Tasty Veggie Fare Along the Light Rail

Posted on 11. Aug, 2010 by Bryan Mok in Featured, News

Bryan Mok is one of several guests bloggers being featured this week on LRB. Bryan (or bmok as his friends call him) is an award winning graphic designer, musician and culinary artist. Recently, bmok inspired an Ignite Phoenix 7 audience to go and create their own interesting culinary sensations (The Art of Bastardizing Culinary Traditions). In this post, bmok shares his favorite places to eat vegetarian along the light rail.

Being a foodie who also happens to be vegetarian in the City of Phoenix can sometimes be a little more difficult than not when your trying to keep the meals tasty, fun and interesting. I mean seriously… How often do you really feel like making fries into a meal? So here’s a quick little list of some of my favorite places to go for some tasty veggie fare along the light rail in central Phoenix.

Hanny’s (Central and Washington Station)

With a number of vegetarian dishes available, this downtown Phoenix hangout is a great choice for someone seeking some tasty veggie treats in a posh atmosphere. Among my personal favorites here are the Gorgonzola Slaw and the Cauliflower Calabrese (high praise considering the fact that I’m not usually a huge fan of cauliflower).

Wild Thaiger (Encanto Station)

I love spicy foods. And with their slightly modern take on traditional Thai cuisine, there’s no other place in Phoenix that I’d rather go than this place when I’m in the mood for a bit of Thai. I love the Kiewan Curry (all the curries that they make can be prepared vegetarian-style), but the Corn Fritters appetizer is a must try as well.

Gallo Blanco (Indian School Station)

A short walk from the Indian School Station, this gem of a restaurant located inside the Clarendon Hotel isn’t just one of my favorite restaurants along the light rail… It’s one of my favorite restaurants in the entire Phoenix-metro area. Their menu of progressive Mexican street fare offers a number of great choices for the veggie seeker, but you must try the Guacamole (my favorite in town) and Elote Callejero.

Pane Bianco (Campbell Station)

Now with this particular establishment, the variety of vegetarian dishes isn’t exactly high. In fact, there is typically only one sandwich made here that I can eat: the Housemade Mozzarella, Local Tomato & Basil. But it’s just so good, I usually don’t have a problem with the lack of choice.

Hula’s Modern Tiki (Camelback Station)

With a good assortment of vegetarian options coupled with tasty (and pretty strong) tropical drinks and a fun, retro atmosphere, this place is a great choice to start off an evening out. I especially love the spicy seaweed salad that they make here.

Postino (Camelback Station)

Located just a short walk up Central from the Camelback Station, this staple of Phoenix cool offers a number of tasty vegetarian dishes. And though they offer salads and sandwiches of the veggie variety, my favorite thing here would still have to be the bruschetta board. Whatever other kinds of bruschetta you may order, one that you must give a try is the Ricotta with Dates & Pistachios. Paired up with one of their bottles of wine, you got the makings of a great night.

Tags: METRO light rail, PHOENIX LIGHT RAIL, restaurants, vegetarian