Burb Grub

It was time for a trip outside of the city and into the burbs. I had a girls lunch at Blue Sage Vegetarian Grille in Southampton. I have been there many times before and every time I go I try to order something new, however the last time I went I ordered the EL FINO wrap and I really enjoyed it so I wanted a repeat. The EL FINO wrap is a griddled spinach wrap with grilled pears, maple pecans, grilled onions, baby greens & dairy free carmelized onion mayo. It's served with a spring mix in pear-walnut vinaigrette, oranges, roasted baby yellow beets & sundried cranberries. The first time I had it it was incredible and the carmelized onion mayo was so rich and creamy and not one part of the ingredients overpowered another, however this time I ate it and there were way too many pear slices. I wish I could have tasted the maple pecans and mayo more and though I was a bit disappointed, I couldn't have been more satisfied after eating both halves of the wrap along with the spring mix salad on the side.
For the table we ordered the sampler and the warm pita slices were gone in less than 10 minutes. We dipped the pita in a smoked red pepper hummus, baba ghanoush, israeli farmers salad of black lentils, tomato and cucumber with feta and falafel topped with Moroccan glazed carrots with pepitas. Everything was delicious and completely fresh and we all agreed that the food was satisfying but not overly stuffing. We enjoyed our appetizer and main dish and had some great conversations about life and girly things of course! The atmosphere is relaxing and nice for lunch meetings with friends, family and coworkers. It can get a bit loud in the room because it's quite small, so be prepared to speak loudly when necessary!
Overall this place is great for people willing to try vegetarian dishes in a crazy cool restaurant with amazingly tasty combos on their menu. Don't be surprised if you spend 20 minutes just trying to figure out what you want because the options all sound delicious!

My Mom Does not have a tattoo, but I DO!

Tattooed Mom at 5th and South Street is a place I have long been curious about, but somehow had no idea that I could get food and drinks at...well I discovered this when I walked in with my friend. It was a Wednesday and luckily there was a special on burgers! Three dollars for a regular burger or in my case, for a vegan burger. What a deal! It's the coolest when you walk in and are surrounded by these teal-colored walls and crazy different decorations.

We weren't sure what to put on our burgers, but the server made it simple by giving us an order sheet where we could check off exactly what we wanted on our burger and see how much the extra I would be charged for certain things. I went for a vegan burger with Veganaise, lettuce, tomato, fried onion, mushrooms and of course I would do the honors of topping it off with spicy mustard, ketchup and hot sauce once it got to the table. The server brought out a basket filled with these condiments and toppings- it was incredible! The burger patty was filled with bits of veggies and that made it feel like a true veggie burger. I really liked how different the service was and the food fit the creative atmosphere that takes you in once you walk in the door.

There are so many other specials listed for other days during the week like Thursday night 50 cent perogies- delicious! The food specials are fantastic and the regular food menu includes tons of vegan items like the vegan steak sandwich, falafel with tahini and various apps and sides. I will certainly be returning to Tattooed Mom's maybe even next Wednesday for my three dollar burger or maybe I'll try the perogies?...I'm getting hungry already!

The Slammer

No I'm not talking about jail (even though this place is across from the Penitentiary)...I am talking about "the slammer" I ate at MUGSHOTS yesterday. Yummmm...my friends and I walked up to the door and right away I noticed the sweet smell of veggie bacon seeping through the vents. Once I went in, I felt like I stepped into California, West Coast land. Amazing. It is a pure taste of West Coast living in the coffee shop setting. The environment is really chill with a whole lot going on both sides of the counter.

Ordering was a little hectic because it was loud and people were crowding the counter, not to mention there were chalkboards all over the place for customers to order from, so I had a lot of trouble deciding what to order and figuring out what was vegan and what wasn't. I settled my mind and decided on "the slammer" that had veggie sausage, guacamole and salsa stuffed in a whole wheat wrap. I expected the wrap to be warm for some reason, so when I bit into a cold wrap my taste buds were a bit confused. I eventually adjusted and enjoyed the creamy avocado and chunky tomato salsa that melted in with the veggie sausage chunks. To wash down the wrap, I drank the Peanut Butter and Strawberry soy shake. It was so smooth and creamy and vegan! The strawberry flavoring was a bit strong, but the peanut butter goodness came through as an aftertaste. There were quite a few items on the menu that I wanted to order, but with only a certain amount of money in my pocket, I'll just have to wait till the next visit to try out another menu item like the BLT or REUBEN...

I had waited to visit Mugshots for a long time and I was satisfied because not only did it give me the West Coast vibe that I've been craving, but it also gave me the tasty, vegan food that I needed to get me through work Saturday night ;)

Falafel Fever @ Maoz

Do you want to "Veg Out?" (as the sign outside of Maoz says) Who wouldn't want to, especially if a "Veg Out" type of meal consists of falafel, salad bar specials and fries! Yum Yum. I was walking around the city today taking pictures of what I consider to be the "Top 10 Vegetarian/ Vegan Places in the City" and when I passed by Maoz to snap some photos for the Philly Mag article, I couldn't resist stopping in for lunch.

I ordered the uuuusual- Junior Maoz Meal Deal. It comes with falafel on a whole wheat pita. belgian fries, a drink and the option of putting whatever one wants from the salad bar. Well I did not let those veggies go to waste on the salad bar line. I loaded up on carrots, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, chile salsa, tahini sauce, hot peppers and of course KETCHUP. My tummy was overly satisfied by the time I took the last bite of the pita and stuffed the last fry into my mouth. Absolutely a lunch that Philadelphia foodies and curious wanderers have to try, especially because of how inexpensive a meal like this is!

