photo from La Combi-gotes

The Vegetarian Resource Group maintains an online Guide to Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurants in the USA and Canada. Here are some recent vegan restaurant additions. The entire guide can be found here: www.vrg.org/restaurant

To support the updating of this online restaurant guide, please donate at: www.vrg.org/donate

Here are some new additions to VRG’s guide:

Aliado Bar & Aperitivo, 68 Calle de San Francisco, San Juan, PR 00901

Aliado’s small plates (Aperitivos) are intended for sharing and include Sopa de Frijoles Negros with organic black turtle beans, local pumpkin, breadfruit, ginger, and herbs; Olivia featuring Italian Castelvetrano olives, emulsified cashew cream, EVOO, and dehydrated seed crackers; Pickled Beet and Ricotta Toast showcasing Chioggia and Detroit red beets from Aibonito, pepita ricotta, tomato marmalade, microgreens, and sourdough from Panoteca San Miguel. In addition, they offer a daily special which serves as a main course such as Pasta Fresca fresh made Tagliatelle, with cultured creamy pesto, local mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, and dried parmesan. Their vegan cheese is tree nut based. They thank you for your patience, noting their dishes are made from scratch.

Aiso, 4068 18th St., San Francisco, CA 94114

Aiso offers diverse, tropically-inspired Tapas such as Oyster Mushroom Skewers with Tamari and coriander, Yuca Sticks with Passionfruit Mustard, Heart of Palm Fritto with Watercress Aioli, Garlic butter Udon with Macadamia Nut, Beet Tartare with Wasabi Crème Fraiche, cucumber, and sesame, Mango Gazpacho with fresh brunoise, spicy Roasted Cauliflower with Sikil pak (a Mayan pumpkin seed based dip), and sour orange onion to name a few dishes.

El Veganito, 5500 Grossmont Center Dr., La Mesa, CA 91942

El Veganito strives to craft creative dishes with locally sourced ingredients and to offer a “…celebration of food, health, and sustainability…” To name a few, Tacos include Carnitas showcasing Jackfruit, or Adobada with soy protein—both with cilantro, onion, and lime; Phish featuring Baja style fishless fillets, cabbage, tomato, cilantro, chipotle cream, and avocado; as well as Tacos de Papa offering crunchy rolled potato taquitos, topped with onion, tomato, lettuce, cilantro, cheese, avocado, and sour cream. Burritos/Bowls offer many similar fillings, some with rice and beans and some where they may be added. Poncho’s Burrito includes freshly marinated, grilled vegetables, rice beans, Pico de Gallo, and avocado. Machaca Burrito features scrambled Jackfruit, tofu, bell pepper, onions, and tomato. El Reuben showcases thin sliced Tempeh, 1000 Island, cheese, and sauerkraut on grilled rye bread. Sopes serves up Veracruz style corn Masa, black beans, onion, sour cream, cilantro, avocado, and their Cashew Cotija cheese. They offer lots of sides too.

La Combi-gotes, 111 N. Bishop Ave., Dallas, TX 75208

The vegan food trailer serves up vegan Mexican dishes such as Beefless Fajitas, Chickenless Flautas, Veggie Burritos, quesadillas, Mexican bowl, and burgers.

Missionary Chocolates, 2712 NE Glisan St., Portland, OR 97232

Missionary Chocolates are crafted in small batches by a naturopathic physician and are dairy-free and gluten-free. Besides their first truffle flavor, 8 time award winning Meyer Lemon Explosion, they offer a myriad of Truffle choices like Sweet Raspberry, Simply Espresso, Local Lavender, Smoked Cherrywood Salted Caramel, inot Noir Salted Caramel, Whiskey, Peach Habanero, and more! A few are seasonal. They’re even open to custom crafting flavors. Chocolate Bars include GF Pretzel Bits Bar and more, as well as Sugar-Free Ginger, Peppermint, Vanilla or Cacao Nibs Chocolate Bars sweetened with monk fruit and stevia. Other confections are Chocolate Covered Snacks like Cherries, Marshmallow Barrels, Figs, Cinnamon Bears, Coffee Beans, and so many more—some organic, all chocolate covered! Talk about community support—on their website you can see the generous list of charities to which Missionary Chocolates has donated chocolate. And yes, they offer samples to visitors!

Mr. Charlie’s, 262 26^th St., Santa Monica, CA 90402

Here, you will find timeless American classics with a plant-based twist, such as “frowny meals,” “not a double double,” “not a cheeseburger,” not a chicken sandwich,” “not chicken nuggets,” and everyone’s favorite, french fries!

Sensible Edibles, 30-30 47th Ave., Long Island City, NY 11101

Sensible Edibles is a gluten-free and vegan bakery and café focused on bringing wholesome, organic, and sustainable baked goods. They also have online ordering available across the US, and provide custom gluten-free and vegan cakes.