Earth's Own

Earth's Own is located in Seneca Mall in Liverpool. Earth's Own is a supermarket and cafe`that sells mostly organic and health foods. It's a cute little store, but it's a bit pricey. The cafe` is what really makes this place great (and is why I am writing about it). I have eaten there 3 times now and every time it was absolutely amazing. They have some cafe` tables so you can dine in or eat out. The first time I ate there I had the vegan BLT which uses marinated tempeh instead of bacon. It was so good I tried to make it at home. I didn't turn out nearly as well as theirs. The second time I had vegetable curry. It was outstanding. I liked it better than the soup I had the last time I went to an Indian restaurant. Tonight I had a couscous dish. They used Israeli couscous (which is essentially just larger than traditional couscous). They saute it with garlic, olive oil, sun dried tomatoes and capers. They didn't divulge the exact spices they put in it, and I don't blame them. This dish was good, really good. I wouldn't want the secret getting out either. They have a number of vegan sandwiches and breakfast type items as well. I have not tried everything on the menu, but I certainly plan on trying.

The Black Olive - UPDATED!

4/17/09
I went back as promised and I'm glad I did. It was so much better this time. I had a Greek side salad which consisted of mixed greens, tomatoes, onions, feta cheese, and their homemade vinaigrette. It was delicious. I love homemade vinaigrettes and theirs was great. I also had the dolmades and a platter of Greek spreads. The dolmades were perfect. They were really tender (I'm not a fan of the really chewy, stalky grape leaves) and served with tatziki. The platter also had tatziki on it in addition to a red pepper/feta spread, humus, and a garlic potato spread. All the spreads are homemade and served with pita points. They were all outstanding. I can't wait to order the platter again. So revisiting The Black Olive has made me a full blown addict. I think I might go for lunch today...


4/11/09
The Black Olive recently opened in Armoury Square on Clinton Street in Syracuse. They feature Mediterranean food in a modern bistro setting. Many of my friends have tried the food and loved it. I unfortunately can not say the same. I had an order of falafel and baba ghanouj. I ordered the falafel despite being forewarned of it not being very good. I decided I had to try it my self to be sure. It was very dry on the inside and not crispy on the out side. It seemed like it was cooked at too low of a temperature. There was also something gritty in them. Every few bites I would get something gritty in there, and I couldn't figure out what it was. I was also really disappointed with the baba ghanouj. Typically I love this stuff. I have made it myself at home several times and it always turned out better than what The Black Olive served. Theirs was really oily and lacking in flavor. The service at The Black Olive was great though. They were very friendly and knowledgeable. The pricing isn't too bad either. For 9 bucks I got an ice tea, the falafel and baba ghanouj and left a tip. I will most likely try this place again as I did not try their grape leaves and those are a favorite of mine, and supposedly they have amazing Greek salads.

Zebb's

Zebb's is located in Mattydale just off of Rt. 81 in the Kmart plaza. Zebb's is a great little burger joint that just happens to make a pretty good homemade veggie burger. While they do not have much else for vegetarians (except for the typical salads or fried food options like mozzarella sticks) the veggie burger is worth the visit. All of Zebb's burgers are served with fresh french fries (and yes I mean fresh, there are sacks of potatoes piled up near the open kitchen just waiting to be julienned.) Zebb's also has something a little unique, a toppings bar. It appears to be a salad bar at first glance, but a closer look reveals a number of toppings for your burger. There is everything from the standard lettuce and tomato to salsas, hot sauces and hot form the cooker barbecue sauce (which I highly recommend). Zebb's also makes homemade cookies. The cookie counter is located right next to the door, making it nearly impossible to escape with out buying one. But I say go for it, their cookies are delicious. The last time I went to Zebb's the cookie flavors for the day were double chocolate chunk, chocolate peanut butter and chocolate chip.

Zebb's is pretty inexpensive. The veggie burger is around 6 bucks and the cookies are less than a dollar a piece. They also have a pretty good happy hour with half price appetizers that runs Monday through Friday until 10pm in the bar area.

