Veg Out Vegetarian Guide to Seattle & Portland

by George Stevenson

VegOut Vegetarian Guide SeriesGibbs Smith, Publisher, offers two new titles in our groundbreaking new vegetarian and vegan guidebook series. City specific, these guidebooks provide everything that a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1586854410
• ISBN13: 9781586854416
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith Publishers
• Length: 183 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 3.8" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Still useful despite its age

I often don't find older city guides very useful because restaurants open/close so often that they're quickly outdated. I use yelp and urbanspoon more than books to find new places. However, reading this book in 2009 still helped introduce me to some still-open places that I've managed to miss despite being a Seattle mostly-native who eats out regularly. The book doesn't limit itself to restaurants which are specifically vegetarian, so many of the places listed here have some vegetarian dishes and a lot of meat ones. That's often convenient anyway when eating out with a group of people though. Some of the geographic descriptions are confusing. Capitol Hill is lumped in "Seattle South" even though no native would consider it anything other than central. Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland etc. are referred to as "Seattle East" even though they're other towns/cities. I hadn't realized from the book title that it would also cover Bellingham and Olympia, and those proved to be the most useful segments for me. Hopefully an updated version of this guide will be released soon, but this version does still hold some handy information. I'd find it more useful if it were organized by category. Many of the places listed are Thai restaurants and since I eat Thai very regularly already I would've liked to more quickly access other options.

A useful book

The Veg Out Vegetarian Guide to Seattle and Portland is a pocket guide designed to slip in a purse or travel bag. It's got a sturdy cover and slim design. It also includes a fold-out map of both cities (somehow the map of Portland is much larger and easier to read, perhaps because the editors decided to cover a smaller geographical area.) The book is organized geographically and actully includes "Seattle East," which is really the cities of Bellevue, Kirkland and surrounding suburbs; Bellingham (north of Seattle); Olympia and Tacoma (south); and Eugene, Oregon in addition to Seattle and Portland. Grocery stores, farmers markets, and juice bars have their own chapters and there's a short list of local northwest vegetarian orgainzations. There are three indices: alphabetical, by cuisine, and an index of "top ten" lists for food, atmosphere and best buys. Each restaurant is rated by star and price. There's a cuisine designation and the bottom of each entry tells how "veg friendly" each location is, for example "Full menu with vegetarian and vegan options." Since most of the restaurants listed are not exclusively vegetarian, I would have appreciated an index listing the veg-only restaurants. It has been omitted from the cuisine index. Seattle and Portland are both veg-friendly cities, but it might be hard for a visitor to know where to start. The VegOut editors have listed all the major favorites of local vegetarians as well as some of the lessor known finds like Hillside Quickies in Seattle and The Tao of Tea in Portland. --Amy O'Neill Houck

A New World of Vegetarian Delights

"The food ranges from the samosas, pakoras, and curries found in Indian restaurants to upper-worldly treats such as Tseral-mixed vegetable balls..." ~George Stevenson describing Himalayan Sherpa in Seattle, WA There is an entire world beyond salads and side orders of vegetables and this book proves it. If you love visiting Seattle & Portland or you are a Vegetarian looking for an excellent dining guide, this should impress you. The size of this book makes it easy to keep in your backpack, purse or car. The Restaurants are found in Seattle, Bellingham, Olympia, Tacoma, Portland and Eugene. There are listings for Tea Houses, Juice Bars, Farmers Markets and Green Grocers. You could enjoy tea in a Chinese Temple, visit a fun PCC Natural Market (my personal favorite for natural foods and organic products) or sample Mulitethnic cuisines at many interesting locations. They even list Larry's Markets where I used to work. Some of the highlights: The Elliot Bay Café - Try a Veggie Reuben in the café in the basement of the famous Elliot Bay Books in Seattle. Shalimar - Exotic foods like Mulligatawny Stew or dishes with eggplant, mango and lotus stems. Persian House - Pomegranate sauces and lentil dishes and they have a nice buffet lunch at a very reasonable price. George Stevenson's creative writing style is refreshing and honest. He makes each location sound completely tantalizing. The listings all have a star rating, hours, payments accepted, Parking locations, Yes/No for Alcohol and Atmosphere Description. Some of the restaurants are completely Vegan and some have Full Menus with Vegan Options. You could go to an upscale restaurant in the evening or stop by a Family restaurant with great artwork and enjoy a relaxing lunch. The next time I'm in Seattle or Portland and my husband asks me where we should eat; this is the guide I'm going to show him. In fact, you could almost plan a trip just so you could visit some of these locations. Also look for Veg Out Books for Southern California, New York City, San Francisco Bay Area and Washington D.C. ~The Rebecca Review

I found some great new restaurants!

I have been a vegetarian living in Seattle since 1991; this book revealed some great new vegetarian places I had somehow missed! I gave it to a visiting friend. Great book for a person visiting town; fits right in your pocket.