Though the “City of Fountains” may be Kansas City’s official nickname, Kansas Citians are also fond of boasting that they live in the “Steak Capital” of the world. Indeed, Kansas City’s Wiki entry claims that the city is home to over 90 BBQ joints – and that’s just on the Missouri side (!).

So it was with much trepidation that the Mr. and I relocated from Rochester, NY to Kansas City in 2002. While it’s not exactly NYC, Rochester is a relatively liberal area, with some decent options for veg*ns: Wegmans, a popular grocer, has a large natural foods department (and, ugh, cruel egg farming practices); there’s also Lori’s Natural Foods, located by the MCC Henrietta campus; the Natural Oasis Cafe, which is all-veg, all-the-time; Organic Alley Cafe, which is bills itself as both green and veg-friendly; Dogtown Hots, which offers a multitude of vegan options; as well as a whole host of restaurants and markets that hawk veg*n wares. “Whatever will we eat!?” we fretted up till moving day.

Happily, Kansas City is much more veg-friendly than you’d think. Instead of a natural foods department, Kansas City boasts two natural foods stores – Whole Foods and Wild Oats (which have since merged, thus reducing the total number of stores in the area). There’s also a thriving farmer’s market community, as well as more than a few vegetarian cafes and restaurants.

Since Shane and I live in the sticks, we haven’t yet had a chance to sample all the local veg*n businesses. Hopefully this roundup will give us a much-needed kick in our lazy veg*n asses, eh?

Eating Locally

Kansas City, being in the Midwest and all, is home to a number of farmers markets and CSAs.

For farmers markets, you have The City Market, which boasts fresh, locally-grown produce (and, blecht, meat) and specialty groceries daily, and also hosts farmers markets on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays; there’s also KC Organics and Naturals Organic Market, which offers “eco-products” as well as organically grown food.

Of course, the suburban and rural areas around the city also have their own thriving farmers markets: Liberty, Overland Park, Olathe, Shawnee, Parkville and Independence hold farmers markets through the summer and fall.

If you’re interested in joining a CSA, you have a number of options: check out, for example, the Kansas City Food Circle’s list of member CSA farms, as well as this roundup of local KC CSAs from The Kansas City Star.

Alas, Shane and I grow as much of our own produce as time allows, so we don’t really avail ourselves of the locally grown food here in Kansas City.

Whole Foods

Since buying out Wild Oats last year, Whole Foods has become the BIG veg-friendly store in the area. Currently they have three stores in and around Kansas City, with two locations in Overland Park, Kansas and one store in Kansas City, Missouri.

If you’ve never been to Whole Foods (or Wild Oats, for that matter), it’s quite the experience: aisle upon aisle of beautiful, delicious vegetarian and vegan food…and then the seafood and meat departments, tucked away along the outskirts of the store. Oh, the disconnect!

Eden Alley Café

Eden Alley is, by far, my favorite local eatery. Just a short drive from Shane’s office, he eats there once every week or two, and usually brings me home some yummy dessert (their main dishes don’t seem to keep as well as leftovers).

Though they do offer some meat dishes (what up with that, Eden Alley?), most of their food is vegetarian and/or vegan, and they’re more than happy to accommodate you on the fly. Their desserts are awesome, especially the vegan “buttercream” cake.

I also recommend their veggie burger and the vegan version of the ultimate garlic grilled cheese.

Café Seed

Café Seed is a new-ish, all-vegetarian/mostly-vegan café which opened at the beginning of ‘08. The menu, according to one reviewer, is “select, but excellent,” and includes a veggie burger, tacos, a chicken sandwich, BLT, grilled cheese and vegan wraps. And, um, they have hot cocoa with your choice of (zomg I hope it’s vegan!) marshmallows or whipped cream. Yum!

Check out their MySpace page here.

Jerusalem Cafe and Bakery

The Jerusalem Cafe offers “authentic Middle Eastern & Vegetarian cuisine”; some of their items are vegan, so it’s workable. Shane’s office sometimes hires the Jerusalem Cafe to cater company lunches, and of course he manages to claim most of the leftovers! Their hummus and pita wraps (sandwiches?) are delish!

Minsky’s Pizza

Oh, Minsky’s, how I miss thee! Our first five years in Kansas, we rented a place south of the city, and there was a Minsky’s about 15 minutes away. Last year we bought a house and moved an hour north of KC – no Minsky’s, so sad! They don’t offer any vegan cheese options, but their pizza is the best I’ve ever tasted. Like, ever. They also carry a ton of gourmet toppings, such that you hardly notice the lack of cheese.

On the plus side, we waste less money eating out at Minsky’s now. As far as pizza places go, they’re not exactly cheap.

Garden of Eaten

GoE is a small bakery/restaurant located in St. Joseph, MO, about a 30 minute drive from our place. We stopped by one day on a whim (we were already in the area, taking in the uber-creepy Glore Psychiatric Museum), but alas! – they were closed. Their hours are kind of limited: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Tuesday and Thursdays for dinner from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

‘Twould have been helpful if the St. Joe tourist pamphlet had mentioned their weird hours, dontchathink?

They don’t have a website, so check out this writeup from stjoenews.net. (just try to overlook those idiot assumptions about what vegetarians might find offensive, mmmkay?)

VegKC.com

Of course, this is but a small sampling of the many veg-friendly establishments in the KC area. For a full listing, hop on over to www.vegkansascity.com, which is an excellent resource for all that is veg*n in Kansas City.

And, fellow Kansas Citians – don’t hesitate to name-drop your faves in the comments!

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Tagged: veganmofo vegan veganism vegetarian vegetarianism blog swarm october food carnival kansas city missouri kansas kcmo kcks mo ks st. joe st. joseph cafe eatery restaurant csa farmers market vegkc.com veg kc flickr photos

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