VeganMofo Day 21: Vegan Denver

This is Day 21 of Vegan Mofo, a month of vegan food blog posts, and this post is all about Vegan Denver. Since I am not a food blogger, most of my posts for Vegan Mofo will not be recipes, rather experiences I have with vegan food and sharing people, places and things that have brought me and continue to bring me amazing vegan food.

Mike and I live in Lakewood, a suburb of Denver just west and south of downtown Denver. We live in the northeast part of Lakewood, about 15 minutes due west of downtown Denver.

We like our readers to know that we live in Lakewood because we think it's a pretty awesome place to live. But since Denver is more recognized and has more of our favorite places to eat, I'm calling this post Vegan Denver.

If you're a regular visitor to The Gay Vegans you most likely know of some of these places. This is a list of our favorite places to eat, grab a snack or shop. We highly recommend all of them and so far have gotten great feedback from readers who have gone to these places. This list is also a tab on our main page under "Favorite places to eat in Denver".

Linger

Linger is by far our favorite place to eat. Linger is not exclusively vegan but has some of the best vegan food around. They serve tapa style, with dishes from around the world. Mike likes their bar selection. Their vegan dessert is out of this world. The service is beyond incredible and friendly. Reservations are highly recommended.

http://lingerdenver.com/


Tarascos

The best vegan Mexican food in the state! Tarascos already had a full page of veg options and we simply asked if they could do vegan. Amazing. Since everything is done to order practically the entire veg menu can be done vegan. My favorite are the enchiladas espinicas (spinach) but everyhting I have had is delish. Try the grilled cactus if you never have. And be sure to order a jugo natural, a fresh juice!

No web site.

470 South Federal Blvd. in Denver
303.922.2387
Hours (as of this writing) are everyday from 10am - 10pm

Root Down

Owned and created by the same team that is at Linger, we like to go to Root Down for more special occasions (Linger is more like our hang out). The food is delish. Great service. Definitely go all out, including dessert and drinks. Reservations are highly recommended.

http://www.rootdowndenver.com/

Hops & Pie

Vegan pizza! This is our favorite in Denver at the moment. In the Highlands neighborhood so not far for us. The pizza is delish and they offer Daiya and well as vegan meats and tofu. They also have an incredibly flavorful vegan mac n cheese. YES! For you beer lovers, they have something for everyone.

3920 Tennyson St  Denver, CO 80212

303.477.7000

Beet Box

All-vegan cafe in Denver, just east of downtown. New, and we have already been there many times. Great place for a treat, or if you want to turn your office mates onto vegan delicacies you can bring a variety of what they offer into the office!

1030 E. 22nd Avenue in Denver
303.861.0017

http://www.beetboxdenver.com/

Nooch Market

We can't talk about food in the Denver area without mentioning our new vegan oasis, Nooch Market. Not a restaurant but for sure a place to stock up on vegan goodies. We totally adore the owners and see great things for them and our community. 

http://noochveganmarket.tumblr.com/

Pho Duy

Delsih vegan pho, just down the street from Tarascos. Yes, we have tested it and asked all of the questions. It's #21 on the menu (double check). Small, medium and large and for me the medium has been more than enough.

No website.

945 South Federal Blvd, Denver
303.937.1609

Sweet Action Ice Cream

One of our favorite places and one of our favorite couples! They always have two vegan flavors of ice cream plus at least two vegan sorbets. Check out the freezer for vegan ice cream sandwiches.

http://sweetactionicecream.com/



Vegan Van

We have had a bunch of meals prepared by Amie in her Vegan Van. We adore Amy, and are thrilled that the Denver area has a Vegan Van. From stew to vegan chicken and waffles, Amie does not disappoint. Check out her website to see where she will be next!

http://veganvan.com/

Enjoy Vegan Denver and thanks for reading!

VeganMofo Day 15: I love Mexican food!

