FURTHER BELOW: Veggie Vegan Supplies
Most places are far from The Strip $$$$ cab fare, read BUS &
TAXI ADVICE
(music on this page by Archure)
Vegetarian Dining & Supplies in Las Vegas
WHOLE $$$$$ FOODS (2 miles South of MGM), SUNFLOWER $ MARKET (4 miles West of Caesars on Flamingo at Rainbow or 4 miles East of MGM on Tropicana at Pecos)
Other Locations below
INTRO: There is not much in the way of VEGAN foods in Las Vegas
If your a "vegetarian", you can eat at any Buffet
and find lots of food, but if your a very strict vegetarian vegan, it real hard
to find any real Vegan food in Las Vegas (tales that they keep buffet pasta
moist with chicken broth, and mix all sorts of this with all sorts of that in
nearly everything; and there is lots of veal in Vegas). But you can get a salad
anywhere (if your a vegan, bring your own salad dressing), and lots of soymilk
at stores. Vegan dining in Vegas is very limited, and far far far from The
Strip. Your best bet is to DRIVE (rent or own a car), or BUS (easy &
cheap, but time consuming), TAXI (expensive, $70 one way? and they charge
waiting time, but quicker than the bus), to a Grocery store or Health Food Store
for supplies.
BEST HEALTH FOOD STORE: Sunflower Markets (best health food
stores in town, more info below), closer to The Strip than
other health food stores, open till 10 PM (bus: east from MGM, NYNY,
Excallibur, Tropicana: to SW corner of Tropicana/Pecos, (more
below, see Health Stores). Or regular grocery stores (carry White Wave Silk
soymilk): Albertson's (east from Caesars, Bellagio, Ballys, Flamingo: to
Flamingo/Maryland), Vons (east from MGM, NYNY, Excallibur, Tropicana: to
Tropicana/Maryland), Vons (east from Treasure Is, Venetian, or Wynn, to
Twain/Maryland). They all have White Wave Silk etc. (In summer they also sell
cheap Coolers you can pack with Ice). You can buy a Hot Plate and a pan to cook
your own rice or pasta (if the hot plate does not overload the circuit breaker?
ask your hotel). ***** Good Lord don't forget WATER any time of year, Nevada is
DRY (the hotels leave a bottle of water in the room with a tag saying, if you
open this bottle you owe an extra $20).*****
MORE BELOW: Restaurants, Health Stores, Taxi & Bus info, etc.
VEGETARIAN RESTAURANTS AROUND THE WORLD
Links: www.greenpeople.org
+ www.vegetarianusa.com + www.vegdining.com
BELOW: Veggie Dining in LAS VEGAS, and LAGUNA California
FURTHER BELOW: Veggie Vegan Supplies
Most places are far from The Strip $$$$ cab fare, read BUS &
TAXI ADVICE
VEGGIE SUPPLIES IN LAS VEGAS
SUMMARY: The NEW Whole Foods Market, on Las Vegas Blvd, around 2 miles south of the MGM is the CLOSEST to the Strip open till 10 PM (next to Borders Books, just past the airport, get off the bus just before the small Bridge over the street); Sunflower is around 4 miles. Sunflower is certainly the Cheapest and has good organic fruit, but Whole Foods has better produce most of the time. Also Note: Wal-Mart and Vons are open 24 hours per day, and stocks produce, soy milk, etc (Albertson's Markets? ehh? get your produce someplace else)
"YOUR BEST BET" for some VEGAN OK ITEMS and the Cheapest in Vegas
SUNFLOWER MARKETS: www.sfmarkets.com
open 7:00 AM till 10:00 PM, closer to The Strip than other Health Stores, have lower
prices, and a better selection (but not a complete selection) of Vegan Vitamins
(the only place in town which carries Vegan Vitamin A (Country Life brand).
