While we believe in the health benefits of a whole-foods, plant-based diet, there are special occasions where a treat is in order. When we got married last November, it was important to us to have a traditional wedding cake, but we still wanted it to be 100% vegan. We were very pleased to find a company nearby that, in addition to traditional baked goodie, also offers vegan (as well as gluten-free) options.

The price seemed about in-line with a traditional wedding cake. We scheduled the cake about a month and a half in advance, at which time we discussed logistics and our general thoughts on the cake design. About a week before, we followed up to lock the design down. We were trying to decide between fresh flowers and artificial decorations. The shop does not provide either, but will place flowers or decorations you purchase on the cake when they are setting it up. After reading about how many of the flowers we liked are poisonous, we opted for felt flowers and hot glued little sticks on them ourselves so they could stick them into the cake. We also opted for a traditional love bird topper from a local craft supply store.

No one would have guessed the cake was vegan at the wedding. The kids rallied for more pieces. We got a layer of white, one of chocolate, and the smaller two layers were strawberry. We liked all of them. The icing was really thick and super sweet, but that's a traditional wedding cake for you. We were out of our frozen leftover cake pretty fast! As a bonus, the business will make you a one-year wedding anniversary cake as part of your wedding cake purchase, so there's no need to freeze your top layer.

This article does a great job detailing the difficulty of getting clear information when visiting a restaurant. Though it focuses on greenwashing and not vegan issues directly, we wanted to share it because trying to obtain accurate information on dishes for vegans is just as big a challenge. And also, it's good to see some checks and balances on farm-to-table claims.

We know most of our readers know that feeling, when a server tells you something is vegan and they didn't go back to the kitchen first. Sometimes you feel confident that they know what vegan means, and other times you get that queasy feeling that you're either going to get a dish with cheese in it or you're going to have to be "that guy" who insists on them going back and getting more information.

We have been served an item that we were told is vegan, but when we returned to the same place a couple months later (the menu had not changed, but it's possible the recipe had), we were told the item we'd been served before was not vegan. Who do we believe? We err on the side of caution and try not to dwell on the fact that we probably ate something that wasn't vegan.

http://www.tampabay.com/projects/2016/food/farm-to-fable/restaurants/

We were delighted to find on a recent visit to Star of India that, not only did they still have great vegan options on their lunch buffet, but they now have a full vegan dinner menu as well as delicious homemade vegan desserts!

Qdoba Mexican Eats
​129 S Main St, Bowling Green OH 43402
www.qdoba.com

Here you can build your own pita, similar to building your own burrito at Chipotle or Qdoba or a sub at Subway.  You order the base of the Pita and then get to pick and choose sauces and veggie toppings.  The four base options for vegans are falafel, spicy black bean, garden, and hummus.  You can choose a wheat or white pita or order it fork style as a salad.  They have a spicy red pepper hummus, a traditional version, as well as guacamole—all which are vegan.  Veggie/fruit toppings may vary across location but there are a healthy amount to choose from including mushrooms, sprouts, green peppers, jalapeños, lettuce, spinach, red onion and pineapple.  With sauces, ones that are okay include BBQ, buffalo, hot sauce, secret (spicy vinaigrette), yellow mustard, balsamic vinaigrette, Dijon mustard, Italian, ketchup, raspberry vinaigrette, sun-dried tomato pesto vinaigrette and Vidalia sweet onion. 
 
You can order online as well (they deliver) and there is an option (filter by dietary preference) to click on that shows you only the vegan options (that is how we determined which sauces are vegan).  If you order the spicy black bean patty or falafel, the default is to grill it on the same grill that they grill the meat.  They can microwave your product separately. 
 
Pita Pit is a nice vegan option for quick food that is healthy and tasty.  

This review was written based on the Bowling Green location.

This is a go-to place for vegans in Downtown Bowling Green.  At least once a week, I order Combo #4, which consists of a plate of tabbouli, baba ghanouj, hommous, lentil rice, and falafel--$6.99.  There are other vegan options too including vegetarian grape leaves, garlic potatoes, and green beans.  Your carnivore friends will find things to eat including the traditional Mediterranean meat fare as well as hamburgers. 
 
The décor is nothing special but the staff are extremely friendly.  One healthy hint: their default is to pour an extra drizzle of olive oil on top of the baba ghanouj and hommous.  I ask for them to refrain from doing so, just as way to protect my heart a bit more.  Despite what people tell you about the health benefits of olive oil, less oil of any kind is better for your health! 
 
There is another Kabob It at the Franklin Park Mall.  We haven’t been there but assume that things are similar.  

This review was written based on the Bowling Green location.

I wandered into this gourmet burger joint on a stroll in downtown Bowling Green for lunch and wanted to see what they had that was vegan friendly.  Based on their menu, there was nothing vegan; there was an eggplant taco but that had egg in the breading.  The waitress was apologetic (that isn’t always the case) and promised to ask the chef if he could make anything off-menu.  He proposed two options, a salad with grilled portabellas and roasted tomatoes, or a sandwich made of the same toppings on sourdough bread.  I chose the former.
 
It was delicious, with the roasted tomatoes rich with garlic and thyme and the portabella mushrooms grilled deliciously, all topped with a maple bourbon vinaigrette.  The chef came out and mentioned that they rotate their menu frequently and that they are considering more vegan/vegetarian options, though it is difficult because they don’t get that many requests.  If you do go here, I recommend that you call in advance to ask for a vegan option.  The lunch crowd was a bit thin on the day I went and so it was possible for him to whip up something special.  It has been our experience that when restaurants hit their rush period, they are less willing and/or able to make special meals.
 
Another plus of this place is that they have a nice list of rotating craft beers on tap and in bottle.  ​