Favorite Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurant in Your Hometown
Posted by veganzrule on Feb 23, 2006 · Member since Dec 2005 · 3 posts
Hi Everyone,
My husband and I are trying to compile a list of vegetarian/vegan restaurants to keep handy for when we are travelling. We tend to visit many different cities on business and for pleasure, so I thought I'd ask around for everyone's favorite eateries. I know this stuff is available through various websites, but I'm inclined to trust word of mouth more! So please let me know, and hopefully we'll get to check them out at some point or another. Thanks!!
San Diego: Cilantro Live! in Carlsbad and Chula Vista.
100% Organic, Raw, and Vegan. Super delicious!
Well, I saw one up there from Springfield, so I suppose as another Missouri vegan, I'll chip in as well. The Main Squeeze cafe in downtown Columbia is absolute heaven. (It's also an organic juice bar, as you could probably gather.) As a broke college student, it's a little pricey for regular visits. (About 6-8 bucks a plate.) But the portions are nice, the food is gorgeous, and the menu is all vegetarian, about 80% vegan. They use organic and locally grown produce whenever possible. They also make all their own salad dressings, hummus, and salsa, (which are 100% vegan,) and you can buy them in bulk. Their sesame-ginger dressing (has a tofu/"cream" base) is unbelievably rich; I think I could probably gain my Freshman-15 quite easily if I had regular access to the stuff... *drool* Missouri isn't vegan friendly as far as restaurants go, so finding this place was sort of like stepping into Oz. They even have stevia packets out for the iced tea! :) Oh, and their website's on Happy Cow.
... Crud, now I've got an insatiable craving for a Buddha Bowl...
I live in Columbus, Ohio and must say there's a great variety!
1. Dragonfly. Someone mentioned it before, and yes it's fabulous but it's very expensive. Definitely a celebration type place. Gourmet food. Purchase by course. Very fresh. Smaller portions.
2. Whole World Bakery & Restaurant. It's been around since 1978! Completely vegetarian, mostly vegan. Menu changes a lot. Awesome brunch on Sunday. Very affordable. Moves a bit slowly but worth it. Fresh baked goods and bread as well.
Worth a mention is Bowling Green, Ohio - home of Bowling Green State University.
Squeakers. I couldn't believe it when I visited my alma mater. A vegan restaurant (and grocery) had sprung up in the heart of tractor pull and farm country!! Very very very very inexpensive. Very very very very tasty. Has that college hippie quality about it.
Hi everyone, I'm going to Seattle in a couple of weeks and saw all the restaurant suggestions and they sound great. However, I'm having trouble finding all these places and was really just wondering if any of the restaurants mentioned(or any that weren't)are close to the Bellevue area. I'll be there with no car and what little cash I have I wasn't planning on spending on cabs and such. I'll be spending all my time at the Meydenbauer Center, so if anyone could point out something kinda close I'd really appreciate it.
It'd take this opportunity to point out some places in Arkansas but the only vegan restaurant we had just closed down leaving me devestated....and hungry. Anyways, thanks for any help you guys can give!
Oakland, California: Golden Lotus. serves great vegetarian vietnamese food with awesome fake meat. most of the dishes are vegan and they even have a few vegan desserts. absolutely love their potato and "chicken" curry! also recommend the fish clay pot.
also, there is an all vegan thai restaurant i went to in seattle and it was awesome. can't recall the name, though
aww no third coast places lol
i live in tx.
i dindt see any restrants.
the only one i know of that is manly vegan is tango tea room.
the only meat they have is a chicken salad.
i forgot the name of this rad place in san antonio they cook veggie mexican.
ps millenium has a cook book.
i saw it at half price.
i just ate at handlebar in chicago recently - it's a mostly veg*an restaurant. we had their biscuits & gravy and BBQ seitan sandwich. the sandwich was good, but OMG the biscuits & gravy were phenomenal! i can't believe i haven't eaten at this place sooner.
