v.e.g.a.n.
Reviews written by v.e.g.a.n.
A friend gave me a gift of vegan body care products from this company - they did smell strongly, but I liked that a lot. The patchouli shampoo bar was a little harsh for my hair, but my husband has thicker, more durable hair and it worked fine for him... and all the women at his workplace would swoon because he smelled so good.
I have never ordered directly from them, but I have tried their donuts and they are excellent. Cakes donuts, not glazed, which are difficult to find in vegan form. They taste just like the little corner bakery donuts I remember from when I was a kid, with icing and everything.
Definitely worth trying, and encouraging your local grocery to carry!
I have the CX Road Shoe style of Vittoria shoes and they work fine. I can't say that I know much of anything about cycling shoes, so I can't compare them to anything - but the way these are priced, I'm thinking they're pretty high end. Vittoria shoes tend to be a bit flashier than many other brands (mine are silver!), and depending on your taste that could be a turn on or a turn off. Besides loving the fact that they're vegan, I also like that they have big "V"s on them.
I was glad to find New Grips on-line after unsuccessful trips to sporting goods stores looking for vegan weightlifting gloves. My hands tend to get really sore toward the end of my routine, but since using New Grips I'm only sore where I should be at the end of my workout. This company has excellent customer service - they get back to you right away with answers to your questions, and they offer a full refund within a certain amount of time if you're not satisfied with the product. Crucial gear for the iron pumping vegan with sensitive digits.
My husband and I found this place on this website when we were visiting Chicago. Another reason to love this site!
Alice and Friends was a perfect place to go and relax during our hectic stay in the windy city. The server was friendly, and the food came out fast. The presentation was beautiful. Youo have got to try their fried spring rolls! The dumplings are great, too. I had the not-spicy BBQ dish, and it was perfect. For 24 hours after we had eaten there, Brandon kept saying "That just hit the spot." The chocolate cake slice was huge, and the frosting was wonderful... not too sweet, sort of a mousse consistency. Highly reccomending this place.
We planned an entire trip to Chicago around eating at Soul V. This place is legendary. You've got to try the protien tidbits. Their soup is really garlicy and wonderful. The two friday nights I've eaten there, they've had lasagne as their special, and it's fabulous. The BBQ twist is great, and I have never had such good lemon merengue pie, vegan or otherwise, in my life. If you live out of town, be sure to buy a bunch of their cookies for the road. The coconut shortbread ones last quite a while, and they're fantastic.
I'm giving this place a 5 because the service wasn't good, but the food was pretty good. They didn't have many options, but they *had* vegetarian options, which I haven't found until now in Mason City. The something 'fun' or 'fun' something (stir fried thin rice noodles with vegetables) was actually really good, and there was a ton of it for $6.
This is a nice co-op. Small, but clean and inviting and has basics for vegans. We had just eaten lunch, and so we didn't try any of their made-to-order sandwiches, but they do have a few that could be veganized if you'd like. We tried a brownie made by a place called "wise woman" but sold in the co-ops deli section (they have a large selection of locally made deli items for sale in their refrigerated section), and it was good, but not spectacular. My favorite thing was that they had a bucket of flower bouquets marked 'FREE' that were imperfect right up by the registers.
This is a fun place to visit if you're in Stillwater. They have several vegan candies they sell by the pound. Cinnamon Bears, Mary Janes (by Necco), Peanut Butter Kisses, Shoe String Licorice, Licorice Pipes, etc. Their peanut and cashew brittles were good, too. We didn't try their chocolate nut clusters, but we did confirm that the dark chocolate they use to make the items is vegan. They have a gigantic selection of hard candies, too, as well as a decent selection of sugar free candy.
They make candy during store hours behind a glass wall, and it it fun to see how they do it. Might be a fun outting for a kid?
This place has some good vegetarian stuffed grape leaves, although they are a bit on the expensive side - they take a lot of work to make, so that's why. They also have an amazing fava bean dip - my husband said it's like Palestinian salsa and I think he's right on. It's great stuff - really potent, and a small tub will last a couple of days if you are content with a few bites at a time. They also have some okay hummus, and their tabouli is pretty good. They have Baba Ganush - but I didn't try it. The worker knew what was vegan when I asked. They have about five tables that were all full when I was there - but really I would recommend getting your food to go anyway, grab some pita and have a picnic at home. Yum.
They carry Rush River Beer on tap, the brewery is owned and run by a vegan in Wisconsin. I haven't tried it, but my husband liked it quite a bit.
They do have some sandwiches labeled as vegan on their menu. I didn't try them - I had a banana, which cost .80 cents and was good.
They don't have many vegan options, but they do have sun cakes, and for only $1.75 - cheaper than whole foods, and cheaper than scones or muffins made in the cafe. The chili I had was great, better than Gigi's, and the bread was good, too. The woman at the counter did tell me that the pita they use has whey in it, but if you'd like a sandwich usually made on pita, you can have it made on other bread if you prefer. Their veggie burgers are not vegan.
this place is over priced and not that great. The server didn't seem to know what was vegan and what wasn't on the menu, and came back with vauge answers when I asked for details. Maybe we just got a dud, but I wasn't impressed. The food wasn't that good, I didn't want to finish my meal, and gave my leftovers to my husband the next day - unusal since I usually covet my doggie bags. Skip this one - it's just not worth it.
The soup everyone is raving about it really good - and the servings are large. The Kurdish bread is also wonderful - and large. Soup and bread is easily a meal, but if you want to order something else, try the dolmas. The dolma plate comes with six or seven dolmas wrapped in grapes leaves and cabbage leaves - as well as salad (get the tabouli - it's great), rice, and soup (why not try the Niskeena?). Very very good.
