Field Report: Native Foods in Boulder

All-vegan restaurants are awesome for a billion reasons, but the best part is that you can order anything off the menu without qualifyers or substitutions. Ladies and gents, scoundrels and scallywags, I give you:

NACHOS:

This massive pile includes house-made taco meat, fresh salsa, house-made cheddar, house-made chipotle crema, guac, and shaved jalapeno.

Chicken Ranch sammie:

 

Breaded and fried chicken topped with carrots, onions, lettuce, and gobs of delicious ranch. The chicken was very Gardein-like, and I am a sucker for fried chicken analogues so I was really into it. The bun was buttered and toasted on the inside, which was awesome.

Sweet potato fries:

These were freaking great, and came with a side of chipotle crema for dipping. Damn. 

Reuben:

This was the highlight of the meal, and easily the best reuben any of us had ever had. Holy moly, that seitan is good. Sloppy, salty, and thinly sliced on top of marble rye. Totally perfect. 

Eaten but not pictured: The Soul Bowl (really good!), with rice, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, and kale, topped with fried chicken, ranch, and bbq sauce. And an excellent carrot cake cupcake. 

Native Foods is on the 29th Street Mall in Boulder, just off Canyon. Get there!

Related: Five Questions with Native Foods Cafe

5 Questions with Native Foods Cafe

The first Native Foods Cafe opened in Palm Springs in 1994, and for nearly 20 years they've been serving up creative, delicious, made-from-scratch vegan food at over a dozen locations in California, Chicago, and Portland. Their newest location is opening at the end of the month in Boulder, and will represent the city's only all-vegan restaurant. Native Foods' Holladay Allen answered a few questions for us, and now we're even more psyched about the newest addition to the booming vegan scene in Colorado. 

• What's the anticipated opening date for your Boulder location?
  The Opening Date is set for May 29th. This of course is tentative until our final inspections are completed.... but so far, so great!

• What inspired a location in Boulder?
  Boulder just seems like the perfect fit for Native Foods Cafe. Boulder is one of the most active and healthy cities in the US, and there is a strong sense of community... which really drew us there. We've received so many emails asking when are we going to open in Boulder (and Denver... stay tuned on that one :) so when the opportunity arose, it was a no-brainer! 

• There are more commercially-made vegan substitutes available every day, and restaurants are taking advantage of them to make their menus more vegan friendly. Why does Native Foods still make items like seitan and vegan cheese in-house?
  We have come a long way in the world of vegan food in the past decade, which is so fantastic. Here at Native Foods Cafe, we want people to love food, and love the way food makes them feel. Steering towards a whole foods diet with minimal processing is the optimal choice. That is why we make our Native Tempeh, Native Seitan (7 different kinds!), and Native Cheeses in house. A great example is the Native Nachos, every ingredient is made fresh in our kitchen... and they taste amazing! You'll have to come see for yourself :)

• What dishes should not be missed?
  Portobello & Sausage Burger, Ensalada Azteca, Rockin' Moroccan, Scorpion Burger [homemade blackened tempeh, chipotle sauce, romaine, carrots, avocado and onions], Twister Wrap

• Is there anything else you want Colorado vegans to know?
  We want Colorado vegans to know how excited we are to be there, and can't wait to get involved in the local community! 

Native Foods will be at 1675 29th Street, Suite 1272 in Boulder. Get pumped!

Field Report: Hi*Rise Tofu Banh Mi

Delicious:

They also have a vegan wild rice and mushroom soup on the menu, and some magical sounding vegan cheesecake spread for bagels. Get thee to Hi*Rise!

Tasty Harmony

Hot damn is Fort Collins's Tasty Harmony good. Their menu is all vegetarian and mostly vegan, and they have a menu that ranges from moosewoody macrobiotic to vegan comfort foods like reubens and phillies (phillys?). They use cashew cheese on their sandwiches and burritos rather store-bought vegan cheeses, offer smoothies and living foods, and have a lovely selection of raw desserts. Tasty Harmony also has a great patio, with big fence planters filled with edibles. A+ to them.

You'll have to excuse the crappy lighting and focus on the gooey goodness in these sandwiches:

Philly with mock chicken, grilled peppers and onions, cashew cheese, au jus, and ceasar salad on the side.

Reuben with tempeh, sauerkraut, cashew cheese, russian dressing, and steamed kale on the side.

A+++ to Tasty Harmony. We're already scheming our next weekend trip up to Fort Collins just to try the rest of the menu.