Cuco's Burritos, Redwood City

Today I spent way too much money on a scratcher, and guess what? I didn't win. I did win, however, at dinner, because I finally decided to try Cuco's Burritos. Although their name regularly pops up in my DoorDash app under the "vegan" tab, for whatever reason, I always scrolled past it. I guess I was feeling lucky (not $10,000,000 lucky, unfortunately, although even a couple hundred bucks would have been nice), so I decided to give it a shot. 

The thing about DoorDash is that the odds of the restaurant getting the order 100% right are slim to none--if you look through my DoorDash history, the number of credits stacked up for incomplete or dairy-laden orders are plentiful. But apparently Cuco's reads the special instructions, because nothing arrived with cheese or sour cream or any other putrescent animal product inside. 

Look at that adorable baby burrito...

I ordered a mild vegan super burrito with avocado, and it was just the right amount of heat for my weak esophagus. The lime on the side was an extra nice touch--it added the perfect amount of tang to the savory filling. My husband even commented on the fieriness of his medium vegan super burrito with avocado, which surprised me since he usually likes things plenty spicy. E, who is three and critical of nearly all foods, had a baby bean-and-cheese burrito without the cheese, as well as a side of rice and beans (make sure to ask for no cheese), and he ate a good portion of it, which is always a good sign. 

                           

Burritos in the Bay Area are plentiful (some claim they were invented in San Francisco, after all), but I thought Cuco's hit the mark. They don't offer any meat substitutes, but their simple bean, rice, onion, cilantro, tomato, lettuce, and avocado sauce burrito was spot on. And this is weird because for most of my life, I thought I hated cilantro (I don't) and I still claim to hate onions (I don't hate all onions; I hate onions that are 1.) cut into strips, 2.) slimy, and/or 3.) the main event. Onions, imho, are a spice and not an actual food). 

Next time, I plan to try the mole burrito without onion strips or cheese (it has Monterey jack inside and queso fresco outside). They also have vegan tacos, a zucchini burrito that appears to be vegan as is, and seasonal aguas frescas. I did not have a chance to ask about the horchata, but I will be sure to update next time I'm at Cuco's. 

Cuco's is a great omni choice! I love that they are catering to plant-based diets by offering some options on their menu. What we had was fresh and tasted great, and I will definitely be back in the future. 

5/5 fruit bats for Cuco's Burritos. 

Crepe Stop, San Carlos

In my quest to unearth new vegan options on the Peninsula, I happened across Crepe Stop in San Carlos. Since their website explicitly lists "Vegan GF Batter" as an option, it seemed pretty promising. I rolled up to Laurel Avenue, which seemed pretty poppin' for a Tuesday morning (but as a full-time school teacher, what do I know about the happenings of small mid-Peninsula cities on a weekday? Summer vacation, please don't ever end), and headed for The Crepe Stop. 

Inside, I was greeted by rows and rows of Nutella jars, as well as a Parisian skyline decal on one wall, with a cute, blue neon sign proclaiming, "I love the crepe out of you." I peeked at the menu for a few minutes, as the man working behind the counter seemed busy putting together an order, but when he told me I could order any time, I asked what could be made vegan. 

"I can make anything vegan," he said. 

WHAT. This was great news, so I asked about the cheese. 

"I have vegan cheese. Mozzarella." 

Amazing. And the pesto?

"I don't think so," he said. 

Less amazing, but still, I ordered the Artichoke Heaven with vegan cheese, minus the pesto. I guess we could call it Artichoke Purgatory, because vegan pesto would be have been so good on this crepe. 

For funsies, I decided to ask about the sweet crepes, and again he said he could make anything vegan. Given the jars and jars of Nutella, I was skeptical, and since many of the crepes listed "butter" as an ingredient, I asked if it would be replaced. 

"I use butter," he said. 

"Doesn't butter have dairy?" I asked. (Duh. Of course butter has dairy, but this is, for whatever reason, what came out of my mouth.)

"I don't know," he said. 

