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 :)

22 comments:

Lakshminarasimhan said...

Good list! Well done. Would recommend Fire House subs on South Texas Ave as well.

Sreenath said...

up there now., thanks for the suggestion! :)

Unknown said...

there are two more

1. burger boy
2. happy yogurt : not eating place though, but nice cold choices for drinks.

Sreenath said...

Thanks Shraddha for the suggestions., I have added them to the blog :D

Manjeet said...

You forgot Scoops..the best frozen yogurt place in town. They even have non-fat, and no sugar added yogurts for all you health conscious people.

Sreenath said...

Thanks Manjeet for reminding., shall add it onto the list :) And thanks for reading!

Anonymous said...

add your house also...u guys make good vegetarian food

Sreenath said...

Done, Anonymous!

michelle said...

Wow! I will have to try some of these. I'm vegan so have a hard time with many on this list and the 2 places I really eat at I did not see mentioned! Pei Wei and Jason's Deli are fairly vegan friendly--Pei Wei has awesome tofu and veggies that you can get on any of the vegetarian choices. And I can make an amazing vegan salad at Jason's salad bar.

Sreenath said...

@Michelle - Thanks for those suggestions, I shall pin them onto the post :) Since I haven't eaten in a lot of those restaurants, its you readers who're driving this post :). Thanks again!

Anonymous said...

Sreenath,

You might also want to include Pho Johns Vietnamese restaurant (near College Station Cici's pizza).

M.R

P.S. In case you are wondering who I am, recall India vs England 2011 World Cup match at Cherry Hollow.

Sreenath said...

Got it French quarters man!! :P Thanks... :)

Anonymous said...

Don't forget Genghis Grill on University Dr.!! Great TOFU option!! Super healthy and kid friendly! THey cater awesome meals!

Naomi said...

Kyoto, Northgate. Sushi place. They have veggie options if you like sushi. Avacado, Cucumber, and Veggie Tempura. The miso soup is good too. haven't tried everything yet.

Anonymous said...

is there any good indian food to be found anywhere??

Sreenath said...

Taz is decent Indian fare.

Unknown said...

I've recently moved to CS and also recently made the conversion over the vegetarian. My goal has been to find the best veggie burger in town. These are the places I've tried so far:

Mooyah: I'm not a huge fan of black bean burgers but if you are then this is a great place since you get to add any topping that you want.

Grub: I don't know if I just caught them on a rough night because I had heard good things about their veggie burger but I was not impressed. There was very little texture to it. There was very little textural difference between the bun and the patty. I did like that they let you substitute the veggie patty into any of their other burger toppings.

Mickey's Sliders: This has been my favorite so far. Their Jerry Garcia slider is really good with portabella mushrooms, goat cheese and a nice fresh slaw. It's a little pricey at $3.50 per slider but their fried pickles are worth a trip. The fried Oreos are really good too.

Sreenath said...

Thanks for the comments, Patrick! Mooyah is a great place, and they have good milkshakes too. The seasoned sweet potato fries are one of the best I have had.

Grub is great especially where I am right now (uptown DFW). Their burger is not the best I would get out there, but the fries and salads are pretty good. And they have a good ambience.

I haven't heard of Mickey's Sliders.. now you gave me an idea when I'm back in town for the Fall Games!

rajiroy said...

Are you think Make your party as a memorable one with delicious food and service, there are multiple numbers of Veg Catering Services in Chennai , where they can provide the best service in an affordable price.

Anonymous said...

I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article. I am hoping the same best work from you in the future as well.. vegetarian catering near me

Ara A. said...

Hopdoddy has a delicious vegan burger. Blaze pizza has an incredible vegan cheese and several vegan toppings, urban bricks has good vegan cheese and an veggie toppings, and Northgate Juice Joint NEEDDS recognition, they are strictly vegetarian and vegan and have so many options ranging from wraps, juices, smoothies, desserts, vegan cheese, and lots more.

Panda Express noodles are cooked in chicken broth so they are not vegetarian or vegan!!

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