confessions of a vegan

Today I am going to pretend to be a restaurant critic. I'll be talking about a few vegan-friendly restaurants I have been to in Minneapolis. I will tell my personal experience with that particular restaurant, and then assign them a grade based on my opinion on the following attributes: variety of vegan food, quality of vegan food, and overall atmosphere/service.

First up is Pizza Luce. They have three locations: Downtown Minneapolis, Uptown, and Franklin Ave. They serve pizza (obviously) as well as appetizers, hoagies, pasta, and desserts. There are many vegan options and they are clearly listed on the menu. As far as pizza goes, they have two types of "cheese"- soy cheese and rinotta (made from nuts). They also have tofu, mock duck, phony pepperoni, and veggie sausage as meat substitutes. I have never had a bad experience at Pizza Luce. The restaurant staff is very friendly and the restaurant itself is very bright and clean. When my boyfriend Joey and I went on Friday, we had a soy cheese pizza with veggie sausage, green peppers, banana peppers, and mushrooms. We also had a vegan peanut butter chocolate bar for dessert. Pizza Luce is one of the few places I know that has vegan desserts.
Grade: A. Pizza Luce has quite a few quality vegan options. Not only do they have options for pizza, but you can have vegan garlic cheese bread for an appetizer, vegan hoagies or vegan pasta. The atmosphere is upbeat and you are sure to have a good time!

Second is Triple Rock Social Club, on the West Bank. They are two buildings combined. One is their venue side where they hold concerts, the other is a bar where you can find vegan bar food. The vegan options are clearly listed on their menu. Examples include mashed potatoes, mac n' cheese, and sloppy joe's. On the weekends they also serve vegan breakfast options, like pancakes and french toast. The mac n' cheese is what keeps me coming back- it is so warm and delicious. However, I do have a little problem with Triple Rock. Their policy is if there is a band playing on the venue side, even if the concert is all ages, you have to be over 21 to get into the bar side where they serve food. Even if the concert is at 5 p.m. Not knowing this rule, Joey and I went there on Valentine's Day, where we were told that we couldn't go in and eat because there was an all ages show going on next door. That really doesn't make sense to me. Also, because it is a bar, you can sometimes get waited on by someone that is a little peeved because you're not boozin' it up.
Grade: B. Really good vegan food at really good prices. Their lame policy regarding concerts and bar food and their occasionally rude servers bring their grade down to a B.

Lastly, I will talk about the Hard Times Cafe, also located on the West Bank. I have never technically eaten their food, because as soon as I walked in I was so appalled that I just left. I went there with very high expectations as many of my vegan friends had told me good things about it. It is a collectively run vegetarian restaurant with many vegan options as well. Muffins, pancakes, and tofu scramble are just a few of the foods my friends told me I had to try. Not knowing what this place would be like, I took my boyfriend and two of our omnivore friends. When we got there, we were all a little taken about by the look of the place and the people working there. The place was incredibly dingy on the inside, and it really made me scared to think about how the kitchen might look. The girl at the front counter was incredibly judgmental and rude (or just crabby, who knows). The ordering there is different (you order first and pay and then sit and they bring the food to you), but we didn't know that since we had never been there. We asked the girl and she literally snapped at us the instructions I just listed. So after seeing the grungy look of the restaurant and the rude way we were treated, my friends and I left. I was very disappointed that one of the few 100% vegetarian restaurants around was so awful. I have yet to give it a second chance.
Grade: D. The atmosphere was awful as was the service. But as a vegetarian restaurant they have an abundance of vegan food that I have yet to try. I'm hoping that their food is better than the girl who gave me such a terrible first impression of the Hard Times Cafe.

Those are just a few of the veg-friendly restaurants in Minneapolis. I am slowly spanning my wings and trying more and more restaurants and new foods. Exploration- it's what college is all about!