The Domain

Every now and then we like to go on excursions that take us outside of the East Texas area. Austin is one of our favorite places to visit, particularly the northern side near the Domain.

The Domain is an upscale shopping mall, or dare I say, community because it offers much more than premium retail. There are also restaurants, apartments, gyms, and even a grocery store! Yes, it is possible to live in the Domain and not ever have to leave it that often.

One thing we really like about this community is the wide variety of plant-based and vegan options that you can find. Although not every restaurant may be vegan-friendly, many are and a quick look on Happy Cow can send you in the right direction.

What’s to eat around here?

JINYA Ramen Bar

JINYA Ramen Bar is a real treat for vegans because they have clearly marked items in their menu that are either fully vegan or vegetarian. They offer various vegetable dishes and dishes that incorporate plant-based meats such as their Impossible Gyoza or the delicious Flying Vegan Harvest bowl – the latter of which we tried and were very impressed, to say the least.

The Flying Vegan Harvest, as pictured above, is a generous portion of ramen that includes Impossible meat, bean sprouts, corn, thick ramen noodles, broccolini, and onions. The creamy vegan broth was incredible too.

Shake Shack

A restaurant that needs no introduction if you’ve been in and out of the DFW area, Shake Shack is well known for its smaller portioned yet delicious burgers and creamy shakes. They also offer a plant-based burger; just make sure to leave off the shack sauce and cheese if you’re vegan!

In addition to their veggie burgers, they also offer dairy-free shakes. We’ve tried their dairy-free shakes before and found them to be a fantastic alternative to the traditional milkshake.

Gong Cha

You know we can’t go anywhere without trying the local boba tea place. Located conveniently next door to JINYA, Gong Cha offers a wide variety of drinks and milk substitutes such as soy or almond milk.

Being that we just happened to be there recently, at the time of this writing, Gong Cha is now offering pumpkin flavored drinks! It was our first time trying a pumpkin flavored boba tea. It was interesting! The hubby was impressed with their winter melon drink. He is very picky about how winter melon is prepared, so that was a compliment for sure.

Venturing outside of the Domain…

During our recent stay in Austin, we also traveled south to try a place that had excellent reviews on Happy Cow as well as Google. Intrigued by their famous all-vegan offerings, we just had to give them a try.

Mission Burger Co.

Mission Burger Co. is a special place. It’s one of those little gems that could be easily overlooked, but yet manages to draw people from all over because of its excellent reputation not only as an all vegan restaurant, but a top-notch eatery as well. Vegans and non-vegans alike will appreciate this humble establishment.

Located inside a small gas station, you’re guided by signage once you enter to direct you to the restaurant. When we walked in, we were given a warm welcome and complimentary vegan chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven. The prices were fair, a little on the higher end, but that is to be expected given that they are completely vegan.

We found their portion sizes to be more generous than those at some other places. Each of us ordered our own portion of fries, but we definitely could have shared a single order between the two of us. Their burgers were juicy, and their sauce reminded me a bit of the Big Mac sauce. Definitely a messy, delicious, good old burger. We did not leave disappointed. Even my husband, a meat eater, said that was one of the best burgers he has had in a long while.

T’so Chinese

We had the pleasure of stopping at this Chinese takeout place on our way out of Austin. T’so Chinese has multiple locations, and what makes these unique is that they are take-out only – no dine-in area at all. But don’t let that stop you, as the ordering process was quick, and the food that we tried was excellent. They offer vegan options that are clearly labeled on their menu. I tried their gluten-free sesame tofu with broccoli as an add-on. It was just sweet enough but not too sweet, just the right amount of savoriness. I chose their steamed rice as my side dish. The hubby tried their sesame chicken and was equally impressed by the quality and taste.

Some of their vegan items include veggie spring rolls, tofu lettuce wraps, Szechuan green beans, sesame balls, spicy garlic soy edamame, and several tofu dishes. Be sure to give them a try the next time you’re in the area and craving some good Chinese takeout!

Been to the Austin area recently and have some dining recommendations? We realize we barely scratched the surface on what all Austin has to offer. So if you have any places you’d like to share, leave a comment below!