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Eat Feature

V is for Vegetarian

Golden Temple · Liquid Earth · One World Café · Wild Mushroom · Puffins · Sin Carne · Village Market

John Davis Jr.

Eat Special Issue 1999

Alphabet Soup We know where we like to go for a good burger--and we'll bet you do too. Or a good omelet. Or a good...

A is for Appetizers The Helmand · Café Madrid · Henninger's Tavern · Café Zen · Grand Palace · Morgan Millard · Al Pacino Café · Sarah's Café · Iola Café

B is for Breakfast Jimmy's · Blue Moon Café · Golden West Café · Morning Edition Café · Helen's Garden Café · Hull Street Blues Café · Loco Hombre · Weber's on Boston · Suburban House

C is for Carry-out DiPasquale's · Cosmos · Rotisseria · Chow Mein Charlie's · Chokchai · Thairish · Caribbean Kitchen · Viccino's · Michaelangelo's · The Roost

D is for Dessert Vaccaro's · Cheesecake Factory · Adrian's Book Café · Moxley's · Louie's Bookstore Café · Coney Island

E is for Expensive Charleston · The Black Olive · Milton Inn · Polo Grill · Chart House · Oregon Grille

F is for Frugal Pete's Grill · Trolley Stop · Fazzini's Italian Kitchen · jr. · Rallo's · Mamie's Café · Caribbean Food Carry Out · Silk Road Café · Frisco Burritos · Winterling's · Valley View Inn · Fresh

G is for Guilty Pleasures Anne's Dari-Creme · Howard's Delly · Maria D's · Johnny Rockets · Thrasher's · Steak Out Express · New System Bakery · Krispy Kreme

H is for Happy Hour The Brewer's Art · Mick O'Shea's · Brass Elephant · Speakeasy Saloon · Calvert House · Nick's Inner Harbor Seafood Co.

I is for Incendiary Sushi Café · Ko Hyang · Joung Kak · Thai Landing · Sisson's · Café Tattoo · Austin Grill

J is for Java Needful Things · The Hidden Bean · City Café · Donna's · Empire Café · Xando · The Daily Grind

K is for Kids Friendly Farm · Hacienda Mexican Restaurant · Fuddruckers · Overlea Diner · Funk's Democratic Coffee House and Bistro · Mount Vernon Stable and Saloon

L is for Lunch Women's Industrial Exchange · Sascha's Daily · Mughal Garden · Akbar · Bombay Grill · Nate's and Leon's · Snyder's Cafe and Deli

M is for Meat Prime Rib · Shula's Steakhouse · Ruth's Chris Steak House · Alonso's · The Crease · Bill Bateman's · Lenny's · Attman's · Boomerang Pub

N is for New School Joy America Café · Spike and Charlie's · Sotta Sopra · La Tavola · Opa! · Viccino Bistro · Café Pangea

O is for Old School Haussner's · Tio Pepe's · Ikaros · Acropolis · Bo Brooks · Forest Diner · Angelina's · Kawasaki · Thai Restaurant · Perring Place Restaurant · Sanders Corner · Sabatino's · Matthew's Pizzaria 

P is for Pub Grub Peter's Inn · Simon's Pub · Duda's · Sobo Café · Koco's Pub · Kisling's · McCabe's · Dougherty's Pub · Charles Village Pub

Q is for Quirks Holy Frijoles · Ye Olde Malt Shoppe/Earl's Beauty Inn · Tamber's Nifty Fifties Dining · Captain James Landing

R is for Romantic Corks · Pierpoint · Banjara · Ambassador Dining Room · Tersiguel's

S is for Seafood Gunning's Crab House · Gunning's Seafood Restaurant · Faidley's Seafood · Legal Sea Foods · John Steven Ltd. · Anne Arundel Seafood · G&M Restaurant · Mo's Fisherman's Exchange · Bill's Terrace Inn · Bay Caf

T is for Tourists Waterfront · Hollywood Diner · Café Hon · Obrycki's · Bertha's · Lista's · McCormick and Schmick's · Wharf Rat · Gallery Sandwich Shoppe · Hard Rock Café · Planet Hollywood · ESPN Zone

U is for United Nations Restaurant · Silk Road · Braznell's Caribbean Kitchen · Orchard Market and Café · Ze Mean Bean Café · Saigon · House of Kabob · Desert Café · Restaurante San Luis · Little Havana · Café