 My love for Mexican food is today's subject for my post for Vegan Mofo, a month of vegan food blog posts. Since I am not a food blogger, most of my posts for Vegan Mofo will not be recipes, rather experiences I have with vegan food and sharing people, places and things that have brought me and continue to bring me amazing vegan food.

If you are a regular reader of The Gay Vegans blog, then you already know that I love Mexican food and that my favorite place for amazing vegan Mexican food in Denver is Tarascos.

Mmmmm. I am salivating just thinking about it. When I first became vegan there were very few Mexican restaurants that made any of their re-fried beans without lard. It's a lot easier these days. My experience is also that if a place has lard in their re-fried beans, they might offer whole beans as an option.

The wonderful thing about living in Denver, and probably many other places, is that as vegans we really don't have to settle for just a plain bean or bean and rice burrito. Thank goodness.

My favorite meal at Tarascos is the enchiladas espinacas, spinach enchiladas. So delicious. Add in fresh-made guacamole and an agua fresca made with fresh fruits (and maybe fresh veggies) and you are good to go.

Sopa Tarasca is also one of my favorites, just a simple bean soup with flavors that will drive your taste buds crazy!

It's easy to not remember that Mexico is as diverse as the US, probably more so. This means the food options just go on and on. What I have listed are just some of my favorites, dishes I eat all of the time. I would love to hear about your favorite vegan Mexican dishes!

Thanks for reading!

A few of our favorite things

It's that time of year again, when folks put out their "best of" lists. Last year we did a blog post on our favorite women and a blog post on our favorite men. This years' list includes many of our favorite things: people, groups, restaurants, etc. Like we did last year, we invite you to share some of your favorites with us!

Here we go:

My husband. This is Dan writing this post (and pretty much all of the posts). I am totally in love with Mike and am grateful for every day that I get to be his husband. We have an incredible life together.

Linger. You must know by now that Linger is our favorite restaurant in town. Amazing vegan food and the best service in town. I could go on and on but you can just go to the blog post that I wrote a review on them. If you live in the Denver area and have not been to Linger, go.

Mercy For Animals. This animal rights group ROCKS it for the animals. Their undercover work in the past couple of years has brought the inside of factory farms to the local news. The brutality, torture and fear inflicted on sentient beings that all animal rights activists know about has been brought to a TV near you, to people who maybe thought this happened but now have the facts. We love them so much that this year we became members of the major giving club and are grateful to do so.

Malala Yousufzai. You have heard her story. She is a true inspiration. She is 15 years old and from Pakistan. She made headlines in the US when she was shot by the Taliban. She constantly speaks out for the rights of women, especially around education. Her courage blows us a way!

Voters in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington. Heck yes! They all supported a ballot measure that was pro marriage equality. In Minnesota they voted down a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and in the others they actually approved gay marriage!

Tarascos. The best vegan Mexican food we have had. Amazingly friendly staff. They actually APPRECIATE customers. Imagine that!

Chicago. An amazing city filled with wonderful culture and super options for vegan cuisine. We like The Blackstone Hotel, the Chicago Diner, The Art Institute of Chicago, Naked Pizza and strolling around Boys Town.

Alka Chandna and Bruce Friedrich. When I think of this couple I think of love, inspiration and powerful voices for the voiceless. We are fortunate to count Alka and Bruce as friends, and our world is fortunate to have them here. 

Eat Pastry cookie dough. As much as Mike and I like to bake, we are still totally in love with this fabulous vegan cookie dough. If you haven't tried it yet, we suggest you do so right now! Many flavors. We like the chocolate with chocolate. Mmmmm. 

Amy's Mac n Cheese. The vegan version of course. This is a staple for me (Dan). Love it. The only thing I wish Amy would do is to offer larger portions of this, like in a party size!

That's it for now. Part II coming soon! Thank you for reading!

Building bridges and more vegan options!

You might have read my blog post about Tarascos, a Mexican restaurant in southwest Denver that Mike and I absolutely love.  We ate there yesterday for lunch and after speaking with the owner for a few minutes I got the idea for this blog post.

