Earlier this week, Beyonce was talking vegan eating, telling Good Morning America about the benefits of her plant-based diet. It has veganism all over the news again, from TIME to E! (a lot of it not overwhelmingly positive).
Whether you’re vegan/supportive of veganism or not, we can all agree that deliciousness is something worth celebrating. And although this wasn’t true, say, 10 years ago, Nashville does manage to combine vegan and delicious these days at various places.
Curious where to find the good vegan stuff in Nashville? Here’s a quick primer:
The Wild Cow Vegetarian Restaurant
1896 Eastland Avenue, Nashville | www.thewildcow.com
In East Nashville, the Wild Cow’s menu jumps between Asian-inspired dishes and tacos and beyond. All of it’s really great — none of it has any meat. A delicious place to start: their Far Eastland Bowl, with tofu, garlicky kale and carrot-daikon slaw topped with a really fantastic peanut sauce. Even hardcore carnivores end up wanting to come back for that one.
Khan’s Desserts
733 Porter Road, Nashville | khansdesserts.com
Another East Nashville spot, Khan’s Desserts’ name is a little deceiving — they have a wide selection of desserts, but that’s alongside a full menu of breakfast, lunch and brunch options, too, from “sausage” and “egg” biscuits to panini sandwiches made with local BEHive seitan. If we’re focusing on the desserts, though, no complaints here — their vegan cupcakes are moist and creative, and they just added vegan soft-serve sundaes, too.
My Veggie Chef
myveggiechef.com
If you prefer to cook your vegan dinners at home but don’t find yourself with a ton of time to shop/prep/get inspired, local meal service My Veggie Chef provides kits that are portioned, prepped and ready to go, with a little heat/a few steps from you. The meals run the gamut, from pasta Alfredo to pineapple coconut curry, and usually take around 20-30 minutes to get to the table. It’s less upscale than Blue Apron and the like — just simple, tasty dishes for busy veggie-lovers who want to eat healthy.
TheBEhive
www.bethehive.com
Another option for the home cooks: Nashville has its own independent seitan producer (wheat gluten with a meat-like texture). Local TheBEHive seitan can usually be found at a bunch of Nashville grocers, including Whole Foods in Green Hills and the two Turnip Truck Markets in East Nashville and The Gulch. It’s also made its way to the menu of various Nashville restaurants, like the 12 South Taproom and Pub5 downtown.
Sunflower Cafe
2834 Azalea Place, Nashville | www.sunflowercafenashville.com
A city that got named the best place for barbecue in the nation by Travel + Leisure has to have good barbecue options for vegans, right? (Even if that seems like an oxymoron.) Berry Hill’s Sunflower Cafe has a lot of menu choices, from mock crabcakes and various twists on veggie burgers to Greek salad with tofu feta, but they might be best-loved by meat eaters-turned-vegetarians and vegans in Nashville for creating top-notch vegan barbecue sandwiches.
Vegan Vee
306 46th Avenue North, Nashville | www.veganvee.com
Another place to indulge in the sweet stuff: Cakes, cupcakes, donuts, tarts, “cheesecakes” — you have a slew of vegan treats to choose from this Sylvan Park take-out bakery.
Big fan of any of these places/vegan food providers? Any other places we should know about? We love keeping lists of places to check out for clients who are new to town — or just have new eating needs. Let us know!
Photo credits: top photo, Alexandra E Rust / The Wild Cow Vegetarian Restaurant on Facebook / Khan’s Desserts on Facebook / myveggiechef.com / www.bethehive.com / Sunflower Cafe on Facebook / Vegan Vee on Facebook