What To Eat Wednesday, Nico's Taco Bar

If you are looking for a great happy hour and even better food, look no further than Nico's Taco Bar. I walked up here recently from my house on a nice day and had a late lunch/early dinner and wow! I was impressed. My drinks were quite good. The best margaritas I've had in town. My food was amazing. The homemade salsas were delicious and the service was excellent. They accommodated my vegan diet with no issue or attitude other than a friendly one. Even the frijoles were melty, just the right amount of salty and a perfect mix into the salsa. The guacamole was fresh and went well with the not too greasy chips. I had a tostada with sautéed cactus which I'd never had before and it was very good. It had a nice grilled, pepper flavor. My lunch date had vegan enchiladas as the sauce is vegetarian and full of flavor. Sometimes, I find the sauces too tomato rich but this was very balanced. ( *the rice is not vegan ) I was here for a leisurely 3 hours and it was a decadent way to spend the afternoon. I can't wait to go again.

What to Eat Wednesday, Khyber Pass Cafe

I have this habit of eating at the same places over and over. Which is fine sometimes but I forget about the other places I want to try around the cities. In the last couple of months I've created a meet once a month and go out to eat group of vegan and vegan-friendly friends to try places that I forget about, such as Khyber Pass Cafe. This is a cute place in St. Paul, MN. that specializes in Afghani food and it is quite good. The real stand-outs to me were the various chutneys and the Afghani dumplings which are filled with beans, spices and legumes. There was also a soup that was aromatic and warming that I liked a great deal. All of the food we had was good but those three things were excellent. The chutney I liked the most was a cherry one that would make an excellent pie filling. Another really good one was a ginger chutney that I did actually eat the most of.....it did get busy and we ended up waiting for our check for a long time but other than that the service was good, accommodating to questions and needs. There's also carpets hanging from the ceiling! Check it out!

Cupcake

If you ever find yourself at the Mall of America and are in dire need of a vegan cupcake...look no further than the 3rd floor! I remember the dark days of the mall when the most vegan things you could get were greasy french fries and some very poorly cooked Asian food. Now there's vegan cupcakes, gelato and lots of other choices. Stop in at Cupcake to find at least a couple of vegan choices. When I was there I got to try the Coney Island cupcake : chocolate with vanilla frosting and tons of sprinkles and the Vanilla Chai Latte cupcake, which was fabulous.

What to Eat Wednesday, Gorkha Palace

Gorkha Palace is so yummy. I hadn't been here in a few years. Which is a sad state of affairs. I have however, been eating the veggie momos with tomato chutney every chance I get at the Mill City Farmer's Market. I got to go to the restaurant a couple of Sundays ago and I was so pleased by the service and meal. This is a place that also tries to do right by it's community so I want to be supportive of that as well. They do not have a full bar but they do have beer and wine. They are very vegan friendly with items clearly marked on the menu. And no attitude about it. 

Really all that matters are the veggie momos, the greens and curry.

What to Eat (almost) Wednesday, Little Szechuan

Little Szechuan has a few locations around town. The one is St. Paul is a hot pot place which is something I did not know about till last year and then went with some friends and had a great time.

The location in Dinkytown has some great vegan options and they are so good. The service is fast, polite and they really get people in and out. Though I usually end up staying longer than regular people when I go out somewhere because I tend to talk a lot. I love Lotus Root and Spicy Szechuan fries. The other two dishes I've had there are the Spicy Szechuan Tofu which is very good, the texture is perfect and the Dried Diced Tofu with peanuts. The Diced Tofu was a new to me dish and it's a simple mixture of scallions, soy sauce, chili oil, tofu and peanuts. It's a cold dish and I enjoyed it a great deal more than I thought I would. The tofu has the consistency of what I remember of Gouda cheese. I especially liked the crunchiness with the peanuts. A random surprise to myself. Just down the block, if you can spare room, is the Kitty Corner Cafe. A tiny little place with the most fantastic vegan Belgian waffles. The day I went to both places I was so stuffed it's the only time I ate that day.

What to Eat Wednesday but on Thursday, The Vegetarian

A few years ago there was an Indian restaurant in Columbia Heights, MN. that I just loved. A few months after my "discovery" of it, it caught fire and burned down. I was very disappointed. Fast foward a few years and earlier this year I find myself out in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin visiting a winery only to spot a place by the same name, The Vegetarian. However it is closed. Boo. I don't get to see the VEGAN FOOD sign too often so I always want to investigate when I do.

