Healthy hotspots in Nijmegen

I’ve lived in Nijmegen for 7 years. I went to university there and lingered for a couple of years afterwards. I still go back occasionally to visit friends. I’ve always loved this city. It’s progressive, green and friendly. It’s not difficult to find a nice lunchroom or restaurant here, since there are plenty!
Below I’ve listed my food favorites in Nijmegen, all restaurants listed have good vegetarian or vegan options. These healthy hotspots in Nijmegen are all worth a visit.

Nibbles

The first restaurant that I want to share with you is Nibbles. What I like about Nibbles is that they serve smaller portions, so you can order a couple and share them with your company. It’s nicely decorated on the inside and they have an outside area where you can sit in the sun ’till quite late. They serve Mediterranean dishes like pintxos, lamb koftas or grilled aubergine with pomegranate seeds. If you’re in the mood for the latter, check my recipe here.

Tati

The motto of Tati is Happy and Healthy food, and I couldn’t agree more because their healthy food makes me very happy! They’re open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and have many vegetarian and vegan options. The vegan pink smoothie bowl pictured above is one of my favorite breakfast items, it’s made with frozen banana, raspberries and almond milk. They also have several vegan salads for lunch and a seaweed burger. For dinner they also have many veggie options like sweet potato falafel and mushroom risotto. They also have a ‘sweetshop’ with homemade cakes, so you might want to leave some room for a treat!

Downtown

Downtown offers an all-day breakfast menu. For people who love breakfast as much as I do, this is heaven. They’ve got all your favorite breakfast staples like American pancakes and banana bread. But also for lunch it’s a great option with mushroom toast or the pictured avocado toast with feta cheese and a poached egg. It’s located just around the corner from the market square. Are all tables taken? Next-door Bairro Alto is also a nice place!

FLFL

It’s quite difficult to get really good falafel outside of Israel, but in Nijmegen you’ve got FLFL. Finally a falafel that isn’t dry and actually tastes like the falafel balls that you get in the Middle East. Besides a plate of falafel with hummus, you can also order a falafel salad or a falafel wrap. Everything on the menu is vegan and you can order a gluten-free version of the wrap as well. You can have your food at FLFL to stay or to take-away.

The Fresh Factory

The Fresh Factory is a salad and smoothie bar in the center of Nijmegen. It’s the perfect spot if you’re looking for a healthy brunch or lunch when you’re in town. When you enter you’ll find screens on which you can place your order. They’ve got sandwiches, salads, yogurt bowls and juices that you can create by yourself. They’ve got an incredible amount of ingredients to choose from, so you can make your own lunch. There are many vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options. You can eat it there or take it to-go.

Fresca

Fresca is located in a beautiful building with big windows on the ground floor and extra seats downstairs. They also have a nice outdoor terrace for sunny days. Besides their breakfast and lunch dishes, they also have savory and sweet dishes for anytime of the day. They have several tasty vegetarian options like a vegetarian frittata and the sandwich with hummus and grilled vegetables pictured above.

Coffeelovers

Coffeelovers has several stores in Eindhoven, Maastricht, Roermond and Nijmegen. The one in Nijmegen is housed in the library. Making it the perfect spot for a cup of coffee before reading some books. You can enjoy your cuppa on a long table where you can also get some work done. You won’t be the only one with a laptop! Besides good coffees and teas they also have sandwiches and all kinds of sweets like cakes, cookies and banana bread.