Beer Plant in Austin, Texas Knocked Our Vegan Socks Off

First, it's worth noting that we did not receive any free meals from Beer Plant, or any discounts regarding their food. With that said, we visited twice in one week because it was that darn delicious. Okay, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's start with our first visit to Beer Plant in Austin.

One afternoon, Vanessa and I were trying to fit in two things--a decent cardio workout and a fulfilling vegan meal. We were about to walk to this new vegan gastropub in Austin (only 3-4 miles away) when we decided that we probably should take the scooter. It was muggy out, and we were reeeally hungry. It was a good thing that we decided to forgo walking because Beer Plant is a bit more upscale than we were expecting. So showing up for a vegan lunch as two hot and sweaty messes would've probably been extremely embarrassing. With that said...let's talk food.

Beer Plant has one insanely awesome motto: Drink beer. Eat plants. Be happy. I mean truly, what more could you want from life? With over 40 taps to choose from and a 100% plant-based menu, this stuff is what dreams are made of. Beer Plant is somewhat of a hidden gem in Austin, compared to other more notorious Austin vegan restaurants. But we're happy to share what an awesomely delicious meal we ate there.
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The Drinks
As a beer drinker, I (Marisa) was pretty head-over-heels for the craft brew selection at beer Plant. It was thorough, unusual, and offered a big variety compared to most other vegan places. I opted for an Alaskan Amber, which was lightly sweet, not over-the-top aromatic, with a refreshing finish. Vanessa ordered a drink called The Reishi Rescue Elixir, which.....was $10. BUT, well-worth it. Besides being insanely delicious, it also had quite the nutritious value to it, which was much-appreciated. Between the reishi, cacao, and MCT oil, we were pretty jazzed about this one.

​The Apps
We normally can't pass up appetizers. It's really hard. Especially in new places. With that said, we ended up ordering two. The first was a special, a hand-made German pretzel with smoked cheddar vegan cheese sauce. The second was a pickle flight. Now, I have to admit, I thought the pickle flight would be different. I thought it would be...well, pickles. So, suffice it to say I was a bit skeptical when a pickle board arrived with no sight of those famed cucumber shapes. However, I did learn that Beer Plant is known for their in-house fermentation techniques, which includes pickling and culturing vegan cheeses and butter. So, we weren't that disappointed after trying a few of the pickled veggies on the plate. The pretzel cheese, by far, was the winner of everything. Smooth, smoky, and entirely resembling dairy cheese. We may have hoarded our ramekin to use later on in the meal, too.

The Main Event
We had difficulty ordering our entrees, primarily because there were so many unusual and unique vegan options to choose from. It's so hard when you visit a new vegan restaurant and they offer things you've never seen or heard of before. YOU JUST WANT TO ORDER IT ALL. Sigh, however, we did in fact narrow it down to two choices. The Gyro and The Big Bend. The Gyro consisted of: garlic rosemary seitan, shredded romaine, red cabbage, cucumber, red onion, tomato, tzatziki, and parsley on pita. Served up with a batch of hand-cut fries. The Big Bend consisted of: smoked seitan, red onions, bbq sauce, smoked cheddar cheese sauce, mayo, grilled whole wheat bun, cabbage slaw, and house-made pickles. Fries, too. The winner of this round had to be The Big Bend. Their smoked seitan is thinly sliced and perfectly seasoned. Soft to the palate without any hardness or dryness. It was one of the best vegan BBQ sandwiches I have ever eaten. 

The Desserts
Now, before you decide to judge us, we proudly note that we can eat. We love food...vegan food...and will order up course after course in order to truly revel in a good meal or a new restaurant. So, yes, we ordered two desserts at Beer Plant and yes, they were phenomenal. We ordered the Carrot Cake and the Sticky Toffee Pudding. The Carrot Cake was huge...just this huge chunk of delicious cake. The vegan frosting was delectable, and it wasn't overly sweet or unbearably sugary. There was a nice balance of spice and carrot with every bite. The Sticky Toffee Pudding though, was out-of-this-world. Served on a warm skillet, we tore this dessert apart. Imagine a gooey, sweet pudding cake, easily sliced through with a spoon, topped wth coconut whipped cream and a housemate coconut toffee sauce. It was heaven in a skillet.

After that we decided to order...


Hahahahaha no, just kidding. After that we were BEYOND full. But it was a truly delicious meal from Beer Plant in Austin. We loved their carefully crafted vegan food so much, we went back for brunch the next week. Needless to say, the brunch was even better. 

Thank you Beer Plant, for being an awesome representation of how to level-up vegan fare.
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Until next time...