Well, the trip was not exactly the "vacation get away" that we had envisioned, but we did get to see great friends and had several amazing meals! Asheville is similar to Denver and Boulder - most of the restaurants are familiar with "gluten free" and "vegan" in fact, the majority have options designated on the menu.
The Saturday we started our adventure turned into a lesson on patience, a virtue our family needs to work on. The trip up took almost five ours (we were planning on three), it took us about 30 minutes to find a parking space in Asheville, and the wait at the restaurant we had intended to eat (Early Girl Eatery) was 45 minutes. So, we put our name down on that list and walked down the street and discovered Laughing Seed Restaurant, a vegetarian restaurant. So, we put our name on that list too. We spent the next 35 minutes going between the two restaurants seeing which one would seat us first. Laughing Seed won. Mind you none of us where in a laughing mood at this point - tired, hot, hungry, etc. And, Chad was not excited that the vegetarian only restaurant won:
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| Hemp Burger |
I was overwhelmed by the menu, so many great options. And, an actual healthy kids menu - no chicken finger, hotdog or grill cheese only menu for the girls.
Chad ordered the falafel sandwich with the jalapeno onion fries. To my surprise, he loved it - cleaned his plate. The girls ordered a veggie plate with an amazing dipping sauce. And, I ordered the Omega Hemp Nut Burger. Since my GF began, I have been missing a good veggie burger, most are not GF. This was a delicious, hearty burger, filled with good for you ingredients. Hemp is an excellent source of protein and essential fatty acids - Omega 6 and Omega 3. I also enjoyed a carrot, apple and ginger juice with my burger. This meal put all of us in a much better mood. Now, how do we get a Laughing Seed in Atlanta?
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| Girls Veggie Plate |
Early Girl Eatery
http://earlygirleatery.com/
We were planning a hike after lunch, but due to all of our delays, we decided instead to walk around town and then check out our hotel. The girls had three favorites of the trip (only one of which we expected):
1) Discovering the plug into the wall phone with a DIAL TONE in our hotel room - you have no idea how much entertainment this provided
2) swimming in the hotel INDOOR pool
3)The arcade games at the restaurant we met our friends at (this was expected!)
So, on to dinner. We met our friends from Asheville at:
Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company
http://ashevillebrewing.com/2011/index.html
A perfect family restaurant! They had this big room filled with picnic tables, one way in, one way out (to contain the kids) with a huge movie screen and tons of video / arcade games. The parents were able to sit and talk and the kids were able to run around and play games. The cherry on top - good beer (I was told) and GF / Vegan options on the menu and of course other items one would expect at a pizza place!
The next morning I went on an exploratory jog around town and found a little restaurant that boasted juices and smoothies on the window. On our way to our hike, we stopped in and ordered smoothies for everyone. My next trip to Asheville will also include a meal at this restaurant!
Over Easy Cafe
http://overeasyasheville.com/
On our way out of town we stopped by one last restaurant. Again, filled with gluten free, vegan labeling on the menu. It had meals to fit all of our desires after our hike:
Tupelo Honey
http://www.tupelohoneycafe.com/
So do you see a trend here? It is simply not hard to have gluten free, vegan options at a restaurant while catering to all eating types. I hope more restaurants in Atlanta will venture into this!
Last time we were in Asheville we ate at Early Girl twice I think, and Tupelo Honey two or three times. So many good options. Love it there!
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