Every time we go, we enjoy our food. This time was no different. Mike enjoyed a mock tuna wrap which was $4.50 and I had a plate full of both hot and cold foods which are priced by their weight. Mike also had an organic tangerine soda. Our bill came to about $17. Among the foods I chose was a buffalo potato and chicken (made of seitan) dish that makes me salivate just thinking of it. The chicken was the perfect texture and the spicing was exactly hot enough to make me drink extra water but not so hot that I was uncomfortable. I also tried a raw potato salad which I was skeptical about, but seeing how I have liked everything that I have ever eaten there, I thought I'd try it. The potatoes were chopped in small bites, had the texture of apple, and weren't starchy at all. I was pleasantly surprised that raw potatoes tasted so good and I scraped my plate clean.

All of the food served at Maggie's is vegan and as I have mentioned, some of it raw and/or organic. They also have a variety of smoothies and desserts including vegan ice cream but I always fill up on entrees and have never tried them.

The only suggestion I have is that they stay open later. There have been many times that Mike and I have wanted to go there for dinner and couldn't because they often close at 6. The only exception is Saturday when they are open until 8. Consequently, we have only ever gone there for lunch. I think just staying open until 7 or 7:30 would draw a lot more people. That aside, we LOVE Maggie's.

Maggie's Mercantile - MAP
1262 Rt 711
Stahlstown, PA 15687
724-593-5056

The laughing Seed Café was a very nice place. It seemed to be the every day nice place that could appeal to anyone. However, the Laughing Seed is entirely vegetarian and more then a little vegan.

The Laughing Seed is above Jack of the Woods, the brew pub responsible for the Green Man brand of beer. Green Man beer is served at the Laughing Seed and is very enjoyable.

Aesthetically, the Laughing Seed was modern, but not uncomfortably so. I am really breaking my own posting rules by posting about a place too long after I have been there so that I really don’t remember any details worth sharing. So, I need to apologize for that.

The Laughing Seed Café is located on Wall Street, which is a very narrow, one way street. It is extremely easy to miss and has very little parking on it. Plan to park somewhere else nearby and walk to the restaurant. There is a flight of stirs directly across the street from the Laughing Seed leading down to Wall street from Battery Park avenue. This can be used to your advantage as there are many more parking opportunities in that direction.

The food was great by the way. I had a Chimichunga that was on the specials menu; it was fantastic and came recommended by both the hostess and the waiter. Leah had a vegan Reuben. Both can be seen below with a little bit of my finger.

Julie had Wild Mushroom Risotto Cakes, which you can see below. She reported them as being incredibly tasty.

Pat had "Mercury not Rising", a sandwich I took to calling "Seitan-fishy", after the classic Tofishy at the Zenith. This was a Seitan sandwich styled in a fish sandwich manner.

The Laughing Seed
40 Wall St.
Asheville, NC
(828) 252-3445

On our highly enjoyable trip to Asheville NC, we had the opportunity to eat at Rosetta’s Kitchen. We had some really amazing food here. It was so good that we actually went back the next day and got take out food to eat for a late snack and for breakfast before leaving Asheville.

Rosetta’s is not 100% vegan, but it is extremely vegan friendly. The only non-vegan item I recall was real cheese that could be as a topping on different dishes. They make their own "Vegan Queso", a nutritional yeast based sauce.

I had a vegan take on a classic Mushroom and Swiss burger, a House veggie-burger with mushrooms and vegan queso sauce. Have a look:

Julie and I also shared an incredibly filling basket of (vegan) chili cheese fries:

At Rosetta’s you order at the counter and then a server will hunt you down and deliver your food to you, wherever you sat. You obtain your napkins, water, utensils, and condiments on your own.

The menu hangs on the wall behind the counter, but is also available in traditional menu form on the counter; both can be seen in the picture below, in the upper right and lower right corners, respectively.

They also have several dessert options at Rosetta’s. I am assuming these rotate and are not the same on a daily basis. I had a really fantastic piece of cake, but I don’t recall the flavor. I almost blacked out from food intake at that point. (This is a joke, sadly the real result of me eating too much is not a story told in good taste, figuratively and literally)

Their menu is not currently hosted on their own website, it is however available through Blue Ridge To Go, a delivery service in the area: Rosetta’s Menu

Although Rosetta’s address is Broadway, they have an entrance on Lexington Avenue, as seen above. Parking is much more convenient on this side then on Broadway.

