Urban vegan: A short guide to downtown

Let’s face it. We, as college students, don’t really get a lot of choices in the food we get to eat. Sure, there are tons of restaurants in the immediate vicinity, ranging from McDonald’s to Subway, but on our tight budget (and even shorter time we have to eat in), getting a nourishing meal is damn near impossible. Even harder still is trying to find healthy vegan food on a college budget. Thankfully, we are in Portland and have countless options that are fast and reasonable. We’ll take a look at a very small cross-section of options near our beloved campus—I am a very picky eater and some places I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole.

Let’s start things off on our very own campus. Food for Thought, located in the basement of the Smith Memorial Student Union, is renowned for never having the same menu twice, simply because they are at the bottom of the budget-barrel and can barely stock themselves. Despite this fact, they usually provide amazing, well-portioned meals that are filling and delicious. For around $3, you can get two of the biggest pancakes you’ve ever seen. Take that, McBreakfast! And this one doesn’t have beef hormones or antibiotics in the batter.

Also located on campus is the Honkin’ Huge Burrito cart just outside of the library. And when they say huge, they do mean huge! A “small” burrito will run you around $5.75 and includes a flour tortilla, beans, lettuce, rice, guacamole and fresh salsa. They even have over 10 different hot sauces to add some zest to your endeavor. It’s like eating a baby’s head, but not really.

Taking a short saunter down to Third Avenue, between College and Hall, you’ll find a few other carts that have vegan options. The one that sticks out to me is Asaase Ital Palace. While I was extremely upset to see a huge “vegan” sign on their closed cart for weeks on end, I was happy to learn that the closure was merely due to traveling by the owners. When I was finally able to sample their wares, I was thrilled. Delicious African food in huge portions with a hot sauce that will make your bull run! It does run a little more on the expensive side—I got some Jollof rice and for about $6—but the portions well make up for the cost.

Some hungry vegans also like to drink. The great thing about Portland is that a lot of our bars serve delicious vegan food well into the night. My favorite spot for tipples and tasty snacks is Shanghai Tunnel off of Second Avenue on Ankeny Street. Tucked away behind Berbati’s Pan and Voodoo Doughnuts, Shanghai Tunnel is home to what I would consider the best damn fries on this side of the Willamette. For a pittance, you can order a basket of these beauties, salted, peppered and served with an assortment of condiments. Another fabulous piece of non-meat is the B.O.M.B., a black bean burger that comes with a side of the delicious fries. It will run you about $8 but it’s damn tasty and, in my opinion, totally worth the price.

Rounding out this culinary adventure is Sweet Masterpiece, off of 10th Avenue on Davis. If you love random things in your chocolate—like bananas, pistachios, salt and chilis—then this is the place for you. Home to confections like the Cherry Ylang Ylang Bark, Pomelo Spice Mendiants and delicious vegan Seafoam, Sweet Masterpiece also serves vegan cheesecake and chocolate tortes. Here, $5 will only get you about two pieces of candy…but since vegan chocolate is so ridiculously rich, that’s all you’re going to need.