Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Hey! I'm going to be in the Oakley area next month (Sept) and my boyfriend and I will be heading out to Sac and SF for a couple weekends and I wanted to know what vegan/vegan-friendly places are in the area that we should check out. I've been doing some research and I have a small list of different places but I thought I'd post in case I missed something or if someone strongly advises me against going somewhere.

Thanks!

I just spent a few days in Sac, I really liked Andy Nguyen's, Sugar Plum Vegan, Doughbots, and Downtown's Kitchen BBQ vs Vegan. Davis had a million Indian and Thai restaurants. Millennium in SF was totally worth it.

As a Sacramento native, I find the one restaurant that never gets its vegan due is Ernesto's. They have an extensive vegetarian menu with many items easily made vegan (enchiladas!) and the best chips and salsa in town. Other must-try places: Doughbot for creative doughnuts, Fox & Goose or Orphan Breakfast House for vegan brunch, Hot Italian for Daiya pizza, Here's the Scoop for vegan bon bons, and Sunflower Drive-In for the famous Nut Burger. Mati's Indian Express is very vegan-friendly with delicious vegan garlic naan. If you want Japanese, Shoki Ramen has the best vegan ramen in town. Tower Cafe and Magpie Cafe are two other favorites that have vegan-friendly, high-quality food.

I'll stop, but if you're interested here's a link to Sacramento's top 25 vegetarian dishes.

If you can only make it to one place in the Bay Area, let it be Souley Vegan. It's in Oakland, but easy to get to from SF. Very easy in fact. It's worth the short BART ride. Other places are wonderful as well, but there is nothing like Souley Vegan anywhere else.

In Sac Pita Kitchen makes yummy fresh vegan baklava - buy a tray! They also have a vegan menu! I used to like Sugar Plum Vegan - not the sweet stuff (it is gross) but the service has really thrown me off not to mention lack of food, though their reuben is so good when they do it right!

Not to hate but I do not think Souley Vegan is worth the BART ride out to Oakland. I have been there a few times and things people like are either bland or I can make at home. Last time a $3 side of potato salad was a cookie ball sized scoop. In Oakland I like Banana Soy Vegan - the yellow noodles even has a mushroom hater like myself loving it & fritters from the Donut Farm - mmmm!

SF I like Weird Fish - because it has flavor (the fried seitan fish & chips) and getting bubble tea from the lil store a few block over...

Thanks everyone!

Has anyone ever heard of TREATmachine and/or Golden Era Vegetarian Restaurant? If so, what did you think? Anything I should know?

Is this place still there and vegan? I was looking at the Yelp reviews and someone mentioned that it was closed down for renovations and that it'll no longer be vegan. Their webpage doesn't work, either.

Golden Era is the sister to my favorite restaurant in the Bay Area, Merit. That's in a dreadful, horrible suburban strip center. I've never been to Golden Era, but Merit is awesome and run by the loveliest people. They are Loving Hut types, with the Supreme Master and all that.

Honestly, unless you cannot get good Asian where you live, try something else. It's very good Asian food, but this area has so much more to offer.

Edit: if you are driving, you will NOT be able to park anywhere near Golden Era. It'll be such a drag trying to find parking. Banana Soy in Oakland is decent, but nothing to get excited about. Mediocre Asian food, not worth a trip unless you are out there anyway. There are much better places in the area: Cafe Gratitude, Cafe Colucci, Gather, Zachary's Pizza, Saturn, they are all better and more fun.

Say what? We went once but now that you mention it I tried calling on a Saturday night last month around 7 to score a table and got no answer. :/

I really liked Gracias Madre. Not exactly off the beaten path, but I think it lives up to the hype. Axum Ethiopian on Haight is really tasty, too.

I don't really understand it because they had really great reviews on Yelp. So weird!

Thanks everyone for your help- I have a really good list of places for Oakland, San Francisco (I found a filter) and Sac. I was wondering if anyone knew about vegan food in Oakley (and around Oakley) since that's where I'll be for the majority of my time. I assume that I'll just be cooking for myself for most, if not the entire time that I'm there but if anyone knows of any places, that would be great!

Is Golden Era the same as Loving Hut but under a different name or just really similar? I've been wanting to try Loving Hut and don't have one near me (nor any good Asian vegan food) and was planning on trying one while I was out there.

I think Golden Era and Loving Hut are very similar. There is a Loving Hut inside West Field mall where it is buffet type line and you can pick and choose...If we are getting off BART that is what we do.

BTW the Elk Grove Loving Hut changed their awesome vegan burger patty to boca - eww. My boyfriend said it was still good - for me I do not like boca burgers. At LH I like the bbq vermicelli bowl - with egg rolls, noodles, mint and broth! Yesterday I had the most yumtastic sandwich at Pita "Kitchen - eggplant (grilled to perfection), fresh veggies, hummus, perfect falafel and hot sauce....ohh and thick syrupy yummy strawberry lemonade!

I'm glad you mentioned this because I hate Boca burgers and there's no way I'm paying for one while I'm there. I'm not paying for something in CA reataurant that I can get from the grocers freezer in NY!

I feel the same damn way. People keep raving about BBQ VS Vegan in Sac - all there burgers are Boca burgers...I do not want to pay $9 for a Boca patty...

BBQ vs Vegan was terrible the one time I went there! I ordered falafel (clearly frozen) and it was served in a hotdog bun, with pickles and iceberg lettuce. And burnt french fries. My mom has been a few times with her vegan coworker, and she says the food has been awful every time. The place has pretty good reviews on yelp, which I just do not understand. It certainly doesn't deserve any points for atmosphere. Also, the service is SLOOOWWWW.

I figured the food was premade - frozen. People are like "it's a dive bar - that's what you get"....um no thanks?

When they first opened they actually made the burgers, and they were really tasty. Not sure what happened to cause the switch.

That's why I skim the actual reviews no matter how many stars it has. By doing that, I had actually written BBQ vs Vegan from off my list because it didn't seem like a place I'd want to go to. We have dive bars here that serve vegan food that is a million times better (May Wah and creative dishes) that has pretty fast service and not rude staff. Since my list is pretty long and I'll only be in Sac for 2.3 days I have other options.

Ya, I read a lot of reviews too. I am very picky about hygiene in a place...If I have to squat above a toilet to pee then it is not for me...

I try to support as many 100% vegan places I can but if a place sucks I am not going back. A lot of people's faves just do not cut it for me. I guess every week I make Mex and soul type food and I have high standards...I tend to go for things I do not make at home, Asian and fried!

I had barbecued tofu at BBQ VS Vegan, it wasn't the best thing ever, more like fast food, but I was really happy to find a cheap place that my mom & I could both go.

Merit, Golden Era and the Loving Hut inside the Westfield Mall are all run by the same family. They are legit, good people and care about veganism.

Late here but my omni husband is obsessed with Souley Vegan. He wants to go more than I do and he has the option of regular soul food. I think it's one of his favourite places!