Review: Brazos' Phosphorescent Blues
Interview with Bobby Hackney of Death
I Am So Popular: Love Me Doo-Doo
Fun Fun Fun Fest Previews: Street Dogs and Betaplayer
Wine: Austin Cellar Classic Is Tomorrow
After reading an article in Good Magazine about a 250-pound guy who, worried about his cholesterol and blood pressure, decided to try out veganism for a month, we thought it was worth a shot as well. After consulting with our doctors ("Protein!"), we started our little experiment on August 1st. Now that the month is almost over, it's time to reflect on what Austin resources have helped make this a relatively easy venture.
It should be noted that we use the term "vegan" fairly loosely. In addition to meat or dairy products, many vegans don't eat refined sugar or honey—we know of many who do, however, and during this experiment, we did. We only messed up twice, and both times were because we are powerless to the draw of Alamo Drafthouse queso.
Wheatsville Co-Op and Whole Foods offer an abundance of simple substitutions for anyone's favorite animal products—think seitan, tofu, and meatless chicken nuggets (which are DELICIOUS)—but don't neglect the specialty foods section of H-E-B. Here, one can find bruschetta veggie chips, Peace Cereal, and, our favorite, Amy's Frozen Black Bean Enchiladas, which are perfect for heating up on the go. Odwalla drinks also offer a breakfast option with that all-important protein.
Eating out? Austin Java offers delicious pastas that can be made vegan, such as their confetti penne pasta (without Parmesan). Galaxy Café makes their own veggie burgers, and the quality shows; they are delicious and flavorful with avocado and a side salad. Kerbey Lane offers a special menu that ensures their vegan customers can fully enjoy their hummus and tabooley plate, secure in the knowledge that it is 100% animal free. They also have a new banana-honey-granola quesadilla available without the honey or quesa fresca.
For the old sweet tooth, we heartily recommend Spiderhouse Café's vegan peanut butter cups, but for home-baked goodies, Post-Punk Kitchen offers delicious recipes, including chocolate banana cupcakes that our coworkers went wild for. But, if worse comes to worse, you can just grab some Oreos—they're vegan too!
Happy eating!Galaxy Cafe - Clarksville
1000 West Lynn
(512) 478-3434
Open Daily, 7am-10pm
(Breakfast served M-F until 11:30am, S-S until 4pm)
Spider House Coffee Bar & Vegetarian Cafe
2908 Fruth St<
br>(512) 480-9562
Open Daily, 7am-2am
Austin Java Cafe & Bar
1206 Parkway
(512) 476-1829
Monday-Thursday: 7am-11pm
Friday: 7am to Midnight
Saturday: 8am-Midnight<
br>Sunday: 8am-11pm
Kerbey Lane Cafe
2606 Guadalupe St.
(512) 477-5717
Open 24/7
Photo by Drunken Monkey on Flickr
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There are also a number of asian restauraunt where you can find vegan options. Le Soleil, Titaya's Thai, Tien Hong fill my belly on a number of lazy nights. Papa john's with no cheese, Thai Passion, Thai Kitchen, Quizno's (veggie, no cheese), Schlotsky's (same, no ranch), not to mention super salad, madras pavillion, and that new ethiopean place on 35. Casa de luz (all vegan), mother's (when it's open again), mr. natural (lots and lots of vegan options), Dhaba Joy (vegan oatscreme), and Veggie Heaven (if you dont mind everythign fried) are good for the hungry, and even Dog Almighty has vegan hot dogs and chili if you are down for the junk.
VeganAustin.org is a great community too for more info about what's good around town. It's not that hard to be vegan in austin, it just takes some asking.
oy vey, proofread!
Veggie Heaven!
Austin Java? Kerbey Lane? SpiderHouse? Not very heavy on the investigative work, eh? I would probably take some notes from #1. The places you mentioned are hardly geared toward Vegans/veggies.
After a month of research this is all you have to tell us?
