Our sister site, Fort Worthology, is hosting a cool vegan event on Sunday, April 15th:

Fort Worthology hosts a traveling roadshow of vegan food and bike advocacy, visiting Fort Worth from Portland, Oregon! Please join us on April 15th from 7pm to 9pm for Dinner and Bikes, a traveling road show of vegan food and bicycle inspiration. Vegan chef Joshua Ploeg (author of In Search of the Lost Taste) will delight with an extensive buffet, and bike journalist Elly Blue (author of Taking the Lane, Bikenomics, Our Bodies, Our Bikes, and co-founder of PDX By Bike) and publisher/filmmaker Joe Biel (founder of Microcosm Publishing and Cantankerous Titles) will present short videos and a slideshow about bicycle culture, activism, and the economy. Fort Worthology author Kevin Buchanan will also talk briefly about Fort Worth bike projects and advocacy. There will be time for questions, discussion of local issues, and perusing of the traveling bookstore.

This should be a fun event – we really look forward to trying Joshua Ploeg’s cuisine! Dinner & Bikes will be held at Avoca Coffee on Magnolia Avenue in the Near Southside, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Sunday, April 15th. Tickets are $10 (which includes it all – dinner and presentations/films), and are available now.

Here at VegFortWorth, we love supporting local businesses, especially vegan-friendly ones. We love cake. And we love local craft-brewed beer, which means we love Rahr & Sons Brewing Co.

Sooooooo…what happens when you combine all these things? You get something slightly insane and tasty. You get the vegan Rahr Oktoberfest cake from the Near Southside‘s own Stir Crazy Baked Goods!

I happened to be at Avoca Coffee on Magnolia when Robbie from Stir Crazy made the day’s cake delivery, and this crazy cake was the vegan item that arrived. I can’t guarantee that it’ll be there when you get to Avoca, as it’s really tasty and Near Southsiders love their Rahr, so make your way to Avoca today and give it a try.

The Rahr Oktoberfest is a Marzen-style German Oktoberfest lager, and it’s one of our favorite Rahr beers. The flavor and smell of Oktoberfest is strong in Stir Crazy’s cake – it’s sweet and tasty with a beautiful beer current running through the experience. The combination works tremendously well.

If you want to experience this for yourself, get yourself over to Avoca and buy a slice while you can!

The Dallas-based Nammi Truck is a Vietnamese fusion food truck that’s now started making appearances here in Fort Worth on Fridays at Avoca Coffee on Magnolia Avenue in the Near Southside. What’s good for you, my fellow vegans, is that they’ve got a great assortment of vegan-friendly items, and we’ve tried them.

For each item, Nammi Truck offers a choice of meat – including, for us vegans, some nicely prepared tofu. Naturally, they serve Bành Mì – Vietnamese sandwiches. Seen above is an example – a 12″ sandwich stuffed with tofu, cucumbers, pickled daikons, carrots, jalapeños, and cilantro. There’s a garlic mayo on the sandwiches by default, which should be left off for veganizing.

The next of the three main offerings are the tacos, served with tofu, red cabbage medley, cucumbers, pickled daikons, carrots, jalapeños, and cilantro. The tacos are stuffed full and a little challenging to handle, but are quite tasty.

My personal favorite item is the Nammi bowl, a delicious thing filled to the brim with rice, tofu, grilled vegetables, cucumbers, pickled daikons, carrots, jalapeños, and cilantro. Besides being the simplest to handle, the bowl is very filling and hearty, and everything in it packs a nice flavor punch.

(In all of these, watch out for the jalapeños, as they aren’t kidding around.)

As for prices, the tacos are $3 each, the sandwiches are $6, and the bowls are $7. That’s pushing the upper level of food truck prices, but the quality and taste justify it in my mind. This is some really nicely done food, and if you can catch Nammi at Avoca, make sure and check it out. The most recent round of stops have had them at Avoca on Fridays from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM for dinner.

Vegan-friendliness is slowly but surely starting to be noticed by people in Fort Worth, and another sign is the announcement of a new vegan-friendly bakery coming to the Near Southside later this year: Stir Crazy Baked Goods.

Stir Crazy plans on setting up shop in the Near Southside’s South Main urban village, on E. Daggett just off South Main (around the corner from Trinity Bicycles) in the Sawyer Building. This space is intended to be a full storefront and kitchen, but in the meantime they’re working out of a leased commercial kitchen to start introducing Fort Worth to their goods.

Perhaps the easiest way to check out Stir Crazy’s work is to take a trip to Avoca Coffee on Magnolia, where at least two or three of Stir Crazy’s cakes are on offer at any given time. Stir Crazy’s not a 100% vegan bakery, but they’ve taken to making some very creative vegan items and there is usually at least one vegan cake at Avoca.

