I'm not vegan, but I do like trying vegan food, and have been looking forward to trying The Veggie…read moresince I first heard about them.
Located in the old home of Happy Tummy at Lowe Mill, The Veggie retains the open, airy feel and has added some bright and beautiful colors to the walls, menu, and food.
I opted to order online for pickup. Online ordering was fairly easy, though I was never able to find my way to where I could order any kind of drink. I really wanted to try their lemonade (heard great things!) but couldn't find an option for that. Maybe it's meant to be that way, maybe it's because I was ordering on my phone as opposed to a computer, or maybe I'm just a dunce. But I was able to order a lemonade at the counter when I got there to pick up my food, so at least it worked out in the end.
I was told my food would be ready at 2:30. I was working in the Mill so I showed up right on time. I had to wait a couple extra minutes but not more than 5, so I consider that pretty good. They were decently busy.
Masking is encouraged at this restaurant still, and as far as I could tell all staff were masked. I appreciate that, personally.
The staff member I interacted with was pleasant and prompt. I do agree with other reviewers that the dining space itself catches a decent bit of the smoke/scents from the kitchen. I didn't find it overwhelming and it's a product of the space they're in, but just something to be aware of if you're super sensitive to that.
I ordered the chickun basket -- fried oyster mushroom "chicken" strips with French fries and a dipping sauce of my choice (ranch, obviously). The only lemonade available was charcoal lemonade, so that's what I had to drink.
If you want vegan food that resembles "real" meat, this should scratch that itch. The bigger pieces of mushroom still had a slightly spongy mushroom texture, but I'd say about 80% of my mushroom pieces were similar enough to chicken that I didn't really miss it. The batter went a really long way -- almost exactly like really solid chicken tender batter. It was crispy and crunchy. I will note the size/shape is closer to a nugget than a strip, at least in my order. That was fine for me!
The ranch, being vegan, was (for me) missing a little thickness from the loss of buttermilk, and also a little herby for my personal preference....BUT, for vegan ranch, I liked it! I've had much worse NON-vegan ranch in my time, lol.
I liked the fries well enough, too. The lemonade didn't have any weird flavor from the charcoal (idk what charcoal lemonade is supposed to taste like normally so...yeah); it just tasted like regular, albeit quite good, lemonade! It was pretty acidic (the roof of my mouth complained later that evening, lol) and not crazy sweet, but I personally like that in lemonade.
I had two coworkers that later ordered their lunch here as well and they both seemed to enjoy their choices (another chickun basket and something that looked like a salad/greens bowl).
All in all, I'd be happy to return to try brunch or perhaps their take on a Philly -- that looks good. I'd also order my same meal again. Good job to The Veggie for providing tasty vegan food that anyone can enjoy!
