Charleston Vegan Eats: Five Loaves Cafe & Mellow Mushroom

Can I just take a moment to say how beautiful Charleston is? Arguably one of the most beautiful places in the U.S. Look at this college campus! Can you imagine going to school here and then moving to INDIANA? 

While downtown Charleston a couple weeks ago we decided to check out Five Loaves Cafe. This place is good... especially if you are NOT a vegan. But it worked for us. We ordered the only 2 veganish items on the menu: Sweet Chili Glazed Eggplant Wrap and the Mediterranean Garden Wrap. They were both pretty good, but definitely not the highest highlight of our trip.

The place was pretty cute but I was so hungry I forgot to take pics of the food. So instead you get a pic of the table with a nice Lucille Ball quote on it!

One of the nights we needed a late night snack and I had heard a rumor that Mellow Mushroom had vegan cheese. The rumor was true! And the pizza was pretty stinking good. This is only the second restaurant made vegan-cheese pizza we have had, so it really was a treat for us! It has Daiya cheese and sun dried tomatoes on it.

Charleston Vegan Eats: Puree

Next on our journey through vegan cuisine in Charleston, SC was Puree Cafe, an adorable little restaurant in Mt. Pleasant. The service was great and the atmosphere was very clean, crisp, and fresh feeling. My husband did say it was a little offensive to his manliness (not all vegans/vegetarians are chicks ya know!) but I thought it was charming.

T.J. ordered the BBQ tempeh sausage burger with lentil salad on the side (both were delish!)

I got the tofu scrambler with pesto toast. I think I would have preferred jam on my toast because I like to do a little salty a little sweet, but it was very good. The tofu chunks were a little big for my taste, but overall a healthy and hearty lunch.

We topped it all off with a little key lime cheesecake, because when in the South I must eat key lime something! The only drawback to this place was the price tag. If I still lived in CHS there is no way we could afford to eat here often. But since it was on vacation, why not! 

Charleston Vegan Eats: The Sprout

I recently spent some time in Charleston, SC, a place I used to call home. Back when I lived there I was a vegetarian, not a vegan, and already found it to be pretty non-veg friendly. I am happy to report that is beginning to change! The area now boasts a couple of all vegetarian restaurants and more veg-friendliness all around. They even have a Whole Foods.

The first spot I tried during this trip was called The Sprout. Online this place looked great. When we arrived we realized it is inside a gym! Like those smoothie places they put in gyms sometimes. But a little better than that. It had its own entrance and we chose to sit outside (because the inside was blaring gym music and smelled a bit like a gym). The food was good but not spectacular. I ordered the taco lunch so I could try a couple different things. I had the organic seared tofu taco and the avocado and black bean taco. Both were pretty good. The side salad it came with was good too. My husband ordered the walnut burger which came on sandwich bread... but was otherwise pretty tasty.

A truly healthy meal on vacation!

Finally, we ordered a vegan doughnut for dessert. Which was the highlight of the meal! :-)
If you are looking to eat a meal you can feel good about while in Charleston, I recommend this place all the way. I even lost weight on this trip we ate so well!