The Blue Cat Cafe a cat cafe to pet and play with rescued adoptable cats while also enjoying good food, music, art, and fun events!
I almost cried when Jessica and Gabe started doing pop-up shops back in 2012 and walking into their new brick and mortar all vegan grocery store was almost too much to deal with. I can’t believe Rabbit Food is finally here AND on South First sandwiched between my favorite coffee shop The Fair Bean (get their vegan empanadas) and Bananarchy, across the street from End of an Ear record shop and a new Venezuelan truck called Four Brothers that promises to have vegan arepas! We are living in an amazing time to be a vegan in Austin Texas. 
The soft opening was on February 1st and though everything isn’t in stock yet I couldn’t believe how much they did have, and how freaking cute everything is.
Of course they have every vegan snack you could ever want, from Earth Balance puffs, to Coconut Bacon, and Vegan Twinkies it’s all there.
Then they also have a bunch of cute knitted items, toys and kitchen items from handmade Gryffindor scarves to vegan kitchen towels.
There is an array of vegan health and beauty products including everything from Vitamin D spray to multiple kinds of vegan condoms which will be great anyway but especially if you meet someone AT the store.
They even have fresh foods, WHAT! It’s a one stop shop!
Plus cuties abound everywhere having fun.
And if you pitched in you can find your name on the Kickstarter sign. I stared forever until I found mine and then pointed out to everyone around how awesome I am.
I am so happy for Jessica and Gabe and all of us in Austin and basically the world. So go there, and support the team so they can keep supporting us!
I’m crushed. And seeing the crazy scene at Veggie Heaven today, with only four days to go until the close down, it seemed like a lot of people were trying to get their last fix in. There was a line out the door when we got there and their T-shirts were selling like vegan corn dogs at a circus protest. Even the news was there.
My friend had to park 6 blocks away but I got lucky because someone was leaving. One thing so great about Veggie Heaven is that they have the only free parking on the drag.
Today I got the fried tangerine mushrooms which I adore, they remind me of the Chinese delivery I’d get as a kid in Chicago.
I had to get a steamed bun too, because this could be the last time I ever eat one in Austin Texas.
Usually I get the tofu and noodle bowl while I read the new Chronicle on Thursdays. It’s $4.60 and, I believe, the cheapest vegan meal in town.
I can even walk there. Or I could. I know it’s not the plant-based-diet people’s favorite place what with their use of gluten, sugar, cornstarch, and questionable fake meat but I will yearn for the food, the incredibly fast service, the ridiculously long menu, the Falun Dafa instructional videos, and knowing that they feed homeless people for free all day long.
Goodbye Veggie Heaven. I will miss you.
The Cruelest Show on Earth
For years a group of animal lovers in Austin have been trying to stop some of the worst forms of cruelty to animals in our time. Yes, I am talking about the damn circus where they regularly control elephants and other animals through shackles and pain. Austin For Cruelty Free Entertainment is working to ban bull hooks and chains and they can win this campaign if you take five minutes to call your city council members today. I hear time and time again that the best way to actually make political change is to work at the local level. Just a handful of calls can completely sway a council member because not that many people are engaged so don’t put it off! I don’t want to call either but they even made a script for us so it will be super easy. Here are the details:
Hello Everyone. Thank you for supporting our campaign to protect animals in circuses all these years. We are now at the most important and critical phase of this years-long process to pass an ordinance that will ban painful devices used on animals in circuses, as well as banning chains used on elephants in circuses.
We need your help right now to help us pass this ordinance. Here’s what you can do today to help us out:
1) Call our city council members and mayor today and ask them to support this campaign. It only takes about 60 seconds to make each call. You will be speaking to a council member’s aide who may ask for your name and phone number; please give that information to them. Here’s what you can say when you call:
“Hello. My name is (your first name, last name). I live in Austin. I’m calling to ask Council Member (name) to support Council Member Tovo’s proposal asking the city attorney to write an ordinance that will ban painful devices used on animals in circuses, one that also includes a ban on chaining or tethering elephants.”