NEW June 2005 & CLOSE TO THE LAS VEGAS STRIP
DIRECTIONS: (east from MGM, NYNY, Excallibur, Tropicana: to SW corner of
Tropicana/Pecos, just east of Wal-Mart (I would estimate a 20 min bus trip from
the Tropicana hotel (and a New second location at Flamingo & Rainbow, is now
open)). FOODS IN STOCK: some vegetarian vitamins, some vegan OK products such as Silk soymilk and temphe, Follow Your Heart, Nasoya, Braggs, Soy Deli tofu (some are not vegan), bin foods: pasta, rice, raisins, trail-mix, etc. Sunflower has some real good deals (cheaper than everyone else, in general). They stock
vegetarian vegan Vitamins. And they have a limited amount of Organic fruits and
veggies (organic letuce filled with bugs).
BEST: They are my favorite local health store, and Sunflower is certainly way cheaper, as well as fairly close to The Las Vegas Strip
BEWARE: lettuce is sometimes very funky ("funky town, funky town"), you cant find a ripe avocado (try Vons)
DATE OF FRESHNESS WARNING ADVISORY
Check Date of Freshness on all items (unless their supplier washed it off).
My high IQ advice on GAMBLING
WHOLE FOODS MARKETS
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/
HIGH RPICES, not a full stock of VEGAN VITAMS, excellent Quality PRODUCE (lots of Organic). They do stock Tofu, Soy Cheese, Miso, Soy Milk, Rice Milk, the have a large salad bar and the new Las Vegas Blvd location has a Vegan bar (I ate something at the Vegan bar when they just opened, and got very sick, half way thru eating, some sort of flu so something, lasted a couple of weeks, very ill). I have not tried the Vegan bar since
DATE OF FRESHNESS WARNING ADVISORY
Check Date of Freshness on all items: I find past the date of freshness items on their shelves, nearly every visit. When I (if I) take the out of date item up to the cashier and tell them about it, then next day its on the shelf again. On 4/23/09 I found some refrigerated Miso dated 2/16/09 (Las Vegas Blvd store), you go check, Im busy. Also note: they are out of stock on the large size, but probably have the smaller more expensive per unit size
Las Vegas Blvd NEW CONVINIENT LOCATION
Whole Foods Market
A bit more than 2 MILES SOUTH OF THE MGM GRAND
closes 10:00 PM (as of 4/23/09, formerly 9:00 PM, call first)
6689 Las Vegas Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89119
Phone: 702.589.7711
Henderson location (next to Green Valley Ranch, good place)
Whole Foods Market
AROUND 14 MILES South East of the MGM GRAND open till 10:00 PM
100 S. Green Valley Pkwy
Henderson, NV 89052
Phone: 702.361.8183
Fax: 702.614.1927
Fort Apache (my favorite location, but far from me)
Whole Foods Market
AROUND 8 MILES WEST OF THE STRATOSPHERE HOTEL
(close to Sun Coast hotel casino, good entertainment)
8855 West Charleston Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89117
Phone: 702.254.8655
Fax: 702.254.9080
Store hours: open till 10 p.m. seven days a week
THE FOLLOWING LAS VEGAS STORES are mostly NON-VEGAN (exception: the bottom of
the page has The Stand (VEGAN) in Laguna CA), but some of these Las Vegas might
have some vegan items (get one item at one store, another item at another store,
and all of the below no longer stock vegan vitamins (last I was in to check,
personally)
READ LABELS IN STORES: This item was manufactured in a plant which also
processes, nuts, dairy products, and has a toilet (if they are that sloppy about
things, they should list the presence of a "toilet" on the label too)
Chinatown: RANCH 99 MARKET 8:30 AM - 10:00 PM http://www.99ranch.com/
Not a vegetarian place, but they do sell Soy Juice (soy milk), as many Buddhists
drink soy juice, and eat a WHOLE LOTTA TOFU.
Soy Juice brand names: Mighty Soy (best), Kimbo, Furama, Furama non-sweet,
Mighty Soy non-sweet, Furama now has Organic, and it is best if in stock ("Vi-soy" brand of soy juice has very little
protein, read labels, but Vi-soy tofu is OK, maybe a bit slimy, but probably OK
if you rinse it off).
