Vegan in the MKE

I’ve blogged a good deal about vegan options in Wisconsin, the land of cheese and fish frys (see here and here). Contrary to the state’s license plate, there is plenty to eat for dairy-free cheeseheads. Particularly, the small city of Milwaukee continues to impress my vegan sensibilities! Here is my supplemental report on its eats and treats, compiled during my weekend jet-set.

Wok Mom greeted us at O’Hare with a goody bag of snacks for the short ride to Milwaukee, including a huge soft chocolate chip cookie and protein bean salad from Outpost Natural Foods. What an thoughtful surprise!
Riverwest Co-op Cafe was a delicious stop for a hearty and restorative breakfast after some minor evening debauchery. I opted for the tofu scramble, potatoes and toast platter along with a yummy coconut cupcake. Wok Man got the vegan French toast and a side of their award-winning vegetarian chili.
Onward to Stir Crazy for Wok Grandmom‘s birthday lunch. This Asian concept restaurant, a kind of an upper-scale chain, offers the “Market Bar” option where you chose your protein, choose your fresh veggies from their bar, along with a grain, herbs, garlic, fresh grated ginger, etc. Then, you stand back and watch them wok it up. Along with an appetiser of tofu lettuce wraps, I helped create an amazing flavorful stir fry of tofu, bok-choy, onion, spinach, broccoli, garlic, ginger, peanuts in a garlic-ginger sauce. So good! On the vegan tip, the waitress dropped the v-bomb in describing a dish without my provocation and all the vegan sauces were noted as so. Yay!
Of course with any trip to Milwaukee comes the nights in the bars. Palomino offers some tried and true vegan finger food favorites like tater tots, fried and onion straws, all whipped up on a dedicated vegan fryer “so your tofu won’t taste like fish sticks”. I knew I loved their vegan Buffalo wings from earlier visits but this time I opted to try a whole meal: the BBQ Seitan sandwich. The thick and tender chop of seitan was smothered in barbecue sauce and smooshed between a Kaiser roll, lettuce and tomato. It was heavenly… and included a choice of two sides and a sauce from a list of “vegan” marked sides. I chose the mashed potatoes and gravy, onion straws and tofu sour cream.
As the night progress Wok Man, his amazing friends I now call mine and I hit At Random, a specialty drink bar straight out of the 1950’s. The dimly lit bar, adorned in Rat Pack and green poly-vinyl, doesn’t serve beer or wine but they do have a menu-binder full of drinks I had only ever seen within the pages of vintage hostess bar books. I’ve been in similar types of bars, ones that seem to be frozen in time, Seattle’s Nitelite and Portland, OR’s Alibi come to mind, but At Random has a truly unique ambiance. It was quite a magical place. The guys ordered Fireman’s Sours and the gals split the Tiki Love Bowl, which arrives flaming at the table. Little paper umbrellas abound after plenty of 151-proof rum!