Mother's Cafe, Austin

Mother's Cafe is probably the oldest vegetarian restaurant in Austin having been serving up veg cuisine since 1980. We went there for our last meal in Austin on a Monday night.  The outside appearance of the restaurant left much to be desired as it looked like they hadn't updated their sign since 1980.

Inside it had the same retro feel, but I think it actually worked as a funky decor. The old-style wooden seats, yellow walls, and orange carpeting seemed very fitting.

They brought us some chips and salsa on the house to start. There wasn't anything special about either, but it gave us something to munch on as we perused the menu.

There really weren't any appetizers on the menu, which seemed odd so we just ordered some sandwiches. In place of the house salad, we chose to start with the spinach salad and I'm glad we did.  The house cashew tamari dressing that they apparently sell in local stores was incredibly flavorful and really complemented the veggies well. The salad was loaded with spinach, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, sunflower sprouts, purple cabbage, cucumbers, red onions, black olives, artichoke hearts, and sliced almonds. What a salad!

For my entree, I ordered the Bueno Burger. This housemade burger was made of seeds, grains, fresh veggies, and tofu. It was soft, flavorful, and grilled just right. It was served with lettuce, tomato, pickles and onions along with ketchup, mustard, and mayo. In addition, I had it topped with their fresh guacamole and Daiya cheese. This burger was incredibly good. I can see why it has been voted the best veggie burger in Austin.

Zach ordered Sloppy Momma Joes made with texturized vegetable protein and had it topped with Daiya. His sandwich seemed a bit dry and lacked some needed flavor. Without the Daiya, it wouldn't have been very good. I wouldn't recommend ordering this one.

All in all, the service was great, most of the food was great, and the prices were right. I will definitely be back the next time I visit Austin. Now, back to DC!

Mother's Cafe
4215 Duval Street
Austin, TX 78751
(512) 451-3994

Whole Foods Vegan Foods Counter, Austin

There I was in one of the biggest Whole Foods in the world in Austin when I encountered a vegan food bar. All vegan, all fresh and mostly raw. I was in vegan heaven. The bar looked like it was part of the Health Starts Here campaign that has been promoted nationally in all Whole Foods. Austin is Whole Foods' headquarters' home so it would make sense that this store would be cooler than my local one.

They offered items like broccoli cashew crunch, chickpea chix salad, pumpkin seed cheese, and raw German chocolate cake. After seeing these offerings, we decided to eat at Whole Foods for lunch on our last day in Austin. Besides what was in the case, they also had a menu. I decided to order the raw flax seed tostada from the menu and the chickpea salad from the case.

The raw flax seed tortilla was topped with kale and avocado, spicy cashew cheese, mock sour cream, cilantro and pico de gallo. The flax seed tortilla was very fresh and went well with the greens. I found that the sauces really made this dish though. Overall, the tostada was delicious! The chickpea salad was tasty and filling as well.

If you are a raw foods enthusiast, I would recommend stopping by this counter. I honestly could have eaten here every day.

Counter Culture, Austin

Counter Culture started as a food trailer in Austin in 2009. In April of 2012, they sold the trailer and moved in to their new permanent space in East Austin. I never had the pleasure of eating at the trailer, but in my research of Austin, this new restaurant sounded like a great place to go for comfort food.

We headed there for dinner on a Sunday evening. The inside decor is that of a 50's diner with bright turquoise walls, floors, and tables with a jukebox on the wall. It was kind of cute. We decided to sit outside at one of their turquoise picnic tables on this nice, warm evening.

They had a modest wine list, but we weren't expecting anything spectacular from a diner-like place. Zach ordered a wine from Texas (very bold of him) and I ordered a sustainable red wine. We both liked mine better and agreed that it would be nice if they offered a few more choices. They also need to get some real wine glasses.

We placed our orders and within minutes were becoming mosquito food. Before we got eaten alive, we decided to move indoors. The waiter seemed very understanding as he remarked that the bugs can be vicious at times. We started with the Spicy Bake Artichoke Dip. Oh my gosh, this was delicious! It was this incredibly creamy dip made of baked artichokes and jalapenos. It was served with this fresh, warm bread. We basically licked the plate.

We both ordered the Philly Seitan. This sandwich was on the same bread that we were served with the dip. The "meat" was housemade wheat meat thinly sliced with sauteed green peppers and onions and topped with a cashew cheese made with nutritional yeast. The sauce was thick and creamy and coated the seitan well. We both loved this sandwich. This was a win. On the side, I ordered garlicky Swiss chard - delish! Zach had the roasted root vegetables.

We loved the decor and the food; and the service was great. Overall, it was reasonably priced at $8 for the sandwich and $7 for the appetizer. This is a restaurant that goes on the top of my list of places to eat in Austin. Highly recommended for comfort food.

Counter Culture
2337 East Cesar Chavez
Austin, TX 78702
(512) 524-1540

Bouldin Creek Cafe, Austin

Bouldin Creek Cafe was not on my list of places to go in Austin, but after speaking to a bunch of people who recommended it, we decided to go for lunch. I mean everyone we talked to raved about it so how could we not go?!

