Many people are working on improving their health and increasing their vegetable consumption and decreasing their intake of meat. In Las Vegas, especially, residents are pushing for the lifestyle change by encouraging each other to eliminate meat in their diets at least one day a week. Meatless Monday came about with a slogan, “One day a week cut out the meat!” As a result, many restaurants in the Las Vegas area are mindfully offering more vegetarian cuisine in their establishments. Here is the list of the best vegetarian restaurants in Las Vegas.
1. Origin India
Off the main strip, Origin India celebrates Vegetarian Awareness month every October. Customers are able to enjoy vegetarian dishes ranging from samosas, as appetizers, to chana masala, a dish with garbanzo beans and tomatoes. Mixed vegetable curry is also a favorite among vegetarians who frequent Origin India.
2. Go Raw Café
As its name implies, Go Raw Café does not serve anything cooked. The restaurant highlights organic vegan cuisine. If customers were to just pick up their menu and read it, however, they may not realize right away that the restaurant serves only vegetarian delights. For instance, their cheeseburger is actually made up of a mix of carrots, raw beets, parsley, and sunflower seeds. It is served on living bread with all the fixings and almond “cheese.”
3. Pura Vida Bakery and Bystro
This unique restaurant is best known as Las Vegas’ first 100% cruelty free kitchen. Chef Myra Trabulse offers made-to-order meals that appease even the pickiest vegetarians. The meals are all organic, including their scrumptious desserts. Pura Vida customers often give rave reviews to their empanadas, filled with caramelized onions, vegan meat and cheese, potatoes, peppers, and various herbs and spices.
4. Fresh Mama Café
Locals refer to Fresh Mama Café as a “freshetarian café” where raw salads, wraps, smoothies, coffees, teas, and desserts are served. This vegetarian heaven goes as far as even putting their smoothies into categories: “hydrate” for increased electrolytes, “boost” for more energy, “recover” for protein, and “replenish” for needed nutrition. Customers can also occasionally learn from guest lecturers who come into the restaurant to talk about healthy lifestyles.
5. Veggie House
At Veggie House, customers think they are walking into a typical American Chinese restaurant, but there is a twist that they soon discover as they examine the menu. All the “meat” dishes are made with soy or gluten, but made to look and usually taste like the meat you would expect in some popular Chinese dishes. Some popular dishes include Bean Sprouts with Veggie Ham and Kung Pao Squid. To add to the quirkiness of the restaurant, the hours of operation listed on their front door state they are open from 11:28 am to 9:33 pm.
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6. Le Thai
Located in downtown Las Vegas, Le Thai offers customers a wide array of vegetarian and vegan dishes. Other vegetarian establishments in the area cannot beat the taste of Le Thai’s food, and corresponding prices. Almost every single dish at Le Thai can be cooked with tofu. There is a back patio where customers can enjoy their meal in fresh air.
7. Sunrise Coffee
At Sunrise Coffee, customers can find a wide range of food offerings to compliment their coffee drinks. The restaurant offers breakfast and lunch, with pastries sold throughout the day. Sunrise Coffee is best known for their vegetarian burritos, including the Alien Burrito with couscous, beans, hummus, spinach, tomato, avocado, and red peppers, as well as the Nomnom Burrito, which features eggs, potatoes, beans, cheese, spinach, avocado, sour cream, and cilantro. Most of the meals at Sunrise are extremely affordable, hovering around the $6 mark.
8. MGM Grand Restaurants
At the MGM Grand, restaurants are ramping up their vegetarian offerings and helping customers establish healthier eating habits. At Shibuya, a five-course vegetarian tasting menu is offered to customers, which includes a delicious, warm, Japanese mushroom salad. At Diego’s, those with a taste for Mexican food can also enjoy a five-course seasonal vegetarian tasting menu, which features Chile Rellenos filled with wild mushrooms. Finally, at Michael Mina’sSeablue, customers can enjoy an extensive salad feast from the Create-Your-Own Salad Menu.
9. Aria Restaurants
At one of Las Vegas’ newest casinos, a couple of vegetarian menus are featured in their restaurants. AtBar Masa, vegetarian dishes such as mushroom yakisoba and miso tofu keep customers coming back for more. Vegetarian dishes can also be found atJulian Serrano, a tapas-styled restaurant offering such small plates as stuffed piquillo peppers filled with creamy goat cheese and mushrooms, as well as vegetarian paella with zucchini, sofrito, mushrooms, cauliflower, and French beans.
10. Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Las Vegas
Steve Wynn, the owner of two famous hotel casinos in Las Vegas, turned to a vegan diet. In doing so, he asked the restaurants in his hotels to come up with dishes that are healthy to serve customers with the same lifestyle. At Society Café, their most popular vegetarian dish is a market chopped salad with edamame, pumpkin seeds, celery, avocado, and carrots. The chefs at the Country Club have enhanced their menus with vegetarian delights such as gazpacho with jicama, tomato, cilantro, avocado, and yucca crisp. Even Wynn’s SW Steakhouse serves vegetarian meals that delight the palette.
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Whether you live in Las Vegas or are planning to visit the city, these restaurants are worth a visit. While some of them are rather expensive, others offer good prices. Anyway, you won’t notice the difference, because all of them cook delicious vegetarian meals. What’s your favorite vegetarian restaurant in Las Vegas?