VegaDeli. Vegan, Cooked, Raw, and Gluten Free (options) Eats St. Louis. Big Men Eat Plants. Michael Clarke Duncan.

FYI:  VegaDeli is now closed :((((((((((  

But maybe someday it will reopen? 

So this is just a memoir at this point.

"RawFredo" from:
 Vega-Deli 
177 Hilltown Village Center  Chesterfield, MO 63017
(636) 536-6938

Tues - Sat 11:00am - 8:00pm
Sunday  11:00am - 5:00pm
CLOSED MONDAYS

Hours are from May 2012.  Always check their website and/or call to see if open.  
Dishes from menu listed are just some of the things VegaDeli has.  Of course they are always trying new things out & dishes may change with the seasons.  However, it gives an idea of what types of food they have.  Burgers, Wraps, Sandwiches, Juices, Smoothies, Raw Dishes, Gluten Free & Kidz Menu! Truly something for everyone from Vegan Comfort Food to Uber Green Raw Vegan Eco Warrior CleanseMonster.  So you can take your crazy friends doing 90 day juice cleanses too, and STILL eat Vegan Mac & Cheeze or Vegan Lasanga! (Cooked OR Raw!)

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VegaDeli is one of Two Vegan places in St. Louis.  PuraVegan (PuraVegan Post and Other PuraVegan Post) is the other.  Both were originally owned by the same couple, but this PowerVeganCouple just "built" it, got them to come, and sold both of these places!  Now VegaDeli (like PuraVegan) has a new owner, new hours, and some new dishes.  Several of these photos are from the "old" deli, however, much of the menu is the same.  But there are also always new additions and gobs of gluten free eats.

Hubby got "Falafel Salad". Gluten Free so I could taste too!

VegaDeli is super clean & bright.  The food comes fast but it's a place that invites you to linger.

Salads

Kalifornia Salad Kale, Avocado, Almonds, Red Cabbage, Carrots & Tomato Served with a Sesame Lemon Dressing

Corn Bread Salad

Spinach, Tomato, Cabbage, Red Pepper,

Carrots, Corn Bread Crumbles

Served with a Sesame Lemon Dressing

 Autumn SaladMixed Greens, Carrots, Apple Slices, 

Raisins & WalnutsServed with a Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

$7.99 per Entree

Add Soup $ 2.00 Additional

Always art on the walls.

Nachos

Corn Tortilla Chips, Cajun Black Beans & Rice,Lettuce, Tomato &

Nacho "Cheez"

$9.99[Add Avocado for $1.00 Extra]

Hummus Plate

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Carrots,Cucumber, Broccoli

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

$9.99 each entree

Veggie Lasagna

Lasagna Noodles, Tomato Sauce, Onions, Spinach,

Zucchini, Cashew Cheez Sauce

  $10.99 per slice

Iced Green Tea.

"Burgers"

The HumBurger
(Original Flavor, BBQ Cheddar, or Chipotle) Hailed as the Healthiest "Burger" in town
This Soy Free Patty is also Gluten Free & Nut Free 
Made Fresh Daily w/ our Homemade Hummus,
Rice, Veggies
Served On a Whole Wheat Flat Bun
  (Gluten Free Served on Lettuce) [Add Avocado for $1.00 Extra]

[Add "Cheddar Cheez" for $1.00 Extra]

The Black Bean "Burger" 

*Gluten Free w/o Bun!

 Black Beans, Veggies & Spices

Served with our Delicious Mango Sauce (Always Homemade)

The Portabello
Marinated Portabello Mushroom, 
Peppers, Tomatoes, Onion, Lettuce 
Served with our always 
Homemade Sundried Tomato Spread
[Add Avocado for $1.00 Extra]
[Add "Cheddar Cheez" for $1.00 Extra]

W R A P S 

Sun-Set Wrap

Sun Dried Tomato Spread, Mixed Greens,

Red Peppers, Carrots, Cucumber, Onion

$7.99

Greek Wrap

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Spinach,

Kalimari Olives, Tomato, Onion

$7.99

Kale Wrap

Cashew Cheez Spread, Kale, Red Cabbage, 

Avocado

$7.99

Portobello Wrap

Mixed Greens, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion

Marinated Portobello Mushroom, Garlic Sauce

8.99

Tex-Mex Wrap

Seasoned Brown Rice

Black Beans

Mixed Greens

Tomato, Onions, Salsa

Wrapped in a 100% Whole Wheat Wrap

$7.99

* Make it a Tex-Mex Bowl - Gluten Free!!

Add Avocado $1.00 Extra

Whole Wheat Wraps Served with 

Corn Tortilla Chips

Add a Side of Soup for $2.00

Vegan Mac & Cheeze.  Gluten Free and Oh, so amazing.  Hubby ordered this but rest assured, I did my fair share of digging.  You must understand, I eat fairly healthy only because we don't always have "vegan cheezes" in the house.  I just don't want anyone to think I am actually discliplined.  I am always vegan, but I indulge at any given chance, on raw cheezecakes and vegan mac & cheeze.  Grilled cheeze is another, but all must be Gluten Free now.  I am working on becoming a truly high maintenance woman.

