Your source for reviews on Minneapolis vegetarian food, especially veggie burgers.

8th Street Grill, No Web Site

1

The 8th street grill has an acceptable amount of vegetarian options, including a veggie patty that can be substituted for the hamburgers that the place is known for. Apart from the veggie patty, The Market Vegetarian suggests the macaroni and cheese, and particularly emphatically suggests the portabella mushroom sandwich. The combination of the balsamic reduction (a vinegar-ish sweet taste) and the foccacia bun (a subtle, but contributing taste) is excellent and the portabella gives added substance without changing the character of the sandwich. Red peppers on this sandwich are the proverbial cherry on top. It should be noted that the second time I had this sandwich, it was much more poorly prepared, so you can expect a hit or miss experience here.

Veggie patty a cheap "Boca Burger" knockoff? No, but the veggie patty is chosen to be somewhat more substantial than just lettuce and tomato, but not a whole lot more thought has been put into it.

2

The French meadow has been the Minneapolis Mecca for vegetarian food for quite some time, but it seems to be interested in relinquishing that crown recently. The menu according to my limited memory was much more vegetarian several (8 to 10) years ago, to the point where I seem to remember not having a choice of a meat-containing dish. Now, however, meat is fairly abundant in the French Meadow's menu -- it may even be close to the majority of the menu's content.

The veggie burger, however, is absolutely phenomenal. This veggie burger is clearly designed to be a veggie burger, not simply an afterthought, as with many other restaurants. The care and consideration that the veggie burger has received at the French Meadow is worth every penny of the nine dollars you will spend on it. It is garnished with a salad that you should keep for last so that you don't ruin the experience that your veggie burger will impart upon you. The burger itself seems to be a hand-crafted, in-house creation, but I did not ask for confirmation of this. It is expertly complemented by a bun which is much harder than is necessary, but provides important substance to the entire meal. The onions and pickles at first glance seem to be a hackneyed slap in the face that would make the casual diner think about how little the restaurant cared about him or her. However, the combination of ingredients renders the diner hypnotized by the subtle taste of the onions, tomatoes, and pickles which are (seemingly) carefully chosen for their particular flavor. The entire burger as a whole is a monumental success for the French Meadow, however their movement away from vegetarianism is quite disappointing.

3

The veggie burger here was sampled with the Patty melt style. This means that my veggie burger definitely wasn't vegan and that my veggie burger was served topped with sauteed onions, cheese and a nice dark rye bread. This was an excellent combination of flavors, as the Park Tavern seemed to have invested in some higher-grade veggie burgers. From the shitty service, I deduced that the Park Tavern did not take the time to create such a nice veggie burger. Instead, I presume that the Park Tavern put together a very nice set of ingredients that resulted in a serendipitous combination that made the Patty melt veggie burger something to write home about.

On the subject of the service, however, the bartender (I had my burger at the bar, while sipping on a Surly Furious) was quite incompetent and assholish. I am generally a really good tipper. In fact, you almost have to slap me in the face (please don't) to not get a 20% tip. Tom, however, received an 8% tip and I probably should have given him less. The reason is that after biking over to St Louis Park from Minneapolis -- about a 6 mile bike ride -- I got no bad looks from the entire place until Tom decided to give me a hard time for not having greased up hair. It took me quite some time before he actually gave me the time of day. Needless to say, I was happy to give him the worst tip of my life.

4

Sally's is a fixture on the campus of the University of Minnesota, and in my meat-eating days, I absolutely loved the place. Now that I am mostly vegetarian (I'll eat a bacon bit if it finds its way to my salad), Sally's has taken a whole different shade for me. For the most part, that shade is one of disappointment. The reason for this is the scarcity of vegetarian options. While a seasoned vegetarian will always scour the "Appetizers" section, it's nice to visit a restaurant that has a more substantial vegetarian menu than Sally's does. The Mac & Cheese is exactly what you expect it would be; $9 for what you could have made yourself.

