Every dish from our Meatless Madison series

We combed through Madison menus to find some of the best meatless dishes the city has to offer.

April 27, 2020 12:00 PM

Hannah Twietmeyer,

Posted: April 27, 2020 12:00 PM

Updated: April 27, 2020 11:10 AM

by Hannah Twietmeyer

Lauren Montelbano, head chef at Surya Cafe, created a Brussels sprout dish that everyone actually loves: roasted brussels sprouts with shiitake bacon.
At his kosher-certified, deli-focused restaurant in the UW Hillel center on campus, Jason Kierce always makes sure to have several vegan items, like this Nashville hot chicken sandwich.
Short Stack Eatery's vegan pancakes are made with bananas, coconut oil and almond flour.
Oliva Restaurant offers a healthier twist on Turkish dishes, including homemade baklava on the dessert menu.
La Kitchenette's Green French Toast is made with Madison Sourdough brioche, which is battered with spinach, green onions and spices and served on a bed of sauteed spinach and topped with chili lime mayonnaise, roasted pine nuts and an egg.
On the regular menu at Mediterranean Cafe, the vegetarian falafel platter is consistently a favorite. The falafel are served with pita bread alongside rice pilaf and a salad of crunchy lettuce and cucumbers.
Salvatore’s Tomato Pies' vegetarian pizza is topped with roasted beet pesto, kale and goat cheese.
James Bloodsaw, owner of Just Veggiez, produces a wide variety of vegetarian and vegan eats, like these plant-based tacos.
With their raspberry rose preserve fillings, Valentine's Day is a popular time for vegan pop tarts from Bloom Bake Shop.
While Madison Sourdough’s breads are still an integral part of the cafe’s dishes, colorful root vegetables like beets, carrots and sweet potatoes take center stage, especially on the roasted vegetable sandwich pictured above.
Weary Traveler's mulligatawny stew is cooked with curry leaves and coconut and topped with lemon yogurt, toasted spices and green apples. The stew is vegan without the yogurt garnish.
The three-cup tofu at Natt Spil is the most popular vegetarian (and vegan) item on the menu.
Photo by Mackenzie Krumme
Tex Tubb's Taco Palace's vegetarian version of the frito burrito is stuffed with fried avocados, rice, refried beans and corn salsa. It is served with sides of slaw, pico de gallo and sour cream then topped with cheese sauce and Fritos. Fun Fact about Tex Tubb's — its kitchen has a vegetarian-only fryer.
Photo by Mackenzie Krumme
The sesame noodle bowl from Jade Mountain Café is a twist on the owner's tradition bowls he ate as a child in Taiwan. Its rendition has buckwheat noodles, a house-made white sesame sauce, crunchy garlic and steamed bok choy.

Since 2018, Erica Krug and Mackenzie Krumme have highlighted some of Madison’s tastiest vegan and vegetarian dishes in our Meatless Madison series. We’ve compiled a gallery of those features to make your next choice for takeout a bit easier. Click on the linked restaurant names in the gallery above to learn more about the dish and the restaurant/chef who makes it. (Editor’s Note: Be sure to check restaurants’ takeout menus to make sure these dishes are available for takeout right now.)

While Madison doesn’t have many vegan- and vegetarian-focused restaurants, the meatless offerings are a plenty in town for those who choose not to eat meat or animal byproducts.

While some choose veganism and vegetarianism for ethical reasons, others make the lifestyle choice because of environmental reasons. As Krug reported in 2019: “There is mounting scientific evidence that eating animals has severe implications for the environment and the global economy. According to the United Nations, one-third of farmable land on earth is used to grow feed for livestock. The production of nonorganic feed (corn and other grains) requires huge amounts of fertilizer, fuel, pesticides, water and land. The process produces nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. Additionally, if all the grain currently fed to livestock in the United States were consumed directly by people, it could feed nearly 800 million, reports ecologist David Pimentel of Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.”

Carnivores might also be eating less meat due to COVID-19’s disruption of the meat supply chain. As the Times reported, Tyson Foods — one of the largest producers of meat in the U.S. — had to close its pork-processing plant in Iowa on April 22 after several workers tested positive for the coronavirus. And Tyson isn’t the only meat processing facility in the U.S. having to close doors or slow production. This setback is increasing food waste, as processing facilities can’t get meat and other food products on store shelves — even when the demand is so high during this epidemic.

Hannah Twietmeyer is an editorial intern at Madison Magazine.

To read more stories from Madison Magazine’s Beyond Earth Day section, click here.

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