Rosetta’s Kitchen
111 Broadway
Asheville, NC 28801
(828)232-0738

I often enjoy the Vegetable Curry. It is listed as spicy but hardly registers for me at its default level of spice. I have never cared to ask for more spice, it is great as is. I also enjoy the Drunken Noodles. These are flat wide noodles served with tofu and some vegetables. This is listed as spicy and often registers as quite spicy to me.

If you are interested in eating at Green Mango, I suggest you eat in. Many of my coworkers call ahead and place their orders. When they walk in their food is served to them right when they sit down. This is a great situation for the lunch break patron. The portions served inside the establishment seem larger then the portions found if you call ahead for take out, but I do not have a scientific measure of that, just anecdotal experience. The take out portion has never left me hungry, merely not on the verge of exploding. This could also just be because if I get it takeout, I eat it while working over a longer period of time.

The décor is arranged following Feng Shui rules, I believe. There is red in one direction, in the pictures of the Thai royal family, other walls are green, wood near the entrance. I didn’t see any water, perhaps that is the server’s station. There are also information pamphlets at the door about Thailand.

I highly recommend this place for lunch or for their even larger dinner portions.

Green Mango
1109 S Braddock Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15218
(412) 244-3310

Heard lots of good things about this place, had to check it out for myself so I made my way to the back streets of Pittsburgh's North Side to eat here . . . FINALLY!
Today the Aviary was free in honor of Mr. Fred Rogers, so in-between the morning and afternoon bird shows, my vegetarian Daughter and I walked through West Park, next to Lake Elizabeth and down West North Street two blocks to Hoi Polloi (This word means "Common Folk"). It was easy to find and an easy walk from the Aviary.
Lunch consisted of her and I splitting an excellent bowl of coconut carrot soup, and a Mediterranean wrap (kind of like a feta, veggie and rice burrito), along with coffee and a vanilla latte. Everything was AWESOME and tasty and healthful and YUMMY. For dessert, we split a grilled nutella and banana sandwich . . . MMMMMM this was the best, and I don't even usually like nutella!!
THANKS HOI POLLOI . . . what a wonderful treasure you have hidden away back in that neighborhood.
Best wishes for success and prosperity!!

Hoi Polloi Vegetarian Cafe & Coffeehouse
North Side
1100 Galveston Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15233
(412) 586-4567

Maggie’s Mercantile has finally opened up once again in Oakland. I went there. I loved the food. The place is nice and clean. Our food looks very good in addition to tasting very good.

Here take a look:

It looks great. Both Julie and I have two plates of food. One plate is the “hot entrees”, which you tell the staff you would like and they scoop it up and heat it up for you. The second plate is from the self serve salad bar. The food is sold by the pound, however the price per pound is not displayed anywhere that I saw.

The food is really good. I feel I have to say that a lot because of the massive skull crushing hammer blow I am going to deliver in the complaint department. First complaint, they don’t have any sort of service. I had to ask for water twice and wouldn’t have gotten any water if I hadn’t asked. However this is more of a serve yourself place. Although you can’t serve yourself water. You have to ask for it. Also, they scooped my used water glass into the ice bucket to fill it with ice. That is a health code violation.

My hot entrees were heated up for me, and I took one bite and immediately realized it was cold. Whether that was because it got cold while I waited for the rest of my groups food to be heated and for everyone to be seated or not, I don’t know. I gave it back and asked that it be heated until it was steaming. I got it back very warm, but not steaming or what I would call hot.

At this point I wasn’t real stressed about our time at Maggie’s. This was the actual day they opened, so hiccups and issues were some what expected. It was not until I ordered two pieces of cake and paid my bill that I was totally ruined on my experience. While ringing up my total, the server, in order to differentiate me from the others in my party asked “Did you have the $22 entrée?” The bill for two of us (the food seen above) and two desserts came to $58.80. It is hard for me to repeat that without using expletives. It turns out that the hot entrees are something like $12.99 a pound and the salad bar is $8.99 a pound. The desserts were $4.50 each.

Maggie’s being on Craig street would be a great spot for a business hoping to attract college students. However at these prices, the college students that do partake will probably walk out when they get their bills.

