Green Vegetarian Restaurant

Posted By Michael Stern on July 6, 2010 3:44 AM

For eating meat, San Antonio is hard to beat. Soul-food barbecue and bordertown barbacoa, menudo at the taquerias and macho burgers at Chris Madrid's, Tip Top chicken-fried steak and Barn Door sirloin: it's a carnivore's delight. And so it was that after four days of working hard to deplete the population of Texas cows, we actually found ourselves craving a moo-less meal. As far as we could discover, there is one game in town – Green Vegetarian Restaurant – and it is a doozy. Not only vegetarian, it also is kosher, meaning closed Friday night and Saturday; several items on the menu are strictly vegan; some are gluten-free.

The sun was blazing when we stopped in, so it seemed only right to start with an icy smoothie that blended pineapple, mango, papaya and banana in a mix known as "tropical cooler." Refreshing? More than a bath in ice water. The day's special veggie drink was a "ginger bomb" of apple juice, carrot juice, beet juice and ginger. When he saw our waitress bring it, co-owner Chris Behrend came by the table to remind us that it needed to be shaken or stirred before every pull on the straw because the juices almost instantly want to separate. But forced together momentarily they sure sing delicious harmony.

The menu offers many options, including breakfast/slash/brunches that include sweet potato pancakes, huevos rancheros, migas and vegan tacos. At lunch or supper, you can have gluten-free sushi vegetable rolls, grilled portobellos that are designed to remind you of steak, even chicken-fried steak made of "wheat meat." Of course there are salads: Greek, raw beet, raw vegetables with raw pecan hummus and a taco salad that includes soy chili. The chili, available as a side dish with other meals, does a yeomanly job of impersonating real chili, albeit not real Texas chili, as it contains beans. But the spices are right and it is an extremely hearty dish.

Among pseudo meats, few are weirder than wham, a ham substitute that has a nice smoky flavor and texture something like tender pastrami. It's the star of a tremendously satisfying sandwich named Mike (for chef and co-owner Mike Behrend), which contains jaw-stretching strata of avocados, cucumbers, sprouts, spinach leaves, tomato slices, purple onion, sliced tomato and jalapeno jelly -- all on thick slices of fresh, rugged-grained Ezekiel bread. Side dishes are listed on the menu "from healthiest to happiest" – kale salad to French fries and onion rings.

Green is a popular place located in what for many years was a landmark bakery. You can't miss it driving by. Look for the large vegetable garden out front and the line of people waiting for a seat.

Mike Sandwich

Tropical Cooler

Ginger Bomb

Chili

Hummus Sandwich

Kale Salad

Biscuit