VeganFabulous

the lowdown: Por Que No | 3524 N. Mississippi Ave., Portland, OR 97227 | 503.467.4149 | Website | Brunch (weekends only), Lunch, Dinner, Happy Hour | Items $2.75 - $11 | ****

Taqueria with loads of drink and eat options!

Yesterday was a great day! It was beautiful, I started my final spring term paper, I planted Begonias in the yard, and caught up on the foodie blogosphere with VJ from the blog AltPortland over lunch at Por Que No!

I’ve been to Por Que No in the past and had to wait an inordinate amount of time for the food to arrive, so I was slightly shocked when the turn around time we experienced yesterday was < 15 minutes! Caution is still in order because I get the feeling Por Que No doesn’t handle load well. Back to the basics! Por Que No is a small taqueria with a menu offering a mucho vegetarian options (denoted by the peace hand gesture) which can mostly be available vegan. With tamales, tacos, bowls, and salads I had difficulty choosing but the “Brian’s Bowl” caught my attention and I went for it. For $6.50 the bowl includes beans, rice, veggies, salsa and a choice of tortillas or chips. It was off the sombrero!

the lowdown: Muddy’s Coffeehouse | 3560 N. Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR 97227 | 503.445.6690 | Website | Items $3 - $7.50 | ***

Basic breakfast grub!

Home Depot is the worst big box store on the face of the planet. 50,000 square feet of endless aisles filled with millions of DIY items and I can never find what I want. When I do, I can only buy 50 lbs of peet moss when I only need about 1 lb. After leaving the store and vowing I would never return, we hit up Muddy’s for brunch and Pistils Nursery on Mississippi Ave, much more my style.

Muddy’s is like having brunch at your cool hippie friends’ house. Random tables and chairs, mix and match coffee mugs and place settings and multiplication flash cards for good measure. You serve yourself coffee and place your order with whomever walks by. They are happy to make anything on the menu vegan with one requisite tofu scramble (must specify vegan). Being a scramble whore I ordered it. $7 included potatoes and toast which I doused with house made hot sauce. If you visit Muddy’s for lunch take your pick of a TLT or tofu sandwich. Although the scramble wasn’t my fav, I give Muddy’s a load of props for being effortlessly laid back, having some vegan love on the menu and reminding me that as department stores continue to take over the world there are still good people doing good things and I’d rather give them my hard earned cash.

the lowdown: Equinox | 830 N. Shaver St., Portland, OR 97227 | 503.460.3333 | Website | Brunch/Lunch (weekends only), Dinner | Entrees $8.50 - $20, *****

Choice of a couple vegan friendly entrees and one fantastic dessert!

Just off Mississippi Ave, tucked behind a quaint gate and huge patio sits Equinox. Fiery warmth enveloped us as we walked into the small but open dining room complete with exposed beams and heating ducts. We took our seat at the bar which offered a small view of occasional flames from the kitchen. Within minutes I felt I could stay for hours.

The menu offers two vegan choices, “Los Tacos de Equinox” and Risotto. I hestitantly ordered the risotto (adding tofu) because I had just made it at home the other night and sad memories of entirely too much time spent stirring and a burnt pot came rushing back, however, it was an excellent choice. The risotto was perfectly creamy, rich, and intertwined with squash, corn and other vegetables to perfection. Not only was the food so good that I will never taint risotto again by making it myself, the bartender served up some fabulous virgin cocktails for my sobriety. As if dinner wasn’t enough, I couldn’t resist topping our full stomachs with banana wontons accompanied by coconut milk dipping sauce.

the lowdown: Gravy | 3957 N. Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR | 503.287.8800 | Entrees $6.75 - $9.75 | Breakfast, Lunch

HUGE portions and you can substitute tofu for eggs!

It feels like I have been on a tofu scramble binge lately but what else am I going to do when my grandparents invite me out for breakfast and suggest Elmer’s? Of course tell them Elmer’s sucks and that they should meet me at Gravy where the coffee is free flowing and the tofu scrambles are good and enormous!

It was a brave maneuver on my part to ask my g-parents to meet me on Mississippi on several levels but they loved their breakfast and I loved mine, however, things didn’t start out so great. My gp’s were concerned about finding the place, then when they showed up it took them a while to get comfortable with their surroundings, beings that they are from Battle Ground AND are accustomed to places like Elmer’s. Also, when my food first arrived it was an egg scramble so I had to send it back and wait. Along with the great food Gravy’s customer service is super and the server was kind enough to remove it from my bill! Crisis averted!

the lowdown: The Mississippi Pizza Pub | 3552 N. Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR | 503.288.3231 | Website | Slices/Pizzas/Salads $2.50 - $24

Live music, great bar, vegan pizza slices for $2.75.

On the south end on one of the coolest streets in Portland is one of the best pizza spots in Portland. This place isn’t just cool because they have vegan pizza slices, offer $2 off cheeseless pizza or because they host live music everyday. Mississippi Pizza’s staff and ownership stand up and fight against injustices. Seriously, they don’t take shit from anyone. Not even big pushy band management who tries to kick everyone out of the bar for not paying a cover charge when the folks in the bar had been there long before the band started. Not to mention it is in the back of the room and apparently is exempt from the cover charge rule. Anyway, because of the heroics of the bartender, the apologies from the owners and of course the vegan pizza slices, I am forever a supporter of Mississippi Pizza.

the lowdown: Amnesia Brewing | 832 N Beech St, Portland, OR 97227 | 503.281.7700

If you’re a junk food vegan, Amnesia’s got you covered with Tofurky, otherwise I pray you are lucky enough to go on a day when the portabello mushroom sandwich is on special!

Since I gave up the bottle I had forgotten how meat-centric the food selection is at most breweries and pubs. You better believe I was quickly jolted from my memory loss when I strolled up to Amnesia only to see a big BBQ with stacks of sausages and hamburgers. Rather then beg my friend to get a beer somewhere where there was a little more green on the menu, I decided to buck up and order the tofurky dog. Before I had a chance to order, the white board caught my eye! I must have done something nice for someone because the special was a portabella mushroom sandwich and the bartender was happy to hold the cheese AND replace the chips with some extra fruit! Who said non-alcoholic vegans can’t have fun?!