Maggie’s Mercantile
300 South Craig Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
412-621-8200

For Vegans there are two new additions to the menu that are both excellent. First is a vegan salad dressing, vegan Chipotle Ranch dressing. The dressing is fantastic and not all that ‘ranchy’ in my opinion, but it is great nonetheless. The second addition is Herb O’vore’s Tofu Tacos. These are not the same tacos that were on special in December; however they are still very good. Take a look at the here:

On the negative side, apparently Mad Mex’s website has been completely redone into a flash nightmare. It keeps Mooing at me. I don’t know why.

Mad Mex has an excellent new dish on their specials menu. Finally I have a vegan option that is not either a burrito or an enchilada. Not that I am really complaining as they have several options in either category. I have always wanted a taco or three though and I am now getting those tacos.

My biggest hope is that it gets added to their regular menu.

Although I have the Monroeville location listed below, I believe it is available at all Pittsburgh locations. If not all Mad Mex locations in existence.

Mad Mex
4100 William Penn Hwy
Western end of the Miracle Mile Plaza
(behind Starbucks, next door to PNC bank)
Monroeville, PA 15146
(412) 349-6767
Google Maps | Mapquest

The establishment itself is a very small space. Along the left wall there is a counter with four stools, where you may eat if you wish. Most of the space is kitchen and as you walk in the door there is a cash register and a service counter directly in front of you. While I wouldn’t call the place dirty, the floor was a bit sticky and probably could have used a good mopping. It really reminds me of the layout of Sree’s just across the street and up a block.

One of the interesting features is a soda vending machine that doesn’t require money to operate, you just push the button and out pops a can of soda. You are supposed to pay at the register for the beverage, don’t try to walk out with it.

They do not have a webpage or a decent menu online that I can find. Their menu consists of just about anything you could want from a Asian restaurant Chow Mein, Fried Rice, Lo Mein, Egg Foo Young, Chow Fun, Chop Suey, Sweet and Sour, and several specials including General Tso’s, Szechuan Orange Beef, and several Mandarin-Szechuan dishes (I have no idea what that really means, I am just typing things on the menu). There are even Indian Samosa’s on the menu in the “Other Asian Cuisine” section. It seems the rule of thumb may be to just call and ask if they make something. I’d wager that if its Asian cuisine they probably make it.

Their Hours are:
Monday - Closed
Tuesday through Saturday - 11:00 am until 9:30 pm
Sunday - Noon until 9:00 pm

Zaw’s Asian Food
2110 Murray Avenue, Squirrel Hill
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
(412) 521-3663 (FOOD)
Google Maps

The size of café (smallish, but I’ve seen smaller) combined with the ‘loose’ organization of the event made for a very chaotic atmosphere. I should note first, that although it was hosted by the Amani Café, the actual event was run by “Animal Freedom” a vegetarian/animal rights group in Pittsburgh as a fund raiser for a larger Vegetarian/Vegan festival for the Pittsburgh area.

This is a shot of the crowd in the Amani Café.

These are shots of the Competition table from left to right:

The rest of the photos can be seen on Flickr

Amani International Coffee house & Café
507 Foreland St
Pittsburgh, PA 15212
(412) 322-0647
Google Maps

I have had a rocky relationship with this restaurant (let's call it Zen Kitchen Palace) over the past couple of years. When it first opened, I loved it and I ate there a lot. A LOT. In fact, Nate and I went to the Squirrel Hill location on opening day and made reservations that we definitely did not need. They never seemed to have an overabundance of customers. Anyways, like with most restaurants, I lost my taste for it after eating there several hundred times and I didn't eat there for about 2 years. Then I went back and liked it again, then I didn't, and now I do again. I guess I just go through phases of wanting to eat faux meat at Chinese restaurants. But I digress. I figured it was at least worth a shot to check out this new location.

When we arrived, I was pleased with the decoration. Still fancy-ish, but not quite as unique as the Zen Kitchen Palace was in its hey-day. I immediately recognized the old manager from the Squirrel Hill location, so I knew we were in the right place. We were seated immediately and given a big, heavy menu and some hot tea. As I paged through the big, heavy menu, I noticed a serious lack of vegetarian options. There was one page of a handful of options, but nothing like what used to be on the menu at Zen Kitchen Palace's predecessors. I was confused. Luckily, we overheard the lady at the table next to us requesting the vegetarian menu. Ahh, they put it on another menu that you must request. But why? And why wouldn't they note anything on their main menu about the existence of this menu? That would have been a kick in the pants if I had ordered something sub-par from the regular menu only to find out about the vast secret vegetarian menu available. Bad, China Palace.

