So you’re a vegetarian or vegan. I get it, you have your reasons, and I respect that. You also have to deal with us annoying omnivores insisting on eating at places that serve meat. It has to be a pain to grit your teeth and bear it whenever one of your friends suggests “getting wings” and you get to be the person that eats the celery and carrots that come on the side while all your friends indulge in all that glorious wing sauce.
Enter seitan. The vegan wonder food for those craving a meaty dish without all that meat. This one is for you, my meatless buddies, because here’s where you can enjoy some seitan goodness in Boulder. And if you’re an omnivore, don’t be afraid to dive in. Odds are, you’ll be hard pressed to know the difference between meat and no meat with these delicious dishes.
Native Foods
Real talk: if you are a vegetarian, you should live in this fast casual restaurant. OK, maybe living there is a bit extreme—your constant presence would probably annoy the staff—but it should be a staple in your grub go tos.
Basically, you can get any dishe you may have loved as a meat eater without that pesky animal product. I’m talking gyros, Thai meatballs, chili, and more. This place is 100% vegan, so you can order anything you want without thinking twice.
D’Angelo’s
Try not to pass out when I tell you this Italian Deli has a seitan cheese steak.
You’re OK? No shortness of breath or blurred vision? Good. Keep it traditional with a little cheese whiz or add cheddar or provolone if you’re a vegetarian. If you’re vegan, pair it with your choice of grilled onions, mushrooms, hot peppers, sweet peppers, lettuce, and/or tomato.
Sun Deli & Liquor
Craving pizza, but don’t want to be the person stuck eating the “vegetarian” option that consists of cheese and some wayward green peppers and mushrooms? My dear, you need to be ordering your pizzas from Sun Deli. They make their own seitan pepperoni and seitan sausage, and you can specify a vegan crust as well.
On top of seitan, you can also get vegan pesto and vegan chicken breast (whatever that is).
Oh, did I mention they deliver alcohol? Yeah, they deliver alcohol. That gets a check plus in my book.
Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant
This is sort of an ode to seitan past and a nod to a hopeful seitan present. This place used to have some glorious seitan wings and BBQ seitan, but it looks like it’s made its way off the menu. They do have a seitan Reuben sandwich and if it’s in any way as good as their BBQ, I would say you’re in for a real treat.
Admittedly, my knowledge of seitan menus is limited since I tend to choose meat over it, so I welcome any other suggestions from the YourBoulder community for recommendations.
Hail seitan — Boulder’s meat-free dining friend.