V is for Vegetarian Golden Temple · Liquid Earth · One World Café · Wild Mushroom · Puffins · Sin Carne · Village Market

W is for Worth the Drive Captain Billy's · Captain John's · Cantler's Riverside Inn · Gabler's · Baugher's Family Restaurant · Rudy's 2900 · Olney Ale House

X is for XXL New No Da Ji · The Yellow Bowl · Micah's Cafeteria · Cactus Willie's

Y is for Yeast Baltimore Brewing Company · Big Sky Bread Co. · Stone Mill Bakery · Ellicott Mills Brewing Company · Capitol City Brewing Co.

Z is for ZZZ Sip & Bite · Double T Diner · Valentino's · Star Light Diner · Bel-Loc Diner · Gampy's · Nam Kang

Posted 2/24/1999

If McDonald's were vegetarian, it would be the Golden Temple (2322 N. Charles St., [410] 235-1014). This Charles Village health-food store is great for vegetarians on a tight schedule. The world's best salad bar sits just inside the door, and the lunch counter serves up hot, homemade vegetarian food in no time. If you do have to wait a few minutes, you can use the time to peruse all the herbs and vitamins, or resolve to change your look with one of the all-natural henna kits.

Sunny, pleasant Liquid Earth (1626 Aliceanna St., [410] 276-6606) offers Baltimore's best selection of fresh juices, from a simple glass of fresh-squeezed orange to complex concoctions involving wheat grass, beets, ginger, spirulina, and sausage gravy. (Just kidding about the sausage gravy--the joint is strictly vegetarian.) Liquid Earth also has some of the most flavorful and inventive vegan cuisine around, including a terrific vegetable muffaleta sandwich and spectacular meal-size salads, plus a dessert case packed full of gorgeous baked goods.

The One World Café (904 S. Charles St., [410] 234-0235) is a kind of playground for adults. There's an inviting coffeehouse atmosphere, not to mention great coffee and a to-die-for selection of desserts and pastries, but the café also offers a good selection of beer and wine and even a pool table. The fact that this relaxed, three-story establishment also has one of the most interesting and varied vegetarian menus in town is only so much tofu icing on the egg-free cake. Try the black-bean burrito, or whatever homemade soup is featured du jour.

There's nothing really wild about the Wild Mushroom (641 S. Montford Ave. [410] 675-4225 ), unless it's wildness to be a passionate lover of fungi. Located on the fringes of Canton, this corner restaurant/bar pays homage to humus, the rich soil in which mushrooms flourish. Yes, mushrooms do it in the dark, but let's not go there. All we need to do is venture out for a meal of mushrooms in many forms: appetizer, soup, bowl for crab dip, crust for pizza, filling for risotto, etc. Those indifferent to fungi can eat their fill minus mushrooms. The fried mozzarella is breathtaking, and the wall-sized chalk board lists chicken, seafood, and meat dishes that show the chef's range, and there's an excellent beer and wine selection.

We've been dining at Puffins (1000 Reisterstown Road, Pikesville, [410] 486-8811) for years, and the fact that it's a largely vegetarian restaurant has nothing to do with it. Yes, the food is good for us--but it's also just plain good. The last time we went there, we had a terrific platter of steamed vegetables served over tofu and brown rice and drizzled with zesty ginger sauce. And now Puffins shares space with Sin Carne, a stylish Tex-Mex eatery whose very name means "without meat." Sin Carne even offers tofu and soy-cheese substitutes for our vegan friends. Of course, if you crave meat (of the nonred variety), both places offer the compromise of seafood and chicken, and they do some very nice things with it. But don't be surprised if you look at the menu and hear yourself saying, "Who needs meat?"

So, you invited all of your vegan friends over for dinner, and now you find yourself drowning in the mysteries of tempeh, seitan, and millet. Never fear: There is always Village Market (7006 Reisterstown Road [Colonial Village Shopping Center], Pikesville, [410] 486-0979). This natural-foods grocery, falling somewhere between a co-op and a Fresh Fields, houses the most impressive vegan deli and bakery in the Baltimore area. Not only can you enjoy four daily soups, fresh-made sandwiches, a "mostly organic" salad bar, and daily specials, but you can order them in large quantities through Village Market's catering branch.

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