SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration
of World Vegetarian Day and Vegetarian Awareness Month, OpenTable,
the world's leading provider of online restaurant reservations and
part of The Priceline Group (NASDAQ: PCLN), today unveiled the 52
Best Restaurants for Vegetarians in America. These awards reflect
the combined opinions of more than 5 million restaurant reviews
submitted by verified OpenTable diners for more than 20,000
restaurants in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Featuring many of the restaurants that helped establish the
vegan and vegetarian eating movements, such as Moosewood in
Ithaca, New York, and Sublime in
Fort Lauderdale, as well as newer
vegetable-centric eateries that have moved plant-based cuisine into
the mainstream, such as Al's Place in San
Francisco and Vedge in Philadelphia, the complete list features
winning restaurants in 14 states and the District of Columbia. California has 15 winning
restaurants, followed by New York
with 13, Pennsylvania with six,
and Maryland with four.
Illinois, Oregon, and Washington all have two eateries. Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, North
Carolina, Vermont,
Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin are also represented.
Vegan restaurants represent 21 spots on the list, as do
vegetarian-friendly eateries; vegetarian restaurants account for
the remaining ten. While most of the winning restaurants have deep
ties to growers and emphasize seasonal, farm-to-table dishes, a
host of global cuisines proved popular, including Afghan, Chinese,
Indian, Italian, Mexican, and Shojin. A significant percentage of
honorees easily accommodate diners with gluten allergies or
sensitivities.
More than half of the award winners were founded in the last
five years, with seven winners opening their doors in 2015 alone,
such as Plant Food and Wine in Venice,
California, and Encantada Restaurant in Baltimore. Landmark vegetarian restaurants
also dot the list, with some having been in business since the
seventies, including Blind Faith Cafe in Evanston, Illinois, and Irregardless Cafe in
Raleigh, North Carolina. Standout
restaurants skew heavily toward providing an upscale casual dining
experience as opposed to fine dining, though several winners cater
to this affinity.
"Whether these restaurants serve vegan, vegetarian, or
vegetarian-friendly fare, fruits and vegetables are given the star
treatment at each establishment," said Caroline Potter, Chief Dining Officer at
OpenTable. "From omnivores seeking to indulge in the best of the
season's natural bounty to diners who prefer a sustainable,
meatless diet, eaters of every appetite can discover delicious
plant-based dining experiences at any of these outstanding
spots."
Of the vegetable-forward food movement, Matthew Kenney, renowned chef and CEO and
founder of Matthew Kenney Cuisine and culinary academy added, "The
market is blossoming all over the world for plant-based cuisine.
It's just expected now that all progressive restaurants will have a
vegetarian tasting menu or vegan items on the menu."
The OpenTable data science team used natural language processing
techniques to identify all semantically related phrases that refer
to the concept of a vegetarian or vegetarian-friendly restaurant.
For each restaurant, they then identified reviews that contain
these key phrases (qualifying reviews). A final score was assigned
to a restaurant based on a combination of three scores: the
percentage of qualifying reviews, a score based on the sentiment
expressed in the relevant portion of these reviews, as well as the
"overall" star-ratings associated with these reviews.
Based on this methodology, the following restaurants, listed in
alphabetical order, comprise the 52 Best Restaurants for
Vegetarians in America according to OpenTable diners. The complete
list may also be viewed at
http://www.opentable.com/m/best-restaurants-for-vegetarians-and-vegans-in-america/.
2015 52 Best Restaurants for Vegetarians in America
A Single Pebble – Burlington,
Vermont
Agrodolce – Seattle,
Washington
Al's Place – San Francisco,
California
Blind Faith Cafe – Evanston,
Illinois
Blossom-Chelsea – New York, New
York
Blossom on Columbus – New York, New
York
Cafe Clover – New York, New
York
Cafe Gratitude – San Diego,
California
Cafe Manna – Brookfield,
Wisconsin
Candle 79 – New York, New York
Candle Cafe West – New York, New
York
Charlie Was a Sinner – Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
Civico 1845 – San Diego,
California
Crossroads – Los Angeles,
California
Departure Restaurant and Lounge – Portland, Oregon
Dirt Candy – New York, New
York
Dovetail – New York, New York
Encantada Restaurant – Baltimore,
Maryland
Equinox – Washington, D.C.
