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In Dining

By OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writers

Published Oct. 12, 2008 at 2:31 p.m.

Tags: vegetarian restaurants, vegetarian, vegan, riverwest co-op, bombay sweets, beans & barley

October is Dining Month on OnMilwaukee.com. All month, we're stuffed with restaurant reviews, special features, chef profiles and unique articles on everything food. Bon appetit!

Most restaurants have vegetarian options on their menu, or at the very least, a chef will whip up a meatless pasta dish to appease a vegetarian. But are there enough restaurants in Milwaukee that specialize in vegetarian cuisine?

Beans & Barley, Roots, Bombay Sweets, Abu's, Cafe Manna and the Riverwest Co-op Café -- among other local eateries -- are examples of restaurants with menu that caters to vegetarians.

Does Brew City need more joints like this?

There are plenty of vegetarian restaurants in Milwaukee. I never have a problem getting a good vegetarian meal in Milwaukee. You just have to know where to go.

Milwaukee needs more vegetarian restaurants. There simply aren't enough vegetarian-friendly restaurants in this town. Sure, most restaurants have a couple of vegetarian dishes, but this is not the same as menus that specialize in meat-free cuisine. Bring 'em on!

10 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by saidinjest on Feb. 26, 2009 at 3:40 p.m. (report)

Forget vegetarian, Milwaukee needs a vegan restaurant! Even one that is 100% vegetarian would be great. While I appreciate restaurants that have vegan options, they usually serve meat as well, and that can be kind of off-putting to a vegan who is trying to enjoy their meal.

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Posted by Z_boy on Oct. 13, 2008 at 8:20 p.m. (report)

Here's what my hero -- famous chef, Anthony Bourdain -- has to say about vegetarians and vegans. It's priceless. LOL! "Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, and an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food. The body, these waterheads imagine, is a temple that should not be polluted by animal protein. It's healthier, they insist, though every vegetarian waiter I've worked with is brought down by any rumor of a cold. Oh, I'll accommodate them, I'll rummage around for something to feed them, for a 'vegetarian plate', if called on to do so. Fourteen dollars for a few slices of grilled eggplant and zucchini suits my food cost fine."

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Posted by MLM30 on Oct. 13, 2008 at 12:54 p.m. (report)

There are not enough decent vegetarian options. I do love Beans & Barley, Comet, The Riverwest Co Op, Roots and Palomino but there should be more options in a growing city like Milwaukee. I'm 30 and I've been vegetarian since I was 11 or 12. I don't think that having a salad on the menu or just a veggie burger is a good option. I miss Barossa!! It's too bad there aren't more options that are strictly vegetarian and vegan.

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Posted by viva_bill on Oct. 13, 2008 at 11:14 a.m. (report)

There are plenty of vegetarian choices throughout the Greater Milwaukee Regions, however, vegan choices are slim. Still get the deer in a headlight look when you ask for no dairy or cheese sprinkled on top in most establishments. It is amazing how cheese is just filler in so many items. Try the same item without meat or cheese and you will find it is wonderfully delicious with no suffering involved. Vasser the demand might not be there because many veg-heads get frustrated battling the meat and cheese machine that runs the industry. Josscasta continue your cute meatatarian ways, until that time when you finely wake up from your callous slumber. I recently phoned the new restaurant that opened on Capitol Drive in Brookfield and asked if they had some vegetarian items on the menu. I was told there were none. Yes, there should be choices and it shouldn't be so difficult to get good quality abuse free food in the Milwaukee area. If your are a vegetarian or beginning to consider lessening your consumption of animal corpses be strong and frequent the many wonderful businesses that do get it. Take Care.

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Posted by tendollarwine on Oct. 13, 2008 at 11:02 a.m. (report)

As a vegan it's even harder to eat out! Even at places that have vegan menu items, you still get served the occasional sandwich with cheese and mayo all over it cause there are still a lot of chefs that just don't get it. For someone on the outside looking in, yeah there are probably more than enough, but as someone who has even more restrictions than a vegetarian, I say bring em on! I think the true question for an obese society is do we really need another McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell, or Pizza Hut? The more options there are for healthy eating, the better. And it's always best to support independent, local businesses anyway. So why not have more independent, local businesses that provide something that won't give you a heart attack.

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