Finding vegan friendly options when dining out doesn't have to be tedious, thanks to our friends over at VegGuide.org.
VegGuide.org is a community-maintained, world-wide guide to vegetarian and vegan restaurants and shopping.
Users like yourself can add your favorite restaurants, coffee shops, juice bars, grocers, caterers, and more. Is your favorite local vegan friendly restaurant already listed? Leave a rating (from one to five stars), and write a review.
VegGuide is perfect for vegans and vegetarians planning a visit or vacation to a new town. You can simply enter the name of a city in the search bar to look for listings, or you can browse by Regions, States, and Cities to see what is available.
We checked out VegGuide to see what had been listed in our own backyard here in Central Oregon. While larger cities like Portland and Eugene led the pack in Oregon for available listings, our little city of Bend had a nice selection of vegetarian and vegan options available as well.
A Vegan-Friendly Day of Local Eats in Bend, OR
To start off a day of local and vegan friendly eats, who wouldn't be in the mood for a gourmet coffee shop with vegan donuts or baked goods? VegGuide lists Backporch Coffee, Strictly Organic Coffee Bar, Townshend's Tea Company, and Full Circle Donuts as vegan friendly coffee shop options.
When lunch rolls around, Cafe Yumm! offers rice bowls with tofu and tempeh (as well as river views), and Longboard Louie's serves up Mexican food with labeled vegan options. Village Baker offers vegan-friendly American soups, salads, and sandwiches for an inexpensive price (and in a kid-friendly environment).
For dinner, you can't go wrong with Kebaba, a west-side favorite featuring Modern Middle Eastern Foods. And if you want to hit the town with some friends, Broken Top Bottle Shop and Ale Cafe is a vegan-friendly restaurant and bar that features appetizers, salads, soups, sandwiches, and entrees appropriate for vegan and vegetarian diners. (Not to mention plenty of local micro-brews!)
Sites like VegGuide.org are a great way for vegans and vegetarians to find local restaurants that celebrate the compassionate lifestyle. VegGuide will only get better, as more and more users log on and suggest their favorite places to eat, and add more ratings and reviews. Log on today and add your favorite local spot!
VegGuide is a project of Compassionate Action for Animals (CAA). This Minnesota animal right's organization is on a mission to encourage people to cultivate empathy for animals, and move towards a plant-based diet. CAA hosts vegetarian festivals, provides free humane education programs, helps form and assist high school and college based animal advocacy organizations, provides online resources, and more to accomplish their goals. CAA partnered with Compassion Over Kiling, Farm Sanctuary, Mercy for Animals, The Humane League, and Vegan Outreach to bring you VegGuide.org.
Melissa Zimmerman
Live Superfoods
References:
VegGuide.org; http://www.vegguide.org
Compassionate Action for Animals; http://www.exploreveg.org
