there’s no place quite like cyber dogs. the small and quirky seattle internet cafe has been around since 2002, and sells an entirely vegetarian menu of hot dogs—all of which can be made vegan! we stopped by recently and were huge fans of the funky atmosphere and delicious food.

Vegan Mama Tatianaon: Tomatoes, artichoke hearts, fresh basil & garlic with Vegan Cheese… Baked to perfection! $7.80

we split the vegan version of the “mama tatianaon” (the original comes with parmasean cheese), which was an italian sausage smothered in sauce, tomatoes, green onions, artichoke hearts, fresh basil, garlic, and vegan cheese. the picture isn’t much to look at, but i can promise you this thing was freaking amazing. cyber dog’s homemade vegan cheese is incredible, and the whole thing was just oozing with awesome flavor. it was pretty messy, as you can see, so we had to eat it with a knife and fork. good times!

inside, cyber dogs is pretty crazy. there are a few small tables, and even a pacman game that has been converted into a table! this is definitely the coolest place to sit…

there are movie posters and pictures of celebrities everywhere, and when we were there they were even playing dazed and confused on the television. haha, the perfect 90s movie to watch in an internet cafe.

cyber dogs is definitely worth checking out if you are in seattle. i know i’ll be back!

cyber dogs
909 Pike St.
Seattle , WA.
(on the corner of 9th and Pike).
11am – Midnight Every Day
(206) 405 – DOGS.

one thing we rarely get to enjoy as vegans is cheap bar snacks…but at tube in portland, we can. the arty hipster haven has a badass happy hour from 5 to 10pm with $2 tall boys and loads of vegan menu items at 3 bucks or under.

we hit up tube at around 7pm, before it got super crowded, and dined out on happy hour specials. they also were offering a full dinner menu with lots of vegan options, but we decided bar snacks would be much more special.

my favorite dish we ordered was the professor nanotear muffin pictured above (a slice of grilled vegan ham and vegan cheese between an english muffin and homemade spicy chipotle veganaise, $3). it was thin and greasy, and not much to look at…but it sure tasted fantastic. the vegan ham/cheese/english muffin was a winning combo…soft, salty, melty and crunchy all at once.

vegan ghost dog with mustard. $2

we also tried the vegan ghost dog, a simple vegan hot dog smothered in spicy mustard. now this is definitely something i could make easily at home—but for just $2 in a cool bar, i’ll take it!

lastly, we shared the vegan taco which was freakin’ huge for 3 bucks. it came filled with tasty tofu scramble, which you can’t see in the picture because it’s covered in fresh lettuce and tomatoes. again, this thing wasn’t spectacular…but it was damn good and after eating it, i wanted another.

vegan taco: homemade spicy tofu scramble in a grilled flour tortilla topped with shredded lettuce and vegan cheese and diced tomatoes. $3

the great thing about tube, on top of the vegan-friendly menu, is the design and atmosphere of the place. the place is super slick and super trashy at the same time. everyone who works there is beyond cool and decked out in the height of fashion, like they just stepped out of the pages of an indie rock magazine. the bar is designed to look like the inside of a television, with a green glow and curved glossy walls…and the place is plastered with cool posters and art.

behind the table we were sitting at, there was a pop art piece on the wall with dozens of little red-eyed bunnies, and the word “fuck” scrawled several times beneath them. i dug it.

fuck bunny

after throwing back too many tall boys and snacking away on bar food, i decided it was time to move on to real booze. luckily, tube had a vegan white russian (my favorite drink) on the menu. i was so fucking excited about this, and i don’t know why. i’ve had thousands of vegan white russians in the comfort of my own home, but here i was with the opportunity to drink one in an ultramodern dive bar in one of the coolest cities i’ve ever visited. of course i indulged.

vegan white russian

tube’s vegan white russian was awesome and the bartender gave me a great pour. it would be SO DAMN EASY for all bars to offer this drink…all they need to do is stock some soy creamer behind the bar. until that day, i guess i will just dream of far away places like tube.

so if you like dive bars, modern bars, cool design, hispters, cheap food, or good drinks…be sure to make a stop at tube when you are in portland. you will definitely have a memorable experience.

i fucking love this place.

