Local Sprouts Cooperative, Portland, Maine

Local Sprouts Cooperative
-Portland, Maine-

(Portland Press Herald)

Alex and I are visiting Maine this week for the holidays! Last night upon our arrival, my cousin and fellow veg Devin took us out to a local veg-friendly restaurant in Portland. Local Sprouts Cooperative features a menu for both herbivores and carnivores. 

The Menu!

With menu items like sweet and spicy tofu, falafel, and fish tacos its hard to pick just one dish. Alex settled on the 'Classic WeeBit Grassfed Cheeseburger' with bacon and a chai latte made with soymilk, while Devin and I both tried 'Rob's Vegan Moonburger' with a creamy aioli sauce and green tea. 
Each meal came with a side of whatever the house salad of the day is. Ours was a warmed mix of greens, noodles, carrots, onions, and bean sprouts. It tasted like the inside of a spring roll. YUM! I cleaned my plate. The aioli on the bun was the perfect hummus texture, and the patty was a slightly sweet nut-based patty that had a similar taste and texture to baked falafel (see our recipe in the recipe section!).

Rob's Moonburger with Aioli at Local Sprouts Cooperative.

The atmosphere of this place was great. The walls were all hand painted with funky designs, the tables and seating all in curved lines. There was a small stage and piano at the front for when they have in house music. They even told us about a New Years Eve event they're throwing with lots of music and food and invited us to attend! Even the bathrooms were filled with chalkboards and chalk for you to leave your own message. 
I HIGHLY recommend this place to anyone who gets to visit my home state. I was truly proud to return and find that Maine is offering some delicious and quality choices for its vegans and just generally health conscious people.  Afterward, we were lucky enough to peruse the (freezing) streets of Portland and see a vegetarian restaurant called the Green Elephant Vegetarian Bistro. The decor was really neat, but had already closed for the night so hopefully we make it back there this week!