One of the missions of The Gay Vegans blog is to build bridges, and to support others in building bridges. The relationship we have with the folks at Tarascos is a great example of what anyone can do in their own community to build a bridge, make the community more friendly for vegan cuisine, and in the end be a voice for the voiceless.

When we first ate at Tarascos the owner had already created a vegetarian menu. When we spoke with him about veganism his immediate reaction was that he could easily prepare amazing vegan food because every item was made to order, even their soup (which by the way, their sopa tarasca is a must try!).

Indeed it was easy. Most items on the full page of vegetarian options could be easily made vegan, just leave off the sour cream and cheese. We spoke with him about talking to his staff regarding the difference between vegetarian and vegan. We have had only the best Mexican food since!

In my years as a vegan I have met some restaurant owners who want nothing to do with vegan food. They are in the minority. The vast majority want to fill their restaurant and adding a few vegan items to the menu is easy. No matter their cuisine. The main thing is to approach owners with love and kindness, not judgement, especially if it is already a restaurant that you enjoy eating at.

Mike and I have had great success with this. And in the culinary world where we live it is easy to see that veganism is being embraced all over the place. Our favorite restaurants (listed on our blog) are all restaurants that serve meat, yet that have amazing vegan food.

Building bridges is really what this blog is all about. What better bridges to build than those that increase awareness around vegan food and bring delish vegan food to your local restaurant?!?!

If you need ideas for non-veg restaurants that serve amazing vegan food, just check out our list on the blog. These folks definitely know what they are doing. And we thank them every time we are at their establishment!

Buen provecho and thanks for reading!

Tarascos

Unbelievable!

Two friends of mine were meeting me for lunch and I asked them to pick a place. They know I am vegan and told me to meet them at Tarascos.

I love Mexican food. I also have realized that it is tough to find delicious Mexican food that is vegan. Not any more!

First, Tarascos is not a veg or vegan restaurant, they serve meat. If that is the only kind of restaurant you go to this is not for you. For anyone else, read on!

The owner greeted us and told me about the vegetarian menu, the jugos naturales, and that because everything is made to order making the veg items vegan is simple. AND, the vegetarian menu is bordered by names of famous vegetarians. How cool.

I started with Nopales Asados (grilled cactus!) with a hot salsa that I wanted more and more of. The to Sopa Tarasca which is a traditional Michoacan bean soup. If you'd like it vegan simply ask for it without sour cream and cheese (crema y queso). It is delish. I honestly cannot remember all of the health benefits around this soup even though Noe told me, and I have to say that while eating it I felt healthier!

A spinach salad topped with grated apple was next. It was also delish but I wanted to keep going into the entrees. I totally was not disappointed and indeed mildly surprised as Noe, the owner, dropped off plates of vegan enchiladas topped off with different salsas. he explained to me that the one plate with three different salsas was based on nutrition and each salsa covered different nutrients! Seriously!

The Enchiladas Plazeras and the Enchiladas Espinacas were delish, and easily made vegan.

Have you ever had jalapeno peppers stuffed with peanut butter? I hadn't. Loved them! A little spice with a little sweetness.

Do you love mole? No worries as they have a couple of vegan versions including a yellow mole.

Dessert? Yes! The only vegan option is a sweet tamale, which I had with Cafe Olla, a sweetened coffee. Oh my!

If you have read my prior restaurant reviews you know that the two things most important to me in regards to my review are amazing vegan food and friendly service. Both times I have been to Tarascos the service has been wonderful. I was lucky to catch the owner my first time, and each time I very much enjoyed the friendliness of all of the employees.

I love to eat. I love Mexican food. If you are ready to try amazing Mexican food, I highly recommend lunch or dinner at Tarascos!

Tarascos is located at 470 South Federal Boulevard, just a couple block south of Alameda on the east side of the street. They are open every day of the week.