san diego:
resturnats that serve no meat:
cilantro live
jyoti bihanga
kung food
madras cafe
sipz fuzion cafe
spread
stephanie's bakery
veg-N-out
and these resturants offer vegan options:
cafe athena
cafe india
chopsticks inn restaurant
couleur alive cafe
hill street cafe
mandarin china
mandarin dynasty
mozy cafe
p.f changs
pokez mexican resurant
ranchos mexican & vegetarian
roxy restaurant
soltan banoo
thai time III
zia tropical grill
san diego, ca
all the other options listed previously are awesome, but i'd also add these restaurants for offering dishes that are veg-friendly:
- celadon by rama (in hillcrest on 5th avenue)
- awash (ethiopian restaurant in the city heights area)
- harar (ethiopian restaurant in north park)
- tokyo sushi loha (college area with the BEST veggie tempura rolls; they also have chefs that love to be creative)
- casa de pico (in la mesa with to-die-for veggie fajitas with achiote oil and margaritas as big as a small child's head)
- bandar (persian restaurant in the gaslamp quarter)
- earth food veggie dog cart (veggie hot dog cart in hillcrest on 5th and university)
- saffron (thai restaurant in mid-town/mission hills area)
- also the souplantation chain is veg-friendly, they have an all-you-can-eat soup/salad bar with vegetarian options clearly labeled (attendants are available for specific ingredient questions)
the golden era is super tasty!
also, for an awesome vegan burrito in san francisco: Taqeuria Cancun on 18th & Mission.
When I was living in SF a few years ago, I absolutely loved Kowloon on Grant St in Chinatown. Even my non-veg boyfriend raved about the place. His fave was the lemon "chicken." They had an awesome dim sum case at the front of the store, too. Only a couple of the pastries had eggs; everything else was vegan. Does anyone know if Kowloon is still there? I'm hoping to get back up to the bay area soon.
If you're ever in the Palm Springs, CA area, there is a great vegan restaurant called Native Foods. Everything on the menus is vegan, which is nice for a change. Some of my faves are the Chicken Run Ranch Burger, Soba Dan Dan, Greek Pizza, Chili Cheese Fries, Elephant Chocolate Cake, and Peanut Butter Parfait. There are also restaurants in Palm Desert, CA, Los Angeles, CA, and Costa Mesa, CA. Here is a link to their website:
http://www.nativefoods.com/
i've never heard of kowloon, but i really want to check it out if it's still open. sounds deeeeelish!
Asheville (soon to be relocating there!)
The Laughing Seed Cafe is the best!
Also, Greenlite Cafe in Black Mountain is good, Rosetta's Kitchen, and Max and Rosie's in Asheville are veg. too, but I didn't find them as good as the Laughing Seed.
Welcome to Asheville (I love this place), but Max and Rosie's shut down about a year ago. However, there are many many vegetarian and vegan options in most of the restaurants as well as a number that serve only or mostly local food. You'll find that this town supports it's local farmers at a much deeper level than many of the places that I have lived, anyway.
In addition to your options, I recommend:
The cafe at Greenlife
Tupelo Honey
Early Girl Cafe
I am still new to the Sterling, VA area, but I just came across this restaurant by accident and it is pretty good!
Chopsticks House
Chinese, Szechuan, Hunan, and Vegetarian
"This portion of the menu consists of only initation meats and seafood. They are made from vegetable products..."
They have soy meats and seafoods made from white yam. :D
703-433-6688
Don't see a website here on the menu :(
Just an FYI for the SF folks: Kowloon, mentioned in a previous post, is now closed :( i'm sad; i didn't even know about it!
In NY our favorite vegetarian is Candle 79. It can be pricy but the food is excellent and service/presentation is impeccable. There are also high end Indian restaurants that aren't exclusively vegetarian but have many vegetarian offerings. My moderately priced favorite is Caravan of Dreams on 6th street off First Avenue which has been around forever and uses very fresh, very healthy ingredients. Specials are hit and miss but stuff off the menu is usually very good.
re: Candle 79, in NYC -- which is not only vegetarian, but 100% vegan and largely local and organic -- best vegan meal I've ever had, hands down. Their seitan piccata was seriously to die for. Friggin' divine.
re: SF, which is where I now live... Millennium is our local fancy-pants high-end vegan, and sure, it's d**n good, but I'd have to go with Herbivore. There are 2 locations, it's 100% vegan and sometimes organic, and it's cheap. Entrees under $10, friendly staff, I live right near it, and they have a kickass german chocolate cake. There's also Cha Ya, vegan japanese, which is awesome but just barely on the pricey side for a broke-ass mofo like me.
i just ate at an organic vegan cafe called Cafe Gratitude in San Francisco. 90% of their menu is raw. VERY interesting stuff on the menu. i had the key lime pie (raw) and it was pretty awesome. they have tons of fresh pressed juices. very friendly staff as well. would recommend highly! oh, it's right off of Irving... i want to say 8th or 9th street.
thanks Nutdragon, for the info. I did see that Max and Rosie's closed down....I was sad! I have been finding lots of good stuff at various restaurants. Right now we have no money to eat out, so I've been cooking lots from the Farmer's Market. Where do you live? Kids? stephsbly at yahoo dot com
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