Saturday, September 24, 2011

Free Advertisement for Spiral Diner

Another restaurant in Dallas that we visited twice was Spiral Diner. We loooove Spiral Diner. It's one of the best vegan restaurants in the middle of the United States. We've eaten here several times over the years (vegan Texas posts).

Night 1
We shared the nachos, which includes a cashew-based cheeze sauce and quinoa, as an appetizer.

Ryan ordered the Chopped BBQ San'ich with potato salad on the side. This is Ryan's kind of meal. My sister and I play a game of looking at menus online and guessing what everyone would order; we know each other well enough so we're usually right. I'm sure she has guessed this sandwich for him before.

As typical, he had slid his plate over to me before he ate so I could get a picture. He was making happy noises and tearing up as he ate, thoroughly enjoying himself. Then when he got to sandwich side #2, he said, "Oh, here's this side; did you want to get a picture?" He forgot that I'd already taken one. I asked, "Were you eating so fast, you thought you'd wolfed it down before I took a pic?" He said, "I don't remember the last five minutes, to be honest."

My sister made a comment on my Texas post last week about The Mitch. Oh, The Mitch. She remembered that I had once listed The Mitch as one of my 5 food choices if I was stranded somewhere indefinitely. (My family and I like to play fun games, don't we?!) Well, I haven't changed my mind yet. The Mitch remains.

Let's get another look at him. Chipotle mayo, bac'n bits, grilled tofu, lettuce, tomato, what appears to be plain mayo, and that "special extra piece of bread in the middle, big and delicious."

The kids each ordered a Grilled Cheese Sandwich off the kids' menu. Can't go wrong with that.

For dessert, I ate (and split with others - I know you guys think that since I'm pregnant, I'm eating everything in sight, but honestly, I'm taking it pretty easy on the dessert front) this cheesecake. It was really good. There's so much going on here: there is the plain cheesecake layer, a chocolate cheesecake layer, the bottom crust, and the back & side BROWNIE crust. Would like to know how they did this one.

The kids got a milkshake to go. My oldest son obviously picked cookies 'n cream because anytime cookies 'n cream is an option, that's what he'll choose. The other two got peanut butter.

Night 2

The next day, the kids ate lunch at Rainforest Cafe because we were at the Grapevine Mills Mall, and it looked sooo exciting to them (and it was pretty cool inside). They told me the kids' pasta was fine for someone with "allergies" to dairy and eggs (but not the toast, which has cheese melted on top, that comes with it - not sure if it's vegan without the cheese). I waited to get a big salad at Whole Foods after the mall because I wanted to fill myself with plenty of veggie nutrition before we hit Spiral again that night.

The kids got strawberry slushies, to start things off.

We got the Chipotle Tofu Quesadillas for an appetizer. That's an inside look at it. Really good. Ryan says it is unbelievable, and he's disappointed he didn't get this as his entree...every night.

Ryan ordered The Meatball Sub. Not as mind-blowing for him as the BBQ - but good, nonetheless.

I ordered...The Mitch. I won't bore you with another photo. But I did add avocado this time for Baby Junior's sake.

My daughter picked the Baby Aven Plate. I'm sure she did because of the name. But it was also really cute watching her pick up each little bite with her fingers as she giggled. The plate comes chilled, which might seem a little strange. Cold sweet potato?...not bad!

My oldest son picked the nachos like we got the night before as his meal, and my other son got plain cheeze quesadillas.

This time, Ryan and I got milkshakes to go. I like that their shakes don't fill up an entire cup, which makes it much lighter. I asked for my chocolate shake "really, really thick," and I can't say it was really, really thick, but that's okay. Ryan picked strawberry.

Here are a few desserts we had gotten to go and ate during the rest of the week at the hotel. The cupcake: good and small (for the perfect cake to frosting ratio), just the way I prefer them. Brownie: they make very good brownies. Cookie: eh, it's okay. I can make better, but the kids loved it. Peanut butter cup: it looks dry because I put it in the fridge. I've also had better of these, but it's not like you can go too wrong with a peanut butter cup.

I appreciate Spiral Diner not only for their tasty food in the middle of cow country - but they are also seemingly committed to being as environmentally friendly as they can be. And they use organic ingredients as much as possible, too.

24 comments:

  1. YUM! Every single dish you posted looks so good! I would probably go with the nachos I think :) The cheesecake with the brownie crust looks phenomenal. I'm jealous!

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  2. Girl I'm drooling. Makes me miss Chicago for all the vegan choices there. I need to get to Dallas ASAP. It's just such a shame we have nothing like this here.

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  3. Hy dear, can I plz have some now...gorgeous pics makes me craving..:P
    Tasty Appetite

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  4. Hey, Sara; I agree! :)

    Heather, I know; I think LR is ready!...maybe one day...

    Jay, thank you.

