Continuing with posts about my recent road trip, I bring you Sedona, AZ.  My mom and I absolutely loved it here.  It was so beautiful – red rocks galore!  I definitely recommend a trip here, and if you do, take a tour on the Sedona Trolley.  It’s a great way to familiarize yourself with the sights.

Because Sedona is more of an artsy community, vegan food is easier to find here.  They have a natural foods market to get your vegan groceries and a full vegetarian restaurant.  Plus, many of the omnivorous restaurant offer vegan options.

My mom and I got to Sedona in the evening, so we hit up Simon’s Hot Dogs.  Sedona has some very strict regulations about signs and lighting, so finding this place was rather difficult.  It is inside the Oak Creek Brewing Company on this side street.  Once you find the place, you are in for a treat!  The head guy (I’m assuming Simon) is super nice and he’ll direct you to what can be made vegan.  They have one vegan dog that is substituted for the meat dog (it’s like a Field Roast sausage).

We got the Bratwurst Sauerkraut: vegan dog with spicy mustard and sauerkraut with your choice of chips or a pickle.  I love sauerkraut, so I loved this dog.  The vegan dog is very flavorful and combined with the mustard and sauerkraut – so good!

We also split the Cowboy Dog.  This is like a chili cheese dog – only he uses vegan chili with tahini for the cheese.  And I thought I loved the sauerkraut dog!  This one was even better!!  We wanted to come back to this place, but just weren’t in town for long enough.

For lunch the next day, my mom and I went to the vegetarian restaurant ChocolaTree.  This is like your typical earthy, yoga-loving cafe.  You can eat inside or outside in this cozy courtyard complete with hammocks and gardens.  They also have a complete display case full of raw vegan chocolates (some contain honey).

Most of the menu items are vegan (some contain honey) and a lot of them are raw.  They also have an extensive beverage menu.  My mom felt like she needed a vitamin boost, so she tried the Beyond B ($4): probiotic base B vitamins drink.  It was described as having an herbal tea taste, but I thought it tasted more like what it is: vitamins.  My mom enjoyed it.

I was very focused on trying the Buckwheat Waffle ($7) with vegan butter and cinnamon agave (beware: the optional add-on of coconut creme contains honey).  That cinnamon agave was so thick it barely came out of the dish – but it was delicious.  I loved this waffle.  It was a bit denser than a typical Belgian waffle, but so yummy!

We also tried to get in some greens with the Kale Quinoa ($11): quinoa, kale, and Thai sauce topped with shredded carrots, shredded cabbage, red onion, and red bell pepper.  I really need to figure out how to make this on my own.  It was so good.  The kale was not bitter at all and the Thai sauce was delicious!  It’s a healthy salad without tasting healthy.

Then the Almond Butter Sandwich ($6): warm banana bread with stone ground almond butter and honey (obviously I didn’t get the honey).  This wasn’t your typical sandwich – you definitely had to eat it with a fork – but the almond butter was the best I’ve ever had.  It had the perfect amount of creaminess.  Of course the banana bread that it was poured over was also very tasty.

And we couldn’t leave without trying a few of the goodies in their huge selection of raw chocolates.  I think my favorite was the White Goji Berry (white raw chocolate with goji berry) – no bitterness at all.  My second favorite was a toss up between the White Jungle Peanut (white raw chocolate with jungle peanuts) and the Almond Butter Cup.  I just love that almond butter!  The Jungle Peanut Butter Cup had a bit too much raw dark chocolate for me and made it way too bitter.

ChocolaTree
1595 West Hwy 89A
Sedona, AZ 86336
(928)282-2997

Daily from 9am-9pm
Simon’s Hot Dogs
2050 Yavapai Dr
Sedona, AZ 86336
(928) 496-0266

Mon, Tue & Thurs 4pm to 9pm
Fri & Sat noon to 9pm
Sun 12 noon to 8pm
Closed on Wednesdays