Vegan food in Portland and Seattle
Posted by curiale on Jan 31, 2006 · Member since Sep 2005 · 116 posts
Hello Everyone,
I will soon be visiting Portland, OR and Seattle, WA for the first times, and I was wondering if anyone knows of any good vegan (doesn't have to be all vegan) restaurants in either of those places. I have heard that both cities have tons of great vegetarian restaurants and I don't know where to begin! Please let me know if you have any suggestions....
And if anyone is ever in the San Francisco area I'd be happy to give recommendations!
I just moved to Portland 2 days ago so I have limited advice, but I've been to the Paradox and they have a lot of vegan friendly options. From what I understand there are lots of options in the Portland area. Check this site out: http://www.happycow.net/north_america/usa/oregon/portland/index.html
Check out Food Fight Grocery (http://www.foodfightgrocery.com) in Portland, OR. They are an all-vegan grocery store. Helpful for buying snacks, etc. or if you are able to cook your own food.
Their address is:
4179 SE Division St
Try Veg Seattle's website (http://www.vegseattle.com)--they have tons of listings for vegetarian and vegan restaurants in the area.
I've never been to either city, but now I want to go after seeing all of the great restaurants!
Unfortunately, I don't know much about Portland other than I have a great time visiting, but I've been living in SF for about 7 months and LOVE it. If you haven't been there, ther's an awesome new place in the Marina called "lettuce". It's all organic and 75% of their food is vegan. Sooo good! I also frequent "Herbivore" on Divisidero, but that's about it. What are some of your faves?
Peace! ;)
Hi MegMarie,
I haven't been to Lettuce yet, mostly becuase I don't really ever go to the Marina, but I would be willing to make a special trip!
Herbivore is awesome; I have always liked that place. Have you been to Jays Cheesesteaks yet? It is a few doors down from Herbivore on Divis and they make really good Seitan cheesesteaks! I get mine without mayo or cheese, and it's great if you are eating with meat eating friends as they also have all the regular meat choices.
Rainbow Grocery is the best grocery store evvver....an enormous all vegetarian co-op south of market....and though it is a splurge, you ABSOLUTELY MUST go to Millennium for dinner. it is soooo amazing. It's really expensive but well worth it. if you have a meat-eating companion that would be willing to go with you, they have Convert a Carnivore night every month, where if you bring a meat eater you get 25% off your whole meal. Also if you have a boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/whatever and you don't mind being a little cheesy, they have a really cool Aphrodisiac night once a month with an awesome prix fixe menu.
Hmm, well there are tons more great places, so let me know if you are interested in knowing more about any particular neighborhood or anything...I could go on and on!
MegMarie--
One other place I forgot to mention is MaggieMudds in Bernal Heights. They have the BEST vegan ice cream ever. They also offer vegan milkshakes, sundaes, and even vegan ice cream cakes! It's definitely worth the trek, and the 24 bus line drops you off practically on their doorstep if you don't have a car.
I live in the Marina, so Lettuce is a great go to for me. I think you'd dig it. They have the best Quinoa bowl ever!
I FORGOT ABOUT MILLENIUM! You're right about the price, but it is well worth it. I've had some of my favorite meals there. I bought the cookbooks too, but there is no way I could ever make anything out of them... way to complicated. I'll leave that to the chefs.
I haven't ever been to the Rainbow grocery. I don't have a car but I bet I could sweet talk my boyfriend into driving me if I promise him a good meal.
Please go on... what are some of your other favs?
ok well let's see-- when i used to work in the marina i always got sandwiches at Real Foods Company. the organic baked tofu sandwich is awesome. ask them to substitute vegan chipotle aioli for the pesto, since the pesto has cheese. but the aioli is better anyway. if you are ever downtown on tuesdays, the farmers market in the ferry building is great. Donna's Tamales has a stand set up where they serve hot vegan tamales that are reallly good. Also downtown is Golden Era which has vegan vietnamese food that is extremely delicious.
mariachis in the mission is a regular burrito place but they offer burritos made with Soy Rizo that are really good. on 9th and irving there is a new live restaurant that is really good (i think it's called Cafe Gratitude). i'm usually not a fan of raw food but this was actually very tasty. if you are ever in the mood for a greasy hangover breakfast, Porkstore Cafe on haight street offers a vegan scramble that is really good, in addition to all the normal meat options if you are with meat eaters.
have you been to Barney's hamburgers on stanyan and chestnut? they offer garden & tofu burgers in addition to their meat burgers, so that's another good place for mixed groups.