Category: | Vegan Restaurant |
Address: | 507 1st Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413, USA |
Phone: | +1 612-208-0992 |
Site: | theherbivorousbutcher.com |
Rating: | 4.8 |
Working: | Closed 10AM–7PM 10AM–7PM 10AM–7PM 10AM–7PM 10AM–6PM 11AM–4PM |
EL
Eleonore Wesserle
Too many options to claim Ive been through them all, which is one of the huge pros of this place. Also, the staff is incredibly friendly and very helpful. Thats something Ive experienced whether its in the store or at a pop-up. I love that their products are also all small-batch. This ends up meaning that they largely rely on wheat gluten for their meats, though tofu does make it in to some dishes, and soy sauce is pretty prevalent. This is def a drawback for gluten-free folks, but they do have a small selection of gluten-free grain and jackfruit based meat selections. On the other hand, all of their cheeses are gluten-free, but are nearly all soy-based. Their feta is based on almonds, and I think there may be one or two other non-soy options. One of the cons of relying on one protein source for your meats is that Im starting to detect a bit more similarity between dishes than Id like to. For me, exploring beyond my faves started to have me notice the common wheaty base a bit more, so if thats starting to happen to you, I recommend identifying a handful of very differently spiced & textured meats and sticking with those. And then thats where their spice blends come in, which are overall pretty great. I personally am a much bigger fan of the meats that have the spices Incorporated within them--the sausages, the deli slices, and actually most of their dishes--than the spice rubbed on the outside, which is the case with their jerky. (Maybe thats just a long-winded way of saying I dont like their jerky.) Im a bigger fan of their actively spiced stuff than their more basic ingredients (like, the plain chicken). Though the basic stuff can be more versatile, I find that they dont pick up the spices of the dishes I use them in that well, so I prefer some pre-spiced stuff and match the spices to the dish Im cooking. I have no complaints about their cheeses, which is saying a lot because Im not even vegan. Im a very much dairy-cheese consuming from-Wisconsin vegetarian. And I *still* love their cheeses. Though it mostly shares the same soymilk base, theyve really succeeded in making each cheese have its own unique flavor that parallels the original dairy versions quite well. The texture is more like a semi-soft cheese than say a hard cheddar block, and most of the cheeses slice or spread equally well. The biggest question: DOES IT MELT? Yes, it does! Not quite as melty as Daiya, say, and not the same kind of stretchy melt as dairy cheese, but its way better than other soy-based alternatives.
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Jen Morales-Correa
Im leaving a review specifically for their "Vegan Starter Kit", since I unfortunately live too far away to get to peruse this incredible shop! :) I have been transitioning to a plant-based diet since the beginning of March 2016, recently I thought it would be interesting to give some meat-free meat a try. After some searching on Google, I came across The Herbivorous Butchers website. For starters, I absolutely LOVE the Energy that Aubry, Kale, and their crew project. They feel like such lovely people, which in turn brought me to conclude that they probably make lovely foods. I looked around the website for a while, and eventually came across the vegan starter kit. Currently, its priced at $135.00. For some of you, this price might immediately be a deal breaker. I can say that in all honesty, I do not tend to drop this kind of cash on random foods that I dont have access to at least sampling first hand. However, these beautiful people are in Minneapolis, and Im in Columbus. Seeing as there (unfortunately) wouldnt be much of a chance that I would be in Minnesota any time soon, I debated with myself for a couple of hours as to what I wanted to do. At the end of the deliberating of it though, I did click that "order button". Im writing this review because my wallet hasnt made a peep of regrets since then ^_^ I ended up getting my wonderful package a little over a week ago. How I managed to show constraint this whole time to not just shove every single food item in my mouth within the first hour of the packages arrival is seriously beyond me. I LOVE the teriyaki jerky -- it is all the super delicious :D Last night I made the maple breakfast sausages with matcha soba noodles and veggie spring rolls for dinner with a meat-eating friend of mine. Her taste buds offered two thumbs up for the sausages, which pleased me greatly :D Ever since I moved to the Midwest from southern New England four years ago, Ive been consistently surprised with how magical the people out here are with their foods. I am even more curious now about getting to visit Minnesota & Wisconsin someday soon. Heres hoping Ill make that opportunity for myself; I know exactly where my first pit stop will be if I get to Minneapolis. All in all, if youre a debater like me when it comes to whether or not you want to spend a fair amount of money on things that you arent able to sample first, I am here to offer you a bright and shining recommendation and encouragement to give their stuff a shot <3 <3 <3
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Dee Kay
AMAZING!! I have been vegetarian for a long time and this is by far the best quality meatless meat yet!! The pastrami is awesome, even my meat loving husband thought it was good! I have yet to try a lot of the food I wanted to try since they ran out on opening day but will definitely be back to try them!! Awesome idea, adorable sister-brother team, amazing food! So fortunate that they decided to open up the first vegan shop in Minneapolis!!! OOh one more thing, I definitely LOVE cheese, but their veg options, pepper jack and havarti I believe is what I was able to sample, were delish!! Also, I bought the vegan marshmallows they sell, and I hope they continue to sell them because they are MUCH BETTER than the non veg jet puff marshmallows! They are heavenly and great in hot chocolate!
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Arun Madhavan
Just got a ribeye steak from here and I must say that they do a fine job of matching the look and texture of the real thing. It even had juices oozing out of it like a real steak would. I dont know if it tastes like a real steak, but it tastes good. The shop looks and feels like a standard butcher shop, right down to the paper they use to wrap the "meats." Theyve really gone out of the way to let us vegetarians in on the classic American experience of visiting a butcher shop. Friendly staff too. I look forward to trying more of their selection. One minor suggestion for the owners: I tried your burger at J. Selbys. Its too much like a garden burger, which isnt a good thing since your goal is to simulate real meat. The bacon was great though!
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Carin Skowronsky
Okay, I must say, for a non vegan open to trying new items, everything I tried was as good as it could be for know it was a bait and switch. The cuban pork and deli turkey were my favorites - once I got home to make a sandwich. I inhaled a piece of the jerky to tie me over on the ride home. The Mexican chorizo added nice flavor to the next days morning huevos rancheros. The presentation of all offerings were quite pretty, enticing me to buy more than originally planned. Put it this way, Tofurkey got nothin on The Herbivorous Butcher.
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Joseph Costanzo
You dont need to be a vegan to enjoy food from this place. In fact I hardly think you would even know the difference. Staff very knowledgeable about the products they sell as well as many other vegan options around twin cities. Ryan in particular was able to answer all questions from 5 different people while checking out customers, bringing out my Siracha brats, and giving samples to those who asked. Great food, great service, great staff. Visited 7-20-17 around 5pm. Will be back!