Vegan in New Jersey

I recently traveled to New Jersey to check out 2 new all vegan restaurants with my friend.  The first was Positivitea, which is in Verona, NJ. Turned out it has been opened for about a year.  I had only heard of it in the past few weeks.

Here's the menu.  There were several booths, counters by the window and a bunch of tables.  Several things sounded good, but since I knew I wanted dessert, I decided to go healthy & went with the Garden of Vegan:  Spinach wrap, chickpea patty, kale, romaine, onion, cucumber, pickles and vegan mayo (I said no tomato).  The burgers said they come with chips or kale slaw, the wraps didn't mention it.  I asked for a side of kale slaw and I wasn't charged, so I guess it's included with the wraps too.

The kale slaw was really watery and not super flavorful.  The wrap was good, though I tried the chickpea patty on its own and it was flavorless.  I think without the vegan mayo, this wrap would have been super bland, but the mayo helped it.  It was very light and healthy.

My friend got the Bean Jr. Burger on a pretzel bun!

This was really flavorful! (It comes with special ahi sauce, whatever that is, vegan mayo, miso spread and vegan cheese, as well as the black bean patty and veggies)  I think the sauces etc made it very tasty!  If I come back here, I will definitely get this! and the pretzel bun was very tasty too. I was a fan!

Cute signs and art.

Next up was dessert!  They offer vanilla soft serve (which after asking, found out they use Temptation from Chicago Vegan Foods).  They offer milkshakes as well as sundaes.  They have a bunch of options with all sorts of toppings.

My friend went with the Cookie Munster (yes spelled that way)

Vanilla ice cream, chocolate chips, chocolate sauce and cookies, & YES you see that currently! There are toppings in the middle! They put the ice cream in, add the toppings, then add more ice cream! Love this idea!

Here's mine:

Peanut Butter & Jelly!  Vanilla ice cream, peanut butter, jam, & graham crackers.  Neither of us were sure of what she put on top..but I think it was either maple syrup or agave.  Think agave.

Super yum!!

and here's a photo of the pretty bathroom wall art & the neat mirror

I would definitely come back here and recommend checking it out!

A few hours later we went to Killer Vegan, which is in Union, NJ. They have only been open since September.  I had been excited about trying when I first heard about it, although less excited when I saw a photo of their limited menu.  Nevertheless, we decided to give it a try with an open mind

The space inside is HUGE! & my friend and I both wondered what was there before.  The first thing my friend noticed was that they had a sign that they were out of milkshakes.  I wasn't too upset as they use Kleins ice cream.  Ick.

Once inside we chatted with the woman working about the menu and a customer who was taking a bunch of food to go and he recommended what we should get (which was basically everything.  He was head over heels with the place).  The woman working was very nice and friendly.  Their menu is very limited (a few sandwiches, salads..)  They were having tacos for dinner, but they weren't going to be ready for 30+ minutes, those sounded like they would have been really good.  My friend and I both decided to get the Sausage and Peppers.  I got mine with a side of kale salad and she got hers with roasted brussels sprouts.

 

The kale salad was very tasty, much better than the kale slaw at Positivitea and the roasted brussels sprouts were also very good.  I really liked the sandwich as well.  I'm not a huge fan of sandwiches, but I enjoyed it.  The woman working told me they make their own sausage..which is a mix of wheat, beans..and now I can't remember what else (I should start writing things down so I remember these things!) I especially liked the ends which were crunchy (oddly my friend wasn't a fan of the ends and gave me hers)

We also got mac and cheese to share, after both the man and worker said the mac and cheese is a must

 

The texture was great.  The taste was not.  It was smokey, and there was no mention of it being smokey anywhere.  If you're a fan of smoked food, maybe this mac and cheese is for you, however I very much dislike smokey so I didn't enjoy it & my friend got to eat most of it.  She also felt there was another weird taste that she couldn't pinpoint.

We each got a chocolate chip cookie to go 

 

Lots of chocolate chips! but didn't think it was anything special..

Due to its very limited menu, I wouldn't go back to Killer Vegan.  Both my friend and I agreed after we left, that we wouldn't know what to get if we were to come back.  However, they do have all you can eat brunch I think twice a month and I might come back for that.  The owner told me they have pancakes, french toast, biscuits and gravy, tofu scramble, steamed kale, rice and beans..(odd, though I know when I was in Costa Rica people ate rice and beans for breakfast lunch and dinner), and coffee/tea. She did say to get there early because people like to go and not leave.  I recommend giving this place a try though, especially if you're in the area.