this one. It would be so so helpful if the owners or management could update google maps or at least their social media websites to reflect BOTH locations. Today they were closed due to a kitchen issue, which is no big deal, things happen. But when we asked where the second location was, they gave a general direction but nothing specific, so we spent the next 30 minutes wandering around and looking online to try to find any mention of this second location. My husband and I absolutely love this place, the food is great and we love supporting vegan places! So we would be very happy to spend money in the other restaurant, too, but we just cannot find it....