I visited Richmond in Virginia, USA over the Xmas and New Years break. I was there visiting my friends Adam and Michael and we visited plenty of restaurants and cafés. I wanted to post about this in a separate blog entry as there were so many meals I wanted to speak about. If you want to see what I got up to whilst there you can read my last blog post about my trip here.
I haven ‘t put these into any particular order but I have popped a paragraph about each below the images/galleries with my thoughts and opinions. There were other places as well we could have visited but there is only so much food I can eat in a two week period. I was pretty stuffed after all this!
Proper Pie
I think this has to be my favourite place to eat in Richmond and they had lots of vegan options available. The menu is frequently changing and they always post their daily availability on social media before opening at midday. I had a range of sweet and savoury including curried lentil and spinach, mock turtle and meyer lemon, ginger and blackberry pies. The staff here are awesome! They operate seamlessly and it gets so busy in there too. I was in awe watching the whole operation when I was enjoying my pie!
Sugar Shack
Just a disclosure before I write about Sugar Shack, not all of the doughnuts below are vegan. However I have to say the majority of them are. There was plenty of daily selection there and some of my favourites include Coconut and Babe Ruth. Delicious sweet treat!
Charm School
This was another sweet treat during my time in Richmond. I ended up having a waffle cone with vegan peppermint ice cream. The set-up of this place was really cool. Such a nice environment, cleverly designed and all topped off with vinyl music playing in the background. Highly recommend.
The Mill on MacArthur
We headed to The Mill on MacArthur for a meal one evening which was really nice. There were many options on the menu I could have but I decided to go for crispy deep fried BBQ tofu and the ‘Philly Cheesesteak’ which was made with seitan and dairy-free cheese.
Pie Five
This will forever be one of my favourites! Pie Five are a create-your-own pizza parlour where they add ingredients you request right in-front of you before cooking the pizza when you checkout. The whole process only takes 10-15 minutes from queuing up, assembly and cooking time. Who doesn’t love pizza too! I had red onion, sweetcorn, black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, crushed chillis and oregano on mine.
Chipotle
Another staple chain restaurant that is vegan-friendly… Chipotle. I had a range of different meals there during the Xmas/New Years break including fajita bowls, crispy tacos and burritos. The one I have below is a sofritas fajita bowl with a range of vegetables, beans and salsa choices!
Chopt
BY FAR my favourite salad restaurant! I was so impressed when I went to Chopt. Both times I went I opted for their Mexicali vegan salad which had a bit of a kick to it but was so delicious. I had it a couple of times, once in a bowl and the second time as a wrap. Everything is super customisable and they have great drinks too with unrefined sweeteners available (like agave).
Stir Crazy Cafe
It was great heading to Stir Crazy Cafe for brunch. Unfortunately I didn’t get chance to try as much as I would have liked to on their menu but I’ll be going there again when I’m back in Richmond. I had a simple bagel with cream cheese (dairy-free) as well as a muffin and almond milk latte. The staff are really friendly and helpful too.
Whole Foods Market
I love this store! We have a few in the UK but they are so far away from me unfortunately and I only tend to visit when I am in London. We had a range of meals and snacks from there including a Deliciously Ella tomato pasta recipe I made at home. There were also Beyond Meat burgers which were amazing. I am so impressed and can’t wait for them to become more readily available in the UK. They are currently in larger Tesco stores but I am waiting for them to make their way to Pembrokeshire (I check every time I am grocery shopping!) The image below is vanilla cashew ice cream with a vegan muffin from their bakery counter.
P. F. Changs
There were many options available at P. F. Changs for me but I decided to go for Edamame and Buddha’s Feast which included five-spice tofu, asparagus, shiitakes, broccoli and carrots. I love how fresh everything is there and the vegetables were perfectly cooked!
Peter Chang’s
Can’t beat a Chinese every so often. We had this for Christmas Day and I went for vegetable spring rolls and a mushroom ‘hot-pot’. This was quite a spicy dish but I really enjoyed it. There was so much food I took it home in a to-go box for lunch another day!
Cheesecake Factory
There wasn’t much choice at Cheesecake Factory for vegans if I’m totally honest considering how big their menu is! I went for this vegan cobb salad which was really filling. I had this my first evening in Richmond after travelling thousands of miles so absolutely devoured this!
Lamplighter
This was another cafe we went to for breakfast and I chose to have a simple bagel with cream cheese (dairy-free) and an almond milk latte. There were more options on the menu but I was just in the mood for something quick and easy that day!
I have to admit I was pretty apprehensive about visiting the USA and eating out there since eating a plant-based diet in May 2018. This was my first trip to the States since then but I was pleasantly surprised with Richmond. There are many more places to try and so many new restaurants and options becoming available as the months progress. I can’t wait to visit again and see how many more options are available. If you have eaten at any of these places or if there are other foods/places I should try out, please let me know in the comments below! Thanks for reading and have a great day.
Glen Conbeer 