Imagine Vegan Cafe, Memphis

While we really regret missing DC VegFest this year, I'm glad we got to go to middle Tennessee to see family, and we did try to make up for it with our own vegan goodies on the trip. One of the best parts was visiting Imagine Vegan Cafe after we flew into Memphis. It was my second time to Imagine, and Dan's first. We really loved it! The atmosphere is similar to my favorite vegan cafe in Florence, MA (Cafe Evolution), and the food options are pretty much perfect.

The outside of Imagine Vegan Cafe

We were lucky in that we were ordering pretty much 2 meals each -- we wanted one for lunch, then some to take to Lexington for dinner (we were pretty sure there would be slim pickins for vegans out there.)

Eggplant sandwich and grits

I ordered the eggplant sandwich with a side of grits (OK, I didn't know it came with a side, and he caught me off guard by asking, so I just chose what I hadn't had in a while!) The sandwich was awesome! It's not a lot on the plate, but it's really cheap (like $5.99 or something) and it does have that side. It filled me up for lunch, either way. I LOVE mixing white sauce & marinara sauce & having a lot of it, so this was great! A little messy, but we weren't taking this one to go, so that was fine.

Fried shrimp, greens, and bbq beans

Dan ordered the fried shrimp with two sides, barbecue beans and greens. I have never had 'real' fried shrimp, and I haven't had un-fried 'real' shrimp since I was a little kid visiting relatives in Louisiana. I -kind- of remember liking it, I'll admit, but I don't see how it could be better than this! This was a really good plate.

This might be pumpkin latte cake?

We ordered a slice of cake without even asking what kind it was (if it's vegan, any cake is fine with us) and it turned out to be, I think, a carrot or pumpkin cake with coffee in it--I think he said pumpkin latte, when we asked if there was coffee in it. Clearly, we started eating before the picture because we couldn't wait. It was amazing.

We also ordered the appetizer platter, which comes with 4 appetizers, including hush puppies, buffalo wings, and dogs in blankets (not sure of the term for this they use...), and a plate of 4 sides--corn casserole, broccoli, beans, and something else I forgot. Both of these plates were to go, as well as a vegan chicken wrap. 

All of that was only like $50! I promise we left a good tip. Everyone there is so nice, including the kid who ran by telling us "time for dinner!" It is definitely worth the short drive from the airport, and it softened the blow of missing VegFest!