And #2 is right on.
Actually, Oreos are NOT vegan--the filling contains gelatin, which comes from horse hooves. But this sounds like a worthy experiment.
very interesting...sort of the culinary equivalent of biting someone else's fingernails. when you're in the mood for a tasty snack.
Also, Satay restaurant has the most delicious vegan chocolate silk tofu pie.. I even like it better than regular chocolate pies (yep, even Threadgill's)!
-itza
Agar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agar) can be used as a vegan substitute for gelatin. Get it at Asian grocery stores.
I'm sure you can find commercially produced Oreo-style cookies made with it.
Gelatin is not made out of horses hooves. Horses hooves are worth far too much and we don't slaughter enough to use for that. It's just connective tissue. More than likely it came from Chicken or Cattle, since those two industries are producing the majority of the leftover bones in the US. Still not vegan though.
This is a somewhat disturbing article for another reason, though. Sure you can become vegan and find all these meat replacements and eat out all the time, but what have you achieved? You're wholly dependent on the industrial food complex to make everything you consume. I guess it depends on what you find most evil.
And is it just me, but where were the vegetables in this story?
#1 is right on. Casa De Luz is a particularly glaring oversight, considering macrobiotic vegan food is all they serve.
In addition, I'd offer up Swad. They have excellent cheap Indian food - all vegetarian, and there are definitely vegan options available.
The veggie burger at Galaxy Cafe isn't vegan. I called them and they said that it contains parmesan, cheddar and eggs. Most veggie burgers in restaurants aren't vegan.
I have tried Casa De Luz's brunch several times and most of it is so bland as to make me cry, and man it is pricey for that.
Madras Pavillion is another all-veggie Indian joint with many vegan options.
Dhaba Joy's oatscreme isn't completely to my taste, but all of their baked goods are devine, and the sandwiches are knock-you-out good.
When it comes back, Mother's Cafe of course is amazing, great all the way around with zillions of options, and if you let them know you're vegan they'll watch out for you completely.
Austin's Pizza sans-cheese is devine (even their soy cheese has casein, a milk by-product, so you have to stick strictly cheeseless, but they have verified that their crust is 100% animal by-product and animal ingredient free).
It does sound like you made a valiant short-term effort here, but the devil is in the details a bit. Most vegans carefully monitor by-products and ingredients and assume things are not vegan unless they can specifically verify it to be so. By default most things in this world contain animal-derived ingredients or by-products.
Also, don't forget good old organic produce, the more local the better! The farmers' markets and the Greenling Organic Delivery Service are awesome sources for such fare.
Oreos do NOT Have gelatin in them. Their ingredient list ha no animal products in it.
I've never liked anything I got at Mother's. Talk about bland!
OH and HealthValley (found in every HEB specialty food section, Central Market, and many other shops around town) makes an awesome vegan sandwich cookie, the ones with mint-flavored filling are dangerously good. However, vegan junk is NO MORE HEALTHY than non-vegan junk, so if you are looking for the health benefits, eat your beans, your whole grains, your fresh local veggies and try not to overdo even the tofu (tempeh is a better choice). Even Hill Country Fare (HEB's house brand) has a lot of vegan snack products, but they are FILLED with high-fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils, you might as well just beg for poor health.
I could eat at Madras Pavilion every day. But not in ye olde vegan style - I have to have the rice pudding.
Mother's improved significantly when they brought over the West Lynn Cafe menu (in my opinion). I used to think they were pretty bland myself, but there did seem to be a paradigm shift after they fused with West Lynn (after West Lynn's lamentable closure, followed, of course, by its location's successor's closing--Cosmic Cafe, a decent Indian-fusion place with lots of vegan options).
Some rice pudding can be made with coconut milk and be fantastic, though I haven't queried Madras Pavilion regarding theirs and I would bet it is dairy-based.
