A vegan breakfast from Spiral Diner, via facebook.

A vegan breakfast from Spiral Diner, via facebook.

A new restaurant — or shall I say, “rastaraunt” — opened this weekend near the Dallas Zoo. Chef Ras Moses runs Iron Chef Rastaraunt at 810 E. Clarendon, offering Jamaican food. The menu includes jerk chicken and oxtail, but it goes heavy on vegetarian and vegan items.

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While meats of all feather and hoof find their way into our bellies quite frequently, some of our best friends are vegan (OK, one of our best friends — a diet free of eggs and dairy takes serious dedication!).

So in honor of meat-free friends and this new vegan option for Oak Cliff, we offer this list of our favorite vegan-friendly restaurants.

1. Spiral Diner — Obviously. Everything on the menu, from chef salad to loaded nachos, desserts and all-you-can-eat pancakes, is vegan. We hear that Spiral is getting a TABC license and soon will serve beer and wine. Vegan beer and wine.

2. Chicken Scratch — Not so obvious, as it has “chicken” in the name. But Chicken Scratch has several veggie and vegan options, such as chickpea lettuce wraps and the spicy quinoa salad, which comes with pickled vegetables, olives and a carrot-ginger dressing on a bed of mixed greens.

3. El Corazon de Tejas — Ah, the elusive vegetarian Mexican food. The revamped Tejano has it. The “veggieladas,” are enchiladas filled with mushrooms and squash and topped with ranchera sauce. Let them know you are vegan, and they will 86 the queso fresco and plate it with vegan charra beans. El Corazon also offers “parilla de hongos,” portobello mushroom fajitas.

4. Bolsa — While nothing on the menu typically is vegan, and some dishes are the opposite of vegan (see veal sweet breads), the Bolsa chefs are known to show love to their vegan customers. They won’t even complain about preparing menu items without eggs or dairy on order or whipping up a plate of roasted veggies with pasta.

5. Eno’s — Sometimes even people who don’t eat meat crave a hot sandwich. Eno’s has a veggie sammy with mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, fennel, basil and vinaigrette served on a toasted bun. As much as it hurts me to tell you this, 86 the goat cheese if you must, vegan friend.