Pizzaria Paradiso ~ Washington, D.C.

Located in the highly desirable neighborhood of Dupont Circle, Pizzaria Paradiso was voted one of the best pizzeria's in the city. It's great for carnivores, omnivores, vegetarians and vegans. Any pizza on the menu can be substituted with a whole wheat crust and/or soy mozzarella cheese. Pizza's come in small individual sizes or family sizes. They also have a great selection of salads, desserts, and drinks. Nice intimate decor with indoor or outdoor seating. Moderately priced, and centrally located.
$10 - $12 for a small pizza and $15 - $19 for a large.
Vegetarian/Vegan Friendly

Sticky Rice ~ Washington, D.C.

Located on the H Street corridor of Capital Hill, this Japanese inspired restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. This is truly a hip, bohemian style place with delicious food and large screen tv monitors so you don't have to miss the big game. While not completely vegetarian, both vegan and vegetarian options are plentiful and indicated by a v (for vegetarian) or a ve (for vegan) on the menu. We ordered spicy garden rolls (highly recommended for anyone who loves spicy foods, these rolls actually melt in your mouth) the miso soup (vegan), sticky rice (perfectly prepared), vegetable tempura (yummy), shitake rolls, and a mushroom appetizer that were all superb. The food is moderately priced with a great variety of sake to go with your meals and complete with a full bar.
Modestly Priced

Vegetarian/Vegan Friendly

Omai ~ NYC

While this New York City Vietnamese restaurant is not exclusively vegetarian, it is vegan/vegetarian friendly. Located on 9th Avenue between 19th and 20th Streets near the Chelsea district. Beautiful decor, great ambiance and the food was tasty. I ordered vegetarian spring rolls for an appetizer and an eggplant dish for my main course. I loved them both and highly recommend this restaurant as a veggie friendly option for New York dining. Moderately priced.
Vegetarian/Vegan Friendly

NY Dosas ~ NYC

This Indian Vegan food cart is located on Washington Square Park right across from New York University (NYU). It's great for vegan fast food. The samosas are delicious and they have a few other lunch options as well. They are known for their vegetarian crepes. If you're in the vicinity and looking for a quick, inexpensive bite to eat, this is the place. Grab a nearby park bench for a fine outdoor dining experience.
Very Inexpensive
Vegan

Advice for Pre-Dining Vegans, Vegetarians and Nut-Allergic Peoples

If you have any type of special dietary needs or allergies this information is for you. Trust me, it will help set the tone for making your dining experience a more pleasant one.

If you're making a reservation at a restaurant, be sure to ask the server if they can accommodate your dietary needs. This is also a good time to alert the reservations staff of any allergies that you or those in your party may have. If you have nut allergies in your party, this is a good time to ask if any of the foods are prepared with nut oils.

If you don't have a reservation and are just walking in to be seated, make sure to tell the host about your dietary needs or restrictions. S/he may be able to give you some good advice and/or alert your server.

When you are seated and your waiter comes to greet you, let them know right away (before they start spouting off the specials) that you have vegetarians, vegans, nut-allergies, or other dietary restrictions in your party. It will alert them right away and they may be able to offer some suggestions or avoid giving you the long list of specials that you can't eat anyway.

If you don't see anything on the menu that you can order as is, ask the waiter if the chef can prepare something for you. I don't eat dairy so I often ask if my food can be prepared in olive oil instead of butter. I also have a nut allergic child so I make sure to let them know that we have a serious nut allergic person in our party and to please refrain from preparing any of our food with nuts or nut oils.

These simple requests can help set the tone for a great dining experience because everyone knows up front what the issues are. If you are dining at a vegetarian/vegan restaurant with nut allergic people, it's always a good idea to let the waiter/chef know because some restaurants do prepare foods with nuts and nut oils and don't mention that on the menu.

Now you are fully equipped to start your dining experience off just right.