The photo up top shows off their vegan Orange Chocolate Cake, which was the first item we had from them. It proved to be as delicious as its appearance suggests. Below is a more recent shot of an all-chocolate cake, freshly arrived at Avoca:

We’ve had that pure chocolate cake, and it was wonderful. We’ve also had the mint chocolate cake and a series of vegan cupcakes, all of which were excellent (including the awesome vegan Cookies & Cream cupcakes). As of this writing, Stir Crazy had put the word out that they’d brought a vegan Peanut Butter & Jelly cake to the coffee shop, so yeah, that sounds insane and tasty. Stir Crazy’s vegan goods are moist and flavorful – these folks clearly know what they’re doing.

If you visit their site and hit up their menu, you’ll note that they simply tell us vegans to request as such when ordering, indicating that most of the stuff on the menu can be made vegan. It’s really wonderful to see a local bakery opening up that takes vegan friendliness so seriously, and we can’t wait to see their storefront go up. Make sure to visit the Stir Crazy site for more, and follow them on Facebook to see what vegan cakes they’ve deployed to Avoca lately.

Oh, what the heck – here’s one more shot of a Stir Crazy vegan cake, along with a sublime press pot from Avoca:

There’s a new entry in the slowly-but-surely-growing Fort Worth food truck universe. It’s a big, friendly orange truck that’s set up shop on Magnolia Avenue in the Near Southside, and it’s got some tasty wares inside.

YES! Taco truck says that their food “looks like a taco, tastes like awesome”, and it’s hard to disagree. They’ve just been open for this week (after a smash-hit launch party the week before at the 809 Vickery events space that had a crush of visitors stop by, including a group bike ride over 100 people strong) and are already attracting a fan following. The big orange truck, named “Dolly”, is a bold presence on Magnolia, contrasted against the pure white vintage former gas station now occupied by their host, SiNaCa Studios School of Glass (not to mention the blue Texas sky). Stroll right up to the truck and make your order, then hang out in & around SiNaCa while you eat, or get it to go and walk or ride your bike elsewhere in the neighborhood, like Avoca Coffee.

By now, you’re probably thinking that YES! must have some vegan stuff, or they wouldn’t be on here. Well, you’re right!

YES!’s menu features a host of options, and for us vegans, we’re covered by the Refrito Black Bean filling choice. They describe this as a “vegan black bean mish-mash with a delicious kick”, and that’s exactly how we’d choose to explain it, too. Their Refrito Black Beans are smooth and wonderfully prepared and have tons of flavor and a nice spicy quality – definitely not your run-of-the-mill refried beans. You can get the Refrito Black Beans in taco, tostada, quesadilla, or burrito form. We’re guessing that the quesadilla might be difficult to do vegan, as cheese is a pretty big component of such a dish and YES! doesn’t currently feature something like Daiya, but the other three are totally rockable as 100% vegan items right now, and they’re just plain stupid good.

On our first visit, we got a soft taco and a tostada, as shown above. YES! uses wonderful corn tortillas, which really ties everything together nicely. Both came with the Refrito Black Beans, cilantro, onions, two different salsas (a tomatillo and a smoky red, both of which had great flavor), and a lime wedge. They’re both greatness, with our personal edge going to the tostada because we just adored their tortillas in toasted form. For a grand total of just $4.25 for all that tastiness, how could one say no?

On our second trip, we went all-out and got the vegan burrito. Leave off the cheese, and you’ve got a big 100% vegan burrito (this time using a flour tortilla) stuffed with the Refrito Black Beans, cilantro, salsa, and roasted corn. They were even kind enough to bulk up the vegan burrito for us with shredded cabbage, and we also got to try their third salsa – a potent blended jalapeño with really nice flavor. The burritos are just fantastic, with the roasted corn a perfect accompaniment to the other ingredients. Hearty, filling, and delicious – and still only $5.00.

YES! has got the modern artisan food truck formula nailed down perfectly – delicious, handmade, uncluttered meals at enticingly affordable prices. Tacos are $2.00, tostadas $2.25, quesadillas $2.50, and the big burritos $5.00. Besides the main items, they have a couple of vegan sides – chips & salsa or a side order of the roasted corn, either for $1.75. They’ve got three drinks for sale as well – Agua Fresca, Topo Chico, and Mexican Coke (the kind still made with real sugar instead of icky high fructose corn syrup), all for $2.50.

Oh, and if this all isn’t awesome enough, they’re getting even better next week. This week, they’ve been open for lunch, from 11:00 AM to 2:30 PM, but starting on the 5th, they’re rolling out (drumroll, please)…breakfast! They’ll be open from 7:00 AM to 2:30 PM, M-F. And yes, their DIY Breakfast Tacos have vegan choices. You’ll be able to get a choice of two ingredients for $2.00, three ingredients for $2.75, or four ingredients for $3.50, and for vegan tacos you’ll be able to choose Refrito Black Beans, Home Fried Cumin Potatoes, Avocado, and Bandera (the description sounds vegan enough: diced tomato, white onion, and serrano pepper).

