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Vegetarian Food
updated: Feb 15, 2011, 5:03 PM

I was hoping for recommendations for the best choices in town for Vegetarians. Somewhere that also features local fare (in addition to veg) would be best.

Thanks!

Places People Are Talking About:

Backyard Bowls	Baja Grill	Bouchon
Epic Bowl	Kobachi	Natural Cafe
New Frontiers Natural Marketplace	Olio e Limon	Pierre LaFond
Red Pepper	Saigon	Shang Hai
Sojourner Cafe	Spiritland Bistro	TAP Thai
Via Maestra 42

What People Are Saying:

COMMENT 146011	2011-02-15 05:42 PM
bouchon always creates wonderful dishes for veggies... stay away from the soujourner - they have gone really down hill. Just about every place in town has good options - we are lucky that way in SB
COMMENT 146013	2011-02-15 05:43 PM
Spiritland Bistro. Bliss.
COMMENT 146015	2011-02-15 05:47 PM
I haven't had any problems getting good vegetarian meals anywhere. My favorite places to eat are Spiritland, Sojourner, Natural Cafe, Shang Hai & Saigon (ask for veggie menus at the last two)
CAPTAIN HALEY	2011-02-15 05:47 PM
Pierre Lafond Wine Bistro on State Street has a nice, relaxed atmosphere and a number of excellent vegetarian items on the menu.
COMMENT 146017	2011-02-15 05:47 PM
I beg to differ that Sojourner has gone down hill. Still the same good food it's always been. I have been eating there for 25 years
COMMENT 146020	2011-02-15 06:04 PM
Red Pepper in Goleta has AMAZING vegetarian Chinese food (soy chicken and beef).
COMMENT 146025	2011-02-15 07:13 PM
Spiritland Bistro!
CHERIDIANE	2011-02-15 07:29 PM
Ooooo, Spiritland Bistro yes! My favorite. Sojouner's is great for everyday delish.
STORM33	2011-02-15 07:47 PM
Natural Cafe...I'm not a vegetarian, but often feast on their vegetarian meals because they are so good. Sign up for their emails, I often get buy one get one 50% off and even buy one get one free at times. There's a place inside Albertson's out in Goleta (by Costco) that has this sushi place inside. They do these amazing wraps (thing spring rolls on steroids) and they have a veggie one. Only $5-$6.
COMMENT 146033P	2011-02-15 08:52 PM
Spiritland or Natural cafe -- sojourner hasn't changed in 20 years - it never was very good.
COMMENT 146041P	2011-02-16 01:42 AM
My husband and go to Kobachi when we're too tired to cook. I don't eat fish (we're depleting our oceans), and Kobachi has an incredible champignon roll and a tasty garden bright roll. With a seaweed salad, I'm pretty happy. Also, Zen Yai on lower State has delicious veggie dishes.
COMMENT 146048P	2011-02-16 06:52 AM
I am so glad I quit eating animal and bird flesh. For fifty years I ate just about anything. But one day I just could not do it anymore. Just about every restaurant has vegetarian meals. Some of the steak house become a little challenging, but it seems like there is always something to eat. If people saw how violent and cruel it is to kill an animal they would stop. Most people could not do it. And it requires so much corn and grains to feed the animals. I can never go back.
COMMENT 146063	2011-02-16 07:57 AM
Baja Grill out by Costco has great food both veg and non-veg and everything is made fresh daily. I love their black beans (though they do have pinto as well) and it's the only guacamole I like. My friends love the fajitas and they have many variations of them- in a quesadilla, as a taco, burrito and tostada. You can also get any of your burritos without meat (which I do). Oh and they also have really good enchiladas. It is the same owner of Natural Cafe and Kahuna Grill and in my opinion is the best out of the three.
COMMENT 146069	2011-02-16 08:03 AM
There is nothing wrong with being vegan, but we are all part of the food chain, and the animals know this too, and they eat other animals, all part of the food chain.....
COMMENT 146073	2011-02-16 08:13 AM
As I understand it the Soujourner changed owners a while back, and I know they have a new chef. Just saying what was once a very good thing, is not for me anymore. Olio e Limon has a wonderful selection, as does via Maestro.
COMMENT 146083	2011-02-16 08:28 AM
Stay away from Natural Cafe on State Street. Went there recently, the food was horrible, there was a rock in my meal and we got no response other than an offer to "come back" for a free lunch! Yucko. No thanks. The one near the dealerships/la cumbre seems OK still, but not great. Was much better years ago.
COMMENT 146092	2011-02-16 08:47 AM
Sojourner! (Tempeh Taco Salad or the Nut Burger) Spiritland! (anything on the menu)
COMMENT 146093P	2011-02-16 08:50 AM
Saigon Vietnamese restaurants have excellent vegetarian / vegan dishes, indeed an entire vegetarian menu. I've had great meals at the one in 5 Points and the one downtown near the Granada.
COMMENT 146116	2011-02-16 09:39 AM
The Sojourner is awesome!!! Don't believe any of the negative comments on here about them! It's one of my favorite places in town! They've got a terrific VEGGIE RUEBEN and a NUT BURGER to die for! Yuuuuummmmm!
COMMENT 146129	2011-02-16 10:16 AM
Ewww... Both Sojourner and Natural Cafe are terrible. Under seasoned, bland, and often made with low quality non-organic ingredients. Spirtland is solid choice, but many places in town have off-menu veggie dishes that are great, you just have to ask!
COMMENT 146133	2011-02-16 10:28 AM
In Solvang, check out the deli/cafe at the corner of Mission Drive and Alamo Pintado Road--New Frontiers Natural Marketplace!
COMMENT 146152	2011-02-16 11:04 AM
Natural Cafe is incredibly bland as is the Sojourner. Spiritland is one of the worst restaurants I have ever eaten in and have been there many times because my daughter is a vegan. The food is bad, the service even worse and it is way too expensive. Will never eat there again even if it is one of the few that serves vegan food.