Hubby got a homemade burger.  Love VegaDeli for it's homemade everything.  Don't think you will ever find Boca or other Premade Burgers on the menu.

7 layer Raw Vegan Lasanga.  Beautiful, eh??  

Raw Tacos
Made from Raw Walnuts, 
Carrots & Spices
Served on Red Cabbage or Greens

*Can Also be Served on Whole Wheat Wrap - Not Raw

$10.99

Raw Pad Thai (Mild) 
Zucchini "Pasta" with Carrots, Black Olives, Cilantro, 

Peppers, Herbs & Thai Almond Sauce

$10.99

Raw "Pasta" Alfredo

Zucchini "Pasta", Bell Peppers, Spinach & Mushrooms

Served with our Homemade

Raw Cashew Fredo Sauce

$10.99

Raw Marinara

Zucchini "Pasta", Mushrooms, Spinach, 

Raw Marinara Sauce

$10.99

Raw Lasagna   

       Thinly Sliced Zucchini "Pasta"

Alternately Layered with Spinach Leaves, Raw Marinara Sauce, Raw White Sauce

$10.99 for Lasagna

Some lucious nut cheese.  So I liked this dish, but at the time was having next to no oil and not much salt.  This raw dish had a little too much of both for me.  And that is personal preference only, as Raw Gourmet food generally is liberal with both some healthy fats & some sort of "healthy" salt like miso, celtic, coconut aminos, tamari.  The dish was tasty though, and I think most peeps would appreciate the salt & oil factor.

There is is.

Raw Vegan Cheezecake.  Strawberry.  And Yum.  So the oil thing?  It goes down the tubes if I am ingesting it in coconut oil form in a cheezecake.  I am not "wasting" my oil on olive oil, no.  Bring me a fat filled Raw Vegan Cheezecake and you have brought me my form of "Food Therapy".  Okay, so it's not the healthiest habit, but it's not, well, something worse!

Stuffed Cornbread (We had a buy one get one free coupon).
Yummy, but not Gluten-Free.

Warm Pasta

Sesame Lemon Pasta
A Light Refreshing Dish of Warm Pasta, Tossed with Spinach, Carrots, ZucchiniLemon Juice & Sesame Oil
$8.99

Penne Power Pasta
Warm Pasta Tossed with Marinara Sauce,
Fresh Spinach 
Topped with our Homemade Tofu "Ricotta" 
& Chopped Walnuts 
$8.99

You gotta love Zucchini Pasta!  Think the Raw Vegan Pasta is usually a staple.

Luscious Sauce base is from Cashews!

And from "Taste of St. Louis"

Recently we went to Taste of St. Louis, which we would never go to prior, but we knew of at least a couple places serving some vegan eats this year. The only all Vegan place was VegaDeli  which is one of only TWO vegan places in St. Louis.  

The Crowd.

Lots of folks trying vegan food today!

Raw Pad Thai (Zucchini Noodles), Vegan Burger.

Raw Tacos.  (For the "Taste" the shell was not raw)

Vegan Sweets.  Chocolate Chip Cookies and Pumpkin Bites.  

This looked great be we refrained!

The Raw Vegan Pad Thai with Zucchini Noodles.  Yum!

Pumpkin Bite.  The Pumpkin Balls were divine.  I went home and made butternut squash smoothies for an entire week because I craved Pumpkin after that!

S I D E S

Mac & "Cheez" 

Macaroni Noodles, Cheddar Soy "Cheez"

Small $3.29       Large $4.59

*-Rice Pasta, Cheddar Soy "Cheez"

*GLUTEN FREE!!

Corn Bread- Vegan Cornbread 

Infused with Carrots, Red Bell Peppers & Spinach  $2.50/Slice

Soup of the Day

Varies DailyCup $3.29        Bowl $4.99

Herb Roasted Potatoes

- Roasted Russet & Sweet Potatoes

with 100% Virgin Olive Oil, Herbs & Spices

Small $3.29             Large $4.59

Add Avocado or Cheddar "Cheez"
to Anything - $1.00 Additional Charge

Vegan Chilli 

Kidney Beans, Tomato, Loaded w/ Veggies

Served with a Small Slice of our Veggie Infused Corn Bread

Cup $3.29                   Bowl $4.99

The Raw Tacos had a regular Tortilla, which was delicious.  Some sort of nut pate with avocado, tomato, & cabbage.  Yummy and not oily at all.  No guilt there. 

