Anna's Vegan Cafe

I had lunch last week at Anna's Vegan Cafe, the newest iteration of a vegan restaurant that's been on Stockton Boulevard for several years. Previously, it was Loving Hut, and before that, it was Au Lac Veggie. Anna's Vegan Cafe offers most, if not all, of the same dishes that were on the Loving Hut menu, and it's a good, reliable place to go when you're tired of trying to find something to eat at the local non-vegan restaurants.





I ordered the Broccoli Tofu lunch special, which came with the soup of the day (veggie noodle), white rice, and a crispy roll. I also ordered the Fried Tofu appetizer, since I didn't have to worry about whether any non-vegan products had been cooked in the same oil. It was a delicious and satisfying meal, and I need to remember to stop by Anna's Vegan Cafe more often.





Anna's Vegan Cafe is located at 3500 Stockton Boulevard in the Oak Park neighborhood. Their phone number is 916-451-6842, and their website address is http://www.annavegancafe.com/. The restaurant is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., and then again from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. They are open Sunday from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Romano's Macaroni Grill

Romano's Macaroni Grill isn't necessarily the most vegan-friendly restaurant around, since most of their menu items contain some form of animal protein. But I always enjoy going there because of the one menu item I know I can eat -- the Create Your Own Pasta option.


The picture above shows the form you'll fill out if you decide to create your own pasta dish. First, you choose your pasta. According to the Macaroni Grill website, all of the pastas are both dairy-free and egg-free except the four cheese ravioli and the whole wheat fettuccine.


Next, you choose a sauce from the two vegan options: garlic olive oil or pomodoro. My favorite is the garlic olive oil, not to be confused with the garlic cream sauce, which includes dairy.


You can add your choice of three vegetable toppings for free. The options are roasted peppers, broccolini, fresh spinach, roasted tomatoes, artichokes, roasted garlic, snap peas, roasted mushrooms, cannellini beans, asparagus, carmelized onions, and sun-dried tomatoes. Premium toppings are available for an additional charge, but none of the premium toppings are vegan. The roasted eggplant apparently contains a dairy product.


If you'd like to have a salad with your pasta, the Fresh Greens are vegan if you choose the balsamic or Mediterranean vinaigrette for your dressing. The peasant bread that comes with the meal is also vegan.


I'm afraid my picture didn't turn out too well, but during my most recent visit to Romano's Macaroni Grill, I created a pasta with spaghetti, garlic olive oil, artichokes, snap peas, and roasted mushrooms. I ordered the Fresh Greens salad to go with it, as well as an appetizer of Mediterranean olives, and I washed it all down with the house Chianti. It was a wonderful meal, and it reminded me how much I miss having a Romano's Macaroni Grill in Sacramento.





Fortunately, Romano's Macaroni Grill is a national chain, with locations in Folsom, Elk Grove, and Roseville. More information about their locations and their menus, including nutritional information, is available at http://www.macaronigrill.com/.

The Golden Bear

I stopped in for lunch last week at the Golden Bear in midtown. I'd actually never been there before, but since I saw online that they had at least one vegan option on their menu, I decided to check it out.

The top choice for vegans at the Golden Bear is their Vegan Veggie Burger, a tasty housemade patty made from sweet potatoes and beans, among other things. It is served on an excellent ciabatta bun from Bella Bru, with tomato, avocado, roasted red onion, and cilantro pesto. It comes with a choice of side dishes, but the only one that's vegan is the mixed green salad.

I had actually hoped to have the Veggie Burrito without the cheese. Unfortunately, the cheese is already mixed into the burrito filling, so it's not possible to make this dish vegan. The only other choice for vegans at the Golden Bear would appear to be the Mushroom Pizza, without the cheese.

The Golden Bear is located at 2326 K Street, and their phone number is 916-441-2242. The restaurant's website address is http://goldenbear916.com/ and their Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/GoldenBear916. They are open Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. until 2:00 a.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.

Pushkin's Bakery

Pushkin's Bakery opened last week, serving baked goods that are both gluten-free and dairy-free. Dairy-free doesn't necessarily mean vegan, of course, but they do offer a few vegan options every day, with the glass bakery case clearly indicating which items are vegan.





I stopped in last Wednesday and bought one of every vegan item offered that day: a Vegan Chocolate Vanilla Cupcake, a Vegan Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Cupcake, and a mini-loaf of Vegan Banana Bread. It's become very easy to find vegan cupcakes in Sacramento, but I don't think I'd had banana bread since I went vegan ten-and-a-half years ago. I know, I know -- there are probably lots of good recipes out there and I could have made my own, but I just don't bake much. So it was the banana bread at Pushkin's Bakery that really made my day. In fact, I liked it so much that I went back the next day to buy two more mini-loafs. While I was at it, I bought two mini-loafs of the zucchini bread they offered that day, which was also very good.






Pushkin's Bakery is located at 1820 29th Street, between R and S, and their phone number is 916-376-7752. Their webpage address is www.pushkinsbakery.com, and their Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/PushkinsBakery?fref=ts. Their hours are listed as Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. However, if you follow them on Twitter, you'll receive tweets on the days that they open early.