Our city council wants to hear from you about important issues so please call them now so they’ll know how important stopping animal cruelty in circuses is to our community. One last thing: Our city council is very busy so please make your call very brief.
Here are the city council names and phone numbers and email addresses:
• Mayor Lee Leffingwell – 512-974-2250
• Council Member Mike Martinez - 512-974-2264,
• Council Member Bill Spelman - 512-974-2256
• Council Member Sheryl Cole – 512-974-2266
• Council Member Laura Morrison - 512-974-2258
• Council Member Chris Riley - 512-974-2260
2) You may also email our city council and mayor all at once by going here http://austintexas.gov/mail/all-council-members. Your email will be sent to all of them once you click the SEND button.
Here’s what you can write in your email:
“Hello. My name is (your first name, last name). I live in Austin. I’m emailing to ask Council Member (name) to support Council Member Tovo’s proposal asking the city attorney to write an ordinance that will ban painful devices used on animals in circuses, one that also includes a ban on chains or tethering elephants. Thank you.”
3) Join us at 10:00 a.m., on Thursday, December 11th, at City Hall where the city council and mayor will vote on a proposal asking the city attorney to write a law to protect animals in circuses in Austin.
We’ll need you to do the following once you arrive:
• Register your support for this proposal by voting at one of the kiosks located in the lobby of city hall. Two of our members will be stationed next to the kiosks to assist you with this step. This takes 2 minutes to do so please do this.
• If you feel comfortable speaking in support of this proposal then sign up to speak for 3 minutes during the city council meeting. You do not need to speak for the entire 3 minutes but you cannot go over 3 minutes either. Please be polite when speaking, give your full name and simply ask the city council to protect animals in circuses by banning painful devices used on animals in traveling shows as well as banning chains on elephants.
Follow Austin For Cruelty Free Entertainment on facebook or twitter for updates.
One thing that I do to make myself feel really terrible is make a ton of plans for the weekend and then cancel them all. This is going to be one of those weekends because there is so much vegan action that sounds like a blast. But, if you read yesterday’s post and saw what my deepest desires are then you know that I won’t make it to all of these events. Hopefully there are more energetic people out there than me and so this post is for you!
First up, is the return of Vegan Drinks tonight at Cheer up Charlies. It’s super exciting that Arlo’s reopened at the Red River location and they are even giving away free french fries if you tell them the secret password: VEGAN DRINKS FRIES! . The drink specials will include The Vegan Yeti (White Russian), The Banana Hammock (pineapple, banana juice, coconut milk & rum), and Whiskey Root Beer Floats made with ice cream provided by Sweet Ritual! It’s tonight Friday at September 5th at 7pm.
On Saturday morning, I will spend the morning at the Beagle Brigade at Norwood Estate Dog Park. Then, at 5pm Unity Vegan Kitchen is going to be throwing a birthday party at their new location in South Austin! And they are going to be making their chicken and waffles with an even better recipe! Hard to imagine cause they were pretty amazing at the 4th of July Party. 
If you don’t stalk Austin vegan business you might not know that there have been a lot of changes in the past few weeks. The Northloop trailer park had to close down completely and Red Rabbit moved into Monkeywrench Books, Taco ‘Bout It closed down, Unity moved to the South Austin Social lot, and BBQ Revolution moved next to Brass Ovaries at 3111 Manor Rd. The Vegan Nom moved back to it’s original location on North Loop. The Dojo closed down and it looks like the Health Box shut down too.
On Sunday Mr. Natural is serving up their monthly vegan brunch buffer at the Ceaser Chavez location. They will be serving a Boston creme cake as a special treat. Counter Culture will also have brunch, as they do every weekend, this time they will be continuing the special of Blueberry Blue Corn Pancakes with Organic Maple Syrup which are amazing! And as usual Counter Culture will also be hosting the Rabbit Food Pop-Up shop so get your orders in. And if you haven’t read about it, please check out their awesome kickstarter ’cause it’s going to be the best thing ever.
