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Binnenstad-Zuid · Groningen · Netherlands

De Herbivoor

A fully vegan, organic lunch cafe and restaurant in Groningen's city centre, serving seasonal dishes built from locally sourced vegetables.

The essentials, at a glance

◐
Impact score
4 - Recognised
→
Documented practices
Local sourcing
Seasonal cooking
Sustainable meat/fish plant-based kitchen
Social impact
Plant-forward menu
Health-intentional kitchen

Style
Café
Casual
Cosy
Cuisine
International
Good to know
Terrace

The delicious details

De Herbivoor is a 100% vegan lunch cafe and restaurant on Gedempte Zuiderdiep in Groningen, run by Karien Kremira and Jochem Akkerman. The kitchen works exclusively with organic ingredients, sourcing vegetables from its own garden, a local care farm, and a community harvest garden in Haren.

The chalkboard menu changes monthly, following seasonal availability; dinner menus rotate weekly. Dishes draw on global influences (Middle Eastern, Burmese, Indian) while building on local produce. Everything from the seitan and Burmese tofu to the spelt bread and pastries is made in-house.

The space is small and warm, with natural materials and furniture crafted from salvaged wood. A sunny terrace faces the street.

Menu
What's on the table, and what's left off

The entirely plant-based menu centres on seasonal vegetables with house-made proteins—seitan, Burmese tofu, falafel, and vegetable patties. Lunch features richly filled bowls and salads, daily-changing soups, and wraps in spelt or gluten-free oat flour. All elements—from broth to spelt bread—are made in-house. Evening service offers a weekly-changing three or four-course tasting menu.

Cuisine
International
Dietary options
Vegetarian options
Fully plant-based
Gluten-free options
Dairy-free options
Nut-free options
Health-intentional kitchen✓
Specific health practices named in at least one sub-area
Researched

All house-made proteins—seitan, Burmese tofu, falafel—are built from named whole ingredients. Sugar is avoided in broths and soups; baked goods use coconut blossom sugar and coconut oil instead of refined sugar. Tea is served unsweetened by default. The kitchen's motto, 'Don't focus on how much you eat, focus on what you eat,' reflects a health-conscious approach built around whole vegetables, legumes, and grains.

Allergies handling

The restaurant is 100% vegan, so all dishes are inherently free from milk and eggs. Gluten-free options are available daily, including a dedicated wrap and baked goods. Nut-free baked goods are also offered daily. Specific allergen accommodations are documented on the ordering platform; contact the restaurant directly for detailed allergen information.

What the restaurant explicitly accommodates
Tree nuts (on request)
Milk
Eggs
Gluten (on request)
Impact score
How this restaurant rates
4 - Recognised

De Herbivoor sources vegetables from two named local partners: Zorgboerderij De Weide Blik (an organic care farm supporting people with social challenges) and Het Proefveld, a community self-harvest garden in Haren. The restaurant also grows produce in its own vegetable garden.

The menu changes monthly based on seasonal availability, with dinner menus rotating weekly. As a fully vegan establishment, the question of animal product sustainability does not apply. The care farm sourcing relationship provides a direct social impact dimension.

Interior design uses natural and recycled materials, including furniture made from salvaged wood.

The impact dimensions
Local & direct sourcing✓
Seasonal cooking✓
Sustainable animal products✓
n/a
Social impact✓
Plant-forward menu✓

Two named local suppliers verified by independent sources: Zorgboerderij De Weide Blik (organic care farm) and Het Proefveld (community garden), plus the restaurant's own vegetable garden.

Two named, traceable local suppliers are confirmed by independent sources: Zorgboerderij De Weide Blik (an organic care farm) and Het Proefveld in Haren (a community self-harvest garden). The restaurant maintains its own vegetable garden. Co-owner Jochem Akkerman specialises in agriculture and local vegetable sourcing.

The proportion of total ingredients sourced locally versus through broader supply chains cannot be verified; staple ingredients such as spelt flour, coconut oil, and spices likely come through regional or national distributors. Estimated 30–50% of key vegetable categories show local or regional origin.

Strongest sourceOogst Groningen ↗

The menu changes monthly with seasonal vegetable availability; dinner menus rotate weekly, and daily soups change based on season.

The restaurant's seasonal orientation is foundational to its operating model. The menu is displayed on a chalkboard and changes monthly following seasonal produce availability. Dinner menus rotate weekly. Daily soups shift with available ingredients.

The restaurant's own menu page states: 'Because De Herbivoor is a place where exclusively organic dishes are prepared and seasonal vegetables and fruit are used as much as possible, the menu can differ each month.' Seasonality is communicated as a guiding principle rather than a decoration.