Bouldin Creek is located in a cute neighborhood in the midst of many little shops. When we arrived it was about 1 p.m. on a Saturday and it was packed. There was only a 15-minute wait for brunch though -- not too bad.

When we finally sat down, we realized how extensive their menu was. They offer many varieties of breakfast plates, salads, and sandwiches. They pride themselves on serving fresh vegetarian food made from scratch and are known for their tofu. Their tofu is actually locally made by White Mountain Foods.  I, specifically, wanted to try their tofu.

Once again, Zach and I decided to order the same thing. It is funny that out of all the things on the menu, we went for the same thing -- The Renedict. Zach also ordered a coffee and I ordered a rose lemonade.

The coffeehouse was bustling on this Saturday afternoon. It was eclectically decorated with red ceilings and yellow walls along with various unique lighting structures including a light made from a bicycle wheel. Artwork from a local artist was displayed on the walls.

After a little time, our renedicts were served. As you probably guessed, this is a play on eggs benedict. It was tofu served on grilled ciabatta (open-faced) topped with baby spinach and locally-grown tomatoes. On top was their homemade vegan Hollandaise and it was sooo good. There were also slices of tofu bacon, which were surprisingly similar to regular bacon. The sauce was rich, the tofu had a unique texture and flavor, and the bacon was divine. I loved it all! On the side, I had organic red and black beans -- also very good.

The meal was huge and we were stuffed, but our waitress still convinced us to get a dessert so we took one of their brownies home with us. The brownie had an unusual flavor - it was good, but weird.

All in all, we were really glad we went. The food was delicious and filling, the service was great, and we loved the atmosphere. Definitely recommended for Austin.

Bouldin Creek Cafe
1900 South First
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 416-1601

Tears of Joy, Austin

While walking down 6th Street on a 95-degree day in Austin, we stumbled across Tears of Joy, a hot sauce shop. Oh, how I love hot sauce! The last time I had been in a hot sauce shop was in Louisiana. There really should be more shops like this across the U.S.

Inside, it was a hot sauce lover's dream. The hot sauces were all rated on a scale of 1 to 10 in hotness. There were sections for sauces, chips, spices, and salsas.

But what really caught my eye was the coffin. Inside the coffin were all of the sauces that were rated a 10 including pure extracts! Wow!

It was quite the selection. Eventually, after trying many sauces and burning my taste buds off, I chose to purchase The Executioner Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce, The Hottest Fuckin' Sauce (that is what it is called) and Deano's Jalapeno Chips. More on these items at another time.

As I was checking out, the woman at the register told me to try the extract that was there, I picked it up, smelled it, then decided against it. In the process, a tiny bit got on my finger so I licked it. It almost killed me. For hours later, I could taste it -- it was that hot. I have no idea why anyone would need anything that hot, but now I aspire to get to a point where I could handle that. For now, I'll stick with the ghost pepper sauce, which is plenty hot enough.

This is a great place to visit while in Austin. Highly recommended.

Tears of Joy
618 E. 6th Street
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 499-0766

Sweet Ritual, Austin

Juice and vegan ice cream sundaes? Sure, why not! In an unexpected location inside of the Daily Juice Cafe is this wonderful, heavenly spot where you can get your ice cream sundae fix. Welcome to Sweet Ritual in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Austin. The two owners, Valerie and Amelia, both worked for ice cream parlors in the past. In fact, Amelia worked for the only vegan ice cream shop in Austin at the time, Toy Joy, and while working there, she developed her own recipe for ice cream. They teamed up to start an old-fashioned ice cream parlor and the rest is history.

The menu is very extensive as they offer 17 different sundaes along with many different toppings so can either choose from the sundaes on the menu or you can make your own. They also have shakes and espresso. Unfortunately, though, there were only two types of ice cream to choose from -- vanilla and the flavor of the week, which was orange dreamsicle. Since we really couldn't decide on just one sundae, we just ordered the sundae sampler, which allows you to taste three smaller sundaes for $13. Okay, maybe we got a bit greedy. We went with the Turtle, Peanut Butter Cup, and RedHotVegans.com.

We sat down and anxiously awaited our sundaes. When they came out, two of them were half melted. The lady apologized saying that she was working by herself and quickly left to attend to the other customers. That was pretty disappointing. That said, they were all delicious. The turtle was vanilla ice cream with gooey chocolate sauce, salted caramel sauce, pecans and shaved coconut. The peanut butter cup was vanilla ice cream topped with creamy peanut butter sauce, chocolate sauce, chocolate chips and salted Spanish peanuts. What a great combo!  Last, but not least, there was the RedHotVegans.com. Luckily, this was the one that wasn't melted because it was the best! It was basically a Smores sundae with graham crackers, spiced chocolate sauce, and roasted marshmallows -- they really were roasted with a blowtorch! This sundae was amazing! If you only get one, get the RedHotVegans.com sundae. This website, by the way, is an Austin vegan lifestyle blog.