On the horizon for next week Counter Culture will be hosting a Wine and Cheese night on September 10th. If you haven’t tried their cheese, it’s so good! I promise you will love it. They have also gotten together another screening of Cowspiricy because the last one sold out and it’s getting rave reviews. Finally, next weekend there is going to be a AVVA+VRA End of Summer Cookout .
So that’s the weekend haps that I know about. I can at least guarantee you one thing, I will spend the weekend eating vegan food.
Happy Veganmofo!
Sometimes when you talk about veganism people call you an elitist and say that a vegan diet is too expensive.
Mostly, it’s cause people are dicks and they have to give you a hard time about something.
But, beyond that, I never understood this argument since the vegan meal is almost always the cheapest entrée on the menu, especially if you have to make your dinner from the sides portion. Maybe people think that because guacamole is usually extra?
Anyway, for years I’ve wondered about this idea of veganism being more expensive and I think now I finally get it. The reason that you spend more when you are vegan isn’t because you are buying more expensive food, it’s because you find all sorts of great people and causes to donate too. People don’t want you to know that vegans are actually awesome and they are always doing cool shit like saving elephants, planting trees, and in this case, building an all vegan grocery store.
I’ve been hearing Jessica talk about her dream to open a vegan grocery store since before I even knew her IRL. This is something she and Gabe have been working on for a million years. They have been so successful with their online shop and pop-up shops (blogged about here) because they have got their shit together. They are the kind of brilliant vegans who are always working towards the cause to save animals. When I saw a pet bunny being carried down the road in my neighborhood by a dog it was Jessica and Gabe that I called to help me with it. And of course, not only did they help me save that bunny but they ended up adopting it. I trust these people with my vitamins, my dog food, and I know that I never have to order some special new vegan product because Rabbit Food will be the first to have it in stock.
I am so excited that that they are finally getting to open the store. Reading that in addition to groceries they will have a vegan coffee bar with bagels and homemade cream cheese, breakfast tacos, and a community event space is making my heart pitter-patter with enthusiasm.
So today I am asking you to check out the Rabbit Food Grocery Kickstarter and donate if you can. They have tons of cool prizes for out of town people too and think about how exciting it will be to shop here! No label reading! Lot’s of cookies! It’s going to be the best!
UPDATE 8-26-2014 - Due to unforseen circumstances the Northloop trailer park is no more. Taco ’bout It had to shut down, Red Rabbit moved inside Monkeywrench books, and Unity & BBQ Revolution are still looking for new spots. Trailer parks really have a way of breaking your heart 😦
Vegan Trailers BBQ Revolution, Unity Vegan Kitchen, and Red Rabbit Bakery opened one by one at the Northloop House and Yard. The taco trailer “Taco ‘Bout It“, also at the park on North Loop, offered one simple vegan friendly taco right when they opened. But, as vegan trailers opened around them, they started adding more exciting vegan tacos to the menu and they watched their vegan sales outpace their meaty counterparts. The owners realized it would be more profitable to go 100% vegan and thus the first all vegan trailer park in the world was created.
This might be my favorite story ever.
I want to send it to every taco joint in town.
If you make us tacos WE WILL COME! 
Check out Taco ‘Bout It’s menu:
The first vegan trailer park in the world, right here in Austin Texas!
There is BBQ Revolution where Blake Newman is smoking tasty vegan proteins and serving up traditional sides like mac & cheese and potato salad.
They’ve even been running a deal with the Americana Tattoo parlor next door (it uses all vegan ink BTW) that if you get a BBQ Revolution tattoo in a visible place from Dean Mitchell you get a free meal once a week for life!
Next door is the best doughnuts in town from our favorite anarchist collective Red Rabbit Bakery. They have their standard vegan doughnuts most days like Mexican Chocolate and Maple Glazed with Walnuts but then they also have specialty doughnuts like the Austin Cream Pie (Vanilla glaze with chocolate pudding filling) and rotating specials made with seasonal ingredients like Hill Country Peaches. 