I ordered the Boca Burger and asked them to microwave it rather than cook it on the same grill as the animal burgers, and they honored that request. They also left off the butter from the bun. While it's certainly wasn't the best veggie burger I have ever had, it is nice to know that it is possible to get a vegan entree at such a mainstream place, that has a reputation (in my mind anyway) of being very unfriendly towards vegans. The toppings were some wilted iceburg lettuce, a slice of tomato, a couple of pickle slices, and some onions. You have the option of choosing fries, fresh fruit, or cole slaw to accompany your burger. The fruit option is pretty pitiful - I got two tiny chunks of honeydew, three tiny chunks of cantaloupe, and five or six purple grapes. The service was straight forward and the server was nice enough about my questions regarding the grill.
This place exceeded our expectations. Our server, Ben, was extremely helpful and cheerful in answering our many questions about what is or can be made vegan. He went back to the kitchen to double check at least three times because he wanted to be sure we were taken care of. The food was good, too - unique texture and flavor combinations. The presentation was great, and the atmosphere a bit more upscale than most places we go. We did end up spending $50 dollars on dinner, but that included a great tip for our fabulous waiter and a beer for my husband.
Things that can be made vegan are:
Guacamole (ask them to omit the Worcestershire sauce)
Wood Roasted Vegetables
Jicama-Slaw
Portabella Fajita
Grilled Tofu Fajita
One of the sandwiches can be made with portabella instead
of meat, but I can't remember which one - it was the last one listed under 'sandwiches'.
We tried all of those but the sandwich - would recommend all of them. This place doesn't have a lot of vegan options, but they are happy to accommodate vegans as much as they can and the options they do have are beautifully presented and pretty good. Our server even went to double check on their black beans and came back to let us know there was 2 ounces of butter per 5 gallons - really great service. Go here if you feel like celebrating and being pampered.
It has a great atmosphere - but hardly anything vegan on the menu. The vegan food they do have is too pricey. They do have a good hibiscus iced tea, but be prepared to shell out about $3 dollars for a glass filled with mostly ice.
The service was really great - as we were being seated, we told our server we were vegan and may have some questions, and she went and got one of the cooks/owners/managers or somebody from the back and he answered all of our questions. Several of the vegetarian dishes are not vegan, but he was very clear about was and wasn't, and what could be adapted (like which breads could and could not be made vegan). They had some great chutneys I've never seen at another Indian place, and their samosas were really good. I got Aloo Mutter (I think that's what it's called - potatoes and peas dish) and it tasted good, but had too much oil in it. Mine was the only entree that had that much oil, so it may have been the end of a batch or something. Again, I highly recommend this place for the service - I'd just want to try ordering again to see how oily it is before rating it higher.
According to our server, they have a limited number of vegan dishes. The appetizers that can be made vegan are the spicy peanut noodles made with rice noodles instead of egg noodles, and the spicy green beans. The peanut noodles were pretty good, served with cucumber slices and cilantro. You can get a veggie stir fry with tofu from their stir fry bar, with the vegetarian mushroom sauce - but its $10 dollars and extremely bland. I was very disappointed. The other dishes we were told could be made vegan were a spicy green curry, an eggplant dish, and kung pao tofu made with pad thai noodles instead of the spinach noodles it usually comes with. The service was great, our server went to check on everything before letting us order and the manager even came out to double check to make sure we got the answers we were looking for. I'm mostly rating for service - and I highly recommend ordering something other than the stir fry bar!
The menu only specifies one item (Blackened Mushrooms and Eggplant Ettoufee) as vegan friendly, but when I asked the waiter about it, he said the Smoked BBQ Tofu was vegan as well, without the cornbread/muffin on the side. I asked about the Jambalaya, and he said it has worchesticer sauce in it. I thought it was odd that they would have it listed under vegetarian options when they were conscientice enough to let us know it wasn't vegan, but oh well. If you ask, they do seem to know what's in everything and how it's prepared. The man was very patient with me while I asked a bunch of questions, and when he wasn't sure he went in the kitchen and double checked, which I always appreciate. Side dish orders reported as vegan are: corn on the cob, red beans and rice, potato wedges, and something else I can't remember. I wish they did substitutions, as I would love to have tried one of those - but I wasn't about to shell out $2.50 for beans and rice.
The place is a bit pricey - but the two vegan options they had were really good. The BBQ tofu was firm and had red onions mixed in the sauce, served over white rice. There was some stir fried veggies (bell peppers, corn, green beans, etc) on the side, which was awesome. Everything has a smokey flavor and was just a tiny bit charred, which I liked a lot. It's a bummer they don't have more otpions - the food was quite good.
The art in there is awesome - and I quite liked the music... ecclective R&B and soul to match the portraits of notable african american musical talents.
This place is small, but they always seem to have whatever I can't find anywhere else. For example, I needed dried pears - they don't have them at the co-op or Rainbow, but they had them at Bill's. They also have a huge selection of olives, blanched almonds, and dried mushrooms which are really cheap. It's fun to browse around and see what they've got - cans of Fava beans for 65 cents! The woman who runs the place knows where everything is and whether or not they carry what you're looking for. You can sample olives before you buy if you'd like - it's a good place.
I went here with my mom and sisters, and it wasn't great. They liked it, feeling that they were eating healthy food, but they generally don't eat that much "health food". They didn't have much of anything for vegans and I was disappointed. I had expected more from them. The staff was friendly enough, but that didn't really make up for the lack of variety/choices.
I like the feel and lay out of this place. When I was there, there weren't outstanding vegan options, just the standard coffee shop fare.
My husband and I went here on a Wednesday night - we had the place to ourselves. The server said that Wednesday's are usually pretty dead, so if you're looking for somewhere quiet to eat with your sweetie, this place might be the place for you. The decor is very 70's, good if you have a sense of humor. The server was very friendly and knew exactly what was vegan and what wasn't. The soup wasn't that great - but we ordered the vegetarian entree that has kale and carrots in it - it was really good. There is certainly enough food for a couple to split an entree if you order an extra piece of bread, and you might not even need that.
