Eiderdown
You might not suspect that a German restaurant would make the list of most vegetarian anything, but Eiderdown has stayed up to date and smartly incorporated some really delicious vegetarian and vegan items. Amongst the lovely surprises waiting here for vegetarians are the red cabbage cooked with raisins, potato salad with capers and mustard (savor my!), pierogi, vegan loaf, and a veggie burger. Read more here.
Veggie burger at Eiderdown. Order the cabbage and no cheese, I believe this would be vegan.
El Nopal
You can eat a good vegan meal at almost any Mexican restaurant, but we love El Nopal. In addition to the usual guacamole, rice, and beans, they also serve cactus and epazote. In other words, they know how to cook with weeds. You can really expand your vegetable repertoire here. Read more here.
Epazote is a weedy vegetable that you can experiment with at El Nopal
Ramsi’s Cafe on the World
If you have been to Europe and you find American restaurants lacking in palatial decor, you will need to discover Ramsi’s. All the food is good, but the vegetarian and vegan options are actually the best, and it’s a surprisingly good option for strict observers, right down to the egg-less mayonnaise. Read more here.
The bar at Ramsi’s
Falafel house
Vegans on a tight budget can’t really do better than Falafel House. You can order one of several vegetarian falafel sandwiches (hold the tzatziki if you are really a purist; it’s made with yogurt), a side of vegan french fries, and a vegan coke for around $10. If you have about three more dollars in your wallet, I recommend the salad sampler which features hummus, baba ghanoush, pita, stuffed grape leaves, and falafel. Read more here.
At the heart of the universe, where Bardstown meets Baxter
Queen of Sheba
Queen of Sheba has four vegan entrees on their menu, and they get served on a giant pancake. If you long to pick up green beans with your fingers, this is your chance. It’s also the only restaurant serving Ethiopian-style mead, a wine made from honey. They also have wine made from grapes. Just in case you seriously think that farmed bees resent their captivity. Read more here.
If you do it right, you share the plate with your cute fellow diner. Green bean and lentil dinner to the left, lamb to the right.
Naive
It’s less a meat-centric restaurant with good vegetarian options and more a vegetarian restaurant with carnal options for people who have not yet come to their senses. The vegetable is king and dressed for the job. Read more here.
Beet hummus with toast points. It’s as good as it looks.
Hopcat
Perhaps you have been thinking, “I could go vegetarian, but I’m not giving up good beer.” Hopcat has you covered. With dozens of interesting, local, and exotic brews constantly rotating, Hopcat is really the vegetarian’s first choice for a boozy vegan lunch or dinner. They have vegetarian reubens, vegan chili, and “crack” fries which had to be renamed “cosmic fries” to accommodate the Mrs. Grundies of the world. (Sigh. Did somebody really think they were serving crack? At a corporate chain?) Read more here.
The chandeliers are made from Marker’s Mark bottles
21st Amendment Tavern
It’s a bit of a dark horse, but 21st Amendment Tavern makes this list because it really is making a deliberate effort to accommodate vegans and vegetarians in style. In addition to the beyond burger, they offer a kick butt street corn, and vegetarian specials like the acorn squash pictured below. And you have GOT to love a place that still serves food after midnight AND also has a soft spot for vegans.
Acorn squash stuffed with quinoa and arugula salad. Gorgeous!
Havana Rumba
Havana Rumba has an impressive menu with many, many vegetarian options, including vegetarian empanadas, black beans, a “vegetarian press” which is like a pressed Cuban sandwich but with veggies instead of meat, vegetables on skewers, sweet potato fries, and yuca, a root vegetable that feeds the world when it’s not at Havana Rumba. GREAT selection of margaritas. And if you need to show off that you know all the words to “La Bamba,” you will be in heaven because they have a band on weekend nights. Read more here.
Dragon King’s daughter
If you have ever thought to yourself: “I’m really in the mood for some vegan sushi, but I also want a big, fat bean burrito,” this is your place. Dragon King’s Daughter is much like a five-star hotel where sushi and Mexican food rendezvous for an illicit affair. Read more here.
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