Exploring the Atlanta vegan food scene and more

This Atlanta vegan food round-up includes plant-based pizza, barbecue, vegan donuts, and dinner from the world’s first all-vegan hibachi. Plus, things to do and see in the ATL.

Earlier this month we spent a few days in Atlanta visiting with dear friends and exploring the vegan food scene. Other than a 1997 drive through Georgia on the way to Orlando, I hadn’t spent any time there.

I was so excited to check out the vegan restaurants, visit some historical sites, and even see some of my favorite childhood characters in the flesh… I mean fuzz.

Hippie Hibachi

After a hectic trip through the world’s busiest airport, we were eager for some filling & satisfying delivery. We’d heard good things about Hippie Hibachi.

Hippie Hibachi calls itself the world’s first all-vegan hibachi. It’s located in Chattahoochee Food Works on the upper Westside.

I had the hippie yaki tofu (above).

This gluten free dish includes fried tofu on fried rice with zucchini, onions, broccoli, and carrots. It’s garnished with red cabbage, sesame seeds, and chives.

The portions were generous, and the flavor hit the spot. I especially loved pouring the mayo-based yum yum sauce on top.

David got the hippie yaki mushrooms, which is also gluten free.

It had an impressive variety of mushrooms – maitake, beech, and king oyster. It was served over the same fried rice as the hippie yaki tofu.

We loved our meals. Plus, there was plenty left over for another full dinner.

Café Sunflower

Café Sunflower is a fully vegan restaurant in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta.

In addition to indoor dining, they also have outdoor dining in a partitioned section of the parking lot.

The first time we visited was for brunch.

We got Buffalo lollipops to share. The gluten free soy chicken seemed to be the May Wah brand.

They had a slight crispiness around the edges, and the sauce was flavorful. The lollipops came with vegan blue cheese dressing for dipping.

(When we visited Café Sunflower a second time, I had to order them again. They were just too good.)

A standard order comes with 3 lollipops and is $13. For sharing purposes, it would be nice if it was an even amount.

For my brunch dish, I had the seitan chicken biscuit.

The flaky biscuit was lined with a sweet jalapeño orange marmalade, which was very unique. The rest of the dish was filled out with tofu scramble, home fries, and a kale salad.

I’m a big fan of getting lots of different flavors & tastes on one plate. And something green makes any meal feel more complete.

Here are some other brunch orders from the table:

This inviting stack of blueberry pancakes included almond butter, blueberry coulis, and housemade whipped cream.

The loaded breakfast burrito can be made gluten free by making it a burrito bowl and serving it with corn tortillas.

It includes tofu scramble, avocado, home fries, sausage, black beans, and onions with vegan cheese. It’s served alongside sweet potato chips with salsa.

On our second visit, I had crispy vegan shrimp tacos with carrots, cabbage, and lettuce. It’s finished with a roasted pineapple habanero glaze and chipotle aioli drizzle, reminiscent of the one on my vegan fish tacos.

The vegan shrimp are made with konjac root, which hasn’t been my favorite in the past. But I wanted to try again since I haven’t had it in a long while. I thought it might have been improved upon.

Unfortunately, I’m still not super keen on the rubbery texture, which is why I use hearts of palm for my own fried vegan shrimp at home. However, everything else about the entree was tasty. And I still polished off the plate no problem.

Still, next time I’d order something different. (The gyro was calling me!)

Here are some other lunch orders from the table:

The sesame soy chicken with brown rice really scratched that Chinese takeout nostalgia vibe.

It was made with breaded soy chicken, broccoli, mushrooms, and onions in a sweet and spicy garlic sauce.

The gluten free pad Thai was made with thick rice noodles in a coconut tahini sauce.

It was generously topped with zucchini green beans, red bell pepper, mushrooms, kale, carrots, and baked tofu. It was finished with a garnish of crushed peanuts.

Plant Based Pizzeria

People have lots of opinions about pineapple on pizza. But have you ever had peach on a pizza???

When in Georgia…

Becky Striepe from Glue & Glitter and the Talkin’ Tofu podcast always raves about the Georgia peach pizza from Plant Based Pizzeria. So that was a must try when visiting the area.

The restaurant is pick up or delivery only. So we sat on chairs outside while we waited for it to cook.

We had slices straight from the box, piping hot.

The sweetness of the peach was in wonderful balance to Beyond sausage, onions, and jalapeños on roasted basil pizza sauce with vegan mozzarella.

It was pizza perfection.

I’m definitely adding peaches to some homemade pizza pies. And Plant Based Pizzeria will be a must for any future Atlanta trip!

Slutty Vegan

Slutty Vegan is an all-vegan fast food chain with three locations and a food truck. This takeout-only restaurant features burgers, sandwiches, fries, and desserts.

(The founder of Slutty Vegan also has a cocktail bar and restaurant called Bar Vegan. It would be fun to visit sometime!)

I hear that there’s often a line. So be prepared to wait. However, the staff keeps it energized with hollering and singing.

Each menu item has a racy name. You can see the full menu online. But which specific sandwiches will be offered at each location seems to change daily.

I ordered the bacon cheeseburger with caramelized onions called the One Night Stand. It’s served on a Hawaiian bun.

David ordered a burger with pickles, cheese, caramelized onions, lettuce, and tomato called a Fussy Hussy.

