COVID-19 Austin Vegan Guide

Note- all of this info is changing fast so check with the business before heading over there.

Restaurants

The restaurant scene has been moving faster than I can keep up with, I’ve been following Austin Veg News which has a post about Where to get vegan curbside, pickup and delivery in Austin during closures that they are keeping updated.

I’ve been to Sundaze (for their Sunday chicken and waffle special!), Mission Street Burritos (if you order 30 dollars worth of food you also get a CBD joint!), Vegan Nom (Migas Burrito special!), Lil Nonna’s (now in South Austin), HapPea Vegan (you gotta follow them on instagram their deal is always changing but their food is so good), Conscious Cravings (no contact pick up), and Tuk Tuk Thai (free delivery in the area).  All are trying to make things work. At first I wasn’t comfortable getting food from restaurants but then I saw this great article about food safety from Serious Eats which made me feel like it’s probably fine. Then I want to support local businesses but I also want workers to be safe and stay home. So it’s a hard decision to make. My solution is ordering in and tipping more than I’ve ever tipped before.

Local Grocery

First, groceries have been harder to get than usual, everyone is flocking to HEB who is doing a great job handling the crises but they are packed which means you might want to check out other stores. Please be nice to people that work at grocery stores!!! They are getting nasty attitudes from all kinds of people when people should be being nicer than usual URGH!

Rabbit Food Grocery- being very stringent on making sure that their carts are sanitized and that people are maintaining a six foot distance along with keeping a cap on how many are allowed in the store. I felt totally safe there. They have also been getting deliveries from businesses in town so sometimes you can find Happea fried chicken or Capital City Brownies.

Thai Fresh– In addition to no contact pick up Thai Food they also have an online shop where you can get soy milk, tofu, beer, coffee, coconut ice cream and baked goods. They are selling breads and bagels, bulk non-dairy milk, a variety of tempeh products, produce, sauces, and more. It changes.

H-Mart, 99 Ranch, MT Market are all huge Asian markets that have tons of inexpensive produce and various tofu and seitan products along with rice, noodles, frozen dumplings, and other staples. You also may have an easier time fining paper products.

Gandhi BazaarMan Pasand Grocery, Desi Brothers (has disposable gloves at the door), and probably a ton of other Indian grocery stores I don’t know about have items like chickpeas, every legume you’ve ever wanted and never heard of, inexpensive spices, produce, and frozen samosas and other deliciousness. 

Mexican groceries (often called Meat Markets) have inexpensive produce, peanut butter, beans, rice, masa, pasta, and cereal. Mine Quinta Caporales Meat Market even carries those Starbucks Almond Milk frappes.

Easy Tiger Curbside and Delivery at the LINC in north Austin. Breads, sourdough starter, flour, dry yeast, quarts of almond and soy milk, coffee, beyond sausages, beer, wine and condiments are all available via their online store.

Skull and Cakebones– No contact deliveries in Austin and Dripping Springs and shipping. Their items are changing frequently but when I wrote this post they had Sourdough loaves, cream cheese, housemade cake mix, non dairy milks, pancake mix, coffee beans, cookie dough, sliced turkey, a cupcake party kit, ready to bake cinnamon rolls, and family mac and cheese.

Eater Austin has a great list of other restaurants that are selling their supplies as popup grocery stores.

Produce

Thanks to Eater Austin for having all this info here

Brothers Produce – Usually they deliver high quality produce and other groceries to restaurants but have now shifted to home delivery, curbside pick up, and drop-offs. Reports from friends are that the company has yet to send off an order with the need for any substitutions.

Farmer’s Market SFC Farmer’s markets lobbied to be essential businesses so both downtown and Sunset Valley will be open as usual but its not party, only 10 people will be allowed in at once, you can’t touch the food until you buy it, and use the hand-washing station when you come in. No live music. Probably.

Texas Farmer’s Market in Lakeline and Mueller will also be open.

Boggy Creek farmstand is open.  They are currently working on implementing an online system for pre-orders. The farm is requiring in-person shoppers to wear gloves (which are being provided), limiting the number of people to five at a time, and implementing social distancing requirements. Check their site to see when it’s open hours are changing.

Eden East Has a limited amount of pre-order seasonal produce bags for $20 or $30. Email them and tell them when you want to pick up and your dietary restrictions and you will get veggies and herbs from the farm.

Good Apple is an organic local produce delivery service

Eat Snack Share –  local and farm-fresh goods delivered to your door. You get to pick what you want, including some snacks, like locally made everything crackers.

Meal Kits

A lot of people have been ordering meal kits because you don’t have to do any planning or go to the store.

Prep to Your Door– Local Austin meal kit delivery that comes in reusable jars and uses local produce.

Gather & Forge – After doing an intake they will create a weekly plan based on your dietary preference and likes. They use local produce and the meals come pre-made with heating instructions.

Purple Carrot – National company that does plant based meal kits.

General Mail Order

Frontier co-op is where Wheatsville gets most of their bulk products and they ship to regular people too which I discovered when I panic-bought nooch on Amazon and it came from them. The sell tons of bulk food and drinks, spices, teas, even personal care. Anything you would get from a bulk container at the co-op.

Coffee

Eater has map with places open for take out, delivery and bean orders. If you are having trouble finding plant milk hit up a coffee shop.

Booze for Delivery and Pickup

Again Eater Austin has a great list

 

I’ll keep updating as time goes on. If you want something added send me an email to veganlazysmurf at gmail dot com or comment below. I don’t always see social media DMs but feel free to slide in there.