Good Ol' St. Louis

Kidz Menu

Sloppy "Tempeh" Joe's

BBQ Tempeh Served in a Thin Whole Wheat Bun

Served with Roasted Russet & Sweet Potatoes

$5.99

Veggie Roll 'Em Ups

Hummus with Carrots, Cucumber & Spinach

Rolled in a 100% Whole Wheat Wrap

Served with Corn Tortilla Chips & Salsa

$5.99

Fruit Roll Up

Banana Slices & Apple Slices

Spread with Peanut Butter & Rolled up in a 100% Whole Wheat Wrap

Served with Corn Tortilla Chips & Salsa

$5.99

Pita Veggie Pizza

100% Whole Wheat Pita

Spread w/ our Homemade Marinara Sauce

Hummus and Veggies

$5.99

So important to support our Vegan Businesses!  While I do truly appreciate that more & more folks are adding Vegan Eats to their Mainstream Menus, I really enjoy that I don't have to worry about MeatJuice in a Vegan Place, or act like Meg Ryan when making an Order.  Plus, when the economy has tanked, I feel even more passionate about supporting the Vegan Peeps (when given a choice) because we want them to stay in business!  Plus Vegan Peeps tend to put their time, money, & love back into the Vegan Community & also buy Vegan Products and so we are "Voting with our Dollar".   I prefer this over a place that might server one or two Vegan Meals, but the rest of the menu is Fois Gras & Lamb.  Ick.

Remember the Gentle Giant in "The Green Mile"??

He is eating plants.  Very short & endearing video about the change.

Also, enter to win a Green Smoothie Recipe book.....Contest is on the Gateway Pet Guardians site and but you can enter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mamoun's Falafel Restaurant in New Haven, Connecticut. Cheap Vegan Eats in Yale Town.

Mamoun's Falafel Restaurant. 
85 Howe Street
New Haven, CT.

"The best falafel on the planet."  -Husband of GSGV

I have been hearing about this place for years now.......this is where my husband first started his falafel addiction.  Hearing about how insanely cheap & yummy this place is, I was stoked to finally try it myself.  They also have a famous "hole in the wall" location in Greenwich Village, the first location, which was opened in 1971.  Mamoun's has been family owned and operated since it's inception.  It also made it into the "1000 places to see before you die" book.

You don't have to worry about dog or cat pee on your rugs if you just hang them on your wall.  Thinking we need to try this at home!!

Really happy that it was a sit down place well suited for hours of sitting.  Drinking strong coffee.  And eating tahini filled foods.  Just has a flair for both style & comfort.

Their famous Lentil Soup.  This stuff was great and not terribly spicy.  I just couldn't deal with the paper cup though........Always think about the linings of those and what lurks beneath the surface.  But the soup was delicious.  We had been driving for several hours, from NY to Boston and a sit down place with hot soup was wonderful.

I ordered a squash veggie type of soup.  Lightly seasoned and full of fresh veggies and yummy tomato broth.  Once again, hard to overlook serving hot soup in paper cups.  

I wasn't feeling the fried food thing that day and opted for salad.  Basic type of Middle Eastern salad with onions, tomatoes, chunks of lettuce, and herbs on top.  Tahini based dressing.

Hubby got falafel sandwich and devoured it.  With hot sauce.  Something about the Mamoun's hot sauce that now he can never have a falafel without some form of heat.  At home we use Melinda's.

Picture of Mamoun on the wall....

Guess they are in on the hookah craze.  I think they had hookahs there 20 years ago, but they weren't "on the menu".

Signage.......Yep, there is an Ivy League school in this town, and yes, there is a fair amount of crime.  I guess a few decades ago it was pretty terrible.  Don't know what the current scene is but of course in the daytime, just passing through, everything looks lovely.

Apartments by Mamoun's....Hubby used to live here 2 decades ago and this is the SAME door with the SAME dents!!   Just steps away from Mamoun's.

85 Howe Street

I say it's a fun place for falafel & baba.  Cheap eats, unique atmosphere, and hubby's old haunt.  It isn't "fine dining" and if you have ever been to the one in the Village in NY, then you will think the atmosphere here is truly fine.  In NY, hot sauce is passed back in forth patrons standing and doubling up on the couple of tables, at 2 in the morning.........Not into plastic anything at either location, but in some way, that is just "part of it".

And from www.gatewaypets.com
East St. Louis, St. Louis Animal Rescues


A great 30 second PSA for rescue dogs! Starring Phil, a GPG rescue!

Some snapshots from our March 1, 2012 East St. Louis & Washington Park Feeding Route.

 Knuckles on left.  Pop's on Right.  East St. Louis.

 Knuckles doing his morning stretch. East St. Louis.

 Horton & Fallon.  And Pj.  Pj isn't up for adoption!

Although she could use a good foster! East St. Louis.

 Jughead....is a stray but has a collar on him.  Pj is going to try to earn his trust so she can either loosen it or take it off.  People put collars and chains on puppies and then either never change them, or dump their dogs.  Then the collar gets embedded and if nothing is done, then the dog will get strangulated. East St. Louis.

 RaRa is happy for the doghouse.  But she is still waiting for a foster.  She thinks she's pretty cute. Well, she's right.  East St. Louis.

 RaRa .

 Ridge.  East St. Louis.  Ridge adores Pj and she has a pretty special thing for him as well.

 Washington Park, Illinois.  Lark was running in the road today.  A busy road.  Lark and her friends also hang on on and by the highway.  I said a lot of bad words in front of Pj today, while watching Lark try to navigate her way across the street.  These dogs are waiting for angels.  

Washington Park is full of abandoned homes.  But not old homes.  Homes with vinyl siding.  Broken out windows.  Bars over the windows.  Boarded up everything.  This adorable pup is becoming a regular on the route.  He/She hangs out in an abandoned home next door with his/her friends.