They have the usual soy milk options for coffee drinks, and Naked juice. You can get Italian soda, but that's at most coffee shops now. As for food - not many vegan options. I think they have potato chips. The menu on the chalf board says they have Veganaise, but according to my friend who works there - they haven't had it in several months, and she's not sure if it's ever coming back. It's a fun place to go though - just don't plan on eating there.
This place has fantastic samosas, and our server was really great, too. However, they don't have a large selection of vegan entrees and the ones we ordered were nothing to shout about.
I appreciate that all of the food is vegetarian, but I didn't enjoy either my husband's or my food.
This place doesn't have as many vegan options as I would like to see, but the things I have tried are really really good. I had a pumpkin muffin, which is the same recipe as the pumpkin bread, and it's fabulous. Pretty cheap, too (maybe $1.60?). The Chocolate Babka and Pecan Rolls are fabulous. Both excellent. They have samples of breads, too, and I tried the multi grain, which was also stellar. The girl who took my order overheard me ask another person about what was vegan, and she thought there was honey in something I ordered and double checked just to be sure - which I thought was good customer service.
*Visited again yesterday - the service was awesome. A different girl behind the counter knew what was vegan, and she even rushed to ring me up because I was trying not to miss my bus. Thumbs up on the french boule.
Breadsmith is great, and the Edina location didn't dissapoint with the quality of their goods. The line was out the door, on a Sunday afternoon, but they had several people working, and it moved pretty quickly. They have menus you take take with you, that list all of the ingredients. This location also has a list of which breads they made on what day - which was very helpful.
I would love it if they would mark their vegan items with some sort of symbol, because it does take a while to read all of the ingredients. I do, however appreciate the ingredients being listed.
You've got to try the Chocolate Babka rolls (this location had two sizes), the Pumpkin Muffins (they had these in two sizes, too), the Ciobatta, and the Olive Bread were all fantastic. The Multi Grain was alright, too.
They don't have many vegan options, but they do have roasted vegetables (zucchini, mushrooms, red pepper, onions, garlic, kalamata olives) and Farro Salad (some kind of grain, kalamata olives, cannalini beans, red pepper, tomato, eggplant, onions, olive oil, garlic). They are pretty good, but really expensive ($10-$13 dollars a pound). They also have a soup of the day special that may or may not be vegan.
I like this location best - the workers aren't as swamped, so they seem to be in a better mood. Also, they let you take day old bagels for free after 2pm!
The hummus sandwich is pretty good, but I don't think many people order it because every time I do there's some question as to what goes on it.
It's nice that they have vegan food, and it's a fun atmosphere, and the bowling is fun, but the food is overpriced and not that great. The "spicy black bean burger" is a frozen amy's patty on a bun and they charge $7 dollars for it.
The guys behind the counter knew what vegan was, and they loaded up on the vegan stuff to substitute for the things we passed on. They were friendly and good to us. The food was pretty decent. The RICE is NOT VEGETARIAN, just so everyone knows, but the guacamole is vegan. If another coupon shows up in our mailbox for this place, I would go back for sure.
While many people expect this to be a strictly Vegetarian restaurant, it isn't. I admit my rating would be higher if they didn't try and pose as vegetarian - but anyway - the food was decent, though overpriced. We had a tahini pate that was pretty good, and mock duck tacos. Everything tasted fine, but the portions are small for how much you're paying. I've paid for fancy food and felt it was worth it before, but not here.
I felt good spending my money here. I would stop in there again mostly because I feel it's important to support socially responsible businesses, and independent places, etc. They have vegan options and they were clearly labeled, so that's nice. The sandwich I had was a garlic white bean pate, but it was very bland. The banana bread was pretty good, and I think I had a cookie, too. The cookie was okay, but a little dry. It would be a good place to read, write, or study.
Update: I have upped my rating from an 8 to a 9 - I was in the other day and they now have an entire case of vegan options - there were about 10 different choices - muffins, bars, brownies, cookies, short breads -- all from Hard times Cafe. All excellent.
My new favorite coffee shop, Caffetto offers a larger than average array of vegan options. Most coffee shops don't carry anything vegan, but can accommodate vegans with a soy replacement for dairy in a drink, previously I thought a coffee shop was awesome for offering a vegan cookie or bar or something (though there are several that seem to offer the same exact raspberry chocolate bar from French Meadow and that gets old fast). Imagine my surprise to find that Caffetto has not one but FOUR vegan baked goods, clearly labeled and priced very reasonably, and they have two clearly labeled vegan sandwiches in their food case!
The atmosphere is also nice, laid back, comfy, and lots of colorful and moody art to look over. Even the tables are hodge podged or something to enhance the artsy theme this place has going. I like it a lot.
They still don't have the mock chicken, veganaise, or hummus on the menu, but they're there! The guy helping me out said that they can substitute the mock chicken for any of the meats on any of their sandwiches, not just the chicken based ones. We ordered the three pepper chicken hot hoagie, vegan style, and it was really good. We also tried the curried corn soup with wild rice and it was excellent. They had a vegan black bean chili as well. I highly recommend this place and will definitely be going back.
This place has some good soy ice cream. It's expensive, but really really good. They have a chocolate soy and chocolate raspberry - the chocolate is great, they were out of the raspberry when I was there.
Update: I'm changing my rating from 5 to 3 - the last time we went the service was extremely slow and I tried several dishes but none of them were very good. There's a coconut juice drink with sugar water and tapioca pearls and agar strips that was fun for $2 dollars - it makes an unusual and fun desert.
