Hooray! I’m in Worcester!! Or was, by the time you read this. 🙂
I actually came to Worcester to eat at the one vegan restaurant I knew about, Belmont Vegetarian. Because of my astute research I attempted to visit Belmont Veg on one the first of the two days in a row they are closed. Hm. No biggy though. I took this as an opportunity to get some work done and to dig a little deeper for other vegan delights in the area. I ended up having a delicious mocha latte with almond milk, and a great BBQ tempeh bacon cheeseburger from Acoustic Java. They’ve got a nice mix of vegan options thrown on their menu. This place has a nice atmosphere, top it off with free wifi and you’ve got yourself a lovely little afternoon lunch/work station.
Another all vegan restaurant came up in the search but after much digging I discovered that they too were closed. But for good. Dear restaurant owners, please keep your information up to date. Especially if your hours change. Or if you permanently close your doors. When local vegans don’t even know a restaurant has closed, something’s gone awry. It took three phone calls, five foodie websites, and camping out in front of where the restaurant used to be, to verify that it is in fact closed.
That’s okay because all of the days events allowed me to get caught up on some writing and forced me to go to one of the two Loving Hut locations in Worcester. No, I wasn’t originally planning to go to either one. Yes, yes Loving Huts do count as vegan restaurants and will be included in this tour. But it wasn’t my focus in Worcester. However, I’m glad I got stuck here because little did I know that Worcester is home to the #1, top ranked Loving Hut location in all of United States. Pretty cool!
Loving Hut – 100% vegan
56 Hamilton Street
Worcester, MA 01604
I started with the chicken nuggets. Pretty tasty. A little oily but relatively light and yummy nonetheless.
I haven’t had wonton soup in ages! This was very well done. Light, with just the right amount of salty goodness to bring the veggies (carrots, peas, and corn) and broth to life. Mm!
I don’t think I’ve had any form of fried rice since becoming vegan. That might actually be a lie. I’m not sure. At the very least I can honestly tell you that I don’t remember having any because it probably wasn’t very good. Anywho, this is a pic of Loving Hut’s healthy fried rice – brown rice, corn, peas, carrots, onion, and tofu. The first thing I wrote in ‘notes’ on my phone was “wow.” This fried rice was not as heavy as I remember fried rice being. But it was so delicious and reminded me of what I had at those greasy fast food joints back in the day. Om nom nom.
Even though I haven’t been to too many Loving Huts in the US… yet… I think I know why this place is rated #1. Aside from making delicious food they are so friggin’ friendly here. Holy wow! Granted, the friendly factor at all the Loving Huts I’ve been to so far exceeds most of the other vegan restaurants. That’s no lie. But this place takes the vegan cake. The woman who took care of me was a lovely, warm soul. She greeted me with a huge smile and asked how long I’ve been vegan, where I’m from, and more questions about the trip once I mentioned that. So sweet and very attentive. Impeccable customer relationship management + good food = a winning combo.