Mildreds
London-founded vegetarian-and-now-vegan restaurant group, one of the oldest continuously operating plant-based restaurants in the United Kingdom.
Mildreds is a British restaurant group, opened in 1988 in Soho, London, originally as a vegetarian restaurant named after Mildred Pierce. The company transitioned to a fully vegan menu in 2020 and now operates multiple London locations (Soho, Camden, King’s Cross, Dalston) as well as a product line of ready meals sold through UK retail.
Why it matters
Mildreds is one of the longest continuously operating plant-based restaurants in the United Kingdom. Its menu — which draws on Middle Eastern, Mexican, South Asian, and Mediterranean cuisines — helped establish in mainstream London food culture that a restaurant without animal products could compete for quality, price, and reliability rather than framing itself as “dietary.”
Menu character
The restaurant’s all-day menu rotates seasonally and covers starters, mains, curries, burgers, bowls, and desserts. Mildreds is a useful reference point for anyone arguing that vegan restaurants cannot sustain broad, polyglot menus: it has done so continuously for more than three decades.
Corporate
Mildreds Restaurants Limited is the operating company, privately held and still London-based. A packaged meal line launched in 2023 is stocked in Waitrose and other UK supermarkets. All current products and restaurant offerings are vegan.