But I digress. Onto the veggie burger! The veggie burger at Sally's is named "Garden Burger" on the menu. It is possibly the lightest veggie burger that I have eaten, which many people will enjoy. The upside of the burger is that it is a very well-made, carefully chosen combination of textures and seasonings. Nothing will overwhelm you, and that seems to be the intention. It is a great combination of fresh vegetables (I had mine in the middle of July, which is getting to the time of the year when we in the Midwest can enjoy a few months of fresh produce), bread, and outdoor seating. The burger itself seems to be made off-site on an assembly line due to its shape, but nevertheless does not seem to be freeze-thawed.

On the downside, the burger was too small, and there was no free option given on the menu that would have increased the portion size (french fries are $1.50 extra). When I say the burger was too small, I'm speaking for myself, not my mother, who could barely finish 1/2 of her burger. If you're an active young person, you may find this burger too insubstantial.

Overall, the "Garden Burger" gets a 7.5/10 for me since the burger was indeed meant to be light, but being light isn't an excuse for being insubstantial. Furthermore, the presentation was terrible (think the culinary equivalent of a middle finger), and the side selection was not up to par either.

5

6

7

If you're looking for a hole-in-the-wall, this is it. Really old place, nice people working there, and generally acceptable food. You're not going to write home about the food, but it's definitely a nice place to spend $20 getting housed and fed.

The veggie burger is a homemade patty that consists of a lot of black beans (it's called the spicy black bean burger), and a mashing of other ingredients. The patty itself is a nice blend of flavors, but the rest of the sandwich is thoughtless. The bread is not matched well with the burger, and certainly the toppings are nowhere near relevant to the overall aim. There is a very watery salsa that supposedly should be the "spicy" part of the "spicy black bean burger," but it's mostly a distraction. There is no cheese on the burger, which would be fine if the rest of the burger wasn't so poorly thought out, but my feeling is that if you don't have the time to make a nice sandwich, just make sure to put some cheese on it. Our vegan friends can always ask for it to be held off. I do have to admit that this burger is fairly original (in that it has been around for a few years already), and there is a very nice special where, from 11am-7pm, you can get a boca cheeseburger for about $5. Both of those things make a trip to Sporty's more likely.

8

Look, here's the thing. I usually introduce the restaurant first and then talk about the food I've had there, but for this restaurant I'm going to switch it around. This is because the "Juicy Lucy" sandwich I had was probably the best vegetarian sandwich I've ever had. I would find it difficult to find a better sandwich anywhere in the Minneapolis area, vegetarian or otherwise. I feel like I should tell you a story. Not a story about the past, like so many you've already heard or experienced, but I'm going to tell you about the future. Yours, specifically.

When you walk into the Happy Gnome, you might sit at the bar, like we did. You will be served by someone who is friendly, and probably surrounded by a friendly clientele. You'll look over the beer menu and see a lot of your favorites and a few of the ones that your friends have recommended, but you've never gotten around to trying. Then you'll wonder if there's anything good to eat. After a short time spent perusing the menu for something cheap amongst the $20-$30, you might be drawn to the "Juicy Lucy" because it's only $10. After ordering it (I mean, it does come with fries -- a pretty good deal, right?), you'll wait about 20-30 minutes.

Maybe they forgot about it?

"Sir, the kitchen is hard at work on your sandwich. There are no microwaves in there," the bartender will inform you.

A few minutes later you will see a huge sandwich coming out with an array of fries to the side. The fries look ordinary, but the sandwich keeps your attention. You need to take a bite and when you do, in the middle of the burning that comes when you eat a sandwich that hot, an amazing feeling of satisfaction comes over you. You'll notice that the patty is a "layered vegetable cake, parmesan and mozzarella, sriracha aioli, and shredded romaine." Not a perfect sentence, but quite possibly the best sandwich you will have. The sandwich is big enough that it's difficult to finish it alone so you may have lunch for tomorrow. The bread is excellent and the whole ensemble clearly takes a while to make (hence the delay you experienced).

The reality is that, of all the sandwiches and all the places that I am suggesting on this site, I feel the most confident that you will like this sandwich. Disclosure: I have no tie, material, monetary, maternal, paternal or otherwise to the Happy Gnome. I just think this sandwich is amazing.

