We live in the burbs and have seen our fair share of good restaurants come and go over the years. Some we’ve missed dearly, and others weren’t even noticed. When my husband sent me a text one day to let me know that a place called Veggie Grill was getting ready to open not too far from our house, I got pretty excited.

I didn’t even know what a Veggie Grill was but it sounded good – veggies!

We checked out their website a little bit and learned that they were pretty popular in Southern California, and a few of my friends down there had given them rave reviews. As I patiently waited for a sign indicating when they’d open, I received an invitation to bring my family to a sneak peak event.

Weeeeee…you bet!

My daughter was instantly enamored with the wikki sticks they give kids to play with. One of the employees made a bouquet of flowers for her that she still has on her dresser.

Happy girl

For a kid who has been living dairy free, going to a restaurant that is 100% free of dairy products is like heaven.  My son wanted everything he hasn’t had in so long: nachos, a cheeseburger and mac n’ cheese. We ordered all three and shared, along with their Fiesta Salad.

This was one happy guy who enjoyed his first cheeseburger in almost three years. He said it tasted even better than he remembered.

Boy in Cheeseburger Paradise

Apparently the mac and cheese was pretty tasty too! Perhaps better than the wiki sticks and her lunch was that it came with a cookie: a Newman O’s chocolate cream cookie.

Mac and cheese to write home about!

The Fiesta Salad was a full-sized bowl of vegetables and yumminess. In addition to offering dairy free menu items, they also serve vegan “meat” options. I’m not a fan of what we call veggie meat around our house but the salad was plenty filling on its own.

The salad is a party!

Especially with a side order of nachos that we all shared. Yes, even my husband tried the nachos (and he does not care for “fake” cheese) and admitted that they tasted just like the real deal.

Vegan nachos as good as the real deal

It’s pretty rare for my kids to get drinks when we go to restaurants since they drink almond milk and don’t like anything “bubbly”. Out of habit I asked for water cups but when we turned the corner to our booth I realized that they had a variety of options like raspberry lemonade…with no artificial ingredients like red dye! More cheers.

Natural ingredients only

We’ve been back there a couple times on our own and the kids continue to beg for more visits anytime we’re near that area at mealtime. With their healthy options, it’s hard to say no.