Embrace the Place

After crashing hard from the evening before, morning had us ready to hit the road for reals. We had a loose destination, an eatery in Fort Worth, Texas about 3 hours or so north from Austin. But after that… the unknown… kinda. We were going to take it one day at a time, like alcoholics. First, a goodbye to Texas Leslie, Friday the doggy, her cute brightly colored things and a newborn Swallowtail butterfly resting on the stems in her butterfly garden. 
We needed a hearty breakfast to quick-start the day. After some Austin errands, we hit Mr. Natural, a 100% vegetarian authentic Tex-Mex eatery. Mr. Natural has a huge bakery case with mostly-vegan baked goods, too! Though the food looks like a sopping pile of prison food, the Tofu Migas (crispy tortilla strips simmered in ranchero sauce and a tofu crumble served with 2 warm fresh corn tortillas) was very tasty! I had to tack on some potato nibbles for an extra 99 cents and a wonderful spinach-pineapple juice. This place reminds me of a breakfast spot I hit in Guadalajara (post here) when I was in Mexico last October.

Besides sampling their pineapple empanada, strawberry bar and a chocolate chip cookie, I had to purchase their Don’t Mess With Texas cookie. Mmmm, panhandle.
It was then time to head north. We pulled up to Spiral Diner & Bakery in Fort Worth quite excitedly. Maybe it was the huge “vegan” painted on the side of the building and the ton of other v-bombs in the front windows that fueled our appetite, but I was all of a sudden starving. Spiral is 100% vegan. 100%. There is a giddy overwhelmingness to perusing an all-vegan menu. Besides a ton of great food options Spiral hit all the other high points. They use only vegan and biodegradable cleaners, source recycled materials, donate to grassroot orgs aligned with their values and excess food to shelters. They also had Oogave fountain sodas, a Colorado-based agave-sweetened beverage company, reported on here
I tried to order light so to leave room for dessert. I had the “Chik’n-Less Salad San’ich”: diced seitan, chopped apples, cranberries and pecans tossed with a creamy herbed mayo/mustard dressing topped off with lettuce, tomato, and mayo and served on toasted multi-grain bread. I chose a side of greens with Ranch dressing because, really, when can a vegan gal get vegan Ranch? The sandwich and greens hit the spot perfectly. Fresh and flavorful, hearty and multi-textured. 
CandyPenny opted for something a bit more belly-blasting. After pledging no more Daiya, for digestive reasons, she couldn’t resist ordering the chipotle tofu quesadilla, packed with thin slices of flavorful tofu, corn and Daiya with two blobs of guacamole and tofu sour cream.
We had to get dessert. Spiral makes their own ice cream. THEY MAKE THEIR OWN VEGAN ICE CREAM. And they had chocolate chip cookie dough. We ordered their standard sundae: a heaping helping of the good stuff topped with chocolate syrup, sprinkles, whipped cream and coconut flakes. Absolutely delicious. Their ice cream was way creamy and packed with huge globs of soft and yummy chocolate chip cookie dough. Stick a fork in me.