LowBrau

I had a really good lunch last week at LowBrau, a sausage and beer restaurant that opened in Midtown at the end of last year. It would never have occurred to me that they would have anything there that I could eat, but I checked them out anyhow and was pleasantly surprised. Not only do they offer vegan items, but they have them clearly marked on their menu.

LowBrau has three different vegan sausages: chipotle, Italian, and smoked apple sage. You also have a choice of bread, either a sweet roll or a pretzel roll, both of which are vegan. You can add two toppings to your sausage at no additional charge. The vegan toppings on LowBrau's menu are sauerkraut, fresh-herbed onions, caramelized onions, hot peppers (a mix of jalapeños and peperoncini), or sweet peppers. The sandwich I ordered, which is pictured above, was a smoked apple sage sausage on a sweet roll, topped with sauerkraut and hot peppers. Delicious! Next time, I'm going to have my sausage on the pretzel roll, which is baked fresh by Freeport Bakery.

LowBrau offers a couple of vegan salads too: a mixed green salad and a roasted potato salad. They also have a vegan Bavarian Pretzel from Freeport Bakery. But you'll want to avoid the fries, which are cooked in duck fat.

I'm not a beer drinker, but their extensive beer menu looked pretty impressive. They also serve wine, and a few cocktails made with schnapps.

LowBrau is located on the corner of 20th and K at 1050 20th Street, in the space previously occupied by Lounge on 20, and their phone number is 916-706-2636. Their website address is http://www.lowbrausacramento.com/, and their Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/LowBrauSacramento. They are open daily from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 a.m.

Seasons 52 Fresh Grill

Seasons 52 finally opened two weeks ago at Arden Fair Mall in the space previously occupied by Fresh Choice. I was pretty excited about this because I knew Seasons 52 offered various alternative menus, including a vegan menu. So my son and I headed over there for a late lunch/early dinner last week.

The interior of Seasons 52 is beautiful and very sophisticated, with separate areas for the bar and the dining room. No trace of Fresh Choice remains, and it's hard to believe this gorgeous restaurant is located in a shopping mall. The staff was friendly, and our server was very knowledgeable and attentive.

We decided to start with the Double Hummus and Crisp Sea Salt Lavosh appetizer. The picture below doesn't do it justice, since I forgot to take out my camera until after we'd already dug into this appetizer. The two types of hummus were a minted edamame and a roasted red pepper. Both were very good, but I especially liked the flavor of the roasted red pepper hummus.

I had a tough time deciding which of the four vegan entrees to order, but I finally settled on the Cedar Plank Roasted Tofu, which consisted of little slabs of seasoned tofu, roasted and served on small cedar squares. I had a choice of vegetable and starch side dishes, so I chose roasted asparagus, cremini mushrooms, and roasted red potatoes. It was a delicious, healthy, and satisfying meal. The Seasons 52 menu changes seasonally, and the restaurant prides itself on its low-calorie menu selections.

All of the desserts at Seasons 52 are tiny, only as much as can fit into a shot glass. The only vegan dessert is fresh fruit, and it was just what I needed to top off my meal.

Seasons 52 is a national chain, but their only Northern California restaurant is the one in Sacramento, located within Arden Fair Mall at 1689 Arden Way, Suite 1065. Their telephone number is 916-922-5252, and their website address is http://www.seasons52.com/locations/?restaurantid=4534. The restaurant is open Sunday through Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Hamburger Patties

UPDATE: HAMBURGER PATTIES HAS CLOSED


Sometimes, only a burger will do. That's how I was feeling last week, so my husband and I went to lunch at Hamburger Patties. While nothing on the menu there is specifically vegan, there are several items that can easily be made vegan by leaving off the non-vegan ingredients.

The vegan Boca Burger can be substituted for a meat patty in any of their burger dishes. I just went with the standard Boca Burger on their vegetarian menu and asked them to leave off the thousand island dressing and serve the burger on toasted sourdough. The burger comes with fries, cole slaw, or Caribbean rice, all of which are problematic for vegans. The rice is made with chicken stock, the cole slaw includes mayonnaise, and the restaurant uses the same oil for the fries that they use for their non-vegan fried foods. At the time I was there, however, the server said the only items that had been fried in the oil so far that day were fries and onion rings, so I decided to have the fries. The server told me that they could have substituted a small green salad instead of the other side dishes. If you decide to go with that option, you'll want to make sure they don't put cheese on the green salad.

Our server was very knowledgeable about how to adapt Hamburger Patties' menu options for vegans, so I assume they see their fair share of vegans at the restaurant. I think the next time I go, I'll try the Big Valley Burger, with fresh pineapple, sautéed mushrooms, and teriyaki sauce (hold the cheddar cheese). Yum!

Hamburger Patties is located at 1630 J Street, and their phone number is 916-441-4340. Their website address is http://hamburger-patties.com/, and their Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Hamburger-Patties/125672124114151?fref=ts. The restaurant is open Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.; Monday from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.; Tuesday through Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.; Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.; and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.