Appleton
Appleton is a big city for the Fox Valley Area, and here you can find a selection of restaurants with vegan options in town, as well as cafes with vegan pastries:
These are my favorites:
JB’s Arepas $$
JB’s Arepas
So happy to have found arepas in my area! Arepas are a Venezuelan specialty: if a tortilla and a pita had a baby, it would be an arepa. They are stuffed like pitas. Mine had black beans, fried plantains and avocado cream!
The owners are very nice and the food was delicious.
And if you like it picante, ask for the green salsa.
I’ll go back for sure!
To learn more about this restaurant: https://jb-arepas.square.site
Lawlss
Located downtown, close to Lawrence University, this cafe has delicious vegan pastries (featured left are the mocha brownie and the lemon blondie), friendly staff and nice music.
The place looks really good and I was very happy with my drink, a dirty chai with a twist: at Lawlss, they put lavender in the chai! It was a really nice touch, not overpowering but definitely giving my “usual” an edge.
Check them out next time you’re downtown Appleton!
Here’s their website:
And their Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/lawlsscoffee/
Tempest Collective
Located in the Flats neighborhood, right by the Fox river, Tempest is a cool café with cool vegan treats: all in house baked goods are vegan! Pictured here are a lemon lavender cookie and an Earl Grey Chocolate Chip cookie, next to my favorite drink: a dirty chai with oat milk.
Their food menu has a few dishes you can modify to make vegan (the avocado toast for example or the veggie bagel). Pictured here is the already vegan Chickpea smash.
The space is large, with all windows facing the river. There are individual tables, a long sharable table and a couch with two armchairs inside, along with ample seating outside (some of it in the shade) for the nicer months. The cafe also has two unisex bathrooms.
Don’t miss the opportunity to check out the Newberry Trail nearby!
Ginger Rootz
This Asian restaurant in the northern part of Appleton doesn’t have a lot that is vegetarian on their menu, but if you make sure to mention you’re vegan, they can definitely accommodate you.
We chose the “make your own noodle bowl”, with different choices of noodles, veggies, sauces and tofu for protein. The original sauces all contain chicken broth, but they can make a delicious coconut milk/curry sauce without it if you ask.
Because they made it special, it took a little bit of time for our food to arrive, so take that into consideration. I had chow fun noodles and my husband had udon, with all the veggies: it was good, especially with some extra spice!
Bowl Ninety-One
Another Asian restaurant, Bowl Ninety-One is located right downtown on College Avenue, and has several vegan items on their menu.
We had the egg roll appetizers (which is labeled vegan, despite the name), the spicy miso ramen bowl (which surprisingly had a decent amount of spice for Wisconsin!), and the vegan pad thai, which is just delicious.
As it is right across from the Trout Museum, it would make a perfect location to discussed what you’ve seen at the museum, or a great place to refuel after exploring the Newberry Trail or North Island Trail down by the river.
Check out their website here for more info.
Urban Modern Kitchen
Make sure to mention you’re vegan when you go to Urban Modern Kitchen, as they have a separate menu for vegans and vegetarians.
The two main vegan entrées are Mexican based: the Vegan Tacos and the Vegan Mexi-Bowl. I wish the vegan cheese had been melted on the tacos, and that the veggies were a little spicier, but you can ask for hot sauce. The Bowl was excellent, with many different flavors in the pico de gallo, the mango salad, and the corn. It all fit well together.
The restaurant is really nice and feels spacious, with careful lights and decorations.
Sangria’s
Located on Memorial Drive close College Ave, Sangria’s is surprising right off the bat because it’s a restaurant in a house! The place is huge, and they have different rooms with different color walls, creating little atmospheres throughout the house.
When they bring you the chips, salsa and bean dip at the beginning, mention you’re vegan, as the regular bean dip isn’t even vegetarian. They’ll switch it for you.
They don’t have anything labeled vegan on the menu, but many items labeled vegetarian contain “vegan ground”, a soy-based meat alternative, so for the burrito or tacos for example, just omit the cheese and it’s vegan! Pictured here are the guacamole (made at the table) and the enchiladas (no vegan ground, just veggies). For the side of rice, the only option for vegans is the Tropical Rice, made with coconut milk (the other options are made with chicken broth). It was surprising, especially with bits of pineapple in it, but in a good way.
The food was really good and the staff friendly and accommodating.
For a full menu and more info, click here.
Tispy Taco & Tequila Bar
Across from Sangria’s, another great Mexican restaurant with vegan options.
We tried the flight of margaritas: mango, japaleño and cherry, which was good but we didn’t taste much alcohol in them.
Nothing on the menu is vegan, but you can ask the waitstaff to omit the dairy, and three of the vegetarian tacos can be made vegan: the Brussel sprouts one, the cauliflower one and the mushroom one.
We also tried the Veggie Bowl made vegan, and both the rice and the veggies were very flavorful, even before using the teriyaki sauce on them. It comes with some avocado slices on a bed or arugula, and some roasted asparagus. Delicious!
For more info on their hours and a full menu, click here!
Melting Pot
A vegan fondue available in Wisconsin, “America’s Dairyland”, seemed impossible, but Melting Pot made it happen and I am so grateful!
They have a four-course vegan menu, or you can choose à la carte. We skipped the salad and entrée and instead tried the vegan fondue, served with a variety of veggies and breads, and the chocolate fondue, served with a variety of fruits. Both were delicious!
The small fondue, perfect for 2 people, is $24, and the chocolate fondue was also $24. It really made for a fun night out, eating something different from the ordinary!
Click here to see the full vegan menu.
If you go to any of these restaurants in Appleton, let me know what you think below!