I won't be blogging for the next couple of weeks, and here's why.

I'll be hanging out with this little guy (who is being fed organic sweet potatoes in this picture)!

I'll still post pictures of what I'm eating on Instagram or my Sacramento Vegan Facebook page. Blogging will resume in mid-August.

Philz Coffee

Bay Area coffee chain Philz Coffee opened a location in Sacramento a few days ago, and if the early crowds are any indication, it's going to be very popular here.

The line for coffee was out the door when I went to check it out, but since I'm not a coffee drinker anyhow, I headed to the food section to see if they had anything vegan. They'll be offering Sugar Plum Vegan's baked goods, but they were all sold out by the time I got there. However, they offer a number of other snack items, a few of which can be made vegan. The Mediterranean avocado toast and the hummus and fresh tomato toast sounded good, but I wanted something sweet, so I ordered the almond butter and banana toast. The only thing required to make it vegan was to leave off the honey. Yum!

Even though I didn't order any coffee, I did ask about the availability of non-dairy milk substitutes. They offer soy milk, vanilla soy milk, and almond milk, and they don't charge extra for them.

Philz Coffee is located at 1725 R Street, and their phone number is 916-970-2894. The website address for Philz Coffee is http://www.philzcoffee.com/, and their Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/philzcoffee/. They are open Sunday through Thursday from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 6:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Little Belgium Deli and Beer Bar

My husband Phil and I took a drive up to Auburn over the weekend, where we spent a very pleasant afternoon. There must be lots of vegans up that way, judging from how easy it's been to find restaurants offering vegan options whenever I'm in the area. In the past, I've blogged about Joe Caribé Bistro & Café and Nectar Café. This time, we decided to check out Little Belgium Deli and Beer Bar.

I liked the fact that Little Belgium had a vegan/vegetarian section on their menu, and they listed some specifically vegan items. On the front window of their restaurant, they advertise their "famous stuffed avocados," so I ordered the Vegan Harvest Avocado as an appetizer. It was such a simple dish, but so delicious! It consisted of a perfectly ripe avocado half stuffed with hummus, then topped with diced cucumbers and mushrooms in a sriracha/vegan mayonnaise sauce. Usually, red onions are also involved, but I don't like onions, so I asked that they be omitted. Really, I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this dish!

Next, I ordered the Vegan Veggie sandwich, two slices of brown bread with lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, pickles, avocado, vegan cheese, and vegan mayo. Sprouts and red onion are usually on this sandwich, but I asked that they be left off. This hearty sandwich was served with tortilla chips and a dill pickle wedge. All in all, this was a very satisfying meal!

Little Belgium Deli and Beer Bar is located at 780 Lincoln Way in Auburn, and their phone number is 530-820-3056. Their website address is http://www.littlebelgiumdeli.com/, and their Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/littlebelgiumdeli/. They are open Monday through Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Burly Beverages Gift Shoppe & Tasting Room

I've been hearing about the house-made sodas and other drinks offered by Burly Beverages for quite awhile, but had never actually tried them. Then a couple of items popped up in my Facebook news feed. First, I saw that Burly Beverages had partnered with Conscious Creamery to offer soda floats prepared with vegan gelato. Does anything sound better in the summer than a root beer float? I don't think so. I made a mental note to find out if Burly Beverages would be at any upcoming events.


Before I even had a chance to do that, however, I saw a Facebook post saying that Burly Beverages had opened a retail location on Del Paso Boulevard. So my husband Phil and I headed over there this past weekend.


When we arrived at Burly Beverages Gift Shoppe & Tasting Room, we were disappointed to find the doors locked. I checked the sign on the window to see what hours it was open, and that's when I saw the note saying to ring the bell. We did, and were let in by the genius behind Burly Beverages, Gabriel Aiello. Since he spends most of his time working in the back of the building, he keeps the front door locked.


We sat down at the soda bar and looked over the list of available goodies. Phil ordered a root beer float with Conscious Creamery vanilla gelato, and I ordered a cream soda float with the same gelato. Both sodas were made in-house. Gabriel said the cream soda was made from a recipe he'd discovered from the 1800s, using cream of tartar rather than actual cream. Both floats were delicious, and I expect to head over to Del Paso Boulevard many more times this summer.

Many of you probably already know Gabriel as the chef who prepares the popular vegan meals for Meatless Mondays at Old Ironsides on the second Monday of every month. Hey, that's tonight! In addition to the vegan food item, which will be burrito bowls this month, Gabriel will also be serving a couple of his Burly Beverages -- strawberry-chipotle shrub soda and super smooth ginger beer.


Burly Beverages Gift Shoppe & Tasting Room is located at 2014 Del Paso Boulevard, and their phone number is 916-333-3879. Their website address is http://burlybeverages.com/retailshoppe, and their Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/bbgiftshoppeandtastingroom/. They are open Wednesday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Be sure to ring the bell!

Roxie Deli

I had such a good sandwich this past week at a place that I'd never visited before. Roxie Deli in East Sac is known mostly for their meat sandwiches and barbecue, but they also offer a delicious veggie sandwich.


The sandwich, which I ordered on a sourdough roll, was stuffed full of all kinds of good things: hummus, avocado, artichoke hearts, marinated mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, and peppers. Nothing needed to be changed to veganize it except to omit the cheese. 

A few of the side dishes at Roxie appear to be vegan as well -- fruit salad, marinated mushrooms, and hummus, for example. They sell grape leaves stuffed with a rice mixture too, but the staff was unsure whether the grape leaves contained any non-vegan ingredients.

Roxie Deli is located at 3340 C Street, and their phone number is 916-443-5402. Their website address is http://roxiedeli.com/, and their Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/RoxieDeliBBQSacramento/. The deli is open Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.