Earlier this fall in October, I took some friends out to the same winery for a visit as it is a neat place, Chauteau St. Croix Winery and found the same little place open for dinner this time. We did not hesitate to stop in and was so happy to find that it was the same place that had caught fire! How terrible for them but now so great ! The food is as amazing as I remember. Dark, scented teas, fragrant dahl but the real stand-out dish is the Paper Masala Dosa. Not a dish you find easily in the Midwest. This one melts in your mouth. They also make the food spicy. Midwest spice can often lack and you usually have to ask for the melt-your-face-off flavour that I like. Your best bet is Indian and Thai food for hot, hot, hot. The only catch for me is this place is pretty far from home. It is however, near many wineries and as I continue to explore them I will also have to eat. Let's not pretend that wine does not make you hungry. It most certainly does and as such you can be glad to eat warm, comforting Indian food in tiny towns in Wisconsin.

What to Eat Wednesday but on Thursday, The Chicago Diner

This is one of my favorite places to eat when I get to Chicago. I just love it, love it, love it. The food is so yummy. There was only one location of The Chicago Diner the last time I was there two years ago but now there is a second one. We drove straight to the new Logan Square location as soon as we got into town. It's a fancier location so it would make for a decent dress up dinner. The food was still so perfect. I love the diner building in the Halsted neighborhood but, boy does it get crowded. Of course, seeing so many people willing to eat veggie makes me pretty happy. I cannot recommend the breakfast food enough and if you're feeling decandent- definitely get a shake. The Vegan Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Shake was to die for...and I had a vegan poutine which I've never had before...wow! Certainly this wonderful eatery is only safe for me as vacation food. As I would probably eat far too many of these things otherwise. Best keep the 400+ miles between me and this magical place.

TC VegFest Celebrate Compassion 2014

I went to TC Vegfest last year and had a great time, this year was even better. I knew more what to expect and got there early- 
though it was super crazy busy this year. From vegan donuts to vegan gyros, I ate the best food, got lots of freebies and even bought the cutest pair of earrings.  I already can't wait to go again. I am so glad it was so busy. I appreciate so much people improving their relationships with food and animals.

Better Late then Never, What To Eat-Guero's Taco Bar

I'm a day or two off on my food posts but I do like putting them up since they seem to help people find vegan food. I get messages in my accounts about the pictures and I'm always happy to help. I love food and travel. I like finding new places and surprises. This is a place from my trip to Austin a couple of months ago. Austin is very vegan friendly. Guero's Taco Bar is no exception and I might add is a HUGE place. It does not look very big from the outside but it goes on forever and as such we were seated right away despite the big crowd. They have a seperate vegan menu. The margaritas were quite good but honestly, I think my favorite thing I ate was the baked beans. They were delicious. Not too salty or mushy. It's hard to find vegan baked beans as they tend to be cooked in animal stock but these were great. This is a popular, cheerful place and right on Congress Ave, you can't miss it.

What to Eat Wednesday but on Thursday, Señor Veggie

In the last year I've been down to San Antonio twice. They have two fully vegan restaurants. I wish Minneapolis did as well. Anyway, we had gone to Green Vegetarian to find them unexpectedly closed. There was a woman there who sent us over to Senor Veggie. We were on our way to the Gulf Coast and wanted to have a nice meal before hitting the road. Neither of us had found this place yet and I am so glad we went. The food was delicious- especially the empanadas. I really could have eaten ten of them. The place was rather perfectly colored in the sense it was very bright orange and yellow with green. Like vegetables. Hehehe. Anyway, when I go back to San Antonio I will certainly seek this place out again. I always love having Mexican food down South. I love the Midwest but nowhere I've been around these parts has any comparsion.

What To Eat Wednesday, New India

I recently visited Austin, Texas. It's a very vegan friendly town. The first night there I had dinner at a place called New India. It's a little place with great food. My favorite was the 5 Star Thali Platter that had a bowl of every vegan thing to sample on it. I eat a lot of Indian food and I was pleasantly surprised to find things on the platter I had never had before. Fragrant and unusual. Sprouted lentils, yellow dahl-all quite delicious. I am learning to really love sprouted bits of legumes. The staff was friendly and the menu was clearly labeled vegan. It sits amidst all the many food trucks in the Austin City Proper. Austin is a pretty cool town. I'll write more about it soon. Those of you in the Midwest will know what I mean when I say it's similar to Madison, Wisconsin.

What To Eat Wednesday, Triple Rock Social Club

A long time favorite place of mine for breakfast. Especially if you made a few bad decisions the night before. As it's usually cool inside and dimly lit. Triple Rock has an extensive vegan menu that includes vegan Kalhua pancakes and a glorious dish known as the Mother Biker. Tofu scramble covered in spicy vegan nacho cheese. They also have plenty for dinner such as a Vegan Po-Boy. Quite Tasty. It's a punk bar so don't expect it to be fancy. But you can expect very good service and excellent food. They also offer the Mug Mimosa which is a coffee cup full of champagne and oj. What more could you ask for on a morning with a slight headache?