DATE OF FRESHNESS WARNING ADVISORY
I have never seen an Expiration Date Stamp on any Tofu
item in this store. They have a Great Selection of Fresh Veggies (wonderful
produce, but not organic).
10 minutes West of the Strip (was around a $10 cab fare in 2002, one way from
Treasure Is), on Spring Mt Rd, between Wynn & Arville, has a Ranch 99 Market
which sells Soy Juice (Kimbo, Furama, Mighty Soy, all made from Soy & Water,
with sugar or no sugar), as well as produce, tea, bok choy, noodles, and rice,
if you have a stove to cook it your self (they sell pots & pans, dishware,
chopsticks).
NOTE: They have excellent low price produce, and I recommend "Mighty
Soy" SOY JUICE (Furama and Kimbo brands are sometimes poor in quality at
the Las Vegas store (those brands taste great at the Irvine CA Ranch 99 Market,
but by the time it gets to Las Vegas, especially in the HOT SUMMER, it is
sometimes of very poor quality. I tried the new Furama Organic Soyjuice
(2007) and it was quite good (sugar and unsweetened).
RANCH 99 MARKET also has gluten products such as artificial duck, scary, (in the
tofu section), the best sweet potatoes, and mounds of low cost ginger. If you
are not Asian, wear your sunglasses, they'll never know, if your quick.
ORGANIC @ VONS (SAFEWAY OPEN 24 HOURS): some but not all, only a few Von's (Safeway) now carry
Organic produce: fruits and veggies (and other Organic products: pasta, pasta
sauce, chips), but not all Von's have Organic Produce in Stock. (The Von's on
Twain and Maryland, just east of Las Vegas Blvd, does not stock organic
produce). The Vons in Henderson at Pecos & Windmill does stock organic
foods (near Green Valley Ranch), VERY FAR FROM THE STRIP (expensive cab fare). I
do not know if the Vons at Sahara & Decatur (west of the Strip) has organic
items or not (closer to the Vegas Strip).
SOY MILK (SILK White Wave & other brands) can be found at all Albertsons (terrible fruit at Albertsons) & and (much better place) Vons grocery stores, as well as most major health food stores
GETTING AROUND IN LAS VEGAS (bus or taxi)
BUSS: You can get a 24 hour bus pass for $5, or go to the main depots (North or
South on the Las Vegas Strip) to get a Month Pass $30. Most bus routes run from
around 5am to 1am, and the ones on Major Routes (The Strip) run 24 hours (on The
Strip its around every 10 minutes, except between 1am and 5am when its only
every 15 minutes). BUS INFO: www.rtcsouthernnevada.com/cat
TAXI: Taxi Cabs can get very expensive around town, and some of the places I
have mentioned are very far from the Las Vegas Strip. You are entitled to ask a
driver for a "FAIR QUOTE", an estimate (good summation, which can vary
a bit, due to traffic conditions), he will radio a request for a "Fair
Quote". Although most cab drivers are hard working low paid helpful polite people; SOME cab drivers may not be the most ethical, you may REPORT THEM
TO the "Taxi Cab Authority of the State of Nevada", info below). ALWAYS
WRITE DOWN THE CAB NUMBER when you first get in, and ask for a RECEIPT before
getting out (the different cab companies all have different numbers: Desert
Cab 4##, Star Cab 2##, Yellow Cab 33##, etc); just in case you forget your items
(don't, but they all have a lost and found "which cab company was it?
Nellis? Star? Yellow? Henderson? A Cab? Virgin Valley? Whittlesea? Western?
Vegas Western? North Las Vegas? Deluxe, Ace? Union? Desert?" "well, it
was white, and had 4 doors, there were ads in the back, and the cab driver had
an accent", but if you retain a "Cab Number", then you can trace
down the cab company and the taxi itself (State of NV records indicate which
driver), and 2 cab companies own most of the other companies (Yellow, Checker, Star is one group, and ANLV, Ace, Union is another, Whittlesea and Henderson is another, and people leave wheelbarrows of things in Cabs every day).