This place gets an extremely average vote from me. Nothing about it seemed particularly wonderful or terrible, it was just an average place. The food was okay, they had enough vegan options, the prices were fine. I just don't have much to say about it one way or the other. The young coconut drink was too bitter for me, and you can consider that fair warning. They deep fry their tofu, and I just don't like my tofu crispy on the outside and runny on the inside, so be warned about that, too.
They have good mock duck and vegetables in spicy garlic sauce. This place is extremely trendy. The waitstaff knows what "vegan" means and they know which dishes are and are not. I feel comfortable eating there... if i ignore the trendiness. If you drink alcohol, there's a little more there for you - they have a HUGE wine list and a well-stocked bar.
This place doesn't have much by way of vegan options at all - but they do have a really good vegetable soup. I was really surprised by how much I liked it. It's not on the menu, they only list "soup of the day", but our server told us they do serve the same soups everyday. I was also able to get some steamed broccoli and lemon wedges to squeeze on it - which isn't anything remarkable, but it did taste good. Plus, my meal was pretty cheap compared to everyone else's in my party, and it filled me up.
I would give Chili's a higher rating if they had more than two options - the staff was extremely helpful in answering questions, and even brought me a printout of the ingredients in the soup. They said they are happy to do that for any item on the menu.
I would give this place a higher rating if it weren't for the fact that they're owned by McDonald's. I like it, but I would like it more if they were their own chain, I guess. The food is pretty good, considering it's fast food. The tortilla chips have a hint of lime to them, which I liked a lot. The burritos are huge, and easily made two meals for me. We were in and out really fast, and the place was clean. I got a little nervous when the workers were passing big spoons full of meat over my open burrito, but nothing dropped, and the upshot is that I would be able to ask for a new one if meat had fallen into it, and I have no idea what happens in the kitchens in other restaraunts. I will go again.
I've gotten food from this location a couple of times and it's always been fast and friendly. The food is good, it's cheap, there's a lot of it. There are some who will argue that Chipotle isn't fast food, but I still consider it such - and I'm a bit embarressed to say I like it a lot.
This location is nice - clean and the service was good. A friend and I sat here for several hours after eating and talked, and that seemed just fine. The food was good - the same as all the other Chipotles, I guess. This location seems to have more natural light, and it's not as busy as the other ones I've been to.
This is the busiest location I have ever been to. The service has been good - they're great about the vegan thing, but you might not be in and out as quick as you thought.
Nothing too spectacular about this location - food is the same as the other ones. However, when the Burrito Assembler accidentally put cheese on the burrito, after I had asked her not to, she just tried picking it out and when it was about 2/3rds gone asked if that was okay - I had to say it wasn't and she ended up throwing it in the trash. This scene didn't sit too well with me - I can see wanting to not waste food, and asking was proably actually better than not asking, but I was bummed they just threw it away rather than saved it for someone else to eat (a worker) like we always did at the restaurant I used to work at. It could be they have a policy about that or something, but it was still kind of a bummer.
This location is the worst of the ones I've tried. The rice wasn't cooked all the way, the servers didn't listen closely to our order, and the burrito I had was lukewarm.
The CAA U of M chapter is an active and effective animal rights group. It's got a fair number of active volunteers, which is saying something as animal rights groups go. They do a ton of tabling and leafleting focusing on veganism. They do vegan food give aways, cooking demos, bring in speakers, show videos, have potlucks and dine-outs, co-sponsored events with other U groups, and a ton more. You don't have to be a student to volunteer, and they focus on events and actions that will be effective, positive, and fun.
While it is nice that big chains are carrying more vegan foods, and starting to feature 'natural foods' sections in their stores, it would be nice if they trained their staff to know what tofu looks like and where it's stocked.
This place is huge, but the traffic seems to keep moving. I was there on a Sunday afternoon and I didn't have to wait in line long at all. Their natural food section is large and clean.
The service was great. We split a vegetarians platter for one and the two of us were stuffed by the time we left. Can't imagine how big the platter for 2 must be. The flavors are distinct from the other Ethiopian places I've been to in the Twin Cities - most dishes are sweeter or more simply spiced than others I've had.
I love these donuts. Especially if you have been vegan for a while, and you have a sweet tooth, and are sick of all the vegan desserts you eat being made with whole weat flour, rapdura, and molasses, you have to try these donuts. Nothing healthy about them. Pure sugar and fat. Delicious. Get a ton and bring them home to share with people you love - unless you happen to be married to 'Let's Eat!' and his review says "shouldn't vegan donuts be good??" or something. In that case, feel free to eat them yourself, because these gems must be appreciated.
Dulono's is a good place to go with a group of friends on a Friday or Saturday nite to listen to bluegrass. If you like beer, it's even better. The only time I have ever eaten their food was a take out pizza late at night - veggie with no cheese. The pizza hit the spot, but I wouldn't pick it first in a line-up. I know a lot of pizza places skimp on toppings for the to-go or delivery pizzas, and this place could be one of those. I don't know, since I've never eaten in-house, but they definitely could have piled more on, especially since we passed on the cheese. I do have to say the thin crust pizza cut into squares was fun - reminded me of being little.
Comfy, nice staff, lots of outlets, and at least they make an effort to stock more than the same old boring frickin' raspberry chocolate French Meadow bars that every other coffee shop in this town has.
Nice little co-op. They have the best vegan marshmallows, Vegan Supreme Marshmallows, but you may be surprised to find them stocked in the refrigerated section. They also carry mint Green and Black's chocolate. While they didn't have much in the way of a vegan selection in their in-house baked goods section, to be fair there wasn't as large of a selection as in other co-ops. I was very pleased to see that the lables indicating price and ingredients had a little "Go Vegan!" message printed on them - the animals must have a friend in the bakery department of this co-op.
