Decent Vegan Food in Detroit? How about Lobster?

[helloreplace]

I recently moved back to the Detroit area after a good 18year absence, and I have no idea what's what. I have two occasions coming up I need to choose restaurants for, and would be super grateful for good advice

Comments

[kefair89]

In Season in downtown Royal Oak is excellent for vegans

[helloreplace]

It's sounding like Inn Season is the clear favorite. thank you!

[shekkara]

Everest Express in Farmington and its sister restaurant Kathmando Chullo. Not vegan, but they have nice selection of dairy-free vegetarian dishes.

http://www.everestexpressusa.com for the menu and contact info.

[helloreplace]

wow, those look really interesting, I will check those out. thank you!

[superexcellent]

If your visitor is here during the day on weekdays, Karmic Cafe is a vegan cafe with lots of great choices and a menu that changes daily. It's in the Guardian Building on Griswold. The address is 500 Griswold Ave. Ste 100, Detroit, MI 48226.

They're open M-Th 8am-6pm and Friday 8am-3:30pm. I work in the Ren Cen and walk there for lunch pretty often. It's the best vegan option so nearby. Inn Season is very good, but it's further.

The Traffic Jam & Snug is a neat place and they often have vegan options. Best to call first. 511 W. Canfield, Detroit, MI 48021. 313-831-9470

Hope that helps!

[jebra]

According the the this page, the Karmic Cafe is vegan-friendly and it's a ten minute walk from the RenCen. Check out that page and see what else they mention (also some possibly helpful links).

[jebra]

Before hitting the "send" button accidentally, I also meant to second kefair89's suggestion of Inn Season. Depending on time of day, it's about a 20-minute drive from the RenCen, but well worth the drive. Friends who have moved to other states make Inn Season a must-visit outing when they come to visit.

[helloreplace]

thank you! It sounds like I can give my friend lunch tips for Karmic andthen take him out to Inn Season fora nice dinner. thanks!

[dasfiregod]

In Season is going to be your best bet for a nice place for dinner with your vegan friend. Royal Oak is a straight shot up I-75 from Downtown, so its not too bad. Karmic Cafe is basically a lunch place inside an office building.

Tom's Oyster Bar often has Live Lobster specials. Even when there's no special, they have Live Lobster, and its pretty good. The closest one to you at Mack and 8 is the one on Mack in Grosse Pointe Park. But there's also one in Royal Oak, and one Downtown. It's a great deal better than a Red Lobster, and probably one of the better places you'll find for Oysters/Lobster/Seafood in the area.

[dasfiregod]

Oh I was just thinking too that as an alternative to a purely Vegan restaurant, the one thing that Detroit has is a TON of great Arabic places, which typically have much to offer a Vegan.

Dearborn isn't too bad of a jaunt from Downtown (about 15 minutes debending on time of day and where you're going) - I really like Al Ameer on Warren...

There's also Sala Thai in eastern market here Downtown, which is a fairly nice Thai place, its not too far and will make almost anything on the menu vegan.

I don't know that I'd recommend Traffic Jam as mentioned by someone else, we've had to leave there before because my (just vegitarian not vegan) fiancee couldn't find anything to eat besides a salad or fries...

[mogwar]

Maybe she just didn't recognize the dishes? My experience with Traffic Jam is that most of their vegetarian cuisine is exotic foreign food, like Ethiopian. But it's definitely there.

And the nearest Sala Thai to downtown that I know about is quite a bit south of Eastern Market, on Lafayette between Rivard and St. Aubin, in the same plaza as Cottage Inn, Paris Cafe, and a video rental place, next door to Chrysler Elementary School. Also, while they also have decent vegetarian options, I've never noticed them to have particularly vegan cuisine.

[dasfiregod]

No, not to sound snarky, but... well, to sound snarky - we are both fairly adept at reading a menu... and niether of us are unfamilliar with "exotic foreign food" in fact we eat it often in some very exotic foreign places... Its just that Traffic Jam can be pretty hit or miss with that stuff depending on the specials.

Sala Thai is walking distance from my place, on Russel St. and Erskine. I go there all the time.

vegan = no animal products
Noodles + vegetables = no animal products.
vegetable stir fry in peanut sauce w/ Tofu = no animal products.

They will gladly omit egg from things like Pad Thai, etc.

Its pretty easy to eat vegan in a Thai place.