I often find myself running hither and thither in the city, and am delighted when I find little treats here and there that I can grab and go! Sure, an energy bar or a bagel with hummus is fine anytime, but sometimes a girl wants options. None of these are exclusively vegan or even vegetarian places — there are some really good Internet lists for those spots (and hey, if I weren’t so lazy, I’d even post em) — but here are some of my favorites:
Arizmendi Bakery has crazy delicious addictive treats including the “wolverine” roll (with raisins), various focaccias, the apricot almond cookie which is like a whole meal, a vegan chocolate mint cookie, breads, and weekly specials like the fig fennel bread (mmmmm). I crave their baked goods. They label all the ingredients for everything, which is nice. If you call ahead in the morning, they will even make the day’s special pizza vegan for you. (SF Inner Sunset; also Oakland near the Lake)
Peasant Pies makes the cutest little pies, and they heat them up for you if you want. I love the Moroccan Lentil. Their soup is usually vegan, too. There are always at least 3-4 vegan options, labeled with a green V. (locations in Inner Sunset, Mission Bay, Noe Valley)
Holy Gelato! has a whole case (!!!) of vegan gelatos, plus a whole other case of gelatos with dairy in em. On the vegan side are fruit flavors like mango and pomegranate, chocolate-peanut-butter combos, a mexican chili chocolate that packs intense heat, and my favorite, the Dubliner, which is coconut-based and has whiskey, coffee, chocolate, and other yumminess, kinda like a mudslide. I never have any trouble persuading my non-vegan friends to indulge here. (Inner Sunset)
Ritual Roasters is a coffeehouse that has vegan donuts and usually one other vegan offering, such as apple bread. (Mission)
Underdog serves vegan hot dogs. Yeah, I know, weird. Either you’re into it or you’re not. (Sunset)
Cole Valley Cafe is a place I often go to work. When I was writing my book and didn’t have internet access at home (on purpose, in order to focus!), I would go to this cafe once or twice a week to deal with my emails. They carry the delicious Kerri Kreations cookies as well as vegan “brownie bites,” and when I’m in the mood for something more substantial, the falafel wrap is yummy too. (Cole Valley)
Delissio Market & Bakery makes the best soy hot chocolate ever. Most of the other desserts including the crazy chocolate bar are, alas, chock full of butter and cream. But the self-serve entrees and salad bar are well-labeled with several vegan options every day. Two locations; I go to the Market Street one when I shop for artists supplies or just go to caress the beautiful papers at Flax. I go to the Broderick Street one, inside Falletti’s grocery store, after taking one of my favorite Iyengar classes at the Yoga Loft. (Downtown; Lower Haight)
Yum. This is making me hungry.