Well, shit. It doesn't inspire a ton of confidence when the person making the food doesn't actually know what "vegan" means, but the savory crepe did appear to be actually vegan, so I went ahead with it. $17 and I left a tip, because working in the food service industry sucks, and everyone deserves a living wage. 

When it was delivered to my table, it came in a cute cardboard holder. It was decent at the top (would have been better with some vegan pesto, just saying), and quite good toward the bottom where all of the goodies were hiding at the base of the little crepe pocket. 

After eating, I wandered back near the door and considered checking out the gelato case, but figured it wouldn't be worth it since the guy working didn't really seem to understand what I was looking for. Overall, it does seem that you can order a wide variety of veganized crepes, both savory and sweet, although the lineup is going to be considerably smaller than the not-vegan menu, as it doesn't appear they have substitutions for some of the traditional ingredients (but THANK YOU for carrying vegan cheese! That is definitely a good start), like butter, nutella, or eggs. It doesn't seem that any of their panini are vegan, and I didn't bother asking about boba or gelato. 

Overall, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Some vegan options are better than no vegan options, and what I had was good (maybe not $17 good, but I guess inflation is really killing everyone, amiright?). 

3 out of 5 fruit bats. 

BackAYard Caribbean Grill, Menlo Park

A friend recently told me that West Coasters go to Mexico or Hawaii when they're inclined to take a beach vacay, whereas the East Coasters head to the Caribbean. I guess this explains why, despite my lifelong aspirations to go pretty much anywhere in the actual Caribbean, the closest I've ever come is via a dark, cool boat ride in Adventureland. A girl can dream, though, and what makes that dream just a little more palpable are fried plantains and jerk tofu, you know?

Cue BackAYard Caribbean, a small chain of five South Bay and Peninsula restaurants from Campbell to Menlo Park featuring an array of Caribbean dishes. Their menu is pretty meat-heavy, but does have helpful tags to determine what's vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free. Oddly, though, the menu does not list the plantains or rice & beans as vegan--they're only tagged gluten-free. Still, when I went into the Menlo Park location, the cashier confirmed that the plantains are cooked in oil and are vegan, but he then told me that the beans & rice are made with butter. I was deeply (deeply) disappointed by this, particularly because my husband and I had eaten the beans & rice on at least one occasion. He wasn't entirely sure, though, and went back to the kitchen for clarification. When he returned, he told us that, yes, they are made with butter.

However, I recently called their catering line to see if they could be made vegan for a catered event, and the woman with whom I spoke was quite adamanat that they already are vegan. She insisted they are made with margarine as opposed to butter, although she didn't specify what kind of margarine, and since not all margarines are vegan, who really knows? In any case, hopefully BackAYard will ensure their beans & rice AND their plantains are vegan, and update their menu tags to reflect that, as they're currently not tagged as vegan or even vegetarian.

Still, even if they're not vegan, the restaurant still has some tasty options for you and your vegan pals:

Jerk tofu: delicious and hits the spot, but the Yard Plate doesn't include any vegetables, so if you're in the need of roughage, consider a side of collard greens or sauteed veggies.

Coconut curried tofu with vegetables: delightfully coconutty, with just a bit of spice. Probably too spicy for my three-year old, but just right for me and my less-than-iron stomach.

Collard greens: Not my favorite for solo consumption, but mixed in with my coconut curry, they were an added kick of green to an already-robust vegetable plate.

Plantains: I'm taking the guy at his word that these are vegan, and they are delightful. Sweet and savory and perfectly textured.

Beans & Rice: I'm still not sure whether these are vegan or not, but since I've tried them, I'll say they're better than other Caribbean restaunts I've tried. A little light on the beans and heavy on the rice, but still good.

The menu also lists french fries, sauteed vegetables, tossed salad, and a jerk tofu salad as vegan, but we haven't tried them yet. This place is definitely set to be hot in our rotation, so I'm sure we'll give all of their vegan-listed items a try in the near future.

As of now, they aren't offering dine-in, but you can call to order or order takeout/delivery via third-party apps.

Bon apeti!