Healthy vegetarian date spot in Seattle

[nedfats]

Planning a trip to Seattle to visit a cute Vegetarian girl. Hope to impress by finding a fancy Vegetarian restaurant to take her too that is pretty awesome. Any recommendations? Price range ~100-150 a person with wine?

Any other good ideas for a tourist to impress a local on a date out there?

[Reloy]

Seattle has a lot of vegetarian options, so it comes down to a few things, if this girl is vegan as well, it would impact the decision, but there are certainly plenty of palces that cater to that. I haven't seen much aside from the delicious faux-meat sandwiches at Cafe Happy in Kirkland, but I've heard good things about Chaco Canyon Cafe and Highline. The former is a very healthy, hyper-organic restaurant that I believe specializes in raw foods. The latter is vegan versions of classic stoner food, so it may not be the place to flash some cash and impress a date, especially if you're not on the familiar enough terms to discount its location over a sex shop.

Most of the vegetarian restaurants I can think of in the area do run pretty informal and inexpensive which could be good, but given your ulterior motives I'd recommend Sutra as the only fine dining vegetarian restaurant that I'm aware of.

http://www.sutraseattle.com/menu.html

But that's only from recommendation and not personal experience. Depending on what you're trying to do, another option would be to go to one of many fine dining restaurants in Seattle that would be happy to provide vegetarian options despite their omnivorous menus.

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Cafe Happy
102 Kirkland Ave, Kirkland, WA 98033

Chaco Canyon Cafe
4757 12th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105

[mrnelso]

Look into Elemental, Elemental Next door, Art of the Table, Tilth

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Art of the Table
1054 N 39th St, Seattle, WA 98103

[mhansen]

Also Sutra in Wallingford would be appropriate; although, Tilth and Elemental are the places where you'll spend something nearer to the figure you mentioned.

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Tilth
1411 N. 45th Street, Seattle, WA 98103

Sutra
1605 N 45th St, Seattle, WA 98103

Elemental At Gasworks
3309 Wallingford Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103

[akq]

Rovers does vegetarian tasting menus in addition to the non-veg ones.

[knowspicker]

It's been a long time since I have been but I thought Cafe Flora was good and would make a nice date place. Maybe someone with recent experience can chime in.

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Cafe Flora
2901 E Madison St, Seattle, WA 98112

[yummers]

I took my vegetarian SO to Flora earlier this year and it was as wonderful as ever. Try to get the room with the "water feature". Incidentally, one of the keys to Flora's success is that they make no attempt whatsoever to be healthy. (Another is that they are really into presentation as well as flavor.)

[fookystyle]

Carmelita up on Greenwood....

[bourbongal]

I would also add a vote for Carmelita - the food there is wonderful, esp the selection of cheeses. Rover's is also a great option for upscale.

[christy319]

I like Carmelita a lot but it's a neighborhood place, not fancy. Like Flora it's good because it doesn't go out of its way to be "healthy." I don't think you could spend that much if you tried. If you want something really nice/special I think Rover's veg tasting menu is the best bet. Elemental could be really fun if you don't need control over the menu.

[HeatherHeatherHeather]

Carmelita is absolutely the best date-night option for romance. Sutra is nice too, but you may share a table which does not lend to intimate date-night conversation.
Honestly, Tilth's vegetarian options leave much to be desired. :( I went on a birthday and left wishing I'd gone somewhere else for the price. However, every time I go to Carmelita I wonder why I don't go there more often.

[kaleokahu]

Hi, nedfats:

+1 on Carmelita.

Aloha,
Kaleo

[PAO]

Rover's has a vegetarian option--call them first. Fancy restaurant with impeccable service in an older house. The cuisine is French with Northwest influences. Definitely a place for a special occasion. Fab wine list.

[nedfats]

Thanks so much for all of your help! Reservations permitting - I think I'll check out Carmelita. Chowhound is the best!

[christy319]

I just posted on this above but I do want to emphasize Carmelita is good but not fancy at all--the interior decor is a bit dated (the tables and chairs are very 1970s Moosewood Cafe) and you are going to be surrounded by people in parkas and jeans. It really does not fit what your original post asks for.

[maybelle]

I don't disagree that Carmelita isn't as fancy as say, Rover's, but it's not someplace that I would say is completely casual either. I think the decor is cute, not 1970's at all and in general, it's a nice, non-stuffy kind of date night type of place. It's certainly not fancy fancy but well... jeans and a fleece seem pretty typical is 95% of Seattle restaurants!

How about Poppy? It's not strictly Vegetarian but they do have Vegetarian Thali's. It's also not fancy fancy, but it's a lot more Hip than say, Carmelita.

[christy319]

I do like Carmelita and wouldn't normally try to discourage someone from going there, and I don't mean to diss the restaurant, but when you read his original post, it really doesn't seem like the right venue (and I stand by my assertion that tables and chairs are hideous!).

Poppy is a great idea if they want something unique and fantastic and hip though I agree, it's not fancy.

[PeteSeattle]

Most political vegetarians in Seattle come from the Northern European cultural stock, which is famous for bland food. So their vegan food is little better than cardboard. (Cook a "field roast" and you'll see what I mean!)

You'd be better off with people who have been doing vegetarian for thousands of years, and know how to do it correctly. And Pabla's know how to do it correctly. They've even got their restaurant Rabbinical approval so it's completely kosher, easy to do since it's strictly vegetarian.

You'll like it.

[Bethwick]

Hello PeteSeattle,

What do you mean by political vegetarians?

[thevioletpear]

What about Poppy on Broadway? They have really great yummy vegetarian thalis. With an app, thali, drinks and dessert it would hit your mark. Another option for good healthy vegetarian food (that also has non-vegetarian food) would be Nettletown in Eastlake, good for lunch, brunch, or a nice dinner.

http://poppyseattle.com/
http://nettletown.com/index.htm

[PeteSeattle]

Another one that gets high marks and was reviewed in the Stranger is Udupi at Crossroads in Bellevue. They have South Indian Dosas, which are big rice-flour pancakes with potato stuffing (and a wonderful background for applying additional piquant tastes!)
Pabla's is a North Indian Punjabi Sikh restaurant.
It seems that in India, Brahmins are expected to be vegetarian, and if you ever ask an Indian here (who's Hindu) what their caste is, they'll generally say "I"m a Brahmin!" regardless of how true it is. (It generally isn't')

So to maintain the fiction, they have to eat vegetarian, even if they're Sudyas who've been eating lamb and chicken their whole lives. I'm not sure how successful this is, especially when Ma is Vegetarian and her kids eat hot dogs.

But you can bet that Ma would never pay money for a field roast!

[knowspicker]

Udupi has closed and Oh India is now in it's place.

[oliveoyl]

if I were a vegetarian and going on a date ..either of these would be great ..better yet go to Poppy for happy hour snacks & cocktails and then pop down the hill (drive) and have dinner at Nettletown

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Nettletown
2238 Eastlake Ave E, Seattle, WA 98102

[jwytt]

Sutra is excellent and in your price range, but if you are going for romantic, may not be the best option as you share a table with other guests.

As others have said, Cafe Flora is one of the city's best, but is in no way healthy.

I am a also a huge fan of Carmelita. I have taken my lady here on a couple of dates, and always leave extremely impressed. Yes, it's a 'neighborhood' joint, but its small, quiet, and very romantic.

One that hasn't been brought to the list, and is a personal favorite for date night is the Plum Bistro on Capitol Hill. It is pretty loud, but the food makes up for the noise. I could not recommend this place enough.

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Cafe Flora
2901 E Madison St, Seattle, WA 98112