FARMiCiA – Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
Firefly Restaurant – San Francisco,
California
Flora – Jenkintown,
Pennsylvania
French Meadow Cafe & Bluestem Bar – Minneapolis, Minnesota
The Gadarene Swine – Studio City,
California
Gather – Berkeley, California
Gracias Madre – West Hollywood,
California
Green Zebra – Chicago,
Illinois
Greens Restaurant – San Francisco,
California
The Helmand – Baltimore,
Maryland
The Herb Box-Old Town – Scottsdale,
Arizona
Irregardless Cafe – Raleigh, North
Carolina
Kajtisu, New York, New York
Mi Lah Vegetarian – Ambler,
Pennsylvania
Mizuna Restaurant and Wine Bar – Spokane,
Washington
Modern Love – Omaha, Nebraska
Moosewood – Ithaca, New York
Natural Selection – Portland,
Oregon
Pala – New York, New York
Plant Food and Wine – Venice,
California
Ravens Restaurant-Stanford Inn by the Sea – Mendocino, California
Sage-A Plant Based Bistro – Culver City,
California
Saha – San Francisco, New York
The Springs – Los Angeles,
California
Sticky Rice – Baltimore,
Maryland
Sublime –Fort Lauderdale, Florida
SunCafe – Studio City,
California
Sweet 27 Bar and Restaurant – Baltimore,
Maryland
V-Note Organic Wine Bar & Vegan Bistro – New York, New York
V Street – Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
Vatan Indian Restaurant – New York, New
York
Vedge – Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
Wassail – New York, New York
Diners can read more about the 52 Best Restaurants for
Vegetarians in America, including the OpenTable Connected kick-off
celebration of World Vegetarian Day at Plant Food and Wine held on
September 30, 2015, by visiting the
OpenTable blog. For perspectives on plant-based dining from
culinary professionals, visit our restaurant industry blog, Open
for Business.
About OpenTable Restaurant Reviews
Originally launched
in November 2008, the OpenTable
Reviews program helps diners find restaurants that best fit their
dining occasions. Only diners who recently honored an
OpenTable reservation are invited to submit restaurant reviews.
Visitors to OpenTable can access reviews for thousands of OpenTable
restaurant partners across the United
States, Canada,
Germany and the UK. The
OpenTable Reviews program has generated more than 34 million
restaurant reviews by verified diners, establishing OpenTable as
one of the largest and most trusted sources for restaurant
reviews.
About OpenTable
OpenTable, part of The Priceline Group
(NASDAQ: PCLN), is the world's leading provider of online
restaurant reservations, seating more than 17 million diners per
month via online bookings across more than 32,000 restaurants. The
OpenTable network connects restaurants and diners, helping diners
discover and book the perfect table and helping restaurants deliver
personalized hospitality to keep guests coming back. The OpenTable
service enables diners to see which restaurants have available
tables, select a restaurant based on verified diner reviews, menus,
and other helpful information, and easily book a reservation. In
addition to the company's website and mobile apps, OpenTable powers
online reservations for nearly 600 partners, including many of the
Internet's most popular global and local brands. For restaurants,
the OpenTable hospitality solutions enable them to manage their
reservation book, streamline their operations, and enhance their
service levels. Since its inception in 1998, OpenTable has seated
more than 885 million diners around the world. The Company is
headquartered in San Francisco,
California, and the OpenTable service is available
throughout the United States, as
well as in Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico, and the UK.
OpenTable, OpenTable.com, OpenTable logos, and
other
service names are the trademarks of OpenTable, Inc. and/or its
affiliates
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SOURCE OpenTable