Vegan Restaurants in Albuquerque

Hi. I haven't blogged in forever! Not only have I been busy, but I think the warm weather has drawn me outside and away from the computer. Maybe I am only a winter blogger!

I have put a link on my site to the New Mexico Vegetarian Society which lists restaurants with options for vegetarians and vegans. But I have found a few more that aren't on their list (at least not the last time I checked). In time I hope to put a map up which marks these (maybe a less fancy site like the SuperVegan website for New York - my husband took me to NYC for our 1st anniversary a couple weeks ago and I spent a lot of time on that wonderful website).

La Salita - La Salita means "the little room," although in Spanish often ita/ito (little) can be more appropriately translated as "cute" or "of which I am fond." Either meaning works here. There are two locations of La Salita, and I prefer the one on Eubank South of Constitution on the West side of the street. The other location is on Coors South of Cottonwood Mall on the East side of the street. The Eubank location is litterally a small room without much ambiance. But the service and food are wonderful - it has a small, everyone-knows-eachother diner feeling and is often packed.

As to the food, find Rory, the hostess/owner/manager, who is short (like me!) and has black hair. She has told me that their tortillas are acceptable for vegans, as are their whole beans and I think both their chiles, but certainly the green. I special order a whole bean burrito with avocado or guacamole inside, green chile, no cheese. But they also have veggie enchiladas on their menu stuffed with calabacitas (which is corn, usually with zucchini and bell peppers) on the menu which can be ordered without cheese. The coup de grac, though, is that their sopapillas are vegan and they do not fry anything with meat in the sopa oil. Thus, one could ostensibly get a vegan stuffed sopapilla as well. I keep meaning to either sneak in a little agave nectar (sopas are often eaten with honey as a dessert) or just take an unopened bottle there and give it to them and ask them to save it for those who request it. There is nothing finer than a fresh sopa with agave nectar!

Scarpas - There are at least two locations for Scarpas - one on Eubank and Montgomery and one on Academy just East of San Mateo (there might be one on the westside as well). The people that work there let me read their pizza crust recipe and read the ingredients for their pasta - and those are both vegan! They also specially indicate vegetarian items on their menu. I want to say that I order their Pasta Julienne, but I am not sure I am getting the name right on that. Whatever it is, it is good. I also have ordered pizzas with veggies and no cheese and been very satisfied.

Green Light Bistro - I debated listing this one first, but I had to give the first shout to La Salita for their service. Green Light Bistro is a MUST-EAT for any vegan living in or visiting Albuquerque. They are all vegetarian and largely vegan! You can find vegan cakes and treats there! I had a fabulous vegan grilled vegetable sandwich when I went. Their food is fresh and tasty. I need to go one day just to have some cake, I haven't tried it yet, but it looks fantastic. It is now in the same building as Annapurna, which serves Ayervedic food (also largely vegan) so you can order off of either menu. Check out their website with mouthwatering pictures: http://www.999dine.com/nm/greenlightbistro/. Their address is: 2201 Silver SE, on the corner of Silver and Yale, South of UNM/Central. Also, the website for Annapurna is: http://www.999dine.com/nm/annapurna/.

I will write about a few more later, but there is sunshine out today, so bye for now!