tube
18 NW Third Ave
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 241-8823
open 7 days at 5pm

stop eating animals…and start eating vegan sausages!

franken’s, the only vegan food cart in los angeles, will be out in full force this weekend selling vegan hot dogs on saturday at the apartment 3 vintage yard sale in hollywood. drop whatever you are doing and get out there between 1 and 6pm—there will be shopping, djs, beer and most importantly, 100% plant-based franks from the frankenstand! whooooooooosh! don’t miss it!

if you’ve never tried franken’s before, you are in for a real treat. we are big fans of the frankenstand here at quarrygirl.com, and we just can’t get enough of of their gourmet franks! show up hungry, that way you can try both the witch and the franken!

yo yo yo los angeles vegans, if you are in town tonight, be sure to hit up the frankenstand! the all-vegan hot dog cart is one of our favorite places to eat, and they will be out in full force this evening from 5:30pm for vegan drinks at the little bar!

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UPDATE: this is probably not a great place for vegans. when i ate there, i was told the buns were vegan, but a commenter wrote in today and said they weren’t…also, he said the hotdogs were cooked on the SAME GRILL as the meat, which i forgot to check on when i was there. eat here at your own fucking risk. i will be back, but only for the beer. the dogs are vegan for sure though, so if you can count on those at least. fend for yourself. beware.

yesterday marked my second day of jury duty at the metropolitan courthouse in downtown los angeles, so naturally i had to check out a new vegan-friendly lunch spot. my carnivorous coworkers have been raving about the newish sausage and beer kitchen, wurstkuche since it very first opened. after hearing their descriptions of monstrosities such as rattlesnake & rabbit, alligator & pork along with duck & bacon sausages, i assumed wurstkuche was a restaurant i would never visit. too bad, i thought, because i had a butchers at the beer list and it was pretty impressive.

my mind was instantly changed though when jona bechtolt, a vegan musician who i’m a great fan of and follow on twitter, tweeted: “Downtown Los Angeles lunch at Wurstküche (***** of 5)” what?! but jona’s a vegan, i thought, so there must be some stuff i can eat at wurstkuche! i prodded jona for more info, and he messaged me back to say there were three animal-free sausages to choose from, not to mention amazing fries with curry ketchup. as you can imagine, i had to haul ass to wurstkuche asap…and my downtown la jury service provided the perfect excuse.

vegetarian beer bratwurst - soy based, traditional flavor. $6. plus belgian fries with curry ketchup. $3.50

i ordered the vegetarian beer bratwurst, which turned out to be a tofurky beerbrat, also the same sausage the frankenstand uses and calls “the witch”. (in fact, all 3 vegan options were familiar tofurky brand links: the beerbrat, the kielbasa, and sweet italian sausage.)

wurstkuche tofurky beerbrat fo sho!

for 6 bucks you get a piping hot sausage on a fresh roll with two toppings— i chose caramelized onions and sauerkraut. i also got an order of thick, fat belgian fries that came perfectly cooked with big chunks of salt and a side of curry ketchup…YUM. everything was delicious, but the fries were definitely the highlight.

and you can’t really talk about wurstkuche without mentioning the beer. although it’s a bit pricey, they have a lineup of 24 impressive draughts including belgian, german and north american selections. i myself went with a spaten pils, and they even served it to me in the proper glass! bonus points for that, most def.

aside from having a whole ton of great tap beer, awesome fries and vegan sausages, wurstkuche is just a really cool place to hang out. it’s spacious and open with tons of seating and has an industrial vibe, with its concrete floors and brick walls, offset by brightly colored orange chairs. there’s a long bar and tons of huge wooden communal tables. this is the kind of place i could spend all afternoon drinking in…if i didn’t have to get back to jury duty.

so when the frankenstand isn’t available, fill your vegan hot dog needs at wurstkuche. sure, they charge more for the exact same tofurky dog that you would get at franken’s, but they are always open and have great fries! oh, and be sure not to leave without getting a beer. thanks, jona!!

wurstkuche
800 e 3rd street
los angeles ca 90013

213-687-4444

sunday 12pm-10pm
monday thru wednesday 11am-10pm
thursday thru saturday 11am-midnight