Next door to them is our beloved Unity Vegan Kitchen run by one of my favorite vegan chefs in town, Leslie Nelms. This woman can cook! She first came on the atxvegan scene at VegFest 2013 when everyone was completely blown away by her cashew lasagna. Since then her trailer has gone on to great success, pleasing pretty much everyone with a menu that has everything from muffalata sandwiches to healthy spring rolls packed with vegetables and garlicky quinoa. Last week she was even running a Chickn’ and Waffles special. This Saturday they are celebrating their one year birthday!
It’s great to watch the community around the Northloop House and Yard develop. They regularly throw Vegan Riots with live music and all sorts of vendors and sometimes even a pig or two will stop by like they did at the 4th of July party! You know it’s a vegan party when a pig shows up.
The big events also bring in tons of other favorite organizations. At the last event, Action For Animals, Bistro Vonish, Vegan Drinks, Sweet Ritual Ice Cream, and Skull & Cakebones were all selling their wares and promoting the cause.
Rabbit Food Grocery had a popup shop selling us everything from the new Earth Balance mac & cheese and Bee Free Honey to vitamins
Maximum Salad made an awesome video where you can see the whole thing. (We are clearly all way excited about the pigs)
This Friday BBQ Revolution is even running a fundraiser for the Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary which was robbed so please go check it out if you can!
I read this morning on Hipstercrite that the Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary was robbed! I know vegans are opposed to most zoos, with good reason, but this one is a non-profit sanctuary that “assists animals in need through rescue, rehabilitation and education”. Some of the animals are sick and can’t live in the wild. Others were abused and rescued by the Austin Zoo. According to the official site:
On the night of July 3-4, a burglary resulted in excess of $25,000 dollars in losses to the Zoo. Burglars caused extensive damage to Zoo facilities and installations, and made off with office electronics, cash, and equipment used to monitor and care for its animals. Please help the zoo recover from this tragic event by making a donation today and sharing this site with your friends and colleagues. Thank you to Lyra Kalish Swinney, a member of The Junior League of Austin, for generously creating this “Go Fund Me” page.
I can’t even imagine what kind of people would do this but it breaks my heart. So please donate if you can, and share this info with your social networks. Otherwise I’m going to lose all faith in humanity.
Babe, a former 4H project and survivor of the slaughterhouse who now gets to live another day at the Austin Zoo. Photo used with permission from Hipstercrite.
And check out Lauren’s post of her recent trip to the zoo for more animal pics!
The other day I was considering moving to a different part of the country. Obviously, there are so many horrible parts to moving. Like, I can’t imagine leaving my friends and family here, or selling my house. I started thinking about what I would miss the most about Austin itself like the shiny happy people and the anything goes anywhere dress code. But there are three things I just can’t even imagine how I would even live without. Tacos, Barton Springs, and the Alamo Drafthouse.
My partner and I are big movie/TV nerds since childhood and since our first days back at the original Alamo on 4th and Colorado the Alamo movie theater has been our favorite place. For Christmas we get Alamo giftcards and that’s where we go for birthdays and when we have friends in from out of town. I’ve gone from my first Mister Sinus theater experience of the Lost Boys, to wandering around the park between the four video screens for each of the four tracks of the Flaming Lips Zaireeka, to drinking Romulan Ale at the Star Trek premiere, every SXSW, Karaoke at the Highball, and seeing Leprechaun with Doug Benson every St. Patricks’s Day. I even got to see my friend chase James Franco down the alley behind the Alamo Ritz yelling “Mr. Franco”. It’s always just been a place that seemed meant for me.
Except for one gigantic problem.
