Traveling vegetarian

November 30, 2016 8:13 AM

I'm looking for vegetarian restaurant/cafe suggestions in the following Midwestern cities: Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Kansas City. They don't have to be 100% vegetarian but they should have more than one boring veg option. Thanks!
posted by bobobox to Food & Drink (18 answers total)

I went to the Great Lakes Brewpub in Cleveland a few years ago - not the most meatless menu but there are a decent amount of vegetarian choices and everything I ate was extremely delicious.
posted by terretu at 8:28 AM on November 30, 2016

On the off chance you've never used it before, Happy Cow keeps a quite good index of veg restaurants by city.

Cleveland
Cincinnati
Kansas City, MO

The Cafe Gratitude in KC is worth a visit if you've never been to one.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 8:35 AM on November 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

There's a place called Eden Alley Vegetaria on the premises of the Unity Temple on the Plaza in KC. The food is very inventive and pretty cheap.
posted by killdevil at 8:37 AM on November 30, 2016

Best answer: I am vegetarian and live outside of KC so all my recommendations will be for there. Seconding the recommendation for Cafe Gratitude if you want a fully vegan restaurant (very good and reasonably priced, too). I also like these KC options though they are not vegetarian but do offer vegetarian options: Chez Elle and Lulu's Thai Noodles. (I did not like Eden Alley or Fud.)
posted by vegartanipla at 8:53 AM on November 30, 2016

Best answer: I love Tommy's in Cleveland. They will make you a falafel omelet. Can you imagine a better thing? There's also a cool bookstore adjoining.

And yes - Eden Alley (aka "Church basement vegetarian") in KC is wonderful too.
posted by fritley at 9:22 AM on November 30, 2016 [2 favorites]

We're regular visitors to Cleveland, our most recent vegetarian meal: Greenhouse Tavern
Highly recommend brunch. I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Our original first choice was Town Hall but it was prior to the election and there was some controversy about there being a political fundraiser held on site. At the time people were calling for boycotts, but some of that appears to have lessened due to clarifications on their part. YMMV.
posted by librarianamy at 9:34 AM on November 30, 2016

Where in Cincinnati will you be?
posted by mmascolino at 10:37 AM on November 30, 2016

Best answer: Highly recommend Tommy's in Cleveland Heights.
posted by Dolley at 10:40 AM on November 30, 2016

Best answer: Cincinnati:

Melt Eclectic Cafe
Ruth's Parkside Cafe
Orchids at Palm Court
Green Dog Cafe
Pho Lang Thang

Basically any restaurant on this list and this list as well.

We have a really good food scene here in Cincinnati.
posted by cooker girl at 10:40 AM on November 30, 2016

In additional, to cooker girl's suggestions, I recommend Abigail Street which is a Mediterranean small plates restaurant, 40% of which is vegetarian. The new hotness in town is Please (although I haven't gotten to go yet) and it features a vegetarian tasting menu.
posted by mmascolino at 10:52 AM on November 30, 2016

Second the greenhouse tavern in Cleveland - or chef sawyer's other spot - Noodlecat
posted by nuclear_soup at 11:25 AM on November 30, 2016

Best answer: If you're in west-side Cleveland: Forage Public House, Cleveland Vegan, The Root Cafe, Barrio.
posted by box at 12:10 PM on November 30, 2016

I'm not sure if Kansas City's Blue Bird Bistro has as many options as you would like (looks like just 3 on the relatively small lunch/dinner menu), but their food is quite tasty. It's also open for breakfast.
posted by slenderloris at 1:17 PM on November 30, 2016

Response by poster: mmascolino, I'll be near the University of Cincinnati.

I'm excited about all of these options! But sad I won't be able to go to them all. I'll try to hit at least one in each city.
posted by bobobox at 6:57 PM on November 30, 2016

My favorite KC place to take vegetarians/vegans is Char Bar - they do traditional KC BBQ, but have several vegetarian/vegan options including an amazing smoked jackfruit. (Also lots of veg/vegan sides and other sandwiches.)
posted by jferg at 7:59 PM on November 30, 2016

That's a great location. Melt and Ruth's are a short drive to the west. Please/Abigail/Pho Lang Thang is a short drive to the south. UC being a big campus also means the typical type of college campus restaurants will be in an abundance and most will at least nominally cater to a vegetarian audience. I don't however know of a specific place on campus that I'd seek out specifically for the vegetarian food.
posted by mmascolino at 6:25 AM on December 1, 2016

Response by poster: I went to Tommy's in Cleveland Heights - count me in as a convert to the falafel omelet!

Then Lulu's Thai Noodles in KC - super yum though I did have to ask them to leave the fish sauce off.

Sadly didn't get to go to any of the suggestions for Cincinnati. But I did have a ridiculously good veggie burger made with beets at Krueger's Tavern.

Thanks so much for helping me out!
posted by bobobox at 5:14 AM on December 21, 2016

Response by poster: Oh, and I also hit up Barrio in Cleveland!
posted by bobobox at 5:15 AM on December 21, 2016 [1 favorite]