Choices for vegan food have been expanding over the past few years. According to Dining Alliance, a company that provides data and analytics to help restaurants, “the number of restaurants serving some kind of meat alternative jumped 26.4% from 2017 to 2019.” Sales of these products also increased by 286% over the same time. 

A 2021 study of the most vegan states found that Alabama ranked 47 out of the 50 states, putting them at the bottom of the list. This is based on criteria including the number of vegan restaurants per state. There are few all-vegan restaurants in Alabama, with ones such as Slutty Vegan and Cinnaholic being located near Birmingham. 

What about Montevallo? 

Although ranked low in terms of vegan restaurants, there are vegan-friendly options available at many restaurants in Montevallo. 

The University of Montevallo is where most students know that there are vegan alternatives to their food choices. 

Brock Bush, a sophomore at UM, said, “I know in Farmer they have the two options for the day. Occasionally in the Caf. they have bean burgers, but besides that, there are not many options.” 

Anna Irvin Dining Hall

Also known as the Caf., the on-campus dining facility puts labels on the food stations that indicate whether a product meets certain dietary requirements. 

For people who are interested in healthy ingredients, they also have nutritional information available on all of the dishes. 

Chloe Chapman, a sophomore at UM, said “ If they were more descriptive…like if you were to order a plant-based beef patty. If they told you what was in the patty, I would probably order more plant-based options.” 

Einstein Bros Bagels

Located in Farmer Hall at UM, the bagel shop has a variety of vegan bagels and spreads available. However, their vegan coffee drink options consist of either iced or hot coffee with almond milk. To see a more complete list of all vegan options at Einstein Bros, visit VeggL’s guide. 

Pita Pit

Also located in Farmer, Pita Pit offers two different veggie pitas: Falafel and Spicy Black Bean. To order a vegan pita, just add veggie toppings and choose one of their vegan sauces. 

To see the nutritional and allergen information, visit the Pita Pit website and click the related links.  

Moving off-campus, vegan options are still available. Some off-campus restaurants with vegan options are: 

Main Street Tavern

Known by many as the Tav, Main Street Tavern has limited options for vegans. There are some side items such as green beans, broccoli, and rice that can be combined in a veggie plate. The Tavern also has some appetizer options including fried pickles and onion rings. However, be sure to take off the non-vegan dipping sauces. 

Taco Bell

Taco Bell makes it easy to order vegan options with their option to  “make it Fresco.” The fast-food chain also has a veggie cravings menu that is customizable. Taco Bell even has its own guide on how to order vegan. 

Slice

Slice is a newer restaurant that has come to Montevallo. Their menu setup makes ordering vegan easy. They have vegan pizza crust and vegan cheese available. Just add on your choice of veggie toppings and enjoy. 

The restaurants listed above are just a few of the vegan options that are available near Montevallo. With the growing awareness of the health benefits of veganism for both the animals and the planet, there are more choices than ever before. This makes eating vegan accessible to people, even in a state that is not known to be vegan-friendly.