Upon receiving the other menu, I skimmed through it, but pretty much immediately settled on my old standard, Sizzling Tofu with Mixed Vegetables. Nate ordered his standard - wheat gluten with broccoli. I also ordered the brown rice so I could determine if I am insane, or if the brown rice from this restaurant always tastes like soap. I really like their brown rice - it's kind of a combination of wild rices, I suppose, but the last few times I have eaten it, it always tasted like it was cooked in dish soap.

I also had a lychee martini which had a very unfamiliar and unique taste. It came in a rather tiny martini glass, so that was kind of a let down. But when my food arrived, I was very happy. AND! My brown rice didn't taste like soap at all. On a scale of "Good, great, or excellent," Nate rated his gluten a "good." I tried a piece and it had a rather sugary aftertaste. I'll stick with the tofu.

I'll definitely go back to China Palace. Maybe the next time a family event occurs in town, we can all dine there together because, as Americans, it is required by state law that we all enjoy Chinese food. I'm still kind of annoyed about the hidden vegetarian menu, though.

China Palace
5440 Walnut St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
Google Maps

The cafe is usually closed on Sundays, but the chef planned this event especially for the vegan group. The cafe itself is cozy and seats about 25. They have a small menu that features vegetarian items as well as non-vegetarian. They serve breakfast all day and also have several lunchtime/dinner options to choose from. I had been salivating over the French toast casserole ever since I heard about this place, so I had to order it! I also ordered tomato basil soup, and finished off my meal with a pumpkin roll. I also had a green tea whose name I couldn't pronounce, but I assure you it was tasty. I plan on trying the black bean-tofu wrap the next time I go back. The prices were reasonable - my French toast casserole was the cheapest item on the menu at $4.25, and everything else was in the $7-$8 range. I was worried that my dish was going to small since it was so inexpensive, but it definitely filled me up.

The cafe has kind of a retro feel and there are lots of tea gadgets and gifts available for purchase. I believe they also do catering and host events like bridal showers and fancy teas lunches. We were lucky enough to go for this special event because they had several vegan desserts available, including chocolate cake, cheesecake, and the pumpkin roll. The owner let us know that they don't always have that many vegan desserts available, so if that is what you are looking for, you should call ahead to make sure they have some made.

Everything was really just delicious. I don't have a negative word to say about this place. It seems like a quaint little spot to take your mother-in-law for tea and lunch! And I might just do that someday. It is kind of out of the way for me, but worth the drive.

Sisters' Special Teas Cafe
5996D Steubenville Pike
McKees Rocks, Pa. 15136
(412)787-TEAS
Google Maps

We had a rather long and convoluted journey to Everybody Loves Veggies that involved 2 buses and a lot of walking through construction. When we finally arrived, I was ready to chow down. There is nothing particularly fancy about the food stand - it is what it is - a food stand in a mall. They did however, have a decent variety of foods to choose from. There were a few different kinds of soups/stews, sandwiches, salads, and cookies. Nate and I both had chickpea stew and I had a cucumber sandwich, which was simple but actually quite delicious. We also split an oatmeal cookie, which had a really great texture and was moist and springy. What a delightful meal! The only drawback was that it was a little pricey, but we were used to paying higher prices for food in Vancouver by this point. This seems like it would be a great lunch spot if you worked in the area. Everybody DOES love veggies!

Everybody Loves Veggies
555 W 12th Ave.
Vancouver, BC

Google Maps

The restaurant itself is probably most like the Quiet Storm, if you need to compare it to something in Pittsburgh. It is not all vegetarian, but has a wide variety of options in that category. Most of the food is organic and/or local, and iIt has a cozy yet dingy diner feel to it. The most exciting part is going to the bathroom - to get to the bathroom you have to walk into the back area and it seems like you are walking right into the kitchen/food prep area, because for the most part, you are. There is a sign with an arrow pointing to the left telling you the bathroom is that way, no really. After going through a few twists and turns, you finally end up at the restroom and just really feel like you shouldn't be there. But you have a story to tell when you get back.

Paradox Cafe
3439 SE Belmont
Portland, OR 97214
503-232-7508

MapQuest | Google Maps