As many of you know, Mrs Funmeister is a vegetabletarian. Naturally, this then figures in when we pick restaurants. On our trip to Venice, we discovered The Cafe Evergreen. Based on rave reviews on TripAdvisor we decided to try it.
The restaurant actually is located in Nokomis, inside a former post office. With both indoor and outdoor seating, the floor plan works well.
Both times we were there, the place was packed. That being said the wait for a table was not that long. They also had a number of options including a lunch counter and outdoor seating.
The Food
The real attraction is the food. They use only the best ingredients to keep their food “clean.” By that, they mean house-made and no preservatives. Moreover, they look for no GMO foods, buy organic ingredients when possible and prefer to use local sources.
Our experiences show that to be true. The first time, I had the Buffalo Burger with superfood slaw, while Mrs Funmeister went with the Raw Avacado Sliders with sweet potato fries.
Yes, the Buffalo Burger is real bison. It also is infused with Feta cheese, roasted red peppers and fresh herbs. Her sliders were served in taco-shaped dehydrated onion bread slices. The smashed avocado was infused with pico de gallo and micro greens.
We were amazed and delighted at the menu, which included breakfast, lunch, dinner and even wine, beer and cider selections.
The Second Go ‘Round
Many times when you go to such a place, the portions are small and expensive. Not here, they are more than generous. In fact, we came back on a subsequent trip and were even more impressed.
The second time, I was captured by the Evergreen Club. This sandwich was voted “The Best Vegetarian Sandwich in the USA” by Restaurant Hospitality. How could you not try it? It is a compendium of grilled cheesy quinoa cakes, organic micro beans, pickled beets, carrots, tomato and pesto ranch.
For a non-vegetabletarian, I will tell you this thing was delicious.
The Cafe Evergreen boasts four different varieties of Reuben sandwiches. She had the Roasted Beet Reuben. That’s made withl the usual suspects – sauerkraut and thousand-island dressing – but with pickled beet instead of corned beef.
Again, surprisingly good.
The next time, we’ll try to have a breakfast, sit outside and try the ambience of the great outdoors.
Whether you are a vegan, a vegetarian or just a normal diner, this place offers a great culinary experience. The portions are good, the service is fast and the price is reasonable. We gave them four stars on our TripAdvisor review.
Incidentally, it is just a hop, skip and a jump from Nokomis Beach – one of our better Gulfside experiences.