On our most recent trip to Colorado we ate at the (horrible) VG Burgers and (outstanding) Watercourse Foods.  Both of these places had something in common, they served Oogave sodas.  Sweetened with agave nectar, the drinks are some of the best I have found since quitting the acid infested drinks such as Coke and Pepsi a few years ago.  They come in six flavors: Cola, Root Beer, Ginger Ale, Grapefruit, Watermelon Cream and Mandarin-Key Lime.    I tried all except for Grapefruit and found the best, in my opinion were all of them!  At first the Ginger Ale had no flavor I thought but after taking a drink I tasted fresh ginger, not the artificial ginger-like flavor of typical Ginger Ale.   After realizing these could not be found in local stores I called Stephen,  the owner, and asked if I could get some to take home and he agreed to meet me at the offices where I could pick up a case.  With a case of Esteban’s Cola loaded into my trunk I left happy.  He told me plans were being made to have them in Whole Foods stores soon in western US but no plans for the east, yet.  Hopefully, soon we’ll see them around here.

Our third day in the place we are supposed to be living.   The public transportation system in Denver is great, hybrid buses, cable cars and bike lanes on nearly every major road.  Traffic during the morning and afternoon rush isn’t very bad and I am sure it is because of that transportation system.   This day, after spending the first part of the day an event that energized and motivated me in ways I never thought possible, we went back to Watercourse Foods.   After that delicious goods we had the day before it was an easy pick.   This time I opted for the Reuben with sweet potato homefries and onion rings, Elizabeth had the Eggplant Parmesan mashed potatoes and onion rings and our daughter had the Vegan Buckwheat Pancake (she loves breakfast foods).   The Reuben was prepared with chopped portobello mushrooms, red cabbage slaw and vegan Russian dressing.  Being a connoisseur of Reubens, this one was excellent and the portobello is a very good alternative to the many Reubens I have had made with tofu.  Elizabeth didn’t like her Eggplant Parmesan as much as The  Grinder which she had the day before, she said the breading was not crisp enough.   The huge buckwheat pancake our daughter had didn’t last long, nor did the berries and banana it was served with.   Watercourse Foods is the best vegan restaurant we have visited to this point.

 Vegan Reuben

Following munchies we drove  to Colorado Springs and walked around Garden Of The Gods, a place we go to every time we visit the area.  Our daughter loved climbing on the rocks and it is a very nice quiet place to walk.   After we made a stop at Pikes Perk coffee.  The coffee beans they use have always been the best I have ever had.   It’s has been about 6 months since I have had any substantial caffeine so I had a decaf double mocha.  Before leaving I picked up a bag of the espresso roast, I will probably get back on the coffee binge as the cooler weather starts and I might as well start back with the best I can find.

Oh, I guess you want to to know what that big event was earlier in the day.

Short Post:

We began our first trip in 5 years to Colorado on Friday morning and arrived yesterday.   We had planned on spending our first day in Boulder and our lunch was at VG Burgers.  I had been looking forward to VG Burgers since finding out about the place and the idea of burgers, chili-cheese fries and milkshakes (all vegan!) was exciting to a foodie.   After finding our hotel  and getting the day of multi-state driving washed off we headed out.  Being hungry VG Burgers would be the first stop.  A small diner-ish place it looked perfect for finding good vegan eats.  I had a 1/4 pound veggie burger, chili-cheese fries and an agave-sweetened root beer.  My wife had the tempeh BBQ burger, large fries and the agave-sweetened cola and my daughter the nuggets and small fries.  I think my expectations were too high or this place just doesn’t cut it.  The microwaved patties were placed onto cold buns.  I make a better veggie burger at home and to top it off the veggie burger selections are Amy’s patties.  The nuggets are Boca, same you buy at the store in the frozen section and the fries, while  baked, just seemed not fully cooked.  I will give the agave-sweetened drinks good points but not enough to warrant a return trip.  VG Burgers in Boulder would rank as some of the worst vegan food I have encountered and at the price, $36 for the three of us, it can’t get much worse.  Burgers are $6 each and small fries are $3, far too pricey considering they are serving the same thing I can buy at a grocery store.

Afterwards, we visited Pearl Street Mall and walked around for a few hours.  Our last visit didn’t give up the time to see most of Boulder.   We went to Savory Spice Shop where we bought some Black Onyx Dutch Cocoa for making cupcakes and fake-hostess cakes.  They were having a grand opening and giving out free beer and wine, so a beer I had.

Next up: Denver and Watercourse Bakery