COMMENT 146161	2011-02-16 11:15 AM
The Natural Cafe in Goleta is the best of their sites. Sojourner has some excellent choices. A favorite is Tofu Pillows with kimchee. Very nicely spiced. Bouchon is excellent but way too expensive unless you are loaded with $$s or going for a special occasion. Spiritland is mediocre food, slow service and unpleasant ambiance(?). I think that term is really stretched for this place.
COMMENT 146211	2011-02-16 01:08 PM
Bouchon has always been a disappointment from a vegetarian standpoint, 011. I had two dinners there for work and had several people from India each time. We let them know a week ahead of time and the first time they were inexplicably OUT of vegetarian entrees. So they had to make up several different things since they didn't have enough of one type of meal for all four vegetarians at our table. They seemed pleased with the food, at least. The second time we all got salads. With dressing that contained goat cheese. Not exactly vegetarian friendly.
COMMENT 146215	2011-02-16 01:14 PM
Backyard Bowls next to SB Roasting Co. Acai blends with all kinds of good stuff. Also saw Epic Bowl in Paseo Nuevo, but have not tried yet. Kahuna and Natural cafe have different owners.
COMMENT 146221	2011-02-16 01:20 PM
Spiritland is great but definitely NOT cheap. The uptown Natural Cafe is OK but kind of uneven. I am pretty sure that NC, Kahuna and Baja are the same corporate ownership which doesn't strike me as a particularly good thing.
COMMENT 146246	2011-02-16 02:22 PM
Native1: Goat cheese is vegetarian friendly. If your guests were VEGAN, and you specified wanting vegetarian meals, that was where the mistake was made. If they were informed the diners were vegan & they served cheese, they were responsible for the mistake. Many vegetarians eat dairy & eggs (called ovo-lacto-vegetarian). Vegetarian means not eating meat - the inclusion of dairy & eggs is a personal choice (as animals don't have to die in order to eat ovo/lacto, but they do for meat). Vegetarians who eat fish are called pescatarians. Many vegetarians do not believe that pescatarians should be called vegetarians, as fish are animals and need to be killed in order to eat fish. I'm in that group. Better than nothing, but still not veg.
COMMENT 146308	2011-02-16 06:00 PM
True, I should have specified 246. I myself don't eat any red meat or pork. So I often order vegetarian stuff even though I am not strictly since eat fish and occasionally poultry. I'm fine with goat cheese. My clients were not. Three of them were in fact vegan and the other had a was a vegetarian with specific religious reason to not eat cheese or milk. It was about a year ago, so I honestly can't remember if I gave them the info that we had vegan diners or not. I think I must have since I was being hyper-vigilant at that time about where to take them for this very reason. It does get really confusing. But I felt like they were ill-equipped to deal with non-meat eaters. And I don't think that a restaurant of that high standard and creativity should have gone the salad route. I thought that was a bit of a let down, goat cheese aside.
OOHLALA	2011-02-16 06:14 PM
i agree Sojourner has gone way downhill. I refuse to go back after my last visit [and I had been a customer who went regularly for 20-odd years]. The waitress was so slow it was rude - and it was not busy. She actually forgot our drinks altogether and did not explain any of the specials. She was noticeably slow and disinterested. My favorite, however, was an $8 salad that turned out to be a handful of packaged salad from a a TJs bag, and that salad was limp. Never again. They lost me and my 4 companions as future customers that night.
COMMENT 146359P	2011-02-17 08:13 AM
Baja, Kahuna and Natural are all owned by the same company and the main owner is Kelly Brown. He may have different partners for some of the restaurants but he is a local and so are most of the partners. I've never been a huge fan of Natural but many of my co-workers are. Kahuna used to a lot better but they changed their supplier and the food isn't as good. Baja has been a huge favorite of mine and my friends since high school. I've used Baja to cater work functions and everyone has always loved the food. Here is a link to the website for Natural, if you look on the left it also includes the menus for Baja and Kahuna. link
COMMENT 146474	2011-02-17 02:06 PM
@ Native 1 - if you do go back to Bouchon - tell the waiter that you are would like a vegetarian meal - they ask you what ingredients you like on the menu and what you do not like (goat cheese) as well as any other restrictions. Then the chef makes a special item not on the menu. We dine there frequently and my wife is a veggie - her meals are often better than mine, not always but often. She has only been disapointed once. I have found them to be one of the most adaptive restarunts in towns for speicial needs dining, and we eat out alot.
COMMENT 146536	2011-02-17 06:23 PM
@474, well maybe we'll give it another try. Perhaps it was just a couple of bad nights.
COMMENT 147241	2011-02-20 03:09 PM
Shang Hai soooooo consistantly amazingly yummy (try the soybean orange chicken, drool!)...TAP Thai...Whole Foods...Backyard Bowls...Sojourner used to be a fave, they have gone waaaaaay downhill, i don't even bother anymore...
COMMENT 147546	2011-02-21 05:08 PM
Great news...a new website is now up which addresses this very issue. Please check out www.govegansb.org. :) Go Vegan Santa Barbara will be working with local restaurants to improve vegan and vegetarian offerings in our region.
COMMENT 236300	2011-11-28 04:28 PM
Adama, Alchemy Arts Cafe, Mary's Secret Garden (Ventura) and Hip Cafe (Ojai)