Taxicab Authority (702) 486-6532 voice ((fax (702) 486-7350))
web: taxi.state.nv.us has a great Lost
& Found Taxi ID page if you did write down the cab #
Cab Companies keep lost & found items for 30 days & can ship it to you
VEGAN FOOD in LAS VEGAS
GO RAW CAFE: www.gorawcafe.com FAR FROM
"THE STRIP"
2 LOCATIONS, different hours (one open Sundays)
Vegetarian Vegan, all Raw.
QUALITY = A+ VERY EXCELLENT
VEGAN ASSURED = A (but some items like health bars contain Honey, ASK, and they
stock Cheese, and candy with dairy (maybe other things too, its good to check, but its mostly vegan))
PRICES = Lofty, for small amounts of food, but very nice and good food (and a
nice Book Selection, and Vitamins too)
GO RAW CAFE 10 a - 8 p (closed Sundays)
2910 Lake East Drive, Las Vegas NV 89117 702-254-5382
From Paradise Rd, Head West on Desert Inn Rd.
Or, from The Strip, head West on Spring Mt Rd
Turn Right on S Durango Drive.
Turn Left on Starboard Dr. Turn Right? on Lake East Dr? call and ask,
Located on Lake Sahara )
.
GO RAW CAFE (702) 450-9007 (formerly The Raw Truth)
2381 S Windmill Lane Las Vegas NV: Open 10am-8pm, Sundays 11am-6pm
S.W. corner of Eastern & Windmill
in the back corner of SMITHS FOOD plaza behind Jack In the Box and Walgreen's.
DIRECTIONS: From "The Strip" (MGM, Excalibur, NYNY, Tropicana hotels)
EAST on TROPICANA
RIGHT on to PARADISE into the Airport
See Airport Signs to different levels, hang to the LEFT, and head towards the
Airport Tunnel to the 215 Freeway, getting on the Freeway hang to the Left to go
SOUTH or EAST on the 215 towards Arizona
it loops around (right turn loop)
EXIT on WINDMILL and turn LEFT (EAST)
a few blocks to just short of EASTERN (S.W. corner of Windmill and Eastern in
"Smiths Shopping pavilion")
Version B) from the Strip go East on any major street (except Spring Mt/Twain,
as that will only take you as far as Maryland Pkwy), take Tropicana, Flamingo,
or Sahara to EASTERN, turn RIGHT (South) on Eastern, go way past the Airport
till you get to WINDMILL (S.W. corner of Windmill and Eastern in "Smiths
Shopping pavilion").
BUS DIRECTIONS:
Go EAST on Tropicana (from Excalibur, MGM, NYNY, Tropicana hotels) or Go EAST on
Flamingo (from Caesars, Flamingo, Bellagio, Ballys), or EAST on Sahara (from
Stratosphere and Sahara), or Go EAST on Charleston,
THEN Transfer SOUTH on EASTERN on the 110 BUS (take the "110
Bus", there are other routes South on Eastern, but I don't think they go
all the way thru to Windmill, you can always ask your bus driver) to WINDMILL,
South West Corner, in the SMITHS Food Shopping Center, (passed Smiths, near the
back corner). I would estimate at least a 90 min trip each way (what with
Transferring and all). Also see: BUS & TAXI ADVICE
PAYMONS 2 locations http://www.paymons.com/med_main.html
Some nice vegetarian dishes, and OK with Vegan requests (very nice)
I have only been to the West Sahara location (and only once, had a good time)
I had a falafal, and we shared a double order of humus, and the waiter claimed it to be vegan OK, and said they get lots of vegans and are vegan knowlegeable with vegan requests (the tahini sauce was dairylike scarry, they insisted it to be vegan OK), and the oil fried falafal balls tasted vegan OK (still, as a vegan, I find it scarry dining out, don't really like to, and keep saying never again, but with one visit, Paymons seems likely for future visits). (compare Paymons to Ghandhis Restaurant, where they assured me that most of it was vegan, eventually I found out most of it was not (these people from India, really respect vegetarianism, but don't have any concept of veganism (they could give a rats ass about vegans). While Paymons seem more assured (at least on one visit), time will tell?