Strongest sourcehetgroenebroertje.nl ↗

The restaurant is 100% plant-based; this dimension does not apply.

De Herbivoor is a fully vegan restaurant. No meat, poultry, fish, or seafood appears on any menu. All proteins are house-made plant-based alternatives: sweet potato and mung bean patties, chickpea-flour Burmese tofu, wheat-gluten seitan, and falafel.

Strongest sourcevegetariers.nl ↗

The restaurant sources vegetables from Zorgboerderij De Weide Blik, a care farm supporting people with social and psychological challenges through agricultural work.

The restaurant has a direct social-impact relationship through its sourcing from Zorgboerderij De Weide Blik, an organic care farm (zorgboerderij) where people with social or psychological challenges work in agriculture as a form of therapy and reintegration. This is an independent and verifiable social commitment.

The restaurant also sources from Het Proefveld, a community self-harvest garden in Haren that supports local community food growing. The restaurant's inclusive dining philosophy, expressed as 'Wij zeggen nooit nee' ('We never say no'), welcomes all guests regardless of dietary stance.

Strongest sourceOogst Groningen ↗

The kitchen is entirely plant-based, with vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds at the unambiguous centre of every dish.

De Herbivoor is a fully vegan restaurant where vegetables are the unambiguous centre of the kitchen's identity. Every dish on the menu is built around plant ingredients: seasonal vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. Animal proteins are entirely absent.

The restaurant has positioned itself as 'biologisch en veganistisch' (organic and vegan) since its founding. All plant-based proteins—seitan, Burmese tofu, falafel, and vegetable patties—are house-made from whole ingredients, further cementing the plant-forward positioning.

Strongest sourcevegetariers.nl ↗
Sourcing signals
✓
Own-grown produce
✓
Direct named-farm sourcing

Multiple sources confirm the restaurant uses ingredients from its own vegetable garden. RestauPlant states: 'They use many ingredients from their own vegetable garden, so it can't get more local.' Co-owner Jochem Akkerman specialises in agriculture and vegetable sourcing.

Two named local suppliers independently confirmed: Zorgboerderij De Weide Blik (organic care farm) and Het Proefveld in Haren (community self-harvest garden). Both are verifiable organisations with online presence.

Visit & practical info
Address, price, and more
Address
Gedempte Zuiderdiep 53, 9711 HB Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
Open in Google Maps ↗
Price
€€
Format
Small intimate space; seasonal menu, reservations welcomed
Hours
MondayClosed
TuesdayClosed
Wednesday11:00–16:00
Thursday11:00–20:00
Friday11:00–21:00
Saturday11:00–21:00
Sunday12:00–16:00
Style
Café
Casual
Cosy
Good to know
Terrace
Web
deherbivoor.nl
Reviewed by My Treats
Last reviewed 13 Apr 2026
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How we score
The My Treats impact scale

Every restaurant is assessed against SEERO, our six-dimension sustainability framework — covering sourcing, seasonality, waste, animal products, social impact, and plant-forward cooking. Each finding is weighted by how strongly it is corroborated. The combined result is translated into a planet rating from 1 to 5.

The five levels

SEERO is an acronym for Starting, Engaged, Endorsed, Recognised, Outstanding:

Starting First verified signals of sustainable practice.
Engaged Credible practice across two dimensions.
Endorsed Meaningful practice across three or more dimensions.
Recognised Strong practice across four or more dimensions, with independent corroboration.
This place
Outstanding Top-tier practice, confirmed by recognised third-party audit.

How a level is reached. Each level needs two things together: a minimum number of dimensions covered, and a minimum overall strength of evidence across them. A dimension only counts once its evidence is specific and substantiated — a passing mention doesn't qualify. Meeting only one of the two keeps a restaurant a level lower.

Ratings of four or five planets require human validation and, at the top tier, an external audit. Scores are based on publicly available evidence and restaurant submissions at the time of assessment.

Full methodology→
Impact dimension
—
How this dimension works
—
How evidence is weighted
Self-declared Stated by the restaurant on its website, menu or in a submission. Plausible, but not yet independently corroborated.
Researched Found through independent research; one credible third-party source backs the claim.
Vouched Corroborated across more than one independent source. Some gaps may remain.
Audited Fully corroborated across independent sources or by a recognised third-party certification.
What the sourcing checkmarks mean
✓ Full check — independently verified: corroborated across more than one source, or audited / third-party certified (vouched or audited).
✓ Light check — self-declared or from a single source. Not yet independently verified.
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