Hungry Hungry Hungry

Fire Noodles at Namaste Cafe.

I recently saw a big poster that said EAT WELL TRAVEL OFTEN and I thought-YES! I have taken on the very big task of truly organizing my photos and it's taking a long time but it's also showing me things I've long forgotten about. One thing I have been trying to get better at is my photos of food. As someone who tries to share what is important to me about my diet i.e. meat-free, healthy and adventurous, I think having terrible food photos would most certainly not communicate that and they would possibly end up in places such as Somebody Ate That and completely defeat the purpose of taking food photos. Here are a few that I came across recently that I thought looked pretty yummy.

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Homemade Coconut Curry-recipe soon!

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Homemade Green Beans-SO EASY! Wash, snap off ends, heat wok up pretty hot, flash fry them with tamari and chopped garlic. Takes about 10 minutes total and most of that time is washing.

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Instagram snap of vegan donuts from Glam Doll Donuts.

Epic salad bar at Q Cumbers. Very Veg Friendly.

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Homegrown basil on top of Victoria Vegan Alfredo Sauce. Served with bow tie pasta(my favorite) with soy chicken strips and pine nuts. YUM YUM YUM.

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I'll be making these tonight: Tofu Fajitas loosely based on this recipe: Tofu Fajitas. I make mine more spicy and use all vegan products. NO sour cream cuts the fat intake.

Potatoes from Mill City Farmer's Market, homegrown rosemary with herbs from Penzey's Spices (Bavarian Seasoning is the name of the blend), olive oil, all chopped and placed in foil then cooked on the grill. Easy and very tasty.

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My favorite pizza from Punch Pizza. The Gigi: olive oil, garlic, basil, cherry tomatoes. Simple and perfect. 

Have a tasty day!

What to Eat Wednesday, Galactic Pizza

I have been reintoduced to a pizza place here in Minneapolis the last couple of months. When Galactic Pizza first opened, I was pretty excited about having another vegan pizza option. I went there three times before giving up on it. I would have terrible experiences all three times. Bad service, long wait times, undercooked pizzas. It was a shame really, they have a great mission of making high quality pizzas, using electric cars for delivery and quite charmingly having their delivery people dress like superheroes. Including at one point some years ago one of the delivery people famously stopping a thief in their superhero outfit. Fast forward about 5 years and a friend wants to go eat there. I hesitate but then go with it and I am so glad I did. Whatever problems they had in the past, Galactic Pizza is AWESOME now. 

They have great, unique vegan pizza options, the whole space has been redone and is very nice. I didn't get a picture of the outside but the patio they have set up is cute. The service is ten times better and the food was to-die-for. Especially the vegan bianca pizza. Also, 3-D pizza menus. I can't recommend it enough now. And save room for vegan strawberry cheesecake. YUM.

What to Eat Wednesday but on Thursday, Mad Mex

Mad Mex was a place I ate at twice in Pittsburgh and it was so good! Very vegan friendly, nice staff and the portions were CRAZY. I loved the tofu tacos. Go here if you can. Some pics from my phone. They're not great but you get the idea.

What To Eat Wednesday, Square Cafe

As with most places I've been, the hardest meal of the day to find vegan was breakfast. Often when traveling we'll just go to a grocery store and get breakfast things since this is made easier by the prevalence of kitchens in hotels and through airbnb. But there's usually one or two places that offer an option or two. In Pittsburgh, the one place we found was Square Cafe. They had one vegan breakfast that you could customize a bit. The food was good and the place was really busy. Obviously a locals place. One big downfall was the price. Two meals and just water was $35. That's pretty spendy.

They had a vegan scramble with asparagus. You could also get it in a chorizo version.

What to Eat Wednesday, The Zenith

I haven't done this in a few weeks. I've been working on editing my book and that is taking up a lot of time. I am trying to get back to working on blogging. I am still not where I want to be with it. Be that as it may I can still post pictures and give you links to cool places. Or in this case a yummy place in an antiques/vintage cave. Now, the pictures are dark as can be and I was going to edit them and lighten them up but I decided not to do that so you can really get an idea what it is like to eat at The Zenith. It is a very unique dining experience. When we went we decided it would be similar to eating in a room at The House on the Rock. If you live in the Midwest you know exactly what I mean. If you do not live in the Midwest you'll have to click on the link and have a look. Though you cannot describe this place, you have to visit it. The Zenith is very much the same. It's sort of hard to describe. It is located off one of the more busy, entertainment oriented streets in Pittsburgh. But if you blink you'll miss it. It's in a very unassuming, dark brownstone building with only a small sign. However, once you open the door, you'll be quite stunned. 

