Lately, I have been scouring the internet for local restaurants with vegan options. San Diego has a TON but I am a bit further north and not about to drive 30min in traffic for food. One place that showed up in my search was
Hill Street Cafe in Oceanside, CA. It appeared to be a coffee shop type place with food, vegan, vegetarian and meat options as well as located near by. I suggested it to my husband and off we went!
It's located in an old Victorian style house. So cute! You actually walk up the porch steps and it's still like a house inside as far as rooms go. There is a coffee/juice bar, indoor eating area and then a covered outdoor area which is the porch (it wraps around half the house). Both my husband and I really liked the look of the place.
When we got our menus, we were shocked to see SO many options! Much more than what appeared on the website. I wish I had gotten a picture of the menu. It was four pages including drinks. You can get breakfast any time. They had tons of wraps, burger type options, sandwiches, a pasta section, tacos etc. They had symbols next to any meal that was vegan or vegetarian. I'd say more than half of the menu was vegetarian and a ton were vegan! This was the first time eating out since I became vegan that I have had so many options! I was happily overwhelmed. My husband isn't vegan but he was impressed and said everything sounded really good.
We sat outside. My husband ordered a cold coffee drink with mint and soy. He doesn't drink cows milk. He thinks he is a bit lactose-intolerant. He's working on really cutting back the dairy/meat but says he doesn't want to do it 100%. I'm totally fine with it. I ordered a soy chai latte that was SO FREAKING GOOD. They do have loose leaf teas (which they sell) but this was a bag. You can see it propped up by the stirring stick. It was so yummy.
My husband noticed the packaging on the straw. Nice!!
Here is what I ended up ordering. My theory was that if it was delicious, I'd make it at home because it clearly said what was in it. I don't know how they got their tortilla so flaky...oh man it was good. It was filled with black beans, onions, avocado, rice and potatoes (seasoned). Loved it!! I ate half and then the rest later at home. The salsa type dipping sauce was pretty unique. I'd love to recreate this wrap.
My husband didn't end up ordering a vegan meal so I won't post the picture (Vegan mofo rules) but he did go outside of his normal "comfort zone" and really enjoyed the meal. We both plan on going back soon! Meals were around $9 and our drinks were a couple bucks so this is not some overpriced vegan place, thankfully.
Here is what I have ordered in non-vegan restaurants so far just to give you an idea.
At Chili's I had a tropical salad (I forget the exact name) without any added meat. The waiter just stared at me for 15seconds when I said "no meat please". I can't guarantee it was 100% vegan (I didn't ask but I would next time) because I don't know what was in the dressing but it seemed vegan.
At Beach Break Cafe I had a veggie sandwich and fries. The sandwich was piled with veggies so it was good but next time I'd add some honey mustard or something for more flavour. I like condiments.
At Souplantation I had two vegetarian/vegan soups, bread and a big salad.
