Scrambled - Southern Diner (Greensboro)

Scrambled is a popular brunch place about a mile from the UNCG campus.



This is what their "Forester" scramble plate looks like when you asked for no brie and no eggs. I wished I'd had my wits about me and asked for them to replace the omitted ingredients for extra mushrooms or tofu, because removing the animal products takes away half the dish while you still have to pay full price. Then, when I had my first piece of tofu, I was kind of glad I didn't ask for a replacement portion, as the tofu was squishy and horribly bland. Luckily there was hot sauce on the table to make it bearable.

I will say the hash browns were good; crispy but not too greasy. The biscuit was also good, but I failed to ask if it was vegan (pretty sure it was a butter recipe).

Scrambled also has a vegan chili or a mushroom gravy and biscuits. Wish I'd gone with my instinct and gotten the gravy and biscuits.

All in all, it's one of those places where your carnivorous family members invite you to go because there are some veg options, but it's mostly a greasy-spoon joint that you feel iffy about for several reasons.

Ho hum. There's perhaps never going to be a robust enough market to sustain a totally vegan Americana diner. ...Then again, we're going to have to fight climate change with diet change if we intend not to die.

Sassool (Raleigh)

Sassool's is a Mediterranean deli with locations in Raleigh and Cary. I'm a big fan of their menu, and as a picky Med. food enthusiast, that's saying something. Their Raleigh location also has a corner of the store set up like a market & bakery. There are the usual date cookies and boxed falafel mixes, but also harder to find Middle Eastern items like sumac and rose water.

Pictured, their lunchbox special: half a falafel pita with choice of two sides and a piece of baklava (you can give it away to a non-vegan friend). My two sides were rice-stuffed grape leaves (request replacement of yogurt sauce with hummus) and the black bean salad.

Look at the gorgeous interior of their falafel—herby as fuck! The way it should be!

I've sampled many of their other sides, and these are all good so far. Sassool doesn't over-salt, but lets the herbs and olive oil do the talking. I would personally like more salt, but I know other people are practically salt-phobic (my parents). My mom, a devout carnivore who now likes Med. food since I've become veg, has now really taken to eating lentils—and all because of Sassool's delicious lentils with caramelized onions.

Above, my plate on another occasion I went: their quinoa tabouli (again, needed more salt, but still so herby and good) and more of the black bean/chickpea salad.

On this occasion I noticed they have vegan versions of their stuffed dates. I have no idea what it was stuffed with, but the filling was a thick kind of creamy (like cake frosting) and perhaps a little too sweet to eat right after enjoy delicious acidic Med food. Still, it's nice they keep the vegans in mind with regards to their pastry counter.