Vegetarian restaurants in Nashville: There are plenty of good ones, these are our top 5
Yes, vegetarian standards Sunflower Cafe and The Wild Cow made the list, but there are a couple of surprises (and those places serve meat, too).
New steakhouses and barbecue joints are popping up as fast as the tall-and-skinnies around town.
But so too are organic, healthy, farm-to-table restaurants that — if not offering exclusively vegetarian fare — include many vegetarian and vegan dishes for customers.
We waded through all the wheat grass, alfalfa sprouts and cashew cheese dishes to come up with the five best places for Nashville vegetarians to dine.
1. Butcher & Bee
902 Main St., lunch and dinner; butcherandbee.com
Wonderful, creative and absolutely gorgeous dishes often contain actual (edible) flowers. I mean, you just have to take out your phone and get a few pics before digging in.
The good news is that the food tastes as good as it looks.
And the avocado crispy rice, autumn greens, "chicken fried" cauliflower and turnip cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper) are all as exotic and delicious as they sound.
Bring your carnivore friends — there's plenty of fresh fish, beef and chicken to keep them happy.
Vegetarian or not, start your meal with pita bread and whipped feta, so light and airy that it disappears fast. Or start with the warm Turkish hummus with crispy chickpeas on top that add an awesome spicy crunch to each bite.
2. Vui's Kitchen
2832 Bransford Ave. and 1120 Fourth Ave. N., lunch and dinner; vuiskitchen.com
Fresh, vibrant and flavorful is the name of the game at Vui’s Kitchen, where you can get almost anything on the menu made vegetarian with lemongrass tofu.
Most dishes come topped with fresh herbs and vegetables chopped right in front of you. If that’s not a vegetarian’s heaven, then I don’t know what it is.
The tofu summer rolls with noodles, vegetables and herbs in soft rice paper are a great starter when slathered generously with Vui’s peanut sauce. The vegetarian banh mi on a French baguette will leave you stuffed and satisfied, or opt for a lighter option like Vui’s salad topped with tofu and citrus vinaigrette.
Finish things off with an avocado shake, made with avocado, almond milk and sweetened condensed milk. It might sound strange but it sure is tasty.
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3. Sunflower Cafe
2834 Azalea Place, lunch and dinner; sunflowercafenashville.com
Don't be put off by the line of people waiting to get their hard plastic trays and move through 10 feet of steam-table offering — even if it does remind you of a high school cafeteria.
No soggy fries or hour-old pizza slices here. It's fresh vegetables, tofu, tempeh, quinoa, grains and some of the most delicious and creative sauces we've tasted.
The Thai ginger tofu has a rich, tangy peanut sauce and crunchy carrots that set off the soft chunks of tofu.
The collard greens have an incredible vinegar tomato tart taste.
The ordinary becomes extraordinary. Even the coleslaw has a wonderful bite to it, and the sweet potato casserole is so much richer with butter and cinnamon.
And the super-soft, fresh pita bread sops up everything in the tastiest way.
4. The Wild Cow
1896 Eastland Ave., lunch and dinner; thewildcow.com
Vegetarians can order anything on the huge menu at this hipster East Nashville spot, which is known for putting a vegan spin on things like queso, nachos, Caesar salad and reubens.
The tacos are creative and filling (think sweet potato and black bean with homemade jerk sauce or peanut tempeh with sautéed kale), but you really shouldn’t visit Wild Cow without ordering the buffalo tempeh or tofu.
You can get it as an app with vegan ranch, add it to the market veggie salad or get the Buffalo Beans & Greens bowl for the ultimate vegetarian comfort meal. It comes with brown rice, pinto beans, garlicky kale and shredded carrots, all topped with the spicy buffalo tempeh or tofu and vegan ranch. Is it lunch time yet?
Oh, and good luck passing up the scrumptious cupcakes and other treats surrounding the cash register.
5. Mockingbird Nashville
121 12th Ave. N., lunch and dinner; mockingbirdnashville.com
Normally, we're not big fans of vegetarian versions of meat dishes.
Having said that, Mockingbird's house-made seitan version of a reuben sandwich tastes, well, just like a reuben sandwich. And a pretty good one at that.
Or try the crispy pimento cheese arancini (rice balls), the rich, flavorful veggie soup, or the crispy-on-the-outside pillowy-on-the-inside tater tots. All wonderful and creative.
General Manager Mikey Corona had a lot of fun naming the menu items. The seitan reuben, for instance, is "Meatless, Rye Not?"
Nothing like a few giggles with dinner.
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Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com or 615-259-8384 or on Twitter @bradschmitt.