Dearest vegan food aficionados visiting the Outer Banks,
You are entering the land of BBQ, seafood and bacon-wrapped good ol’ country cook’n. I’m not going to monkfruit sugar coat this: it can be challenging to find thoughtfully crafted plant-based food in the Outer Banks.
Restaurants in OBX are just coming around to expanding their menus with basic vegan options. That’s where you come in! The more you visit OBX and demand these options, the more we’ll see progressive, creative vegan cuisine in the area.
As a vegetarian of nearly 30 years (woohoo!) and an OBX local, here are some vegan dish standouts to look for while dining out in the northern Outer Banks!
Kill Devil Hills Vegan Options
🌱 Asian food - The Thai Room and Single Fin Thai-Sushi both offer veggie curry dishes and tofu options. I love the Thai Room soup.
🌱 Bonzer Shack - Order the Super Shack Salad, which comes with fried plantains. If you are really hungry, “beef up” your salad by adding on black bean cakes.
🌱 Fresh Fit Cafe - Breakfast and lunch, including vegan blueberry pancakes and a chickpea or portobello wrap.
🌱 Mama Kwans - The Garbage Plate offers a light meal of rice, veggies and cucumber salad with Asian flair.
🌱 Outer Banks Brewing Station - Wash down an order of vegan tacos made with jackfruit or a veggie burger with a local craft beer. Second Thursday of the month (better to call and check that!), they do a special vegan tapas night, which is quite impressive. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
🌱 Two Roads Tavern - Several veggie burgers to choose from, including quinoa burger, black bean burger, Beyond Meat and Impossible burgers.
Kitty Hawk Vegan Options
🌱 Bad Bean Baja Grill - The tofu tacos are delicious, but you will need to order them “no cheese, no sour cream” if you are vegan. Ask them to top them with guacamole instead to dress them up.
🌱 Outer Bean Cafe - Healthy cafe with veggie sandwich and salad options and fresh juices
🌱 Ocean Boulevard Bistro and Martini Bar - You have to ask for it, but they have a special vegan menu. This is a top-notch restaurant in the OBX, but the veggie menu is a little lacking in creativity. Mainly, it’s a reshuffling of the sides to main dishes on the normal menu. Thank goodness, martinis are vegan.
🌱 Vinny’s Pizza Joint - Vegan pizza, God bless ‘em!
Nags Head Vegan Options
🌱 Waveriders Coffee - Bagels with delicious vegan cashew cream cheeze. Also, kombucha!
I’m really happy we have these options, but of course there’s so much more to vegan cuisine than curries, veggie burgers and salads. A call to OBX restauranteurs: lets see some creativity! I’d love to see some vegan biscuits, raw vegan cheesecakes, tempeh (instead of always tofu), and vegan mac n’ cheeze in the Outer Banks.
Vegans, if you uncover some delicious options in OBX, use your voice and support these restaurants through your reviews.