Peacefood Cafe ~ NYC

Peacefood Cafe is an organic vegan restaurant/cafe/bakery also located in the Upper West Side of New York City on Amsterdam Avenue at 82nd Street. It's a casual cafe style eatery where you order your food at the counter then find a table and the wait staff brings it to you according to your number. It's very clean and hip with chic decor and trendy music. They have a variety of raw, cooked and baked goods. I sampled the Tahini Sprouts Sandwich, the Vegetable Tempura and the Chocolate Brownies paired with a Soy Latte for dessert. Other dessert items include strawberry shortcake, cheesecake, coconut cream pie, tiramisu, key lime pie and many more. It was all super fresh and scrumptious. I highly recommend this place. They are open for lunch and dinner. Peacefood cafe also has a sign requesting that you tell your waitperson if you have a nut allergy so that they can make sure to prepare your meal nut-free. Easily accessible by subway.
Sides and Entree's $6 - $11.
Vegan

Blossom ~ New York City Veggie Hotspot

Blossom Restaurant located on Colombus Avenue in the Upper West Side was a real treat. It's a vegan restaurant ready to stand up to the most discriminating omnivores. The food was tasty and the proportions plenty. Not to mention the posh ambiance, a perfect fit for Upper Westside dining. Everything that I tasted was delicious and impeccably prepared. The food was both pleasing to the eyes and to the palate. From the Black Eyed Pea Cake, to the hearty Lentil Soup, to the Tofu Tempura, the Autumn Sweet Potato Rolls or the Seitan Skewers. You can't go wrong at this restaurant. It's great for the whole family. I think your meat loving friends will thoroughly enjoy it too. And it's certainly a great place to treat your vegetarian/vegan beloved. It's also equipped with a bar and has nice selections of wines to pair with your meal.

We dined at the Upper Westside location. The neighborhood is known for it's boutique retail shops and the restaurant is only a couple blocks from Central Park. It's upscale and easily accessible by subway or taxi. There is also a Blossom restaurant located in the Chelsea district.

Vegan

Intro to Veggie Hot Spots

First of all, let me tell you that Vegan, is not a bad word. Nor are vegans scary or bad or weird or crazy, at least not anymore so than the rest of the world's population. In fact, as the world persuades it's peoples to go green, I found out that one of the best green friendly lifestyles is the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle. But enough about that because I want you to continue reading, even if you do eat meat. This post is not just essentially for vegetarians and vegans, it's also a great guide for those of you who happen to be in love with vegetarians or vegans and living with or traveling with them.

Fortunately vegetarians and vegans are starting to come out of the closet in droves and there are some really hip/cool celebrity types that are helping to normalize the veggie lifestyle in this country. Gone are the days of "oh honey, if you don't eat meat you won't grow", or "you'll waste away", or "but dear, how will you get enough protein?" Let me just say that I'm a very tall woman. Healthy. A former star athlete collegiately and professionally, and...I'm not wasting away.

Gone are the days when all I could order on any given menu was a salad or a baked potato. I'm a mother now and fortunately my children have a lot more options than I ever did. Bookstores are filled with vegetarian and vegan cookbooks which tells me that people are actually cooking that way and living that way. The raw foodies are even gaining popularity and receiving tremendous health benefits from that lifestyle.

But what about traveling and eating out at restaurants? I sill find that vegetarian options are few in most restaurants and vegan options rarely exist. I usually have to ask the hostess before being seated if the cook can make anything vegan. Sometimes they can, and sometimes they can't. Which would be fine if I was going out to eat all by myself and could just traipse up and down the avenues with my inquiries, but generally when I go out, it's with a group, or a friend, or my family and that's just not cool. Let me tell you, if all restaurants offered at least one vegetarian option and one vegan option, I would be half way to heaven. But...I'm not there yet.

However there are great options out there and it helps if someone else has reviewed them ahead of time, so you don't have to and you can take your beloved vegetarians or vegans out for a bite to eat without them squirming in their seats the whole time.

In this blog I'm reviewing vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurants during my travels and in my local area. I hope this helps. Good luck!