Destination: Plush (3224 Locust Street; 314-535-2686)
Neighborhood: Midtown
Cuisine: "Made-from-Scratch Comfort Food"
Overview: Plush, known for its music venue and wrap-around bar, has quite the dazzling vegetarian menu. Everything is made in-house -- the bread is made from scratch and meat is cured in the restaurant (though vegetarians probably don't care about that) -- allowing for more creativity in the comfort food. Plush's menu is also constantly evolving, and the dishes served to the Veggielante were brand spanking new.
See also: - The Veggielante: Pastaria Serves Up Italian Goodness, Even Without Meat - Yes, Vegetarians Can Go to Five Star Burgers - Olio: A Small Space With Big Options for Vegetarians
Veggie Highlights: Even though they're listed as an appetizer on the menu, Plush's nachos ($6 without meat) are sure to satiate any vegetarian appetite. Opting out of the traditional corn chip, Plush goes for wontons, topping them with caramelized onions, a blend of cheeses and tomatoes.
It's often difficult to find a good sub sandwich as a vegetarian, and Plush's vegetarian meatball sub ($7.75) is a good bet. Two huge meatballs -- fashioned from chickpeas, lentils and brown rice -- sit on a bed of sweet marinara sauce, drizzled in cheese and sandwiched between two huge pieces of bread; a side of classic french fries tops off the dish.
Another favorite at Plush is the "Macken Cheese," which you can get plain for $6.50, and add toppings, like sauteed mushrooms or spinach, for $1 each.
The Veggielante has had it up to here with people bitching that St. Louis restaurants are vegetarian unfriendly. Sure, we'd like to see more restaurants offering more meatless dishes, but there are excellent choices out there if you take the trouble to look for them. We're not here to proselytize about greening up your diet. Our only motive is to spread the word about places where you can order good grub that ain't got no meat. To enhance your reading experience, we've settled on a handful of criteria we'll use to suss out a restaurant's vegetarian friendliness.
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