Pluto's

Pluto's is another one of those restaurants that makes it so easy to be a vegan, serving create-your-own salads and sandwiches. If you're ordering a salad, you line up at the salad counter, choose your greens (mixed greens, Romaine, or baby spinach), pick seven toppings, add grilled portobello mushroom if you'd like, for an additional cost, pick your dressing, and head to the cashier.

If you would rather have a vegan sandwich, the main ingredient would be portobello mushroom. You would let the person at the sandwich counter know which type of bread you'd like, which sandwich toppings you want included (hold the lowfat roasted garlic mayo), and which other items you would like added at an extra cost. I sent a couple of e-mails to Pluto's a while back asking which of their breads and side dishes are vegan, but they never replied. Generally, sourdough bread is a safe bet.

The Pluto's restaurant in Sacramento is located at the Market Square at Arden Fair in the area between Barnes & Noble and the UA Arden Fair 6 movie theater. It's a great place to catch a bite to eat before the movie since service is fairly quick. The address is 1735 Arden Way, and the phone number is 916-921-2500. There is also a Pluto's at the Galleria shopping center in Roseville, in Davis at 500 First Street, and at a few other locations in Northern California. The website address, which provides hours of operation and other information for each location, is http://www.plutosfreshfood.com/index.html.