Review: Best Vegan Brunch Ever at Grovewood Tavern

This past weekend was fun and exhausting all at the same time. I'd worked 12 day straight and was pretty pooped by the time Friday rolled around. I spent Saturday out east at the wineries celebrating the marriage of two of my friends. And I drank about 7 bottles of wine. Not really, but it felt that way on Sunday morning. Oops. 

 The weekend prior, my boyfriend and I were in Baltimore. I was there for work and happened to have a later shift on Sunday morning and we tried our darndest to find vegan brunch options for me with no luck. Since all I really think about is food, I decided to do some research once I got home to see if I could find a new place for us to check out close to home. And through the power of the interwebs, I discovered that Grovewood Tavern is now serving brunch. (again)

Apparently Grovewood Tavern used to serve brunch. Award winning brunch. Not sure when that stopped, exactly, but I hope they never stop again. 

The best vegan tofu scramble I've ever eaten

As any good vegan knows, you need to do your homework before you go to any kind of restaurant to see if they have options for you. Grovewood Tavern takes the guess work out of ordering by having their menu on their web site and has all of the vegetarian, vegan, and veganize-able options clearly labeled. Score!

We arrived at Grovewood Tavern around 11:30 and were surprised to see that it was pretty empty. They've only been serving brunch for a short time, though, so I'm not sure word has gotten out that they're open on Sundays now. Plus, it was Browns versus Steelers day, so...half of the city was probably out drinking at that time. 

Our server seated us as soon as we walked in and promptly gave me the gallon of water I requested to attempt to undo the damage I'd done to my poor body the night before. I'd hoped to order some coffee, but they didn't have any non-dairy milk to use as a creamer. Weep womp. I hadn't eaten dinner the night before, so I was ready to gnaw my arm off so I was thankful when we were able to place our orders ASAP. Too bad I wasn't in the mood for drinking because they offered up an extensive menu of boozy brunch beverages. 

I ordered a vegan vegetable and tofu scramble. I generally like tofu scrambles, but...they can be a little lacking in flavor sometimes. Not this scramble! There were peppers, and onions, and kale, and peppers, and crispy breakfast potatoes all jumbled up together in a delicious heap. On the side, I got toast with house made fig jam. I'm not even the biggest fig fan, but this jam was pretty incredible.

My boyfriend ordered the breakfast biscuit. Clearly, with sausage, eggs, and a cheesy biscuit, it ain't my cup of tea, but he said that his meal was one of the best brunch meals he's ever had. Hands down. Also important to note, he was a big fan of their coffee.

Overall, we were really impressed with our brunch and hope to go back sometime soon. I was happy to see a notation on the menu that said they try to use local produce, eggs, meats, etc. whenever possible. I'm really interested in checking them out for dinner some night because they have a few vegan options on their dinner menu, too. And any restaurant that wants to cater to my lifestyle deserves my business, I think. Give Grovewood Tavern a try if you're in search of a new place to fill your belly on Sunday morning. 

Review: Vegan Brunch at Beachland Ballroom

At times, my social life is a little ridiculous. In between work travel and running and a million other things I like to do, it can be hard to make time to do all of the things I want to do. Like go to brunch.

My boyfriend and I share a Google calendar to assist with plan making. Otherwise, I think we'd be quadruple booked instead of just double booked some weekends. Months ago, we'd talked about going to Beachland Ballroom for brunch. But it just finally happened.

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon. Around 12:45. We pulled up to the restaurant and easily got parking on the street. We walked up to the restaurant and opened the door. Inside, the lobby area and the restaurant was jam packed with people. And all different kinds of people. Tattooed hipsters. Suburbanites. Older women in sweater sets. Bikers. It was neat to see so many different kinds of people intermingling.

We told the hostess we were starving so she seated us at the bar. A 10 top had just been seated before us in the dining room and she said it would have taken forever for us to get our food. I appreciated her honesty.

We sat down at the bar and Barb the bartender took good care of us. Got us water right away. Quickly took our orders. While we waited for our food, we enjoyed some people watching. The guy sitting next to me was ridiculously hung over...but still drinking. The guys on the other side of my boyfriend were old, grizzly biker looking dudes who orders shots for breakfast. But what really kept my attention were the delicious looking plates of food that kept coming out of the kitchen.

The Vegan Special

I ordered a vegan special - a combo of potatoes, scrambled tofu, veggies, and greens. (one of many vegan and vegetarian items on the menu) The tofu needed a little something so I added some sriracha. (Isn't everything better with a little sriracha?)As I was gobbling down my breakfast Barb the bartender stopped by to check on us. She asked me how I liked my vegan meal and I told her I liked it. She proceeded to tell me that she loves her meat but really thinks that Beachland Ballroom serves up some good vegan food. It was kind of a cool moment. I wouldn't have expected Barb the bartender to be down with vegan food. 

The only bad part of brunch was when the AC kicked off. Based on the looks of the inside of Beachland Ballroom, you might not even expect them to have AC, so I wasn't all that surprised when it stopped working. But what's a little sweat among friends and strangers eating brunch?

I think my boyfriend was a little skeptical about how our meal was going to be based on the location, interior, etc., but he absolutely loved his sausage biscuit and pancakes. He said the coffee was also pretty good, too. 

I really need to start making more time in my schedule for brunch. Especially if I can find more vegan and vegetarian friendly brunch spots!