I would have preferred crispier bacon. But both sandwiches were tasty, if a little mangled after a short ride home.

All of the burgers come with fries, seasoned with a slightly sweet seasoning salt.

(They also sell the salt & vegan bacon in their stores, in case you want to take some home.)

Revolution Doughnuts

Vegan donuts are the highlight of any trip! So I was eager to visit Revolution Doughnuts, where they have loads of vegan options.

When we were there, they had 4 non-vegan donut options, and 17 vegan ones. Those are the kinds of odds I like!

They had so many flavors, it was hard to choose.

Ultimately, I sided on a vanilla bean glazed donut, because I always love a classic, as well as a citrus curd filled donut with powdered sugar.

I shared with David, who also got a citrus curd donut, and a raspberry sprinkle donut.

All of the donuts were soft, springy, and fresh.

The big favorite was the raspberry donut, which balanced just the right amount of sweetness.

Coming in second was the classic glazed.

Neither of us finished our citrus curd donuts. There was something bitter and acrid about the filling that tasted almost burnt.

Still, well worth visiting! I’d just grab a chocolate covered doughnut instead next time.

Grass VBQ Joint

My love of barbecue and smoked food runs deep. (One of my all-time favorite restaurants is Homegrown Smoker in Portland, Oregon.)

So whenever I hear there’s a vegan barbecue restaurant, I make it my business to check it out.

Grass VBQ Joint calls itself Atlanta’s first plant-based barbecue restaurant.

It is located about 25 minutes outside of Atlanta in Stone Mountain, Georgia. It is such a pretty drive going there, it’s worth it for that alone!

It is takeout or delivery only. They don’t have any kind of seating available.

We visited towards the end of their workday. And they’d run out of some items like the Nashville hot chicken sandwich and smoked mac and cheese, which we were hoping to try. Next time!

I had their signature sandwich, Titustown.

This smoked brisket-style seitan sandwich was topped with a spicy Vidalia barbecue sauce along with celery slaw and pickles. For my side dish, I got red curry greens.

I like that the sandwich had a kick of heat, which was very welcome. The curry flavor of the greens didn’t overwhelm. It just gave a pleasing warm backdrop.

My friend ordered the Groveway.

It’s a smoked BBQ jackfruit sandwich with Creole barbecue sauce, chow chow, and fried shallots. On the side, she chose potato salad, which got high marks.

Atlanta Veg Fest

Chris, Kristy, David, and Cadry at the Atlanta Veg Fest

As luck would have it, the Atlanta Veg Fest lined up with our trip. They kept it smaller than usual & outdoors this year to keep things safe.

It was an outdoor event that didn’t include speakers, but had lots of vendors for shopping and dining.

I picked up hot sauce, and a couple kinds of vegan brie, which I enjoyed when I got home with crackers and Be-hive pepperoni. (Be-hive is one of my favorite Nashville seitan makers, so I was psyched to see their products at an Atlanta Whole Foods.)

You can see pics of the cheese & hot sauce on my Instagram page.

At the veg fest, I also got a cinnamon roll from Cinnaholic.

Cinnaholic is a vegan cinnamon roll chain that started in the Bay Area. I’ve been wanting to try them forever.

Unfortunately, I should have waited until I was at one of their brick and mortar locations. The cinnamon roll was pretty dried out, but the flavor was good.

The veg fest had such a fun variety of vendors, I was barely able to scratch the surface on things I wanted to try. Definitely worth a visit!

More things to do

Obviously Atlanta vegan restaurants are a big draw, but there’s so much more than food in A-Town.

Martin Luther King birth home & church

It was like opening up a page from a history book standing in front of Martin Luther King’s birth home.

It’s just up the street from his church, Ebenezer Baptist, where King was baptized and later became pastor. It’s also adjacent to the place where he and his wife, Coretta Scott King, are interred.

We walked through the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park and admired the grounds, which are administered by the National Park Service. A very moving place to visit.

Atlanta BeltLine

We took a long walk along the Atlanta BeltLine, which is a network of converted rail tracks. There are murals and sculptures along the walking & biking path.

It’s a fun way to explore the city, get a little exercise, and fresh air.

Center for Puppetry Arts

I was so excited to visit the Center for Puppetry Arts, where they have a Jim Henson exhibit!

The collection includes more than 500 puppets, costumes, and props. They have the largest collection of Muppet items in the world.

It was amazing seeing characters I grew up with right in front of me.

It brought them to life to see the fuzz of their faces.

I wonder why there’s an empty space on Bert’s bottle cap collection…

Oh, Ernie.

For a period of time in the last year, we were watching a lot of The Muppet Show.

So it was cool to see Captain Link Hogthrob and Doctor Julius Strangepork from Pigs in Space.

In addition to Sesame Street and the Muppet Show, they also have puppets from Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, Fraggle Rock, Labyrinth, and Dark Crystal.

During the holidays they have a Rankin-Bass exhibit focused on the claymation Christmas special, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

I’m almost tempted to head back to Atlanta just for that!

I didn’t get a chance to visit the following sites. But here are a few more things I’d love to include on a future trip.

• Jimmy Carter Presidential Library & Museum
• Atlanta Botanical Garden
• Centennial Olympic Park