This place is pricey. I understand that's because everything is organic and raw, so the food has to be really fresh. It's the kind of place you want to go to try something... different. The salads are really good, but you can make them at home. I recommend the banana date thing. A little fancy for me, but it is local and all vegan and organic, so we go sometimes to support the place. They have the fanciest ice cubes in town - maybe that's the real reason it's expensive. Oh, but the out door seating is nice.
The bagels are great, the hummus is good - but that's pretty much the limit for vegan options. The service was good, they have a list of ingredients behind the counter if you're curious.
I'll agree with the great tabouli comments. Not too acidic at all. The hummus wasn't great - bland and a bit too runny for me. The bread (without melted butter) was really good, too. Two of us ate for $10 bucks - pretty good.
I meant to write the review last week. I didn't, and since then I've lost a lot of the details. However, I can say that the momos (dumplings) are excellent, and the samosas are really great, too. I got the chau chau (I think) and it was good, although it was a bit spicy. That's probably my own fault, for ordering a "mild+" I like that they have levels between mild and medium and medium and hot, but if you have a tough time with spice, stick to the mild. Don't even try and be tough.
The green jackfruit dish is good - jackfriut is a little sweet with a mushroom-like texture.
Update: You must try the Pepper Fried Mock Pork from the Chef's Recommendations section of the new menu - it is fantastic. The Five Spice Boiled Peanuts and garlic cucumbers were great, too - a hint on the cold appetizers: you can serve yourself from the cooler near the back of the restaurant, they'll add it to the bill in the end. It's nice to not have to wait for food if you're really hungry!
The mock beef in satay sauce was great - lots of veggies and a slightly spicy brownish sauce. Vietnamese style BBQ mock beef with lemongrass is excellent.
The wonton noodle soup with wheat noodles (you can get it with rice noodles if you prefer) was good. Light veggie broth, with bok choy, noodles, and wontons. It left me feeling full but not stuffed. The vegetable soup with wheat noodles was good, but sort of bland.
The people who run this place are so sweet! They are happy to make whatever they can vegan for you, and are generally concerned with making food that you will enjoy. The vegan wonton soup is a new addiction for me. I love it, and it is super cheap. The veggie rolls, too, are great, just because it's not something you can usually find "veganized" in other places. I'm a big fan. Once again, a good place to take a mixed crowd.
I fed this stuff to my cat for a couple of years, she was probably 17 or 18 when I started, and she lived to be 22. I ended up switching her to a medicated food when she required it. Anyway, I would say that Evolution is a good option for people who are concerned about animal rights and ethics. If you're concerned about what's best for your pup pup or kitty's health, I would say that this certainly can't be any worse than feeding them nasty kibbles n' bits or meow mix. It is a bit difficult to come by. Apparently it was discontinued due to low sales at our co-op - but that isn't suprising, as it is a bit expensive in comparison to many other meat-based brands. I do encourage people with companion animals to explore the possibilities of a vegetarian diet for their critters. It's easier than it sounds.
This good thing about this place is that it's open fairly late. Then again, I don't have a car and it's only a few blocks from my house. When I think about it, I usually end up here when I'm short on time or it's about all that's left. It's kind of like a back-up plan, or a craving quencher. The music is fun, I'll give it that. Oh, don't get anything with eggplant, it's very greasy. Go to Sinbad's instead!
The service was good, though it was crowded. I had the Misir Key Wot (the lentil dish that mentions spices in berbere sauce) and it was the spiciest Ethiopian food I'd ever had, but it was good. The Atkilt (potatoes, carrots, onions, etc.) was great, too. I was a bit put off by the smell at first - it seemed very "meaty" to me. During our meal, a few dishes came out for other tables that were sizzling with hot meat, which I found unsettling, but I will still go back because the food was really good.
This is a fabulous addition to the Twin Cities. It's cozy, has several things I've only seen in catalogs or on line, and the owner is great at making you feel taken care of. It's still very new and they're still waiting on some of the stock. I hope they get some cheaper selections in, though, because I think the sales might increase and I really want this vegan company to succeed!
It's nice to have a place where you can find some specialty Israeli items like farfel, and Israeli cous cous - and they have a huge selection of hummus (HUGE!). They also have vegan cheeses, and various meat alternatives, and some really awesome pretzels with sesame seeds on them. However, they have a gigantic meat section, maybe it's just because the market is small - but the percentage of space devoted to meat is large and hard to avoid. That part makes me uncomfortable, but it was worth checking out.
I would give this place a much higher rating if they had more vegan options! The Chocolate Muffin is to-die-for, but it has been the only vegan option every time I've gone. It's nice to know chances are good they'll always have the really good chocolate muffin - but I'd like to see what other bits of vegan heaven they could whip up if they had a little more vegan-mojo.
Update: The sweet corn aeropas (or whatever they are) are excellent. Again, a little pricey, but the dish really was superb.
I went here with some friends for dinner once and didn't have money, so the waiter brought out an "extra large" sample of soup. The sample was so big I couldn't eat it all. Very sweet of him. The wait staff all seem to be aspiring actors, so they're a little flamboyant. It is a nice place to go to sip on a lemonade and talk for an hour while sitting outside. The best thing they have are the vegan chocolate cupcakes. They are excellent! get a cup of tea if you're eating them there, because the frosting sticks to your teeth and the tea helps. Yum. But if you go in when they're closing down, they won't even sell you a cup cake. I guess actors can be moody.
I've been thinking about the pizza I had for a couple of days, and I have come to the conclusion that Galactic's is the best pizza in town. The crust is especially good. The vegan cheese was really good, too. One thing to note is that they were unable to make the Community Supported Agriculture pizza when we were there.. I don't remember why. I think it had to do with the crops, or some other availability issue. It seems this issue could be reoccurring, though not really that big a deal. (The CSA pizza has been unavailable for quite some time - they may be looking to partner with a new farm soon if this issue isn't cleared up).