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  5. Oh my, it all looks amazing! I'm sure it's one of the yummiest places in the whole country, not just the middle. I don't know of anywhere around here where you'd get such a delicious array.

    I think I'd go for The Mitch too, but the meatball sub is a close second. It must be 20 years since I had a shake...I want one so bad now.

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  6. Gosh, eating out must be one of the best parts of travelling. You guys know how to do it right!

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  7. wow that all looks good and some of it doesn't even look vegan (in a good way) wish it was all gluten-free too. maybe i will have to find a way to get to dallas one of these days.

    hope you are feeling ok.

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  8. Quinoa on the nachos, awesome! I am absolutely in love with quinoa so now I will have to try that. All the foods looks amazing! I would especially love to know how they did that cheesecake too!

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  9. So now I want ALL of this, and am in Canada. Thanks A LOT!! ; )

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  10. A cashew-based cheeze sauce? I need to Google such a thing.

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  11. I just scrolled down to Tracy's deserted island picks, and almost died laughing. We are all so weird. I think my choices would be different now.
    Spiral Diner looks really good! Maybe some day I can go. I don't know why you and Ryan don't invite me on all your trips.

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  12. The nachos are my favorite dish at Spiral! Tip: next time, ask for the seasoned seitan from Bryan's Brutal Tacos on there in place of the meat crumbles. Amazing!
    But ok, next time I'm totally getting that Chipotle Tofu Quesadilla...

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  13. Oh Spiral Diner! It's been a couple years since I've been there, and last time I had the meatball sub and it didn't agree with me. But the Mitch looks awesome -- I don't blame you for ordering it twice! And I would make the 3 hour drive just to try those nachos.

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  14. Looks so, so good. It's good to know Texas has some wonderful veg offerings. We have family out there. Have you tried anything in Oklahoma?

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  15. We're leaving Dallas tomorrow, but I'm going to tryyyyy to sneak away to Spiral Diner with my near-vegan sis-in-law for lunch first. She loves it and I've been wanting to try it for a long time! Rainforest Cafe is great, isn't it? Violet loves going. My in-law's are only about 10 minutes away from the mall, so we go every time we're in town.

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  16. Exceptional food trip.

    'Mitch' sounds like a good name for Baby VASF.

    I don't do the must-have-foods-when-stranded-on-a-desert-island thing. I do the last-meal-on-death-row thing.

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  17. Those nachos look most impressive! Wow. From your restaurant/travel posts in the past, you have shown me it's okay to go to one place repeatedly. I appreciate that.

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  18. Oh YUM!!! I just ate super and now I'm drooling over all that good looking food. I'll take the nachos and cheese cake first. Ha I'd be in heaven at that place!

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  19. Wow that food your first night is crazy! It looks like the real thing! Some people are just so good at that.

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  20. WHOA! All of the food looks so amazing! Nachos are pretty much my favorite food ever, so I think I would have to give those a try. There's a place in Memphis called RP Tracks that serves BBQ Tofu nachos that Bianca and I always have to get when I'm in town. Ha! And I agree with you - Little Rock is (or should be) ready for an all vegan restaurant! Hopefully, Drew and I can check out Spiral Diner someday. Thanks for the post!

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  21. You always seem to find such wonderful meals when you eat out! I thought the story about Ryan automatically passing his plate to you for a photo and not remembering 'the last five minutes, to be honest' was so sweet! Your photos have made me SO ready for my dinner. (Pizza with Dr Who!)

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  22. Sarah Lynn, thanks for stopping by!

    Rose, did you ever get your shake?

    Maud, we try!

    Bitt, they did have GF choices!

    Pam, I definitely think quinoa is a great addition to nachos. We said we don't know why we wouldn't always use it on our nachos to make them healthier now.

    Stacy, sorry! Hope you were well-fed in spite of.

    Good Luck Duck, oh, you must try for sure!

    Cary, yes, we are all very predictable. I reread everyone's list, too. You know you are welcome on any of our trips. I am trying to finagle one more trip to Chicago out of Ryan before it gets too late for me to travel...

    AmberShea, oooo, good tip!!! I would like that better for sure.

    Sara, the sub might have been too bread-y for me. But I liked the taste.

    blessedmama, I have never eaten vegan in OK, but I already have it in my head that I really want to eat at 105 degrees in OK City whenever I am there!

    Kerry, did you make it to Spiral?

    SV, I don't think I'll ever be on death row, so I do deserted island. Funny you should say that about "Mitch" because Ryan's middle name is Mitchell. Maybe there is some connection.

    Jessica, ha, that's funny. Glad I could reassure.

    Michelle, I agree; I think you would be.

    Carissa, how are you feeling?

    Sheridan, hope you guys get to check it out one day! And whenever I'm in Memphis, I'll have to get some BBQ Tofu nachos!

    Penny, it's always the main priority. And thanks!

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  23. nachos are the most delicious dish I have ever tested, it has an amazing flavor and good texture, thank you so much for sharing..

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