Dallas: Café Elite, BEE, & Pizza Lounge
When we got to Dallas late Saturday afternoon (this was the first weekend in June, if you recall), we were ready to eat. I’d decided I wanted us to try some new restaurants this time (it’s hard to stay away from Spiral Diner!), so we started with Café Elite in Plano.
Here’s Matt showing off his “I’m proud to be vegan!” pose.
Café Elite is owned by followers of Supreme Master Ching Hai, the lady that started the Loving Hut chain, so its menu is very Loving-Hut-like. Matt was starving, so he ordered some spring rolls first: carrots, cabbage, and vegan ham in crispy wrappers, served with Café Elite’s signature sweet and sour sauce.
He also had a garden salad.
Matt’s main meal was the Chick’n Parmesan with Daiya cheese, fettuccine marinara, and garlic toast.
I got the lo mein: wheat noodles with sautéed tofu, broccoli, and carrots. Simple yet satisfying.
I was really excited for lunch on Sunday: BEE, or Best Enchiladas Ever, a fast-casual “enchiladeria” recently opened by Monica Greene of Monica’s Aca y Alla.
The decor inside is swanky, and their create-your-own-enchiladas menu is super vegan-friendly.
We got some beans and rice to start, but we probably didn’t need to; the meal portions were pretty huge.
We each had two enchiladas.
Matt got one with the ‘vegan especial’ filling (that day, it was mashed sweet potato!) and tomatillo sauce in a blue corn tortilla, and the other with spinach, mushrooms, and tomatillo sauce in a wheat tortilla.
My two enchiladas were equally mouthwatering.
I got one with the ‘vegan especial’ sweet potato filling with amarillo (yellow chile) sauce in a blue corn tortilla, and the other with seasoned tofu and quinoa, ranchero (red chile) AND avocado sauces in a wheat tortilla, PLUS a side splash of mole sauce.
Oh my gawd. Perfection. We left stuffed and happy.
Matt and I spent the afternoon at the home of Seth Hayhurst, a filmmaker and fellow 105degrees Academy alum, filming an interview for Seth’s forthcoming documentary Average Joe On The Raw. I hope my footage makes it into the movie! Click here to check out the film’s website, watch the trailer, and preorder your copy of the DVD!
Many hours later, when our tummies were ready for more food, Matt and I headed to Pizza Lounge. This place caters extensively to vegans, providing TONS of faux meat topping options, Daiya cheese, and even vegan Parmesan for sprinkling.
We started with the Roasted Cauliflower & Cannellini Bean UN-Hummus: roasted cauliflower, garlic, and jalapeños blended with white beans and served with garlicky flatbread. Unreal. I WILL be recreating this at home!
I must admit, we barely had any room for pizza after that.
Nonetheless, we each had at least a slice or two of our pie, made with Daiya mozzarella AND cheddar cheeses, vegan pepperoni, and Tofurkey Italian sausage. Quite greasy and junk foody, but hey, we were on vacation! The leftover slices were even better cold the next day.
As if that weren’t enough, I still have one more Dallas post to go!
Ooo! Do you go straight for the slice with the biggest bubble on the crust too? My husband laughs at me for eating all the bubbly pieces first. That enchilada restaurant looks amazing.
Haha, yup! I often ask Matt if I can eat his bubbles too.
That sounded wrong.
Wow, that enchilada place sounds delicious!!!
It was beyond fabulous, and so unique!
Oh my goodness I LUV all those places. I now see I need to go back to Bee’s, had no idea I could get a blue corn tortilla and mole sauce!!!!
I <3 anything blue corn, so I was stoked about those!
never would have guessed there was this much good vegan grub in dallas! maybe I will swing on by sometime!
I know, right? Dallas is absolutely, positively, totally worth a trip for the vegan food alone.
That’s a great “I’m proud to be vegan” pose
I love the idea of build-your-own enchiladas! I’m been craving enchiladas the last few weeks, but haven’t gotten around to making any yet. They look delicious (as do all the other eats).
I hardly ever make enchiladas either, and I don’t know why…they’re so good! Probably my favorite Mexican dish.
Yuuuuuuum… That cauliflower dish looks amazing! I love that the pita bread is bubbly!
Bubbly bread is always a good thing in my book!
Wow. Bee looks like the best. place. ever. I’m obsessed with ridiculous enchiladas but I’m way too lazy to make them, lol. If I ever go to Dallas, I’m headed there!
I need to make enchiladas more often, too. But nothing can beat BEE, with all those sauces and fixins in one place…yum!
All the food you featured in this post looks more than edible. I’m liking the spring rolls, the lo mein, all the enchilada options, the pizza and the flatbread & UN-hummus. I could eat all of it!!!
I’d say it’s all VERY omnivore-friendly!
geez…I need to find cool restaurants like that where I live!!! That pizza looked amazing and that salad with homemade croutons!!! YUM!!!
The pizza was downright dreamy!
man you guys go to such yummy places!
I can’t disagree…
Who knew you married Vegan Superman? (You totally did. I know you knew. Or that you help make him into that
)
That dip sounds bonkers good!
Haha, wait a second, I didn’t know I married anyone! ;P
Ate at bee today, it was as good as you make it sound. Thanks for sharing.
Nice! Glad to hear that, Bill.