Veggie Planet

I got together with my friend Alex, who recommended Veggie Planet. She actually raved about the food and was so excited when I said yes. Tucked away in an alley, downstairs, in Harvard Square near Border Café, and easy to find. Even though there is no gluten free menu, they are VERY gluten free friendly. Everything is made to order and they allow for substitutions.

How is works is you choose your base - pizza dough (not for us), brown rice or coconut rice. Then you choose one of the delicious entrees to go on top.  And you have the choice or a small or large. The smalls were plenty big; I didn’t even finish my whole meal.

The menu and entrée combinations are so creative; it was hard to decide what to order. I ended up ordering the Roasted Vegetables – roasted butternut squash, Portobello mushrooms, caramelized onions, fresh tomatoes and spinach topped with olive oil and fried garlic.  It was pretty tasty and worked so well with the coconut rice. I did not like the Portobello mushrooms, not sure why, but the other vegetables were delicious, I especially enjoyed the butternut squash. It took 10 minutes at most for our meals to be made and delivered to us.

Everything on the menu is healthy but by no means does it lack any flavor. Alex also enjoyed her meal, the peanut curry with broccoli and a Thai peanut curry sauce topped with fried tofu 'croutons' and peanuts. The tofu looked so good and I am definitely trying that the next time I go back.

I wouldn’t say the food was over the top or blew me out of the water but it was a tasty snd inexpensive healthy GLUTEN FREE mean in a relaxed and casual atmosphere. The feel is very hip and gives off a retro diner vibe.

They also serve salads, smaller bites, soups, sandwiches and desserts; only the ice cream is gluten free (sometimes the dessert of the day is too). I was surprised to see they also had a very small beer and wine selection, $4 for  glass of and $5 for a glass of wine. Entrée prices range from $6.85-$7.15 for a small and $10.75- $11.35 for a large.

There are concerts in the main dining room after 5PM so the restaurant becomes incredibly small, and you can only eat in the dining room if you have a ticket. We arrived on the early side and didn’t have a problem getting a seat in the ‘public’ dining room.

Our server was very friendly and I loved that the restaurant’s mission is to use local and organic ingredients, and they also donate a small percentage of its profits to charity.

If you are looking for a quick, affordable, healthy and tasty meal I recommend checking out Veggie Planet. 

Location: 47 Palmer Street, Cambridge, MA (Harvard Square)

Website: http://www.veggieplanet.net/