Vegan in Vegas. Day one. Where We Nerd and Food.

We’re actually visiting New York right now, but we’re not on vacation mode and we’re taking time to relax a bit more. Those moments seem like a good time to talk about our recent trip to Las Vegas. Especially after I’ve had a bit of time to digest it all.

One of my favourite parts about Vegas is that it has a Frys Electronics. I’m sure some people would say gambling, or the night life, or just expect me to talk about the food, but I like two things most of all – vegan food, and embracing my inner and outer nerd. Frys Electronics is like the Radio Shack of yesteryear. All the electronic bits and pieces you could ever want in one place. Do you need a torx screwdriver? It’s there. Soldering gun? Yup. Need more batteries for any of your devices? Covered. Motherboards? You got it.

We don’t have anything quite like Fry’s in Toronto – there is Canada Computers, and Tiger Direct, but it’s not quite the full discount nerd experience. So whenever I go to the west coast – it’s worth at least one trip. The best part about the Vegas Frys is that it’s close to Whole Foods. Generally, I’m not that enthusiastic about Whole Foods, at least in Canada, because I know of most of the lovely vegan friendly independent stores in my community, but most of the time I have no idea where to shop when I’m anywhere in the USA.

We went to Whole Foods to stock up on snacks for the week, and to just look at all the products we cannot get in Canada. It seems, since earlier this year, those products have noticeably increased.

Here are just a couple:

Califia Farms Almond Milk

So first thing I noticed was this bottle of Califia Farms Almond Milk. It probably helped with my product recognition that two other people on my instagram feed had mentioned it in the last couple of weeks. The toasted coconut flavour was quite tasty both in coffee (according to JC) and by the class (according to me.)

They also have an iced coffee, but we didn’t see it in Vegas – We will have to take a look for it when we’re in Manhattan next week.

Beyond Meat

On our last trip to Vegas we had the chance to try Beyond Meat from the deli. I wasn’t really that excited about it, but we ate it cold and seasoned. We took three packages home, gave one away (to the lovely folks that took care of our cats for us while we were away), and I cooked the grilled one up with some Soul To Bowl Sauce and risotto. I’ll have to post more about it soon. (Spoilers – it was tasty.)

Ronald’s Donuts

And finally… when in Las Vegas, we had to pay Ronald’s Donuts a visit. As is tradition. They’re still exactly as tasty as they were the first time I had them… nearly 6-7 years ago. The thing I always enjoy about going in there is that it’s always got people just sitting down and enjoying a cup of coffee and a donut. Like a normal morning outing to Tim Hortons or the Sir Donut of my youth. It’s not some punk rock vegan donut spot, it’s a spot for regular folks, that happens to have donuts that are vegan.

Later that day we went and checked out Pop Up Pizza in the Plaza Hotel in Downtown Las Vegas, but that deserves it’s own post!