While there wasn't much to be said for service, I don't think there needs to be in a place like that. As long as they get the order right, you can pretty much be left alone for pizza dining.
The prices are high, yes, but it's worth it to eat at a place that's doing it's best to be responsible, and the pizza was really really good. However, I hope the day isn't far off when 'pizza with a conscience' places are completely vegan.
Update: Their Vegan Garlic Cheese Bread is really good, and I recommend the Alamo if you're looking for a pizza to try. They also offer Muddy Paws vegan cheesecake for dessert now.
Gigi's has a great atmosphere - it's spacious yet cozy, clean but homey. The only problem is that they only have two vegan items: fresh fruit and chili. The chili was pretty good and it came with slices of baguette on the side. It's a fine place to meet for a business lunch or something, but it's not worth a special trip.
The only reason this place gets a 3 instead of a 2 is because they have excellent smoothies and juice (which are a little pricey). I used to take seminars nearby and frequently had lunches there during breaks. The food isn't great for what you're paying, and there aren't that many vegan options. But, if you're stuck in Edina and need to have lunch during a seminar break, it's alright. Oh, and I agree, the tea is disgusting.
As far as a little convienience store in the basement of a student union goes, these guys are doing pretty well by my vegan standards. They have more options than you'd expect.
I would give this place a better rating if the service had been better. The place was sort of busy when we arrived, but it seems like by the time we ordered most people had cleared out, but it took a long time for our food to come. The steamed dumplings were pretty good - but the momos at Everest on Grand are way better. The mock duck with broccoli and peapods was just like any other basic mock duck dish at any other chinese restaurant, so I wasn't too impressed. My husband ordered the greens and tofu skins which he enjoyed but it looked awfully bland to me (I didn't try it though, so technically, I should not be knocking it).
I would go again, but this time I would try something that sounds a little more exotic to see if the place has any distinguishing dishes. As of now, it doesn't stand out from any other average chinese place I've been to.
Don't order the sweet and sour dish - it's sickeningly sweet. Mt husband says I should have known better tan to order that - but it was so bad I couldn't eat it. His food was reportedly better. I would go back, but next time I'd order something spicy.
This is a nice little hole-in-the-wall co-op. They have the basics, produce, bulk, etc., but they also have several kinds of soup they make at the co-op and a small selection of pre-packaged deli items made in their kitchen as well. Two of the four soups they were offering were vegan when we went. They have a basic vegetable soup, and a french market soup, which was basically a soup full of legumes. They were both good, and the prices are reasonable. Their stuffed grape leaves were also good, and cheap. Be forewarned, though, their restroom isn't for public use.
Update: Desserts continue to be outstanding and cheap. The Vegan Helter Skelter is a ginormous amount of food! The veggie bean burrito is bland, but again - lots of food.
Tons of choices, reasonable prices, large amounts of food. I ate here with five other people and everyone's food looked great. I had the seitan gyro on the recommendation of these reviews, and while it was good, I was expecting a little more magic after all the fuss. It was good, though, and I would recommend it. The carrot ginger pecan muffins are also excellent. My only issue was that I am pretty certain that there was some rotten lettuce in my sandwich and when I asked about it they told me it must have just gotten steamed. They were really busy so I didn't push it, but if there's something wrong with your food, it will pay to be assertive about it.
Love the music, love the bright colors, love the service, love the food. The mixed vegetable roti was fantastic - cabbage, carrots, green beans, potatoes, chick peas, red beans, tomatoes all spiced to perfection with extra hot sauce on the side in case you want to kick it up a notch. The vegetable patties are a great appetizer to share, too.
Alright. I love this place. Half the staff know me by name. I'm in here all the time. They will let you look at the catalogs they order from sometimes if you want to special order something. They sure know what's vegan and what isn't, and they're super-fast about letting you know when you're shoes get in. I have been a royal pain in the butt about trying sizes on and taking a week to decide about what I want and they roll with my indecisiveness. No pressure, and a fun staff to try shoes on with. There's always a ton of shoes on clearance, too, so keep your eyes peeled!
They also have purses, socks, giftcards, jewelry, address books, magnets, etc, too. Lots of fun stuff here.
I was so excited to go to Holy Land after reading the great reviews here, and hearing that having the pita and hummus fresh is even better than getting it from the co-op. I was dissapointed to say the least. The food was drenched in oil - oil everywhere! The food hardly stayed on the styrofoam plate from sliding in pools of oil. The service was awful - the people behind the counter were irritated when I asked if there was any dairy in the tahini sauce, and it took a minute to get an answer, which was 'no', but when the salad came out, the dressing was white - which has me think 'dairy', so I asked again, and another guy just said "I don't know! I don't know!" and he was upset - so we just gave up and left the salads at the counter. I might stop in if I'm in the neighborhood and having a hummus attack, but otherwise, it's really not worth it.
I was starving and even though it was busy and the service was decent, the food was not good. I was super hungry and I had to choke my food down. Usually when I'm famished, I tend to think whatever I'm eating tastes great, just because I'm so grateful to have food - but this wasn't good. The more I ate, the less I liked it. (I had mock duck and vegetables, btw).
Update: I gave this place another shot and have to say that the service was weird - it took the guy about 5 minutes to get to me, when there were no other customers in sight and he was doing things like wiping down the counters in the back (from my perspective taking a customer's order is a higher priority, but that's just me). When he did finally come over he did answer several questions for me and my take out order only took 5 minutes. I got the tempe empanadas and they were pretty good.