Glycerin, an ingredient in Oreos, is usually from an animal source, though it can be a vegetable oil by-product, it usually isn't unless specified to be vegetable glycerin. Most companies that use it have no idea the source of their glycerin and sometimes it will be animal, sometimes it will be vegetable, just based on what has the better market price. However, in the author's defense, PETA allows glycerin in products it considers vegan as well. I personally avoid it unless it is specified as vegetable glycerin.
I'm amazed that Cosmic Cafe remains a longtime success in Dallas while Austin gave it a great big, "No thanks!" I wonder if people just loved them some West Lynn too much to adjust. That coupled with slow service and inconsisten food.
I like ribs.
I prefer the vegan chicken omelette at Fonda San Miguel. It comes with no egg, chicken, cheese, butter or bacon bits. In fact, it's just an empty plate with some green peppers sprinkled in the middle.
If you are worried about cholesterol and eating heart healthy foods..why would you eat Oreos? that's not even taking into account the sugar.
http://teamfeedeveryone.blogspot.com/
A few things: 1. Bouldin Creek coffee house (yum) 2.Casa de luz is the best place ever 3. jo's coffee has awesome vegan wheat roast bbq frito pie 4. sorbet is vegan! 5. vegans are sexy 6. nutritional yeast rules 7. my kitchen happens to be the best place to find vegan food, and I'm not even vegan. VEGAN LOVE!
Ha! Nice link to the potluck nazis! That's funny. I can't beleive they make their guests bring over their own silverware and plates because their guests don't know how to clean up after themselves - that's hilarious.
ha! ho! nazis! ha!
i also recommend DaVine Foods on Oltorf as a really awesome vegan place. their kale salad is ridick delish.
i think they have some pizza with dairy-based cheeses too, although the pizza oven wasn't ready when i went last (a few months back).
Try VegAustin.com with a fantastic selection of resources for vegetarians and vegans in the Austin area, including restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores.
the potluck nazis? that's rather unfounded and immature. bringing your own silverware and plates to someone's house for a potluck shows that you are a proper houseguest... unlike you - i can only imagine what a disgusting overweight slob you are. please, whoever you are, eat more meat, dairy, and eggs - the sooner you're gone, the better.
ha! You nerd. You're very anal for a vegan. And very closed minded. And I will have you know that I am hot and thin and tall and I look BEAUTIMOUS!!!
hahahah! Like that fucking matters...
Believe it or not, I have friends and a small group of us - 6 or sometimes 7 - eat at each other's house or dine out about 4 days out of the week. Sometimes 5. It saves a lot of money and it's nice to only have to cook 3 or 4 nights a week. I'd never ever dream of asking any of them to bring over their own plates or silverware or food. That's just rude. If they did the same to me I'd look at them funny. Maybe take their temp. (Because it's so rude.) It's like going to your friend's house for his birthday and his brother showing up and saying, "You all have to pay for the party! Everyone chip in what you can! Only $5.00?!"
It's rude. And it's funny to me that people can be so rude when they think they're being nice. At least when I'm rude, I know I'm being rude.
actually, i do find it hard to believe that you have friends. i'd hang on to them if i were you.
such a better article could've been written on veganism in austin!! it sounds like the author used to live on fast food or TV dinners because these "breakthroughs" aren't very enlightening....plus all the places referenced could be foudn in any "new student" handbook or whatever-- spiderhouse?? kerbey lane?? there are so many better places for vegans, as seen in the comments above. thank god for comments.
oooh oooh! I want to argue about trivial things that few people read!
I go to the "nazi" potluck. When it was just a few of (under 10) they would cook for all of us. Now that it has gotten so popular, it was a necessity for it to be a potluck. The same size necessity brought about the need for people to bring their own dishes. Give em a break, dude has like 4 cups!!
but if my guess is correct, you are one of those people who likes to post insulting comments on webforms because it really isn't confrontation. get the facts next time before you make yourself look really stupid, again.
