Ramsii's

[Robin Garr]

Whole Foods.

Also, I just learned that you guys may be the only shop in town that has the just-released Edmunds St. John 2006 Bone-Jolly Rosé. If true, I'll rush over and pick one up - I need to review that stuff.

Two words: Zen Garden. Going strong in Clifton since October 2000.

Come on, Robin! That's one. One restaurant. How many have opened and closed? Benedict, Veggie Vault....there have always been a lot of good veggie options in Louisville (hell, even bootleg bbq makes a veggie bbq!), but with the exception of Zen Garden, the ones that have hung in there have all offered both veggie and non veggie cuisine...

If you can name another exclusively vegetarian restaurant in Louisville, maybe I'll back off on this one...

[Robin Garr]

If you can name another exclusively vegetarian restaurant in Louisville, maybe I'll back off on this one...

Naw, it's the only one.

I did think it was worth mentioning, though, because its longevity deserves praise. And I love their stuff ... it's the kind of meatless that makes you not miss the meat.

I'm intensely pro veggie, I just think that in our city, you have to cater to both demographics to stick around.

I think that any place offering some veggie options should be commended. Try finding that in Memphis...geezz. I wish restaurants would be a little more creative and do a bean/rice type dish instead of the ubiquitous raviolis in cream sauce.

Jeremy, that was the gist of my original post. Among the four of us in my family, we have significantly different dietary requirements. If would be nice if all restaurants could offer enough variety to satisfy all customers. Some dishes just need a little tweak to become vegetarian. Vegan takes a little more thought, but some places are dong it well!

I've always been completely satisfied with veggie options in Louisville...after all I was vegetarian for 7 years...Louisville does a great job

I've always been completely satisfied with veggie options in Louisville...after all I was vegetarian for 7 years...Louisville does a great job

I've always wondered how anyone who is vegetarian or vegan can be assured that restaurants are not mixing the cooking of their entrees with those that contain animal products.

Is this checked out in any way?

Whole Foods.

Also, I just learned that you guys may be the only shop in town that has the just-released Edmunds St. John 2006 Bone-Jolly Rosé. If true, I'll rush over and pick one up - I need to review that stuff.

not sure if we're the only folks in town who have it, but yeah we just put it out on the shelf yesterday. havent gotten a chance to try it yet...but im hearing lots of good things. we've actually got a bunch of great roses right now. hope to see you soon!

Re: whether there is any checking done to ensure that a restaurant that claims a dish is vegan or vegetarian is being honest, no, not that I know of. However, one of the faster ways an establishment can commit commercial suicide is to mess with a vegetarian. Seriously.
I should add this to the boycott subject, but I will never eat at McDonald's again after I learned years back that they advertised that their frying was done in vegetable oil, making a big deal out of it, when they were at the same time soaking their french fries in beef water. Ugh!!

Barb's correct, we do have to trust the restaurant, but I frequently ask lots of questions and just as frequently the server has to go ask in the kitchen. I do try to carefully word the question so as not to telegraph the answer I would prefer. The vegetarians of India certainly taught McDonalds a costly and public lesson.

I highly recommend the Pollo Nuevo Havana -- blackened breast of chicken topped with a tamarindo jalapeno sauce and melted Boursin cheese, and served over Basmati rice with a side of vegetables (from the menu). It's incredibly delicious!

The guy who hired me at the consulting agency I work for is also the guy who recommended I live in the Highlands instead of near my job, and he took a weekend to show me around when I was looking for an apartment. He even gave me the number off the sign for the apartment I ended up taking! For a long time, he talked about Ramsi's and I didn't go -- we planned to go for lunch several times and it never seemed to happen. I finally visited one night, almost a year ago now I think.

I had the Pollo Nuevo Havana. Eventually. It took a long time to get seated, a long time to order -- long enough for me to drink my Coke and my glass of water and have to flag down a different waitress for a refill because mine was ignoring me. When I finally got my dinner, the chicken was way overcooked, the rice was undercooked and crunchy, the Boursin cheese wasn't melted. The vegetables were okay. I'd been there a long time and didn't feel like finding my waitress, wherever she was, and waiting again for another dish to come out, so I just picked at the meal, paid and left, and never went back.

At midnight that night I found myself in La Bamba having tacos because I was hungry again.

Ramsi's very well could be better than this most nights -- but I have absolutely zero enthusiasm for trying it again. Not with so many consistently excellent restaurants nearby.

Well I can trust Ramsi's as one of their cooks is a vegan himself.

R. N. Dominick, it sounds like you were at Ramsi's at a very unusual bad moment. I've never been dissatisfied with their food.

Miike, is that the owner's brother? I'd like to think he is a vegan.