• healthy vegan eats at spiritland bistro in santa barbara

    8
    February 17th, 2011quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), santa barbara

    a friend recently told me that santa barbara has more restaurants per capita than anywhere else in the world…which is why it’s pretty surprising that they have not one vegan establishment. luckily though, they do have spiritland bistro, a healthy-style organic restaurant with very vegan-friendly cuisine.

    for ages spiritland was only open for dinner, but they’ve recently added a lunch menu that’s served daily from 11:30 to 2pm. we checked it out on a recent trip up north, and were quite pleased with our simple yet delicious meals…

    not checking the lunch hours in advance like the dining professionals we should be by now, we arrived at spiritland at around 2:30pm…half an hour after they were scheduled to stop serving. there was still one table of customers finishing up, and the hostess told us she’d check with the kitchen to see if they could make us some food. thankfully, they said yes and kept the restaurant open just for us. huge points for spiritland already, and we hadn’t even ordered yet.

    afterhours dining!

    the lunch menu is small but appetizing, with several vegan options clearly marked including soups, appetizers, sides and bento boxes. we decided to get 2 bentos and share between us, starting with the “soba good bento” (pictured at the top of the post). here’s what it looks like from the other side:

    soba good bento: buckwheat soba, seitan, chipotle lime kaeshi sauce, seasonal vegetables. $8.95

    the “bento boxes” weren’t really in boxes, which was kind of disappointing. they were just piled on to a plate like any normal lunch, but i must admit they tasted amazing. from the chewy marinated seitan, to the homemade sauce, to the steamed vegetables and thick wheaty noodles…it was all high-quality goodness. the vegetables were a great mix of cauliflower, carrots, and curly kale, all very nicely prepared.

    macrobiotic feast: wild and brown rice, baked tofu, tahini sauce, seasonal vegetables. $8.95

    next up, we shared the macrobiotic feast: a plate stacked high with baked tofu, a rice blend, vegetables, and tahini. again, this thing was excellent. light and healthy, yet bursting with flavor. it was a pretty big portion for under 9 bucks as well; we both left feeling satisfied but not bloated or overly stuffed.

    when in santa barbara, i’d highly recommend a trip to spiritland bistro. the place is small and cozy with good food and tons of healthy vegan options. i would just suggest you check their serving hours in advance. you may not be as lucky as we were if you show up after hours!

    spiritland bistro
    230 E. Victoria St. Santa Barbara, CA 93101
    (805) 966-7759
    Lunch Daily
    11:30 am – 2 pm
    Dinner
    Sun – Thurs 5:30 pm – 9 pm
    Fri & Sat 5:30 pm – 10 pm

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8 responses to “healthy vegan eats at spiritland bistro in santa barbara” RSS icon

  • Gauri Radha गौरी राधा

    That looks lovely!!

  • That is excellent!
    I visited Spiritland last May and found that their dinner menu was awesomely vegan friendly. My friend and I had a complete 4 or 5 course delicious veg dinner and couldn’t have been happier. Really great to have those options in SB.

  • Fake Gauri Radha गौरी राधा

    Looks wonderful!!!

  • spirirtland is awesome. they used to always serve the bento boxes in actual black corn-husk-boxes. they are all compostable. maybe they had ran out or something.

    the best vegan lunch in santa barbara is shang-hai. all vegan menu available for lunch and dinner…. mock meat, rice, eggroll, wonton and hot tea authentic chinese food lunch special for 7.50! check it out.

  • The macrobiotic feast looks GOOD!

  • I went there for NYE and the food was excellent.

  • A few years ago I had a vegan tiramisu dessert that was divine.

  • My boyfriend and I ate here for Valentines. It was sincerely amazing and one of our go-to places for great vegan/veggie food.


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