Hidden Cafes and Alleyways

This past weekend I got to fly down and see my grandma in Texas! I was so excited to see her since it’s been a whole year since she moved down there, but would I survive the vegan cowgirl life? Well, duh! Hello non-veg people, there’s fruits and veggies everywhere.

But me being the typical french-fry vegan, I’m always looking for the good local-specialty-turned-vegan soul food. I don’t want rabbit food! I want a triple stacked cheeseburger with smoked bacon with that special BBQ sauce! But… made vegan of course. And that’s always what I search for when I travel: some vegan soul food.

First things, Grams always goes way out of her way to make me amazing vegan food. Boca burger with the works, potato salad tossed with lemon dressing and a hearty veggie mix with a mustard vinaigrette. So there’s plenty of options if you want to stick to the grocery store and home cooked recipes. Grams even found an exotic veggie crisp snack that everyone loved.

Going out and chancing on vegan dishes can be a little more tricky though, especially in Dallas, Texas. At a carnival though, you’ll find my vegan weakness, the ultimate comfort food, FRIED OREOS!

Out to eat with in Aubrey, Texas with the fam, go for a plate of modified sides! It’s a vegan cop out and we all do it at some point, but it’s a great solution when you can’t find any main vegan dishes. Rice pilaf, steamed veggies, and french fries, yum!

 Of course, I Happy Cowed the area. Vegan travel god #KaleSeitan. And BAM here’s where the magic happened! We wanted to go out to eat, so I asked if they would like to try this place called Seven Mile Cafe. It had all the things I look for in a vegan restaurant for non-vegs.

1. Not too far out of the way. (Was only 15 mins away from Grandma’s house in Denton, TX.)
2. Affordable. (Prices were decent.)
3. Meat options for the omnivores. (Great convincing tactic, and this place had tons of options.)
4. Familiar food. (Meat options mean nothing if it’s weird stuff like gefilte fish #challahatme and fermented cow tongue. Seven Mile Cafe had lots of familiar non-vegan comfort food like biscuits and gravy.)

Drumroll please! At first I couldn’t find the vegan options… my vegan heart started to sink. But wait, what’s this…?

And this is only the top half! Vegan sausage, cinnamon buns, pancakes! You name it and it was on there! My sister went for “California Benny” which was a biscuit with avacado, overeasy eegs, bacon, hollandaise sauce, and hashbrowns. Me? Oh ya know, just HUGE plate of tofu scramble with vegan jack cheese and jalapenos, hashbrowns, and sourdough toast. Not to mention the vegan Oreo smoothie on the side.

And there you have it! A little home cooked lovin, some side action, the sweet stuff, and some southern soul. That is how you vegan in Texas! Now.. where’s those vegan cowboys?!