Anyone want to share a story about old-school vegetarian restaurants?

"Mothers Market & Kitchen", in Orange County, California, was opened by a group of yoga practitioners in 1978. They now have 7 stores: https://www.mothersmarket.com/history

Their market is omnivorous, but their restaurant is 99% vegetarian (they do have 1 fish dish).

This tiny place is a health food and mini-market in Huntington Beach, California. It's one of those old-time places with a small market and lunch counter.



It's now called "Esther's Place" (with excellent ratings on Yelp), but during the 70s, 80s, and early 90s it was the home of "Jan's Health Food". The old sign had a beautiful 1970s font. This was the market where I bought my very first miso, and my very first cruelty-free soap. I remember eating my first meatless "turkey" sandwich at their lunch counter, and listening to the counter lady offering me powdered spirulina.

Jan's Health Food continues to operate (now called Jan's Health Bar), at 3 different locations in Orange County.

Veggie Bob's in Ft. Langley, open since 1978

I actually only recently discovered this little gem since becoming vegan (almost a year ago now, wow!). Everything they make is home made, plant based and DELICIOUS!! I've eaten there with mixed groups and everyone is always happy

http://veggiebobs.ca/wp-content/uplo...204_115505.jpg

Have you ever been to the Follow Your Heart restaurant? All the older vegetarians, especially older vegans, ask me if I've been there and I have yet to try it. Apparently it was the original veggie place in LA, or one of the originals?

Holy cow, that is a pioneering vegetarian restaurant - Follow Your Heart restaurant was established in 1970 in Canoga Park: https://followyourheart.com/market-cafe/

Another older Los Angeles area vegetarian restaurant is "The Spot", established in 1977, in Hermosa Beach, California.




Luv that neon:





Their spicy vegan "cream" sauce (called "Savory Sauce") is incredible.

The farther back I look, the more I find!


The "Physical Culture" movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries included vegetarianism (at least in some groups). The movement also included plenty of wacky stuff, too.







Equal time, equal time:

Cranks opened in London's Carnaby St. in 1961 - it was a vegetarian and wholefood restaurant.
I have one of their original cookery books on my bookshelf.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranks_(restaurant)

I grew up in Orange County in the 90's . I remember going to the Mothers Market in Costa Mesa and eating there. That was a great place to eat and shop. I went to the Irvine one later on when it opened and it just wasn't the same, maybe it was the parking or something.

For me, old school vegetarian comfort food came from Rutabegorz in old town Tustin. It was not strictly vegetarian but it had many vegetarian options. I remember going there with my at the time boyfriend / now husband. One of my favorite things to get was the Peasant Mushrooms but I remember the salads being pretty epic too.

The L.A. Weekly published this photo of the Follow Your Heart restaurant, circa 1970s. Dynamite!

I went there in the 1990s too! The restaurant is still there!

Sunflower Drive In Old Fair Oaks







I did not go to this one back in the day but I go here now. It opened in 1978. They have really good nutburgers and sandwiches. There are feral chickens roaming the streets of Fair Oaks so sometimes you can feed them.

The Road to Wellville is about Mr. Kellogg, of Kellogg's corn flakes, and it's one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Apparently he got kicked out of the 7th Day Adventist Church for his "extreme" interest in physical health. 7th Day Adventism upholds vegetarianism as a virtue, but he created all sorts of wacky electric "health" machines, a health retreat spa for the wealthy, and refused to have sex with his own wife because he thought it stole his energy.

A lot of the Gothic Romanticism writers from the 19th century were also vegetarian.

Cool! I recently tried their cottage-style tofu on the Reuben sandwich with a cup of soup on the "Love Plate." I was really impressed with how big their portions are, it seemed like a full sandwich and a bowl of soup, rather than half and a cup. I would like to go back to try the Chick-Un pot pie and beet salad, and maybe get a side of the "cottage tofu" by itself.

I met a woman in there who told me she has been a vegetarian since she was born, her parents were vegetarian, and she remembered coming to the FYH restaurant with her dad when she was about five, so that's a good story to pass along, though it's not fully my own.