By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

I walked into Ben & Esther’s Vegan Jewish Deli in Portland, Oregon and thought, “Wait, is this place really vegan?” The glass-fronted deli case had labels for whitefish salad, lox, noodle kugel, and egg salad. Had I misread the sign out front? No, the sign was correct. Ben & Esther’s is 100% vegan despite serving deli classics like Reuben sandwiches and matzo ball soup. They also have desserts including black and white cookies, hamentashen, and babka. Additionally, they sell challah and a variety of bagels. My veggie bagel sandwich was stuffed with avocado, lettuce, tomato, red onion, cucumbers, and vegan cream cheese. The “bacon” on my husband’s BLT was smoky and crisp and even looked like bacon. My only regret is that I didn’t get a few bagels for the road.

You can find Ben & Esther’s in two locations in Portland (6912 NE Sandy Blvd. and 1800 NE Alberta St.) and one in San Diego (6663 El Cajon Blvd.) with promises of the next location being Seattle.

Visit their website at https://www.benandesthers.com/

To find a list of veggie restaurants in the USA and Canada visit: https://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php