Here’s Why Every Vegan Foodie Needs To Visit San Francisco’s East Bay
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When you’re vegan, going on vacation can be tough when it comes to finding awesome food options. The eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area, known as the East Bay, encompasses cities along the eastern shores of San Pablo Bay and San Francisco Bay. Oakland and Berkeley are two of the most well-known cities in the East Bay area. Berkeley specifically is known as a socially responsible liberal hub with a heavy amount of political activism, where vegetarian diets and veganism are huge parts of the culture. If you want a healthy vacation on the coast with all of the vegan comfort foods, vegan tacos, vegan pizzas and vegan pastries, the East Bay is your spot. Get your veggie on.
Vegan Sweets
When you have a sugar craving, there’s no shortage of bakeries in the East Bay area. The 100 percent vegan cinnamon roll shop called Cinnaholic has a location in downtown Berkeley. Cinnaholic bakes all kinds of crazy cinnamon rolls like tiramisu, banana cream, cake batter and chai. You can feel a little better about your cravings knowing that all of the ingredients and sugars are derived from vegetables, fruits, spices and plants.
Donut Farm (with locations in both Berkeley and Oakland) is a favorite among vegans and non-vegan donut lovers alike with all locally-sourced ingredients and a menu of organic vegetarian and vegan brunch items. Timeless Coffee is where all of your vegan bakery dreams come true. Get a cup of its house-brewed coffee and try all of the savory and sweet pastries — from vegan pizza rolls and empanadas to cakes, scones, danishes, pies and cheesecake.
Vegan Comfort Food
You don’t have to stick with grain bowls. Plenty of restaurants and food trucks in the East Bay offer vegan comfort food so you can bring all of your grilled cheese-loving friends and everyone can indulge. The Saturn Cafe in Berkeley is a diner with all kinds of vegetarian and vegan dishes like meatless burgers and dairy-free ice creams. You’ll see vegan comfort foods like onion strings with ranch, taquitos, breakfast burritos and “BBQ chicken” sliders.
Souley Vegan in Oakland serves up Louisiana-style vegan soul food along with cocktails and desserts. One of the more unassuming vegan restaurants, Potala Vegan Restaurant (in Albany, California) looks like a hole in the wall from the outside, but the vegan food here is comforting, clean, nutritious, filling and the menu is always changing.
The food truck, caterer and pop-up champs at Hella Vegan Eats have carved out space for themselves in the Oakland food scene. Hella Vegan Eats has set up a permanent location at Classic Cars West, a boutique vintage car dealership, that’s an indoor-outdoor café and beer garden. It offers items like a “fried chicken” pesto burger with pumpkin seed pesto and smoked cashew crema and the breakfast burrito stuffed with tater tots, cashew cheese, bacon-flavored seitan, greens and tofu scramble. Bottom line, this is the place to get your vegan on if you’ve never tried vegan food.
International Vegan Cuisine
If you’re in the mood for Indian, Mexican, Himalayan or Chinese food, but you’re a vegan, you have a ton of options in the East Bay area. Vegan & Tikka Masala is an Indian restaurant with vegan and vegetarian food. You’ll find vegan appetizers like aloo tikki, samosas, biryani and about 15 vegan entrees. Locals flock to Flacos in Berkeley where they serve up vegan Mexican food with tamales, pozole and salsas.
The laid-back bistro Café Tibet has been a Berkeley staple for close to twenty years. The menu boasts traditional Tibetan cuisine with vegan and gluten-free items. If you want classic Chinese vegan and vegetarian dishes, check out Nature Vegetarian Restaurant where the food is made with no MSG and it makes its own homemade meat alternatives.
Upscale Vegan Food
Food at The Butcher’s Son is a whole other level of vegan cuisine. This vegan butcher shop in Oakland has an industrial-chic vibe. One of the biggest problems with vegan cuisine has to do with getting the right texture, but locals rave about everything from the Ruben to the buffalo “chicken” and “bacon” burger with vegan ranch to the monster-sized fried mozzarella and “meatball” grinder, all of which taste pretty damn close to the real things. You’ll find vegan grilled cheese, “fish” and chips with Old Bay seasoning and even vegan cannolis.
If you’re looking to go out to eat for a family dinner in Berkeley, Sanctuary Bistro should be on your list. This vegan and gluten-free neighborhood restaurant has a welcoming vibe and French-style cuisine. The brunch menu is killer with garbanzo and fava bean omelets, “Florentine” with housemade biscuits, portabello, spinach and vegan hollandaise. It also has vegan cheese and charcuterie plates, BBQ pulled “pork” and lasagna. Top it all off with some cashew cheesecake.
Vegan Pizza
You can satisfy all of your pizza cravings at the Red Tomato Pizza House in Berkeley. Where else would you find a whole section of the menu at a pizza place dedicated to specialty vegan pizzas. You can order things like Garlicky Hummus pizza, spinach and tomato pizza and pesto pine-nut pizza, all made with Daiya cheese. Another Berkeley pizza place offering vegan pies is Lanesplitter Pizza And Pub. Lanesplitter supports the local craft beer scene and you can pair your drink with a vegan pie. You can order any of the Neapolitan pies with vegan cheese or get it by the slice.
You wouldn’t expect a sports bar to be a prime spot for vegan pizza, but Bobby G’s in Berkeley is just that. You can get any of their signature New York-style pies like triple mushroom, curry, paradise (Hawaiian-style) and veggie with vegan cheese.
Vegans, now you know where you’re planning your next vacation.
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