Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The College Station/Bryan Vegetarian guide

The Chennai MC Veggie guide probably gave me the impetus to write this guide on Veggie(desi friendly) options in College Station/Bryan, TX - home to Texas A&M, around 1(or less)% by population of vegetarians and more. The statistics I expect for this post aren't great. CS-B has a population of 120,000 people, out of which I know maybe a 400. Out of the 400, maybe a 100 are vegetarians by birth, and a 50% of them have chosen to overstep the blood line. 50 unique hits doesn't look good, anyways let me get on with it.

Real long list this- I've had some great contributions from readers writing in.. whoever said Veggies had no options here in the US? Eat your hat!

1. Chipotle, University Drive - Bol Burrito, strictly. Not here for its variety, but for the taste of its only Veggie offering.
2. Pita Pit, University Drive/By HEB - Great Pitas, lots of options!
3.The usual Pizza places - Papa Johns(Monday!), Pizza Hut, Dominos (try the $4 lunch pizza!), Cici's (custom pizza buffet)
4. Blue Baker, Texas Avenue S - Great sandwiches. Superb pizza. A little costly.
5. Los Cucos, Texas Avenue S - Tex-Mex food. Most items made with meat, ask for no meat option. Still tastes great.
6. Golden Corral, University Drive - Not too great, but given the humongous amount of dishes you could chance upon a few tasty Veggie items. Great dessert and ice cream.
7. Rosie's Pho Noodle, Texas Avenue S - Great noodle soup, milkshakes. Nice ambience. Quantity maybe a little more.
8. Frittella, South College Avenue - Great Italian food, maybe a tad too cheesy for a few.
9. Taz Indian Cuisine, Texas Avenue S - Bad to decent level Indian food. On here just for the number of Veggie dishes it offers.
10. Freebirds World Burrito, University Drive/Near HEB/Near Cinemark - Great classic burrito, in manageable to unbelievable sizes.
11. Which Wich Sandwich, Biochemistry Building, TAMU - Lots of Veggie sandwich options!
12. Schlotzsky's Deli - A chain allright, but commendable Veggie options. Affordable too!
13. Panda Express, Texas Avenue S - Only one option, plain noodles with fried veggies. Go here if you don't mind absence of variety.
14. Antonio's Pizza, Northgate - For ones who love their pizza only the way they want it. The smoked mushrooms are quite a thing here.(some may not like it) And keep to one slice first, its BIG!
15. Potato Shack, University Drive - For the ones who love their Veggie food, bland. And for those who love Potatoes.
16. Potbelly, University Drive - If Capone threatened me at gunpoint to choose Subway over this, I would still choose Potbelly.
17. Caffe Capri, Church Ave, Bryan - Decent Italian fare!
18. Cafe Eccell, Church Ave, College Station - Decent but a little costly Italian food. Winery attached.
19. Olive Garden, University Drive/Tx 6 Frontage Road- America's favourite Italian restaurant. I don't see a reason why it shouldn't be. (except that I personally prefer Carino's to this). Tasty food, superb ambience, always busy - be prepared to wait LONG.

McD, Subway, Taco B(H)ell have not been included. They are way too banal.

As always, suggestions are always welcome! Let me know if you feel any other place in BCS is great for vegetarians :) Shall be added!

Michelle says :
Pei Wei (University Drive) and Jason's Deli (Tx Av S) are fairly vegan friendly--Pei Wei has awesome tofu and veggies that you can get on any of the vegetarian choices. You could make amazing vegan salad at Jason's salad bar.

Balaji writes in to recommend:
Genghis Grill, Fat Burger(University Drive), Quiznos Sub, Aggie Cafe's Pasta.

Rahul Rangarajan at it as usual:
Gumby's Pizza, Texas Avenue S - They have amazing pizza sandwiches,  
Shiraz Shish Kabob, Texas Avenue S - They have a falafel wrap, falafel with pita and rice, and you get a brilliant yogurt drink that is similar to neer more(Indian buttermilk).
Jimmy John's - University Drive/Near HEB - Good if you like cold sandwiches!

Zalak writes in:
On the Border Mexican Cafe, Texas Avenue S - Decent Mexican fare
Burger King - Lovely vegetarian burger!

Swathika suggests:
Abuelo's - good Tex-Mex.. go after 3 or 9 for happy hour!
Carino's - good Italian cuisine, baked mushrooms a must try! Also try the skilletini - they do it w/o chicken on request.
La Bodega, Northgate - This has a mango rice item, which is pretty good.
Luigi's - impressive Italian cuisine, this is off TX 6.

Mahadevan brings up two popular Asian restaurants:
Jin's Asian Cafe, Nagle St. by University - Good variety for vegetarians, frequent jaunt for desis.
Vietnamese Taste, College Main - Appearances are deceptive! This is truly tasty Asian cuisine.

Lakshminarasimhan writes in to recommend:
Firehouse Subs, Texas Avenue S

Shraddha suggests two places in the Northgate area:
Burger Boy - decent burgers, Veggie options.
Happy Yogurt - more of a dessert place, where everything will be Veggie by default.

Manjeet recommends Spoons Yogurt on TX Avenue S -  and goes on to say it's the best frozen yogurt place in town. They even have non-fat, and no sugar added yogurts for all you health conscious people! He also recommends Red Mango on Brentwood by the Lofts for dessert. Now Jamba Juice, University Drive and Coldstone on TX Avenue S naturally follow for dessert suggestions.

A person who goes by the initials M.R., writes in to recommend Pho John's Vietnamese restaurant on Texas Avenue. It gives good competition to all the veggie fare across the street in Rosie's Pho Noodle.

Manasa recommends my house for food! Must admit I am honored by that comment- but providing food for the world, erm I'm a bit poor to do that :)