The Veggielante has had it up to here with people bitching that St. Louis restaurants are vegetarian unfriendly. Sure, we'd like to see more restaurants offering more meatless dishes, but there are excellent choices out there if you take the trouble to look for them. We're not here to proselytize about greening up your diet. Our only motive is to spread the word about places where you can order good grub that ain't got no meat. To enhance your reading experience, we've settled on a handful of criteria we'll use to suss out a restaurant's vegetarian friendliness.

Rease Kirchner

The veggie burger at Baileys' Range.

Destination: Baileys' Range (920 Olive Street; 314-241-8121)

Neighborhood: Downtown

Cuisine: American, Burgers

Overview: Baileys' Range slaps the words "burgers and shakes" beneath its name, letting you know right away what this restaurant is all about. Fellow veggielantes might be skeptical about the menu options, but don't worry -- Baileys' Range has got the meat-free minded covered.

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The Veggielante has had it up to here with people bitching that St. Louis restaurants are vegetarian unfriendly. Sure, we'd like to see more restaurants offering more meatless dishes, but there are excellent choices out there if you take the trouble to look for them. We're not here to proselytize about greening up your diet. Our only motive is to spread the word about places where you can order good grub that ain't got no meat. To enhance your reading experience, we've settled on a handful of criteria we'll use to suss out a restaurant's vegetarian friendliness.

Rease Kirchner

The portabella mushroom sandwich and peach sensation smoothie at OR Smoothe & Cafe.

Destination: OR Smoothie & Café (3 North Euclid Avenue; 314-367-8883)

Neighborhood: Central West End

Cuisine: Vegetarian, Smoothies

Overview: OR Smoothie & Café is a health-conscious café and smoothie bar hidden away on North Euclid Avenue. While the café is not strictly vegetarian, there are plenty of healthy vegetarian options to keep meat-free mouths happy.

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The Veggielante has had it up to here with people bitching that St. Louis restaurants are vegetarian unfriendly. Sure, we'd like to see more restaurants offering more meatless dishes, but there are excellent choices out there if you take the trouble to look for them. We're not here to proselytize about greening up your diet. Our only motive is to spread the word about places where you can order good grub that ain't got no meat. To enhance your reading experience, we've settled on a handful of criteria we'll use to suss out a restaurant's vegetarian friendliness.

Rease Kirchner

The tomato-basil pita made with grilled, marinated Roma tomatoes, grilled onions, fresh basil leaves and mozzarella served on a grilled pita from Murdoch Perk.

Destination: Murdoch Perk (5400 Murdoch Avenue; 314-752-9126)

Neighborhood: South Hampton

Cuisine: American

Overview: Murdoch Perk is the type of coffee shop that just sneaks up on you. One minute you're driving through residential housing in the South Hampton neighborhood of south city and the next you've stumbled upon a delightful coffee shop and café. Gut Check greatly covets the houses within walking distance of this neighborhood treasure, but if we lived near enough to mosey on over any time, we'd be guzzling coffee and scarfing down sandwiches multiple times a day.

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The Veggielante has had it up to here with people bitching that St. Louis restaurants are vegetarian unfriendly. Sure, we'd like to see more restaurants offering more meatless dishes, but there are excellent choices out there if you take the trouble to look for them. We're not here to proselytize about greening up your diet. Our only motive is to spread the word about places where you can order good grub that ain't got no meat. To enhance your reading experience, we've settled on a handful of criteria we'll use to suss out a restaurant's vegetarian friendliness.

Rease Kirchner

The Grounds salad from Foundation Grounds.

Destination: Foundation Grounds (7298 Manchester; 314-601-3588)

Neighborhood: Maplewood

Cuisine: American, Contemporary

Overview: Foundation Grounds is a colorful coffee shop and café in the bustling Maplewood neighborhood that prides itself on serving fresh, organic food and quality coffee. The coffee is tastier than many of the larger corporate competitors and certainly much more ethical.

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Fuck you, cruciferous vegetables.

Gut Check was recently tipped off to a new "food" blog, "Fuck You, Broccoli," launched in early April. The blog's premise is pretty straightforward: Each entry outshines the next in visceral hate speech targeted at different members of the vegetable family (with the exception of russet potatoes, which the blog defends as "awesome" and more starch than vegetable). While we agree that potatoes are awesome, we're a little uncomfortable admitting to their reality as a simple, starchy carbohydrate, as we frequently comfort ourselves in the deluded belief that an order of French fries a day keeps the doctor away.

Though we do love us some deep-fried, fatty junk food, we at Gut Check also frequently indulge in the vegetable food group, and "Fuck You, Broccoli" takes more than a few swipes at some of our favorites.

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The Veggielante has had it up to here with people bitching that St. Louis restaurants are vegetarian unfriendly. Sure, we'd like to see more restaurants offering more meatless dishes, but there are excellent choices out there if you take the trouble to look for them. We're not here to proselytize about greening up your diet. Our only motive is to spread the word about places where you can order good grub that ain't got no meat. To enhance your reading experience, we've settled on a handful of criteria we'll use to suss out a restaurant's vegetarian friendliness.

RFT photo

The hummus appetizer replete with feta, kalamata olives, red onions, curry crackers and flatbread.

Destination: Schlafly Bottleworks (7260 Southwest Avenue; 314-241-2337)

Neighborhood: Maplewood

Cuisine: American, Contemporary

Overview: The name Schlafly is likely to spark a craving for some quality microbrews, but beer isn't the only thing it has to offer St. Louis vegetarians.

