Jazzy Veggie - Ann Arbor, MI

Back at the beginning of June when I ran the DX-A2 1/2 marathon, Brian and I stopped in at Jazzy Veggie for dinner after the race expo.  I'd been wanting to try out this casual vegan eatery since it opened in late 2010 but just hadn't made it there until now.  We were greeted by the owner, Ananth Pullela, who enthusiastically welcomed us to his restaurant, went over the menu, and made recommendations based on our tastes and preferences.  

I decided to go with the Heart Smart Fries, which are baked (wahoo!) sweet potato fries and the Sweet Potato Quinoa Burger.  Do I love sweet potatoes?  Why yes.  Yes I do.  Let me first say that I rarely order fries.  Ever.  Why?  A) they are unhealthy, B) they generally make me feel sick and C) I don't trust the other non-vegan items they are fried with (such as buttermilk battered chicken fingers and cream cheese jalapeno poppers) not to get on my fries.  But baked sweet potato fries at an all-vegan restaurant?  Bring 'em on!  Were they awesome?  Why yes.  Yes they were.  Especially dipped in the balsamic ketchup.  YUM!

Heart Smart Fries - $3.95

The Sweet Potato Quinoa Burger was amazing!  The texture and flavor was very unique - definitely not your typical black bean or veggie burger.  It was more soft than crisp but held it's shape when I ate it.  It was topped with a red curry dressing that added a nice subtle flavor.

Sweet Potato Quinoa Burger w/ Tuscan coleslaw and pickle - $7.50

For an appetizer, Brian ordered the crab cakes.  He loves real crab cakes and these turned out to be pretty comparable to the real thing.  They were crispy on the outside, flaky on the inside, and had a "fishy" flavor to them.  I just had a small bite since they were fried and I had plenty of other food to eat.  I did think they were tasty, though.

Crab Cakes - $5.75

Brian also ordered the Pesto Pasta, which had huge artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, yellow squash, and zucchini.  I'm not a fan of pesto (too much garlic) but this had more of a lemony flavor and wasn't overly garlicky.  I'm still not sure if I could have handled a whole dish but I liked the bite or two that I tried.  Brian really enjoyed it.

Pesto Pasta - $8.95

On our way out I grabbed a piece of carrot cake to take home for dessert later.  I love carrot cake so I was pretty stoked to try it.  Unfortunately it was just "eh."  It was kind of dry and didn't really have a lot of flavor.  Some frosting would have helped combat the dryness.  They also had chocolate cake.  Maybe that's a better choice. 

Carrot Cake (sorry, I lost my receipt but I think it was around $4)

All in all, we were really happy with our meal at Jazzy Veggie.  I think it would be a great place to take anyone for lunch or dinner because even though it's all-vegan, the dishes are flavorful, appealing, and there is enough variety that no one (veg or otherwise) should miss the meat and cheese.

Jazzy Veggie is located at 108 S.Main St. Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Have you eaten at Jazzy Veggie?