Vegan Eatery You Like?

[Valley Oak]

Are there any vegan or vegetarian restaurants in Sonoma County that you have been to and enjoyed? Could you please offer a first-hand, direct experience recommendation for such a restaurant?

My wife and I would like to celebrate her 65th birthday.

Thank you in advance,
Edward

[SonomaPatientsCoop]

I am unaware of any really good options in SoCo.

Depending on your tolerances for "vegan" - ie: what it's cooked on dedicated gear...or whether there's ingredients like honey or yeast... there are many restaurants that offer some "vegan" options.

I'd say do some research on the type of meals you'd like...and then contact the restaurant for more specifics. In my experience.... many good restaurants, if they have some heads up, will go out of their way modify a vegetarian meal to a vegan one for a special occasion.

Sadly (and interestingly) - high end vegan restaurants haven't been able to survive in CA... even in the major cities.

[sealwatcher]

I've enjoyed Millenium when they were in San Francisco - haven't made it to their new loction in Oakland. Wish they'd come up here!

[sealwatcher]

And Muir's Tea Room (https://www.muirstearoomandcafe.com/)! Wonderful vegan restaurant! Heard about them in 2014, found them here around the same time and they continue to please right here on Main Street in Sebastopol!

[vganmom]

Hi. I’ve been a vegan for 42 years. My favorite restaurant is Kathmandu in the train in Sebastopol. They have great organic vegan Indian and Nepalese food. Also the owners are very nice and helpful. I highly recommend this restaurant for great healthy vegan food and great service.

this restaurant has vegan, vegetable and non/vegetarian food..

[animel8]

I'm not sure when your anniversary is, but there is a new all vegan restaurant going in at 1899 Mendocino Ave in Santa Rosa called the Cozy Plum. They are taking over Gaia's Garden and keeping it all vegan but expanding the menu quite a bit. They are opening soon.

[350kitty]

A better strategy might be to include restaurants that feature a good selection of vegan entrees.

I'm a flexitarian (semi-vegetarian). But I am always interested in eating more and more plant-based for several reasons (health, compassion - and it's way better for the climate!) Did you know that a plant-rich diet is listed as NUMBER 4 on Project Drawdown's list of top 100 solutions to reduce and reverse the climate crisis??

I often don't like fake meats. But Chinese/Asian restaurants seem to do a very good job with vegan meats.

North Bay Vegan Events is a group on Meetup.com. They've been to China Chef in Cotati a few times. You could look up their past events and see what restaurants they've been to. (I haven't been there yet. But despite the restaurant not being totally vegan, it seems to be popular among vegans.)

https://www.meetup.com/northbay-vegan

I'm very found of Goji Kitchen in Santa Rosa near the JC (Asian fusion, mostly Vietnamese/Chinese). They have a few vegan entrees, including at least two vegan appetizers, vegan noodle soup, vegetarian and I think a few other dishes that might be made vegan. Avoid their crispy/deep fried foods - they only have one fryer so they fry the potentially vegan items (i.e. tofu) in the same fryer as their meat items. I adore their Lemongrass Tofu (delicious!) but it's made with fish sauce. I've urged them to make it with vegan "fish" sauce.

http://gojikitchen.com/
http://gojikitchen.com/menu/

Kafal is a popular Nepalese/Indian restaurant in downtown Santa Rosa. I've had a couple of vegetarian (not vegan) curries that I enjoyed. They do have vegan items. You can do a search for 'vegan' among their reviews. Here's a link to the vegan search results (https://www.yelp.com/biz/kafal-restaurant-santa-rosa-2?osq=nepal&q=vegan).

Good luck! Let us know how the birthday dinner turns out!

[350kitty]

I haven't been to Bollywood Bar & Clay Oven, an Indian restaurant also in downtown Santa Rosa, but a friend of mine raved about it, and it's been highly recommended on Yelp (https://www.yelp.com/biz/bollywood-bar-and-clay-oven-santa-rosa). They also have vegan dishes.