Where vegans can eat just as well as carnivores

“I saw the sandwich on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” says Carmine, 45. “It was actually the first thing that made me realize that there are restaurants out there that aren’t vegan but are offering solid vegan options.”

Brendan Hartranft, an owner of Memphis, as well as both Resurrection Ale House and Local 44, is an avowed carnivore who concedes that thee is a reason that his eateries serve so many popular meat-free dishes.

“Just because I have an ethical dilemma doesn’t mean we can’t have fun,” says Hartranft, who owns all three restaurant-bars with his wife, Leigh Maida. “And the reason our vegan food is tasty is because we all eat meat. We know what savory taste like. Being vegan doesn’t mean you stop having fun with your food.”

There’s also a practical side to serving up healthier dishes. “You can’t – or at least shouldn’t – eat meat every day,” he says. “What we wanted to serve is better than a seitan cheesesteak,” which he considers to be a “pretty low-hanging fruit” on menus these days.

For customers like Carmine, getting good vegan food at a meaty restaurant has unexpected perks. “I love the fact that I go with a group of friends and they don’t have to eat vegan,” he says. “We can all get something, but they seem willing to try vegan food in a place like this. A lot of my carnivore friends love the coconut club.”

Hartranft estimates he sells hundreds of these sandwiches each week at Memphis. And at Local 44 in West Philly, Chef Justin Bennett’s seitan Reuben with cider-braised cabbage is also a big seller among both vegan and meat eaters. “We slice it real thin,” says Hartranft. “The way someone would expect to get a sandwich like this – whether you eat meat or not.”

At Resurrection in Grays Ferry, Chef Rhett Vellner is also making lots of vegan banh mi sandwiches with mushroom pate. “He really relies on four or five ingredients to make up a dish,” says Hartranft.

Even more vegan and meaty dishes are being concocted as Hartranft and his partners get ready to open a fourth gastro-pub, Strangelove's, in Center City. 

Hartranft estimates that his clientele is 65 percent meat eaters. With craft beer as a hobby as much as a Philly-friendly business plan, Hartranft will make the most to please the 35 percent in this department, too. “A lot of our beer is vegan,” he says, meaning no fish bladders were used in brewing. “But nobody window-shops at restaurants. There’s a one billion percent chance that they’ll walk in and eat. It’s like one of those Brat Pack movies where (as a restaurant owner) you are the girl hoping to get asked to the prom.”

Hartranft said he was eager to face the competition in his new neighborhood, on 11th Street near Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

“There’s a story about a Viking general,” he says, that sums up the experience. “He and his army would dock into port for battle and the first thing they would do was light their ships on fire. All of the guys would ask him how they would get home. And he said on one of their ships. Leigh and I respond well to this.”

The List

Go vegan at these three restaurants

Blackbird Pizza: From pizza to cheesesteaks, the casual fare is completely meat-free.

Royal Tavern: You can’t go wrong with the sloppy Joe or seitan stack.

Vedge: This upscale eatery has perfected the art of gourmet vegetables.

Natalie Hope McDonald is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. She’s the editor of ThePhillyQ.com