While everyone around me is chowing down on movie themed specials and five dollar milkshakes I’m stuck with either the hummus plate, the veggie burger, the cheese-less pizza, the salad without half the stuff, or the plain popcorn. AKA the most boring vegan food in the world. Over the years they have added better vegan items like the Kick-Ass Tofu sandwich and the spaghetti squash pomodoro and then taken them away. The things is, when I go to the movie theater to laugh and drink beer I usually don’t want a meal. I want bar food. Snacks that go with beer. Things that are tasty and deep fried. Or if I’m having coffee and have already eaten I want something sweet. I look at their ice cream list every time, longingly, hoping that something has changed but alas, these snacks never come. Since the day I got twitter I feel like I’ve been harassing the Alamo to come up with something better for us. Once I even came up with a veganized menu that would be at my dream Alamo. It’s an obsession that I had pretty much given up on.
And then, last week, out of the aether I got the message I’ve been waiting for. “We heard you” and want “to extend an invitation to our first ever vegetarian and vegan food tasting and new menu reveal.”
It turns out that one of the kitchen workers at the Village is vegan and rode in the MS150 with Alamo owner Tim League. After a long and difficult training ride their team was scarfing up pizza and he couldn’t participate so Tim decided then and there to come up with some menu items! Finally! The best part, as a vegan blogger, is knowing there is a vegan at the kitchen and I can be certain that the bread and the tortillas are vegan without harassing the staff. And they have a little v for vegan on the menu. I couldn’t be happier. Well…unless they had deep fried olives and Sweet Ritual parfaits.
When I got to the Alamo Village last night there were already a million people there waiting to taste the food. That’s a good sign! We grabbed the four different items and found a seat. 
I think I started with the “Cherry Tomato & Avocado Bruscetta” served with basil, lemon vinaigrette, crostini, and a balsamic reduction.
I loved this dish, it’s like what I eat all summer when tomatoes are in season. The creamy avocado was a big yes for me. When they serve it at the theater you will get a big bowl of the topping and then slices of crostini. I love this idea and I am glad they are executing it so well.
I couldn’t believe the main dish was tacos, or in other words: my favorite food.
Even though they were called “Spiced Tofu Tacos” I was surprised by how spicy they were, definitely the spiciest tofu in town. The spice was balanced a bit with the avocado and I loved that the extra crunch was with fried tortilla strips instead of something like lettuce (I hate shredded lettuce) but I felt like these could have used another vegetable like baked squash or potatoes. They were a little understuffed but when you order them you get three. I wish there was a corn tortilla option because their flour one was just so-so. I really liked them regardless and I’m so happy to have a taco for when I’m there at breakfast!!!
Next I tried the Samosas that were served with a peach and mint chutney. Now, I’ve never met a samosa I didn’t like and this one was no exception.
They were pretty good sized and chock-full of filling. The crust was both soft and crunchy, just how it should be. I really liked the chutney too although I usually prefer some sort of tamarind sauce. You get three of these in an order and they are seven bucks so I can see myself getting these quite a bit and I’m sure they will go over especially well with the omni crowd.
Finally, I begrudgengly tried the Oatmeal Cherry Cookie, it didn’t look or sound like something I would like but hot damn, that was a great cookie! It was warm and soft with perfect texture and flavor. It might have been our favorite! That or the Bruschetta. The only thing about the cookies that they could improve is adding some ice cream.
And Jesus Christ get some nooch for the popcorn so I don’t have to sneak my own in. Where are we, North Dakota?
The new menu is available at the Alamo Village only right now, I beseech you to head over there and support it so that it spreads to the other locations. I think now I’ll finally be able to see Chef since I’ll have something to snack on during an entire movie about food.
PS. I’ve never beseeched anyone before and it was really fun. I’m going to start saying it all the time.
I’ve completely updated the vegan guide for where to eat at SXSW 2014
First time at SXSW? Check out Mad Betty’s post How to Get Through SXSW
Interested in trailers in South Austin? The South Austin Foodie has a brand new guide
Vegetarian? Check out Aneelee who has picks for downtown, south, and the eastside.
Lazy Smurf's Guide 