Not too impressed. For as 'healthy' and 'conscienceness oriented' this place wants to think it is, they really don't have many vegan options. They can make any cocao drink with soy or rice milk (soy froths better!), they make their own sorbet (we tried apple - it was great, I have to admit), and they did have an excellent seasonal fruit tart for dessert. However, the portions are small, the selection wasn't as large as one would expect, and the food just wasn't that great. It's one of those places that makes the portions tiny and serves them on fancy mod dishes to make you think it's really good, but if you just close your eyes and forget that the veggies are cut long and skinny, it's nothing to get worked up over.
I was surprised and pleased to discover that this place has added a vegan option to their menu. The apricot cranberry scone I had was very good - the chunks of fruit were large and there were plenty of them. It's a nice place to meet with a small group of people on a weekday morning if the weather is nice. It's crowded and loud inside, but there is plenty of outdoor seating.
This place has few vegan options, and they're a little pricey for what they are - but they're pretty good. The Fakes Me Spanaki (Lentil-Spinach soup) is good. The Roasted Eggplant Spread and Skordalia are both good, too. Getting a combination of these makes a pretty good meal. The Vegetarian Pita sandwich can be ordered without feta, but it's kind of boring for $5, then. The pita bread is good, but be prepared to order several sides because there's never enough bread for the spreads.
Update: This location is now going to try and have two flavors of soy ice cream and two flavors of sorbet everday - for a total of 4 vegan options!
I finally made it to this Izzy's, and I like it quite a bit. Same great soy ice cream, and this location wasn't as crowded. They also have a topping bar here, which they don't have in Saint Paul - but I thought I heard something about it either being phases out, or just on again off again. I saw various kinds of nuts.
The strawberry soy was fantastic, and their smaller waffle cones (not the huge ones) are vegan. I have sampled the blueberry soy and it was great. I also tried the lemon ligionberry sorbet and it was tangy and good.
I'm all about any place that makes their own vegan ice cream. The chocolate was great, and a lot of it even melted in the car on the way home, but I loved it anyway, good fresh, melted, and re-frozen! I was not impressed with the raspberry, though.
The service was really great, but the vegan options are not marked on the menu. Really, most of their items can be made vegan if you substitute fruit or sorbet for sherbet, which the folks at this location were happy to do. The Protein Berry Pizazz (I think that's what it was called) was really good, but two boosts may have been a little too much for a sixteen ounce size as the drink had a chalky consistency.
Pricey and not very good. I much prefer the cheaper and tastier Jasmine Deli across the street. The space is gorgeous, however.
It is one of my my favorite restaurants - I've gone on my birthday for the past two years and plenty of times inbetween. They have the best veg spring rolls I've ever had. I almost always order a mock duck rice noodle salad, because it doesn't get any better than that. My husband almost always gets the veggie broth soup with rice noodles and fried tofu - he loves it. The praises of the mock duck sandwiches have already been sung, and I concur. Jasmine Deli is a little slice of heaven here on earth.
UPDATE: Jasmine Deli has recently expanded their menu - they now have curried mock duck rice noodle salads and some sort of soup that's made in a clay pot. The curried mock duck salad is even better than the original!
I went to this place once a long time ago - and can't say that I remember it as being that great. The fact that it never occurred to me to go back is telling. I think their food was okay, but there's a dozen places within a mile of there that I would rather go. But, they do have live belly dancing, which is unusual.
The vegetarian kibby is good.
The food is about half a step above fast food, but it is a nice option to have when you're in the Mall of America for a long long time and you want something besides some pretzels from the fake gas station. Order the Streamliner for a vegan Boca burger, it's about 5 dollars, but I guess all food court food is over priced.
I really thought about giving this place a higher rating just because it's cheap - but I just can't. The food was below average, the service was below average, and yes, the prices are below average, I guess, but that's reflected in the food and service so it's not a good enough reason to bump up the rating. The Lo Han Jai had virtually zero flavor, the Kung Pao Tofu has a little bit, but not much. If you don't care much about the quality of your food, but want to fill yourself up, give it a shot, but be sure to keep your expectations very low.
This place currently says "Vegetarian and BBQ" on the awning - is it a new restaurant entirely? I was there during lunch hour and there was no buffet table. There were carcasses hanging in plain view and the spring rolls and bahn mi sandwich I had were mediocre. I won't be going back.
My review when it was Bubble Delite:
We tried this place on a whim and were really impressed. There is a special Vegetarian section of the menu, with four options, all of which are vegan. Spring rolls with tofu and mock duck ($3), Sandwich with tofu, mock duck, assorted vegetables, seaweed, cilantro, and jalapenos ($3) and larger than at Jasmine Deli, broken rice plate with tofu and mock duck ($6.50), and rice noodle salad with tofu, mock duck, and vegetables with seaweed.
The portions are pretty large, the taste is unique - not like other Vietnamese places in town. I think it's the marinade/seaweed thing. I don't like seaweed generally, but this was subtle and I liked it fine.
We tried a mango smoothie, with tapioca pearls. It was *excellent* - they use fresh fruit in a lot of their smoothies and you can tell.
The service was great - the guy working there was super friendly and knew what was in everything. He was really interested in what we thought of the food - saying that Americans really seem to be into the vegetarian food. He said he would like to expand the vegetarian menu and look into to trying more mock meats. Really friendly guy and interested in pleasing vegetarian customers.
We will definitely be going back!
This place has amazing food. The vegetarian appetizer (it has fava beans in it) ordered without feta is excellent - it comes with fluffy, crusty white bread - very good. Easily enough for three or four people. The vegetarian combo for two is enough for three, really. They have the best injera bread I have had in the twin cities, and everything on the combo platter was fantastic. According to the server, all of the vegetarian meals are vegan. We had to wait a while for our food - but it is so worth the wait. They had this huge TV on the whole time we were there (same as Addis Ababa is this a quirk of Ethiopian places??) and that was a bit distracting, but once the food gets there, we blocked everything else out. The only reason it's getting a nine instead of a ten is that I've only been once, and it could have been an 'on' night - I'll be going back to finish my research, though. UPDATE: Research completed 3 out of three right on the money. This is, hands down, the best Ethiopian place in town.