I am embarassed that I have been in this town for so long (1995), and had not been to Paymons (till 2008)
LOCATION 1
Paymon's Mediterranean Cafe & Hookah Lounge
8380 W. Sahara Ave
Las Vegas, NV 89119
Restaurant Hours: 11am-1am – 7days a week
Lounge 5Pm-1am – 7days a week
Phone. (702) 731-6030
Fax. (702) 804-6534
LOCATION 2 (closest to the Vegas Strip)
Paymon's Mediterranean Cafe & Hookah Lounge
4147 So. Maryland Parkway
Las Vegas, NV 89119
- Located in the Tiffany Square Plaza)
- Southwest corner of Flamingo and Maryland Pkwy
- 5-7 Minutes from the "Strip"
Phone. (702) 731-6030
SOUPER SALAD (Salad & Soup Bar) www.soupersalad.com
866.768.7372
Near The Strip
From Caesars, Ballys, Bellagio, go East on Flamingo to Maryland Parkway (North
East Corner, near a PARTY Store (behind Albertson's)).
Sometimes Features Vegan Soup
SWEET TOMATOES (Salad & Soup Bar) http://www.sweettomatoes.com
WAY OFF THE STRIP
Near Sunset Station, on Stephanie
375 N Stephanie St Henderson 702.933.1212
2080 N Rainbow Blvd 702.648.1957
Sometimes Features Vegetarian Soup: real keen on Vegetarian items, but no clue
for Vegan info (pasta vegan? vegetarian soup vegan?, bread?), bring your own
salad dressing (there is a Wild Oats across the street from the Henderson
location, they stock vegan salad dressings)
Shalimar's Indian Cuisine 702.796.0302
Vegetarian items, but Vegan?
Lunch Buffet: 11:30a-2:30p M-F, Dinner: 5:30p-10p M-Su
3900 Paradise Road, The Citibank Plaza, Las Vegas, NV
From Caesars, Ballys, Bellagio, go East on Flamingo and turn left on Paradise,
then north till the next signal, then turn right, in the CitiCorp Shopping
Center (North end)
Just north of Flamingo (most cab drivers know exactly where it is)
VEGETARIAN LUNCH BUFFET (around 7 vegetarian items with butter, and also
non-vegetarian food) 11:00am - 2:00pm
& VEGETARIAN DISHES AVAILABLE (evening) at
UPDATE 2007: GANDHI'S IS GREAT FOR VEGETARIANS, BUT NOT FOR VEGANS
I have always asked which items are Vegan (no meat, no dairy) and they always
pointed them out, but recently, upon asking 2 different staff persons, one
admitted there is "just a little bit of butter" in everything, and I
said "I can't have butter, I thought you said it had no dairy" and
they said "but just a little bit". So they have either changed their
buffet to include butter in everything previously vegan, or more likely, finally
the truth comes out. They do have a very nice collection of India ART-WORKS,
play very nice music, and its a nice place for vegetarians, but its not vegan.
My girlfriend explained that in India, butter is a sacred thing, they just don't
realize. They just don't understand vegans, they don't go for veganism; but lots
of vegetarian items (hot and spicy).
GANDHI India's Cuisine 4080 Paradise Rd (N.E. Corner, hidden behind the new
Mortons Steak House, across from the Terrible Herbst Hotel Casino (formerly The
Continental), just North of the Hard Rock). From the Strip, go East on Flamingo,
at Paradise (close by), turn left and an immediate right into the first
driveway. www.gandhicuisine.com
VEGETARIAN ENTREES & weekday lunch buffet 11:30am-2:00pm
NEW second LOCATION "On The STRIP"
Vegetarian Lunch Buffet (around 7 vegetarian items with butter) 12pm - 4pm
TAMBA Indian Cuisine 3743 Las Vegas Blvd 702.798.7889 www.tambalounge.com
Located: in the Hawaiian Marketplace on "The Strip"
Just South of The Aladdin & Harley Davidson Cafe
Just in front of Polo Towers (if driving, come in thru Polo towers on Harmon
St).