9

This bar is quite a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde type place. One on side it's a well-maintained, well-staffed, well-run machine and on the other side it's a filthy, rudely-staffed, shoddy operation. Fortunately, the cons are fairly rare, except for the filthy part, which can be seen regularly from 10pm to 2am Fridays and Saturdays. Generally this place is a quaint, friendly meeting place that your friends will agree on.

10

What a mess this place is. Just in case you were wondering, a suburban strip mall is not a good place to find a Thai restaurant. The vegetarian section of the menu is devoid of anything with any taste or artistic talent. The chain-like nature of the restaurant that is PF Chang's allows them to mass-produce the sauces and the results are clear. It is not to say that there is something clearly wrong with a chain restaurant, but being a chain restaurant just means that you must resist the urge to scale up critical areas of your production. Restaurants such as the French Meadow in Minneapolis and Maggiano's in Chicago are good examples of chain restaurants that still hold a high standard for their production.

I have been to PF Chang's twice in as many years, both times to the Maple Grove location. Both times I have been sorely disappointed by the product I received. Although the tofu was exceptionally soft and well-made, and the lettuce wraps were very nice, none of the dishes I have tried there were worth the time I spent on chewing them. Quickly, I have had the Buddha's Feast, Coconut Curry Vegetables, Ma Po Tofu, and the Vegetarian Fried Rice. The Coconut Curry was the best of the set, but had almost no flavor. I strongly recommend avoiding this place.

Ketsana's Thai, No Web Site

11

This is the review I had written before I found out that this place actually is expanding:

This place is horrible, and probably will not make it until Christmas. Everything we had was from a can, and the only positive thing I can say about the place is that the food was warm. The service was slow because it seemed to be run by a high school chess club. There's not much of a reason for me to keep writing about this place because it probably will be replaced by something else in a few months and there's no reason to beat a dead horse.

12

This is a very reliable place that will not disappoint, although the lunch buffet is not as good as the menu items. The noodle dishes are excellent, as is the fried rice and the red and green curries. It is on the expensive side, with a dinner for two roughly $30, but it's worth the time parking (a huge pain, but there are bike posts and bus stops nearby) and the money for a nice night out. The ambiance is also very nice.

I think this place is easily in the top three for Thai food in the Minneapolis/St Paul area, along with True Thai in the Seward Neighborhood and Bahn Thai in Plymouth. Given the excellent happy hour specials ($3 Surly after 9pm), and the overall ambiance, this place is a must-see.

13

In the Seward neighborhood, this restaurant is truly a landmark amongst single family homes and only a few restaurants nearby. The food is excellent, the location, near I-94, is convenient and the ambiance makes this one of the best in the Minneapolis area for an overall experience. The ambiance isn't as nice as places like PF Chang's or Amazing Thai, but the food will ensure that you forget where you are.

As I said in the review for Amazing Thai, True Thai is without a doubt, in the top three for Thai food in the Minneapolis area. The prices are slightly more reasonable than Amazing Thai, and you can stop by next door to Jim's barber shop (my barber) next door for a cut after your lunch.

14

Very interesting food in a very interesting environment. I did not like everything I had here, but certainly there were things that turned out very well. The atmosphere is a modern one and it fits in well with the location, right on Eat Street. Many of the dishes are vegetarian-friendly and I recommend going for many reasons, including the large roti (bread) appetizers, the nicely prepared tofu, and the Indian Mee Goreng. The last dish isn't something you will taste anywhere else besides a Malaysian restaurant, and while it is not phenomenal, it is really interesting.

The restaurant seems to be quite popular with young ex-pat executives, which will remind you of some trendy New York restaurant.

15

Probably the best sandwich place in the University area. If you enjoy asian fusion food that is a bit on the spicy side, you'll love the fried tofu combunation or the mock duck combunation. The only problem with this place is that it is only open until 8pm M-F and 7pm on Saturday. The prices are not great, but the $6.50 you pay for a sandwich is well worth the portion size and the quality of the food.

The storefront is a very small one that banks on most people opting for carry-out, but there has been much talk about an expansion of the place.

16

This place has not changed in a long time, and it's a good thing. The prices are very reasonable, but the vegetarian options are somewhat limited. The fried sweet potato is excellent and brings many of the patrons there.