(The breakfast menu also has some non-vegan “Breakfast Boats” for $5.00, but if you picked your Breakfast Boat with the Refrito Black Beans and left off the egg and cheese, they look like they’d be vegan, too – plus, you can add Bandera to the boats.)

YES! Taco Truck is at SiNaCa Studios School of Glass, 1013 W. Magnolia (right at Magnolia & Washington). They look to us like a great addition to the neighborhood and a really sweet way to get some cheap, delicious vegan Mexican food. Make sure to check out their web site, yestaco.com, and their Facebook page, facebook.com/iloveyestaco.

Yes, one more thing about Temaki Sushi on Magnolia in the Near Southside. We’ve been adding in the veggie potstickers to our bentos lately – they’re not really broken out separately from the meat-based potstickers on the menu, but they’re there, and they’re vegan. The potstickers are filled with a variety of veggies and just about perfectly done, tender and full of flavor and served with a great dipping sauce.

Our usual go-to at Temaki these days is a custom bento that’s fully vegan: the veggie potstickers, seaweed salad, miso soup (confirmed vegan), and the seasonal veggie hand roll. It’s fantastic.

Not long ago, while awaiting our bento arrival, we were asked to try this kelp salad. It was quite tasty – no idea if it’s planned for the full menu, or how they’re going to do it, but we’d get it again.

In a subsequent visit to Temaki Sushi on Magnolia, we tried out the Temaki Seasonal Veggie Roll – it’s the cone-shaped item in the soy paper in the photo above, with brown rice and a variety of tasty vegetables within. The Temaki veggie hand roll is very, very good indeed – and doesn’t cost any more than the regular veggie rolls seen alongside it.

Last time, we had questions about how Temaki’s prices compare to the amount of food you get, and we’re happy with the ratio – appetizers are $3, sushi rolls are $5 (both the regular and Temaki hand rolls), and the bentos are $9. The photo above shows an order of two standard veggie rolls and two Temaki seasonal veggie hand rolls, so you can see that you’re getting a good amount of nice, fresh sushi for your dollars.

It’s rare that we post about a place before its grand opening, but that’s exactly what we’re doing today. Temaki Sushi had its soft opening yesterday, and its grand opening will be tomorrow (Friday the 18th). We stopped in for a bite at lunch and wanted to post letting y’all know they’re now open.

Temaki is at 1504 W. Magnolia in the Near Southside, right around Ellerbe Fine Foods and King Tut. It’s a casual sushi place where you order at the counter, grab a drink and a number, and they bring your food out. The space is decked out in a very modern, attractive style, with lots of wood and a green & pink color scheme. There’s plenty of seating in both bench and chair form, and the whole thing is very light and inviting.

We let them know we were vegan, and Temaki whipped us up a tasty vegan-friendly bento, with a nice & fresh veggie roll, great seaweed salad, and some really delicious veggie tempura with a nicely potent dipping sauce (a bit thicker than the usual tempura dipping sauce). We also had some edamame, which was quite good as well.

The folks at Temaki are very friendly, quite happy to accommodate us vegans, and they’ve put together an attractive restaurant with great, casual sushi dining. Check them out! Best of all, they’re open seven days a week, from 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM every day.

Check out our Temaki Sushi photo gallery:

The Near Southside is Fort Worth’s most vegan-friendly part of town, and it’s not all due to Spiral Diner. We’ve looked at other favorites like Chadra Mezza and Junsuree Thai before, and it’s time for another Near Southside restaurant – King Tut, on Magnolia Avenue.

King Tut serves up a wide array of Middle Eastern dishes, and features a handful of vegan-friendly dishes. Our particular favorite is the vegetable shawarma, seen above in its lunch configuration. The shawarma features a selection of veggies with mushrooms, some delicious vegan-friendly rice, tahini, and toasty warm pita bread. It’s all very tasty, and always nicely prepared. The flavors of the shawarma veggies, rice, and tahini combine in wonderful ways. The lunch portions, shown above, are perfectly sized – filling, but not too heavy. Come back at dinner, and everything’s bigger – you’ll often have leftovers from King Tut’s dinner shawarma.

You’ll usually have a side salad to go along with things, featuring the house dressing. Make sure and inform them that you don’t want feta cheese, which comes on the salad by default. They’ll be happy to leave it off, and the salad’s quite tasty without cow product.

King Tut is located at the corner of Magnolia & Hurley, just down from Baylor All-Saints Medical Center and across from Ellerbe Fine Foods. They’re open for lunch during the week from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, and for dinner from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM. On Saturdays, they’re open for the dinner hours, 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM (King Tut’s closed on Sundays).