Like many whirlwind affairs, it began with coffee. A simple house coffee served in a shapely glass mug. Maybe it was the lighting, but I was a goner from the start. Herbivore was to be mine, at least for the weekend.

Herbivore popped up every which way I was searching for vegan food in San Francisco. Seeing as it couldn’t possibly be the only vegan food in the city I went ahead and fell for the hype. Well, good call on my part, ’cause this place is amazing. It’s all vegan, all the time, and they’ve got an enormous menu.

I’d planned to meet an old friend here Saturday afternoon, so that morning Tom and I gave this place a test run with breakfast. (As with the dinner photos, please excuse the crappy quality; low lighting and the ol’ travel pocket camera are staunch opponents of food porn.)

Tom got the corn cakes, which came with guacamole, salsa, sour cream, a ton of black beans, and potatoes. And he finished it, down to the last bean. He was just as pleased with the soul music being piped at us. Some restaurants we avoid simply because of the music. Not an issue here.

I thought I’d keep it light and ordered a few sides: tempeh, potatoes, and blueberry cornbread. Oops. Six strips of tempeh, a huge helping of super-fab spicy potatoes, and two giant pieces of blueberry cornbread! I managed the tempeh and most of the potatoes. Almost all of the cornbread got boxed for snacking later.

Luckily, in San Francisco it doesn’t take long to walk off a meal. A couple of miles of up and down and up and up and “Are you kidding me, there’s more?” up and you’re ready for dessert. So my friend (not vegetarian at all but still pointed out her leather-looking jacket was an animal-friendly imposter) and I grabbed a table out back and got our a-la-mode on. I got the German chocolate cake and she went with the rhubarb pie. They were delightful, and were left to our table for something like two hours, not being harassed, and were even told we “could stay forever.” But it got cold.

Later that night we met up with one of Tom’s old friends and his ladyfriend. Where to go, where to go…how about Herbivore? We started off with a bottle of wine for the grown-ups and a gingery fruity drink for me (it’s vodka, lime, ginger juice, and your choice of mango, papaya, pear, or pineapple—I got the pineapple). We all had a pretty tough time narrowing down our choices. Seriously, check out the menu and you’ll understand. In the end, here’s what we ended up with (and were all pleased with, if I might add).

Red curry: Char-broiled vegetables, tofu, potatoes and cilantro over rice.

Ravioli: Vegetable-filled ravioli in a sea of pesto. And garlic bread (for soppin’ up the pesto you can’t manage to eat with the ravioli).

Mac and cheese: With broccoli and red pepper, in a nutritional-yeast–based sauce.

Curry-coconut udon: Where’s the udon? She wasn’t feeling like udon and went with rice instead. Atop the rice are roasted vegetables, cilantro, and shredded coconut.

So that was day one at Herbivore. The next day we were just going to walk over to Golden Gate Park and wing it for lunch…but we were drawn back in. And I was finally called on it. Our waitress asked, “Weren’t you here yesterday?” “Yes, three times, as a matter of fact.” As if they’d complain. I dropped a bunch of cash and brought three locals (possibly repeat customers themselves) in. It was still a bit chilly out so we scored a table by the window to still be able to soak up some sun.

Tom got the burrito: beans, brown rice, guacamole, vegan sour cream, jalapenos, and salsa in a whole wheat tortilla. You can add tofu, seitan, tempeh, soy protein, vegetables, or fakey chicken. He went with the tempeh and was a very happy boy.

I had a fakey chicken sandwich. The soy chicken is in little chunks, topped with tomato, onion, pickle, and lettuce on French bread. No garlic-lemon sauce for me, but if you like that sort of thing I bet it’s fantastic. The salad that seems to come with everything is very lightly dressed and is topped with beets, which I love, as luck would have it. I’d never had cold beets before and I’m mighty glad to have been introduced to them.

And just so you don’t think I’m alone in my insti-love of this place, check out what I found on the restroom door: 

Spring also means bike ridin’. (Bike ridin’ goes on all year round with the locals, but I’m still new so I’m a fair-weather biker.) Last night Tom and I took the 3.1-mile ride up to the Laughing Planet on NE Mississippi for a hearty, cheapish meal. We’d been to the ones in NW and SE but figured we should check this one out.

Well, we needn’t have bothered. SE Belmont has us covered. The Mississippi location felt like we were at a mall. The outdoor seating could just as easily been a Starbucks, and it was apparently bring-your-screaming-brats-out-for-burritos day. Also, there was one counterperson, one person to run the food out to everyone, and I think one cook. At one point while we were waiting for our food, the line was a dozen deep. Oh, and they didn’t have salsa out by the condiments. Boo.

But yes, the food was good. Mine is the Grilled Veggies burrito, minus the cheese. You can sub rice cheese for a couple bucks, or add vegan sour cream and guacamole, or organic tofu or tempeh. These add up fast and I have never finished a burrito there as it is, so I don’t bother.

Tom’s is the Holy Mole, minus the cheese, with tempeh sub’d for the the standard chicken and quacamole added. He finished his.

Whichever one you live by or ride/walk/drive by, it’s a reliable choice. The menu has little Vs on the vegan items, and many of their ingredients are organic. And you can play with toy dinosaurs while you wait for your food.

Sunday night was going to be a hummus-making, pasta-eating night, but we’d hiked all day in Bridal Veil (and shot about 240 photos), and having not hiked in close to two years and not wrapped my knee early enough in the descent, 8.2 miles and 2500 feet in elevation pushed cooking to the…I was going to say “back burner,” but that’s such an unclever, accidental pun. There was just no way we were cooking. So Laughing Planet it was. For the second time in a week.

Whatever. It’s a burrito, probably the healthiest food there is. How can you feel guilty about vegetables, beans, and rice? It’s ridiculous that we don’t make them at home more often, but for a quick meal when you’re running around (or can barely walk another step), you could do a lot worse.

Oddly enough, Laughing Planet is where I ate my first burrito ever. They’d always frightened me, what with the potentially mushy beans and the mixing of foods together in a little packet. But a couple of years ago, when we were just visiting, a friend took us there and I took the plunge. A veggie burrito, hold the cheese. I didn’t even remember the place until I saw the booth at Vegfest and the guy asked, “Have you been to the restaurant before?” I answered, “I don’t remember,” looking to our friend because it did seem familiar. I know I came off looking quite the stoner, but I was just trying really hard to remember. And if I started caring what people thought of me I just wouldn’t be me, now would I?

I read a review on Citysearch or something where the reviewer complained about the premiums for vegan cheese and the like. I don’t mind. When a coffee joint charges 50¢ extra for soymilk I give ‘em a frown because so many people opt for soymilk that you know they’re making a profit from it, but when it’s an ingredient that maybe they don’t go through so quickly, I understand it costs them more to have it on hand. And I rarely order the stuff anyway. Tom substitutes tofu for the chicken usually, but honestly, I can barely get through the thing as it is.

And which location is best? Dunno. The backyard seating on SW Belmont is quiet and comfy, but I think my burrito was made with a little more love at the NW 21st one. And those are the only two I’ve been to.