My coworker Steve showed me pretty much all these restaurants...
1.
Kaffa Crossing (44th and Chestnut): Ethiopian food, cheap, get the vegetarian sampler.
2.
Singapore Vegetarian (10th and Race): Chinese food, really nice owner, 95% vegan, make sure you get the New Year Soup (they call it ham and spinach and corn soup or something on the menu, but if you ask for New Year Soup, he'll bring the right thing). This is my favorite vegetarian food in chinatown
3.
Homeslice (in Liberties Walk on American between Wildey and George): Kind of expensive but worth it. Homemade almond "cheese" that isn't really trying that hard to be cheese which I can appreciate. Sort of ricotta-y. A lot delicious. Everyone there is really nice.
4.
Memphis Tap Room (Cumberland and Memphis in Fishtown): delicious for brunch or dinner. Not all vegan, but usually excellent vegan options and a vegan egg salad pita and a quinoa/white bean/roast veggie veggieburger are always on the menu. Right now they have a great israeli cous cous thing, and in the past theyve had a delicious eggplant dish, vegan crabcakes, and once at brunch they had "chicken"-friend seitan. Nice atmosphere, usually full of normal people. A lot of fancy local beers that I don't drink or know anything about.
5.
Cantina Los Caballitos (e. Passyunk and Morris): $10 margarita pitchers from 3-6 M-F, free chips and salsa, vegan burritos, tacos, seitan and tofu fajitas. There's one in the No Lib's too (Cantina Dos Segundos) but for some reason, I never go there.
6.
Maoz (12th and Walnut): If it weren't for maoz, I would starve because I'm awful at remembering to bring my tupperwares home from work, and therefore can never bring my lunch. After lunch, walk a block to the Planned Parenthood at 12th and Locust, visit me, and pee in a cup.
7.
Royal Tavern (I never remember where it is... on Passyunk somewhere...): get the Tempeh Club. Don't even bother trying anything else.
8.
Gianna's (5th btw South and Lombard): whatever, whatever they lied about the cheese. It's still the best for shitty, gross Philadelphia-style cuisine. A pound of fake meat instead of a pound of real meat and your diarrhea is still going to look the same. Scowly art student drop outs will take your order. Closed on Mondays.
9.
Govinda's To Go (Broad and Lombard): I'm currently boycotting Govinda's because they always give me regular cheese instead of vegan. And I never notice til I'm too far to go back so I either eat it and get a stomach ache, or throw it away and am super pissed. So don't go there. But if you do, check your sandwich before you leave. When I start working at the health department across the street I'll probably eat here anyways, but for now it's boycotted.
Restaurants I don't like: Tiffin, Ekta (nothing's vegan but you think it might be), Johnny Brenda's, the Pope's brunch sucked