I guess your judgments don't apply to you and yours, right #35 and 33? Because, you know, you're special and entitled and so much better than anyone that doesn't kiss your self rightous asses.
But you keep on keeping on being the big bad bitches you are. Not like I get anything but laughs out of your performances.
hmm..i'm trying to see how 35 could be considered self-righteous, but nope, just not seein it.
when i've gone to potlucks across my entire life, it was always just considered common courtesy to the host to bring your own utensils and plates, for one thing so they didn't have to stay up washing tons of dishes afterwards, and secondly because they might not have enough for everyone if lots of people are coming. so it sort of baffles me that it can be called rude.
it's not like you have to pay for bringing your own plate, so the "it's like going to a birthday party and being asked to pay" comparison doesn't work. with that logic, you could call bringing food to a potluck rude.
DA VINE FOODS BOO!, SMALL PORTIONS AND ACRIMONIOUS DUDE THAT RUNS THE PLACE! STAFF is GREAT! FOOOD IS GREAT! portions small! price high!
MEAT IS NO TREAT FOR THOSE YOU EAT!
I'm so thinking of going to get myself an Amarillo burger from Casino after all this silly vegan talk. Mmmmmmm, juicy medium cooked burger. The slightly cooked blood is so tasty with the jalapenos.
Hi. I am the "Potluck Nazi" who is being referred to here. I don't really get what the fuss is over the silverware issue, but I guess some people just get their kicks by complaining on public forums. You people are silly.
If there is confusion about what a potluck is, Wikipedia defines it quite nicely: "A potluck is a gathering of people where each person is expected to bring a dish of food to be shared among the group."
Our weekly potluck group has grown to about 20-30 people. The silverware issue is simply a response to this large number. We don't have 30 forks, plates, cups...so it makes sense for people to bring their own. Plastic/paper plates are also not an option, as we strive to eliminate as much waste as possible.
The silverware issue aside, there are so many better places to be vegan in Austin. It's ridiculous that this article doesn't even mention CASA DE LUZ (THE ONLY VEGAN PLACE IN AUSTIN). And as pointed out already, many of the things mentioned in the article (oreos, galaxy cafe burgers) aren't even vegan! I hope the Austinist writers don't refer to themselves as journalists, because they're bad at doing their research.
"I hope the Austinist writers don't refer to themselves as journalists, because they're bad at doing their research."
OUCH! no need to make blanket statements like that! contrary to popular belief and despite the "royal We," the austinist is composed of a variety of contributors.
and what we lack in research we make up for with SASS.
:)
How could you not mention The Daily Juice?
www.dailyjuice.org
I try not to eat anything with a face. That's why I have the butcher saw the face off of whatever animal I'm eating.
Where in Austin can a guy find a vegan tattoo artist or a shop that uses vegan inks?
I'm pretty sure there is a post about vegan inks somewhere in here. You can do a search.
http://veganaustin.org
whats with these vegans and their parades?
found this - look at this creep! creepy web too!
http://inslide.com/respect
Vegan teacher rains on town's parade
12 Oct. 2007
Williams Bay, Wisconsin
Source: http://newsblaze.com/topstories.html
Dave Warwak received a strong warning today from his hometown police, during the town’s annual homecoming parade.
Accompanied by his dog, Warwak allegedly entered the town’s parade and passed out small cards to children.
Police stopped Warwak, escorted him home and instructed him to “stay away from the town’s children”.
The warning came in response to parent and teacher complaints who were in attendance.
At particular issue with police was Warwak telling children, Santa Claus is not real.
The card’s front reads:
Remember the Santa Claus lie?
One lie is so bad, some people prefer to keep it hidden.
So hidden, some never find out!
Do you want to live a lie?
The back reads:
Go to your favorite search engine.
Look-up “Factory Farming” Look-up “Vegan”
“Naming a rock, a banana, does not make it food”
A teacher of ten years in Illinois, Warwak was recently fired for his vegan views. Warwak filed an appeal in response to his termination. No date has been set.
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