Before you get to the cafe you pass through a very large room that is filled top to bottom and I do mean top to bottom, with vintage and antique items. All set up in vignettes and displays. All of it is for sale too. Someone obviously puts a lot of time into this shop. 

You can wander through before you head to the back of the room which then becomes a cafe. It is incredibly homey. Each table is set with old glassware and linens (all matching sets!). 

The server we had was very friendly. The food was quite good. It's definitely a comfort food place. Everything on the menu is vegan with the exception that you can have cheese on a few things if you'd like. We had a late lunch and then went shopping and came back for the vegan chocolate mint cake. My tortilla stuffed with curried potatoes and peas was super tasty. It came with ruffled potato chips. I can't even remember the last time I had those before this visit! We also shared stuffed peppers and the Greek appetizer plate that included lemony, dill tofu. Pittsburgh turned out to be a very vegan friendly town and I was so pleased. Most of the people I know have never been there or only drive through but I am telling everyone to make a point to at least stop for a view, cocktail and a dinner. You'll be glad you did.

This last photo is of the bathroom. I could've taken a dozen pictures of it. But you know, how many bathroom pictures do you need? I just love all the South Pacific decor with the beautiful women and nature scenes. Sometimes I wonder if somewhere in Asia there is an American themed bathroom. Maybe all red, white and blue with eagles?

What To Eat Wednesday, Spak Brothers Pizza

I was very pelased to go to another state that I had never been to before: Pennsylvania -for most of last week. A dear friend of mine was getting married and having a new city to explore as well is good for happy making. The weather was both sunny and nice and gloomy and rainy. On one particular gloomy day, we set off to find a particular pizza place that came with high recommendations for vegan pizza. This is very exciting to me. I love pizza. Minneapolis is filled with fabulous vegan pizza. I haven't had a ton of luck finding it other places. Well, the Spak Brothers has great pizza and many other vegan foods on their menu. Including vegan cheese fries(YUM). They are located in the city of Pittsburgh where I spent most of my time. They carry locally made soda, have an Avengers pinball machine and lots of cute boys working there. You can't lose.

A snapshot of the city from Mount Washington.

A snapshot of the city from Mount Washington.

I thought the pizza box was so cute. It got rained on a bit. We sat in our rental car and ate while it rained. It was nice. We were in between adventures having spent the day at a museum and then we went off to a brewery in a church.

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Vegan cheese fries could help all vegan girls in great ways.

Vegan cheese fries could help all vegan girls in great ways.

What to Eat Wednesday, Amazing Thailand

When Amazing Thailand first opened, I was pretty excited to have a new Thai place in walking distance from my house. Disappointingly the first couple of visits yielded only "ok" food in my opinion. Despite the atmosphere being so beautiful and lovely, the food wasn't too great. The cocktails were pretty good though and one day someone suggested a lunch there a couple of years ago. I hadn't been there in a while and Minneapolis has some of the best Thai food I've ever had-it's sort of a secret about this town(although, sadly we've lost two great places in the last year). Well, I went back and the food had improved immeasurably. Now mind you, it was never bad it just wasn't great. It is now. I absolutely love the Holy Basil Dish with tofu and fresh green beans. They offer an entirely seperate Vegan Menu and the drinks are just so yummy. It is as gorgeous as ever and even has one of the prettiest little alley dining areas outdoors in Minneapolis. I love spicy food. The hotter the better. It's somewhat tough to get truly spicy food here but Amazing Thailand does pretty good. It's not as hot as King & I used to be, but alas they are no more. Walking around the lakes in the summer time is one of my favorite things to do every day if I can and getting to walk to a great place to eat is an added bonus.

What to Eat Wednesday, French Meadow Bakery and Cafe

Truth be told I don't go here very often, I would say once every 3 months. BUT every time I do I am very happy with my visit. French Meadow Bakery and Cafe has been in Minneapolis for some time. It is one of the first places I ever had vegan food here. The food is so good. The quality is really unmistakeable. The breads are hardy, the coffee is top quality and the Vegan Rose Cake is one of my favorites around town(THE FROSTING!) It gets very busy on the weekends so I try to visit during the work week. I love the Classic Vegan Breakfast with hemp toast. I adore vegan breakfast so I'm pretty particular about how I like mine. They do an excellent job. It's an earthy breakfast with thick vegan sausage patties, hashbrowns, toast (with homemade style preserves) and tofu. It is a little more expensive than some of the places I visit but the food is really very good quality.