Roji Tea Lounge

Although this place is not technically a restaurant, it's a great place, and it's very veg friendly. Roji is located near Armory Square, by the corner of Salina Street and Washington Street. The tea lounge is owned and run by a very sweet Japanese woman. The lounge has a very comfortable and warm feeling despite the fact that all the walls are brick. You have your choice of seating: American furniture (couches and tables) or more Asian (sitting on the floor with your shoes off at a very low table). They serve a wide variety of high quality leaf teas including white, green, black, red, oolong, rooibos, herbal, floral and many combinations of these. The hot teas are served in small Asian inspired tea pots that steep the tea right inside. They provide you with an extra pot of hot water so you can have as many cups as you would like. They also serve bubble tea. If you have never tried bubble tea I recommend going to Roji just to experience that. Bubble tea gets it's name from the small fruit flavored balls of tapioca that rest at the bottom of the glass. The bubble tea is served with an extra wide straw in order for the tapioca bubbles to fit through it. Bubble tea is considered a dessert tea, as it is usually sweet and served cold. Bubble tea can be served with or with out milk (soy or dairy) and comes in a variety of flavors like strawberry, melon, lychee, jasmine green tea and more.

In addition to the wonderful atmosphere and beverages, Roji serves an assortment of homemade snacks. You can satisfy your sweet tooth with cookies made with tea (peach, green, or earl grey), green tea cake, ice cream, chocolate mousse, or their cookie of the day which can vary. If you prefer to snack on something less sweet they serve hot rice with seaweed wrap. It looks a lot like sushi, only warm and minus the fish. Oh, yeah, and all the snacks are vegan and delicious.

As an added bonus, Roji sells the majority of their tea in leaf form. So if you find a tea you particularly like, you can take some home to brew yourself.

Roji is open fairly late, until 12 or 2am depending on the night and they open around 3pm. This really is a wonderful cozy little place and it really won't break the bank. I spent about 8 dollars for an order of green tea cookies, jasmine green bubble tea, a sample bag of white tea and the tip.

Copper Top Tavern

I just visited Copper Top Tavern for the first time. I was wonderfully surprised by the number of vegetarian dishes on the menu. This place also gets extra kudos for actually marking which dishes are vegetarian right on the menu! They also mark which items are hot with a dragon. They seem to specialize in pizza, since out of the 3 pages worth of food, one entire page was pizza. They also have appetizers, sandwiches, pastas, and traditional dishes on the standard menu. Along with the standard menu they give you a separate two sided menu with specials on it. They have an entire page just dedicated to beer on the standard menu and a "table tent" as it's called in the business, with wines and mixed beverages on it. They bring you another separate menu with all of the desserts after you have finished your meal too. So, my point is, this place has a ton of food, there is definitely something to please everyone.



Copper Top is moderately priced. Its more expensive than Nothing but Noodles, but less expensive then say, Olive Garden. I had a thin crust pizza that was 8.99 and a fresh brewed ice tea that was 2.39 (with free refills). The pizza was pretty good, and when it was delivered the waiter asked if I wanted anything to dip it in. I took that opportunity to ask for Frank's and blue cheese, both of which they had, and neither of which was an extra charge. Every time you order a pizza you get a stamp on this card they give you. After buying 9 pizzas number ten is free. I'm sure it will be awhile before I get to the ten pizza mark, but it's a nice gesture. And speaking of nice gestures, the service was wonderful. Everyone was really nice and super efficient. They had several vegetarian pasta dishes, pizzas, salads and a portabella mushrom sandwich. For those of you that are dating/married/or have friends that are non-vegetarian, this seems like a great place to go. The friend I was with got a bowl of their homemade chicken noodle soup and CTF (Copper Top Favorite) melt. Not only did she really enjoy her food, but the waiter that brought our food out, and the manager that asked how everything was were "Oooohing" over the sandwich. So it must be good.

I could not find a web page for this place, which I found odd since they are supposedly owned by the company that owns Tully's. At any rate I put the link to google maps instead.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=copper+top+tavern+syracuse&fb=1&split=1&view=text&latlng=10425266966927389486