17

Mai Village is the picture of change and improvement. Over the last several years the restaurant has gone from a small, unattractive and unpolished dining room with good food to an exquisite, but subtle dining experience with even better food. The owner is an elderly gentleman who raises the flowers that you will enjoy in the restaurant and oversees the operations. It's certainly recommended if you like Vietnamese food.

It's easy to recommend this place because there are about 10 dishes in the vegetarian section. I have had about 4 of them, and I will say with certainty that in the 4 or 5 years I have been coming to Mai Village, I have never had a bad meal. The curry tofu is something to experience, and if you bring your meat-eating friends during Dim Sum time, they will thank you for bringing them along. The Dim Sum is almost exclusively non-vegetarian, but there is a very nice dessert-type dish that consists of balls of sweet, stuffed doughy stuff (I have no better word for it). The balls are rolled in sesame seeds, but not the type you find at cheap restaurants or fast-food; these sesame seeds actually have a very nice flavor and that flavor adds to the overall taste.

In short, if you're on the East Side of the cities, don't miss this place, but MAKE SURE YOU ASK IF YOUR TIP HAS ALREADY BEEN INCLUDED IN YOUR BILL! My server reminded me that it was, but search online for reviews of Mai Village and you'll find disgruntled customers that had a different experience.

18

Why in the world would a website called "The Market Vegetarian" (or "The Uptown Vegetarian," depending on how you navigated here) be writing about a place called "Five Guys Burgers and Fries?" Well the reality is that vegetarians have friends too, and frequently our friends are not vegetarians. I want to make sure that you don't lose all your friends just because you're a vegetarian, although the argument may be made that any friends who jump ship after learning your dietary habits aren't really friends.

So the next time you're with a big group of friends that is going out to Five Guys' for lunch, you can rest assured that there's something for you there. The restaurant has really nice, fresh fries and a relatively decent vegetarian burger. Actually, it's not really a burger. It's more like the toppings that a hamburger usually fits underneath all stuffed into a bun and cooked, but it does the trick. You might need two of them to fill you up, but each of them is $3, or $3.50 with cheese, so you don't have to donate plasma to fill up here. Needless to say, vegetarians are not really catered to, so don't go out of your way to try the veggie sandwich.

19

Pracna is, according to their web site, "the oldest restaurant on the oldest street in Minneapolis." There is a lot of charm to the place, and a lot of the same things that irritate you about a place that was built in the 19th century. Overall, however, it is one of those places that makes you wonder why you and your friends don't go there more often. The charm of the place, the spectacular view of the Minneapolis skyline, and the riverfront location are all big reasons to stop in. The food seems to be a plus as well, and the beers are quite reasonable, the selection of which is commendable.

My wife and I shared a curry vegetable sandwich that came with a serving of cheese on top. The entire sandwich was filling and the cheese added something very substantial, while still keeping the flavor of a curry. You will not find this type of cheese (a cheddar/American taste) in any authentic Indian restaurants, but it went very well with the rest of the sandwich, including the well-chosen bread. The spinach artichoke dip we also shared as an appetizer came with some very nice bread of a different type.

While I would love to give a wholeheartedly positive review of Pracna, I have to admit that my wife did not enjoy the sandwich as much as I did. However, the first visit that I had here has convinced me that my wife and I should visit here a couple more times and sample their other dishes.

19

A dirty place to bring your friends for a great beer selection, and a significantly more subdued crowd than places like the Library or Sally's. That's the most succinct description I can give for Stub & Herbs. The dirty part isn't actually that bad, but it's a dive-bar so you should expect that at least a little. The menu is not as complete as the beer list, which is probably one of the best near the University of Minnesota campus. In fact, most people who come here will probably stick to beer and appetizers. The appetizers include several vegetarian, atherosclerosis-inducing choices like cheese curds, tater tots, and onion rings. All of these are average for a bar of this type.

The veggie burgers they substitute for their meat burgers seem to be purchased because they are shaped like a slightly larger boca burger. In any case, they are good and they are filling. The bun is a pretzel roll that was surprising, but not bad. I tried the Inferno Burger, which was definitely not very spicy, but it was tasty. I ordered this burger on a Saturday night where most of the other University-area bars would be packed. This one, however, was almost empty, thus my burger received a lot of care in the kitchen.