Check out the other items on the menu- you can get anything from hummus to eggplant to avocado added to your falafel for a few cents more!

Maoz has two locations in the city:
11th and Walnut and 2nd and South

ME...WANT...PIZZZZZA!

I have had a craving for a nice, hot, steamy, cheesy, ooey, gooey (need I go on?)...slice of pizza for TOO long. I decided to satisfy this craving a few times in the past two weeks actually. (It was a recurrent craving, what can I say?)

The perfect place for me to satisfy this pizza craving was at Blackbird Pizzeria on 6th and South Streets. Not only was it a convenient location for me (because of how close it is to my work), but it also happens to be owned by a former Horizons employer!

Now coming from a family of pizzeria owners with sauce and cheese oozing from our blood, I'd say the alternative to regular pizza at Blackbird comes pretty darn close. Sure it's a whole different texture, but in a good way. You don't have the greasy cheese piled up on the crust that sometimes causes the slice to bend just as you lift it to take a bite, but rather this pizza stayed perfectly still so I could snag that first bite (which in my opinion is the best).

The dough was quite amazing and reminded me of my uncle's pizza- classic Italian pizza dough- fluffy with a bit of a crispy edge. The sauce was a simple tomato base and the cheese, though vegan, blended perfectly with the rest of the slice. Some people prefer slices without the vegan cheese because they don't think it comes close to the regular cheese taste, but I prefer to leave it on. The Daiya cheese that is used for the pizza is not soy-based which is great for people with certain allergies to soy products. I say it wouldn't be a classic slice of pizza without the whole sauce and cheese combo!

One thing that is very important to any pizzeria, but a vegan pizzeria in particular is the TOPPINGS! Blackbird has such a wide array of topping choices for their pizzas- veggie meat, veggie pepperoni, sauteed veggies, Philly cheesteak, avocado, potato, etc etc. The list goes on and the deliciousness lives on through every slice. My personal favorites are the plain, veggie meat and broccoli rabe and the potato (though it's not the same potato pizza that my parents make at home ;) ).

So if you have a craving for pizza and are in the mood to try something new and different head down to 6th and South and indulge in vegan pizza heaven. Who knows I may even run into you there!

Confusion of the Corn

Yessss corn bread. The delightful smell of the corn bread, the appealing look of the corn bread, the tantalizing feel of the corn bread, the addicting taste of the corn bread and the influential sound of the corn bread calling out for me to eat it. The joys of corn bread. Vegan corn bread. or should I say: Vegan corn bread?

I was at Whole Foods this past Sunday buying groceries and I went past the bakery to buy some corn bread to compliment dinner for that evening, so I picked up a loaf of corn bread that had the vegan sticker on the front. I chose the cranberry corn bread this time because I wanted to try something a bit different and a bit more seasonal. I went for it. Bought it. and began eating it with my dinner. Well, about 1/5th into the actually log of corn bread, I flipped it over to read the back sticker of what ingredients were put into it and lo and behold I saw the ingredients listed were not vegan. This is precisely the moment where I began to flip out. I threw the corn bread down, analyzed the wrapper flipping it front to back, front to back and realized that the vegan sticker on the front didn't match the non vegan ingredient list on the back. Wow I was confused! I thought I has just picked up the non-vegan corn bread by mistake and had eaten the one with whole eggs and milk. I passed pieces of it around to my family members and had them taste test it to see if there was any difference in the taste compared to vegan corn bread (because none of them are strict veg like me). Well, no one said really said it could or couldn't be vegan, so I decided to call Whole Foods to tell them about it.

The lady from the bakery was completely outraged by it and confused and unsettled about the fact that the labels were different and they were confusing customers. She made sure the items were pulled and changed. She did mention that the bread was vegan and there was no doubt about it- they just put the wrong back label on it. I wasn't really that sure still, so I asked about three different ways if she was sure about it. She kept saying yes, so I finally believed her and spent the next 10 minutes finishing the corn bread :) I was happy! Yay to cranberry corn bread (when labeled appropriately)!

P.S. I was going to ask for my $2.87 back from Whole Foods because of all the confusion and upset I had to deal with (still planning on seeing a psychiatrist), but my mouth was too full with corn bread to bother asking ;)

The corn bread lives on!

Fajitas for the Veg

Yummmmmmy. I went to eat at Las Margaritas yesterday and had vegetarian fajitas for lunch. I was impressed with how cheap the prices were, especially because the portion sizes were the normal dinner size! I couldn't even finish my meal and with the side of corn tortillas, as well as the refried beans and rice, there was absolutely no room left in my stomach for it all!

The vegetarian fajitas came out sizzling. The plate was filled with mushrooms, peppers, onions, guacamole and more! I rolled up the warm corn tortillas with the vegetables, topped off with beans, guacamole and hot salsa. De-li-cious! Absolutely tasty and authentic Mexican food.

The seasoning of the vegetables and the spice of the salsa gave my mouth just what it deserved- a tasty sit-down lunch meal for about half the cost of other lunch dishes. Las Margaritas food has it going on, not to mention the ambiance is perfect to really feel the Mexican vibe.

Whoever said that Mexican food was filled with pork, beef and chicken?! Not true when there are so many vegetarian dishes and sides to choose from- just make sure to ask for no cheese or sour cream on anything if you are vegan because sometimes they forget!