One thing that always drives me crazy at vegetarian restaurants and trailers around town is the lack of french fries. I may be vegan but I am still an American goddammit and every now and then, especially if I am getting a sandwich, I want fries. Thankfully Conscious Cravings, the newest veg trailer on the scene, has heard our unhealthy call and was aware of my conscious craving and answered with an extremely large 2 dollar portion of rosemary fries.The truth is, the fries aren’t unhealthy at all because they are baked and not fried. The menu is overall pretty healthy at this new trailer at the Longhorn Food Court halfway between ACC and UT on MLK and Rio Grande and it is extremely vegan friendly. It is what I dream would be on every corner instead of mcdonalds and kfc. Anything on the menu can be transformed with actual vegan substitutions like vegan mayo instead of no mayo or vegan cheese instead of no cheese. It really is a brave new world we are entering here in Austin lately. Life is veganizing quicker than you can say “the preceding paradigm of a heteronormative patriarchal society ensconced in the continued exploitation and oppression of animals is coming to its prognosticated denouement”. What a world.

Conscious Cravings has a really great menu, especially for a trailer because they usually can only serve a couple things.  I knew I wanted to hot sandwich instead of a cold one or a salad but it was really tough to decide between the pan seared tofu, the seitan chimichurri, the black bean slider, or the BBQ seitan. In the end I went with the ‘Bella -“grilled portabella mushrooms, topped with onions and olives, and dressed in herbed vegan mayo with Daiya cheese” because I knew I was getting the fries and figured mushrooms would give me at least some nutrients. It was surprisingly good! I say surprising because I have had so many shitty portabella sandwiches in my life that it is always shocking to have a good one. The sandwich was served in a very crisped large tortilla that had a lot of texture. The mushrooms were neither soggy nor charred but juicy and flavorful. The cheese wasn’t overwhelming which I often have a problem with and the herbed mayo with the olives and onions was perfect for my palate. Perfect for my palate! I think that is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever wrote but it is true. I love olives. The sandwich was five dollars which, to me, is exactly what a good sandwich should cost. I also tried the strawberry banana smoothie which has added flax seeds and sorbet added for omega 3s and flavor respectively, it was delciously smooth and creamy, or shall we say…smoothie.

I can’t wait to try everything on the menu. Right now they are open Monday-Saturday 11-8. I hope that they have a lot of success!