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The Veggielante has had it up to here with people bitching that St. Louis restaurants are vegetarian unfriendly. Sure, we'd like to see more restaurants offering more meatless dishes, but there are excellent choices out there if you take the trouble to look for them. We're not here to proselytize about greening up your diet. Our only motive is to spread the word about places where you can order good grub that ain't got no meat. To enhance your reading experience, we've settled on a handful of criteria we'll use to suss out a restaurant's vegetarian friendliness.

Rease Kirchner

Yellow squash, zucchini, portabella mushrooms, green peppers, onions and feta drizzled with Italian dressing wrapped in pita bread at MoKaBe's.

Destination: MoKaBe's Coffeehouse (3606 Arsenal Street; 314-865-2009)

Neighborhood: Tower Grove South

Cuisine: American

Overview: MoKaBe's Coffeehouse is a popular brunch spot and coffee shop nestled at Arsenal Street and South Grand Boulevard in Tower Grove -- so close it practically plays neighbor to Tower Grove park. The large café boasts plenty of outdoor and indoor seating, with Wi-Fi and local art to keep you entertained and a nightly midnight curfew that outpaces most of the local competition. Though the baristas whip up delicious hot and cold beverages, the kitchen almost outshines with its lengthy, beloved breakfast menu and very vegetarian-friendly options. While MoKaBe's is not completely vegetarian, a large portion of the menu is solely (or easily modified) to cater to meat-free palates, with even some vegan-friendly fare, too.

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The Veggielante has had it up to here with people bitching that St. Louis restaurants are vegetarian unfriendly. Sure, we'd like to see more restaurants offering more meatless dishes, but there are excellent choices out there if you take the trouble to look for them. We're not here to proselytize about greening up your diet. Our only motive is to spread the word about places where you can order good grub that ain't got no meat. To enhance your reading experience, we've settled on a handful of criteria we'll use to suss out a restaurant's vegetarian friendliness.

Julia Gabbert

Spinach artichoke dip from Cicero's in all its bubbly goodness, with a side of marinara.

Destination: Cicero's (6691 Delmar Boulevard, University City; 314-862-0009)

Neighborhood: Delmar Loop

Cuisine: Italian + American

Overview: If you've lived in St. Louis for more than a few weeks, you probably know Cicero's. And if you know Cicero's, you probably know this Delmar Loop institution for its extensive beer selection (53 on draft and 100+ bottled). But what about the food? This week we sifted through its menu in search of something meat-free to sate the appetites of those hungry herbivores lining up for Beer School.

Cicero's serves up pasta, pizza, burgers, sandwiches, salads and desserts. But with such a lengthy menu, we were slightly disappointed to find that not many options are vegetarian. Aside from the typical side salad and veggie burger, vegetarian options are sparse and not outlandishly creative. Vegans will have an even more difficult time finding something to indulge in. Nevertheless, we picked out a few items on the menu to keep grumblin' bellies at bay.

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The Veggielante has had it up to here with people bitching that St. Louis restaurants are vegetarian unfriendly. Sure, we'd like to see more restaurants offering more meatless dishes, but there are excellent choices out there if you take the trouble to look for them. We're not here to proselytize about greening up your diet. Our only motive is to spread the word about places where you can order good grub that ain't got no meat. To enhance your reading experience, we've settled on a handful of criteria we'll use to suss out a restaurant's vegetarian friendliness.

Julia Gabbert

Coconut curry butternut squash soup from Big Sky Cafe

Destination: Big Sky Cafe (47 South Old Orchard Avenue, Wesbter Groves; 314-962-5757)

Neighborhood: Webster Groves

Cuisine: "Revitalized American comforts"

Overview: Big Sky Cafe takes a lot of pride in its locally sourced and sustainably grown ingredients. During the winter, when local produce is harder to find, head chef Colleen Clawson estimates about 80 percent of the restaurant's ingredients (including meat) are sourced within 100 miles of St. Louis, with a higher percentage in the warmer months. Clawson has been vegetarian since she was twelve years old, so Big Sky Cafe always has plenty of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.

This time around, we tried out Big Sky Cafe's lunch menu, which is served Tuesday through Friday. (The dinner menu is more extensive.) Clawson updates the menu constantly. Half of it is seasonal dishes, while the other half changes every week.

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Endless apologies, O loyal readers, for the extended hiatus that this column took. But now we're back with a new Veggielante, a new format and a new list of restaurants to sate your vegetarian appetites.

The Veggielante has had it up to here with people bitching that St. Louis restaurants are vegetarian unfriendly. Sure, we'd like to see more restaurants offering more meatless dishes, but there are excellent choices out there if you take the trouble to look for them. We're not here to proselytize about greening up your diet. Our only motive is to spread the word about places where you can order good grub that ain't got no meat. To enhance your reading experience, we've settled on a handful of criteria we'll use to suss out a restaurant's vegetarian friendliness.

Julia Gabbert

Lebnah sandwich from The Vine

Destination: The Vine Mediterranean Cafe & Market (3171 South Grand Boulevard; 314-776-0991)

Neighborhood: Tower Grove South

Cuisine: Mediterranean, especially Lebanese

Overview: The Vine specializes in Mediterranean cuisine made from fresh, healthy ingredients. Manager Ali Mohsen buys fresh produce from a local market to start each day, so nothing here is ever frozen or prepackaged, and everything is prepared by hand. The menu clearly labels which options are vegetarian and vegan, and there are plenty of each category to choose from.

In addition to the restaurant, the Vine also has a market and bakery. So when you taste an intriguing spice in your entrée, you can pick up a bottle on your way out. (You likely won't find most of this stuff in your traditional grocery store.)

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