So, besides the sundaes being half-melted, they were really good. I would highly recommend you try this place. Just order one sundae at a time.

Sweet Ritual
4500 Duval Street
Austin, TX 78751

Casa De Luz, Austin

In my research of Austin, I discovered this non-profit, educational community center called "Casa De Luz" that offers yoga and health classes. On-site there is an all-organic cafe that serves vegan and gluten-free cuisine. We thought it would be interesting to check it out for lunch on a Sunday.

To get to the cafe, you have to walk through their gardens. It is a nice little pathway lined with trees and flowers.

At the end of the path, we entered a very busy cafe. There must have been at least 50 people in this medium-sized cafe. At the counter, they displayed their fixed menu for the day. We checked it out and decided to give it a go. So, we paid the host a flat $12 for each of us, tax included.

He explained to us how it worked -- we would seat ourselves, we could grab our own drinks, salad, and soup. Then, the entrees would be brought out to our table. Dessert would cost extra. Simple enough. We were game.

We found a couple seats at the end of a communal table. Then we grabbed our soup, salad, and drinks. The atmosphere was energetic, the cafe was dimly lit, and we felt a really nice vibe there. People of all ages were brought together in this community center to dine on fresh vegan meals.

The salad was a mixed greens salad -- very simple. The best part about it was the pumpkinseed basil dressing, which really brought life into an otherwise plain salad.

The soup was also pretty simple -- a black bean soup. Again, it was the topping - a cheesy spread made of sunflower seeds that really gave it its flavor.

For the entree, we were served quite a variety of very fresh foods. There were sauteed carrots, zucchini, cauliflower and onions with lemon-cilantro basmati rice.  The mashed sweet potatoes were topped with some sort of strawberry syrup making them a bit too sweet for my palate. My favorite dish was the steamed collard greens and kale topped with the parsley almond sauce. Yum! We just loved how fresh everything tasted.

Afterwards, we took a look at what they were selling in the front of the cafe. There were some unusual things like freeze-dried tofu and some hard-to-find seaweeds.  As we walked back to the car, I spotted a beautiful red-mohawked woodpecker in the trees (you may need to click the image below to enlarge it). I don't get to see birds like this often so that was a real treat.

In sum, we really liked the gardens and the fresh food and found it reasonably priced at only $12 per person. This is a great place to go for fresh, healthy vegan fare in Austin.

Casa De Luz
1701 Toomey Road
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 476-2535

Arlo's and Me So Hungry, Austin

On our first day in Austin, we ate at food trucks for lunch so why not finish the day at food trucks for dinner?! I had heard so much about the vegan bacon cheeseburger at Arlo's that I absolutely had to try it. We headed out to find it and discovered a massive food truck park of at least 6 food trucks. We parked and walked through it only to discover that Arlo's was not there. They were actually located in the back lot of a bar next to the food truck park. So, we walked through the bar to the back and found Arlo's along with another food truck called "Me So Hungry."  No, it wasn't owned by 2 Live Crew.

Arlo's is 100% vegan and has an amazing menu of items like the Chik'n Chipotle, Tomato Basil Dog, and Artlito's Burrito. It pained us to order the same thing, but we both wanted to try the Bac'N Cheeze Burger. So we ordered the same thing. The guys working there did not seem like your typical vegans -- very muscular, but still tattooed...then again I guess I don't know if they were vegan.

We took a look around to see what else we could get to go with our burgers. Arlo's only offers guacamole and chips and we really weren't in the mood for something so heavy to be paired with our burgers. So, Zach walked over to the Me So Hungry truck and ordered the vegan cucumber sashimi.

The bar we were at had a stage in the back and a band was playing. It was pretty cool. We sat down at the picnic tables and after about 10 minutes, we went to pick up our food.  The burger patty and bac'n was made with housemade seitan. It was slathered with mayo, mustard, and ketchup, and topped with melted cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, and pickles. I thought it was pretty good, but it was covered with so much mustard and ketchup that it was hard to really taste the burger.

The cucumber sashimi from Me So Hungry was tasty. It was made of raw sliced tomatoes topped with spiced ginger peanut sauce, toasted sesame seeds, lime, and cilantro. Very creative.

By the time we were done, the band had stopped playing and a drag queen was on stage raffling off items to support a transvestite's upcoming sex change operation. Really - I can't make this shit up. They said something about how those people who came to eat at the vegan food truck were probably wondering what they got themselves into. Yeah, we found it pretty funny. Way to keep Austin weird.

All in all, the burger and sashimi were pretty good. Nothing really blew us away, but I do think that burger was good. I would recommend trying it. For $7, you really can't go wrong. And be sure to go on a Friday night so you can catch the live entertainment. This is Austin in all its glory.

Arlo's
1104 East 6th Street
Austin, TX 78702
(323) 359-5689

Me So Hungry
1104 East 6th Street
Austin, TX 78702
(512) 796-0804