Mesa Verde - Vegan Restaurant in Santa Barbara CA

Mike and I just returned from a wonderful Anniversary trip to Santa Barbara, a gorgeous beach city on the shores of Southern California, just south of the wine country of San Ynez.

We enjoyed sampling delicious regional wines  - and enjoyed a delightful meal at one of our favorite vegan restaurants - Mesa Verde.

You may be surprised to know that Mesa Verde - a strictly vegan restaurant - ranks among the top favorite restaurants in Santa Barbara with over 1,500 favorable reviews on Yelp. My five-star review among its most recent! 

Mesa Verde serves up some of the most innovative - and scrumptious vegan food we have yet to discover. We're happy to share that Vegan restaurants are popping up in many cities throughout the US. I encourage you to read reviews and branch out and discover this healthy, delicious cuisine.

At Mesa Verde, we enjoyed splitting the POLENTA FRIES - which is the picture above. These tantalizing polenta fries were covered with caramelized onion, smoked summer quash, black olive, basil, piquillo, tomato, white beans and herbs. Yum!

If you are unfamiliar with the term 'Vegan' - it is a plant-based diet void of all animal products, including eggs and honey. Creativity and versatility is key to not getting board. We've discovered that eating vegan is energizing, enjoyable, and easy on the waistline! 

Maintaining a healthy diet is key to enjoying a healthy, active lifestyle. Many people are discovering the health benefits from excluding animal food from their diet. Some are excluding it completely and going vegan, while others are cutting way down on meat, poultry and dairy and adding vegan, or vegetarian meals into their weekly rotation. 

Going "vegan" can be pretty daunting at first, but if you experiment with online recipes from experts and visit vegan restaurants for inspiration, you will discover how versatile and enjoyable the cuisine truly is.

If you are like me - you get 'bored' with your own cooking and love to read recipes and explore new flavor profiles from other chefs and home cooks. That's why visiting vegan restaurants and sampling the creativity of those chefs who have gone before us is educational and inspiring.

So next time you are looking for something "different" or "new" check out a popular vegan restaurant and be inspired! You just may decide to add some vegan meals into your weekly meal rotations! 

To Your Health! 

Michele

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