I ate there only once (since then found out Gandhi's is including butter in
everything), and it was just like GANDHI's (same ownership, nice music, pleasant
dark decor); it tasted real good, but I got sick after eating there, for several
days (not like me at all to get sick). So the next time I went to Gandhi's
(Paradise Flamingo), much better. It may have been a fluke. If you go, take the
Bus, there is no real parking, except in the Polo Towers parking (enter from
Harmon, South of Aladdin and at the Harley Davidson Cafe), one might be temped
to try parking just South of the Hawaiian Marketplace (sad mistake: it's
impossible to get out, due to crowds of people). Take the Bus or a Taxi Cab
PETA endorses restaurants as Vegan OK
http://www.peta.org/living/ links to
http://www.vegcooking.com/ChainRestaurants.asp
(a PETA sub-web site)
But if your really a Vegan, I would be careful and think twice about the Chain
Restaurants which PETA endorses, I greatly appreciate and support the efforts of
PETA, but one must check things out themselves (I wrote PF Changs, and they
wrote back saying only the Snap Green Peas and Buddha Feast (not stir fried) are
vegan (the other vegetarian items have sugar, which may have been colored with
bone char, they don't know (that's what they say, thanks allot). The on The
Strip location at Planet Hollywood is always crowded (nice place, put your name in and go gamble with their beeper), the location just east of
the Strip on Paradise (just south of Flamingo), is less of a wait and a better
place,
(the PF Changes in Henderson (east of and next to Green Valley Ranch) is very poor in service (that was around 2007, probably still true? who's to know? I'm not going back, and I wouldnt sent you). But the other locations are much better (most of the time)
I have experienced bad staff at all locations (I guess its like cab drivers, lots of good ones and a few bad ones), but the Paradise/Flamingo location is best (and most recently good).
Green Valley Ranch is not a vegan place, but its a very very nice place, and its just across the street from Whole Foods in Henderson (but skip the PF Changs at that location), far off the strip (20 min drive on freeway, once on the freeway)
.
CALIFORNIA
"standing on the golden shore, like an angel, standing in a shaft of light,
rising up to paradise"
THE STAND: next to the Bicycle Shop on Thalia Street near PCH (Pacific Coast
Hwy)
LAGUNA BEACH
Laguna Beach CA (100% Vegan Assured, good people)
The Stand @ Thalia & PCH (Pacific Coast Hwy)
I can vouch for the Excellence. Good Prices. You don't have to STAND at The
Stand, because they have....
AMPLE OUTDOOR SEATING (not pictured).
A VAST MENU to choose from: salads; smoothies, shakes, soy burgers, sandwiches,
Mexican food, Asian food, carrot juice, guacamole (avocado dip), humus, rice,
veggies, several soups, and daily bargain specials
from down town Laguna Beach on the Coast Highway, go SOUTH (what? about a mile
or 2 at least, ride don't walk) and turn Left on THAILIA Street, there are
Automotive Repair shops on the corners (on your left), then use Metered parking
(takes Quarters) or park behind the Bike shop and The Stand
Its kind of hard to see the THAILIA ST sign, so look for the AUTO REPAIR SHOPS,
to help you find your way.
Also on the corner (NW) of PCH & Thailia St is a nice Bead Shop (if you like
beads, I do, they are hip, and cool).
Oooh, cool car as seen from the Bead Shop corner
Walking from The Stand toward the ocean, there is a place to sit and watch the
sea, there are also stairs, all the way down to the beach.
For VEGGIE VEGAN FOOD in Other Towns....
"Vegetarian Restaurants Around the World"
http://www.greenpeople.org/restaurants.htm
AND
http://www.vegetarianusa.com/
has lots of links to various Vegetarian establishments