They are very willing to accommodate vegans by adjusting nearly anything on the menu - but as with many Thai places, I felt like my food was lacking in flavor. I suspect this has to do with the chef omitting certain ingredients to veganize a dish and not replacing those ingredients with any other flavors. The pad Thai I ordered was fine, but not worth $18. I've had better pad thai from a box, honestly. My husband's dish was better - his was already vegan and didn't require any adjusting. The atmosphere is very nice and it was great to go out and feel fancy, our server was friendly and the food came really fast even though they were busy.
I'm upgrading my rating from a 4 to a 6. They have painted and improved the atmosphere and quality of the food. The Pad Thai with no egg or fish sauce was really good.
This is another place I go with people who are not vegan. They have a ton of vegetarian things, and a lot of vegan ones. It's a good place to stop in on the spur of them moment, but I wouldn't plan it for an anniversary or mother's day trip. The staff is really nice, and the food comes out pretty quick. It's a good place to stop for lunch in uptown if you want fast and not too trendy.
They don't have many vegan options, but they are friendly, helpful, and fast. They're also reasonably priced. I came in and was looking for something vegan on the take out menu, the woman asked me what I wanted - I said I was looking for something with mock duck, she said she could do mock duck, vegetables, and white rice for 4.95. Then she said she could do the same with tofu if I wanted, but it would be a dollar more because they give you more tofu. I ordered kung pao tofu for my husband and got the mock duck for me, it was ready in less than ten minutes and I was out the door. They also have vegan fortune cookies and sell extras for ten cents each, which I loved because I'm a fan of fortune cookies and get really excited when places have vegan ones.
While it is a tiny store and they only had one kind of vegan cookie, and nothing vegan (that I saw) in the deli section, they do have a lot of products that I have not seen in other co-ops. The kinds of things I see ads for in Vegetarian Times and things like that. They have several vegan raw foods bars, some bulk snack items (carob rice squares, etc.), and supplements I hadn't seen elsewhere. We bought the last vegan cookie - an almond cookie - and it was fantastic. Also, when we were there, they were giving away free boxes of vegan jello!
They have very good vegan raisin oatmeal cookies. Don't try to share, just get one for everybody.
i didn't think this place was vegan-friendly at all. I remmeber thinking that if i asked for anything without cheese there wouldn't be much left.
This place is decent, but nothing spectacular. The mock duck spring rolls are very bland, and half the time, they don't seem to get the rice paper rolls softened all the way. You can get much better Vietnamese food at Jasmine Deli.
The spring rolls are below average, but the curried mock duck was really good. The service was excellent - the food came out so quickly, I was amazed. The server gave us extra rice, veggies, and chopped peanuts at no extra charge. Maybe we lucked out, but it makes me want to go back.
Completely average. The spring rolls were below average (mostly rice noodles and no flavor), the vegetable fried rice without egg was okay. The BBQ Mock Duck dish was fine, but nothing to sing about. This location isn't as bad as the one in uptown, but I would sooner take a gamble on the Thai place across the street rather than visit this place again.
The grocery store is nice enough - they have a fine selection of vegan items, although the prices run a little higher than at a warehouse store. The deli had good 7 grain salad and quinoa salad when I was there last.
Marla's has two locations - one is Indian and Caribbean, and the other is only Caribbean food. This is the Caribbean only location. The roti is wonderful, and the jerk is very spicy. The service was a bit slow, but I will definitely be going back.
Update: Their roti is excellent. Highly recommend it. They are also able to make some of the Indian dishes that contain cream w/o cream if requested. And, I heard that they have tofu sometimes, to make jerk tofu with - though I've yet to try it.
My husband and I have a tradition of going out for Indian food on our anniversary. Yesterday we weren't able to go to our usual spot, Udupi, so we decided to try this neighborhood place instead. We were very glad we did - the service was fantastic, the food was great. The owner came over and spoke with us for a while after our meal and asked us about our experience, and listened to my feedback! I suggested she mark the vegan dishes on the menu, as it makes it easier for us to order and she explained that nearly all of the Caribbean dishes can easily be made vegan. I suggested that when they redo the menu they make a note of that, because I never would have thought to ask. The samosas were fabulous - I think the best I've ever had. They were large and came with amazing chutneys. The lentil soup was fine, but not remarkable. I had Vegetable Curry (amazing!) and my husband ordered a chickpea, mushroom dish which he enjoyed very much. He was especially excited when they brought the rice, as it was plenty for the both of us (usually we have to be careful about rationing the rice at Indian places). The basmati rice was also seasoned with a hint of spices/seeds (can't say for sure what) and it was done to perfection. Overall we really enjoyed our experience and we plan on returning to try their Caribbean dishes - they're listed on the very last page, you may miss them if you're not looking for them specifically.
It has been my experience that finding higher end individual vegan chocolates is difficult, so I was excited to find this place. I was told that their solid dark chocolates, as well as nuts and fruits dipped in dark chocolate are vegan. We tried the dark chocolate almond bark and dipped apricots - the almond bark was pretty good, and the apricots were fine, but super sweet. They're imported from Australia, in case that matters to you.
They weigh their chocolates and price them by the pound, which is nice since you can request less or more of most.
I enjoy the casual and artsy atmosphere, they have great vegan cookies, and the tofu salad sandwich I had was good, too. All they need is an herbal iced tea and they'll have it made.
Jun 17 05
My husband has one of the messenger bags and I love to use it. It's really comfy, and I just think it looks cool.