Vegan in Duluth (St. Paul, Hills: coupon, coop, buy)

[WhitePicketFences]

Hi, my family is considering a job-propelled move to Duluth but we have only been there once. Definitely interested and would appreciate reading any experiences or observations of the vegan/non-dairy grocery options.

My husband & are just not-quite-vegetarians but one of our children has a severe dairy allergy and for that reason we do not purchase or cook with dairy at home. Besides easy-to-find soy milk/coconut milk, we do utilize specific replacement items like vegan butter, vegan cheese, vegan cream cheese, nutritional yeast, too-expensive crackers and croutons ...

Our current grocery store sells 4 delicious breads made without butter --but the year our daughter was born/diagnosed, we lived in a town where the major grocer did not sell a single loaf of dairy-free bread and that was difficult.

I see the coop in hillside but cannot tell quality/quantity of products. A realtor recommended Cub foods but not in reference to specific products.

(For restaurants, I can find more details online and would love to live somewhere where Pizza Luce delivers!)

[Robinwomb]

Hi WhitePicketFences! I've lived in Duluth for 19 years and was vegan here for six and a half of them (now vegetarian for the last four months but still have all vegan days). Any of the major grocery chains here...Super One or Cub Foods...will have much of what you are looking for. Both of these stores have Food for Life or Ezekiel breads which are vegan (no egg or dairy or dairy byproducts). Cub foods also has Rudi's bakery bread which is an organic brand bread that has some vegan options (the 100% whole wheat and flax bread are vegan for sure, others may also be). There are now two Whole Foods Coop stores in Duluth, and both have Rudi's bakery bread also, as well as Food For Life and several other brands of bread that are vegan. Even the Positively Third Street Bakery which is near the Whole Foods Coop Hillside has some dairy free cookies and breads (and some also without eggs or honey).

Each of the grocery chains as well as Whole Foods Coop have Daiya brand cheese shreds and Tofutti and Daiya brand nondairy cream cheese and sour cream. Whole Foods Coop Hillside also has Daiya block cheese and now SoDelicious vegan cheese shreds. Whole Foods Coop Hillside has nut based cheese from Punk Rawk Labs which is out of this world good but VERY expensive. All of the stores have Earth Balance vegan butter sticks and spreads (Whole Foods Coop also has soy free Earth Balance spread). Unfortunately, I have not been able to find Miyokos vegan butter or cheese up here which I think tastes worlds better than Earth Balance or Daiya. And speaking of nut based cheese, have you ever tried making your own? Fermenting and all? I've tried cashew based and almond based homemade sliceable cheese as well as cultured cream cheese and they are VERY good!

Cub Foods and The Whole Foods Coop both have nutritional yeast available. Whole Foods has it in their bulk section, while Cub has it on the shelf (Bob's Red Mill brand I believe). Cub Foods is a great store for foreign food items. Weird stuff like Marmite which is in a lot of vegan recipes, turmeric and Garam masala spices, and tamarind paste among others. Otherwise, I have actually had more luck finding stuff at Super One, save a few items. Super One has a good selection of soy and coconut milk based yogurts, while Whole Foods Coop has hemp yogurt, soy yogurt, Daiya brand yogurts, SoDelicious coconut yogurts. You won't find Kite Hill or Forager products up here though unfortunately. I've never tried them, but I've heard their yogurts and vegan cheeses/cream cheese are excellent.

As far as eating out, not a huge selection of restaurants but a few gems. The Duluth Grill has a nice vegan friendly menu, and Sarah's Table (also known as Chester Creek Cafe) is great too. Fitger's Brewhouse has a few vegan options, and many more vegetarian. there is a little hole in the wall cozy cafe called Toasty's on 9th Street and 10th Ave East which makes vegan grilled cheese sandwiches with vegan butter and bread as well. Their specialty is grilled cheese. They even cook their vegan sandwiches on a separate grill than their dairy products. So worth trying out! The staff is extremely accommodating! Little Angies Cantina in Canal Park has some vegan friendly options, though no vegan cheese products. there is a place downtown called Pita Pit that makes a few vegan friendly pitas (mostly the hummus variety). I've always found hummus to be a great substitute when I would crave something cheese like. I've even put it on pizza as a spread in place of vegan or dairy cheese.

Yeah, Pizza Luce is great for vegan friendly pizzas!

Even Kwik Trip gas stations here have single serve almond milks, and some Holiday stations also have them. I think I saw soy milk at one of those places also, but can't remember which one. The cafeteria at St. Mary's Hospital Duluth also has soy milk if you should need to stop in there.

Several times per year I make a trek down to the Twin Cities to find hard to find items like Miyokos or various plant based "meats". The Vegan Butcher Shop down there is incredible! They sell not only some excellent plant based meat that they prepare onsite (and many of their ingredients are grown locally), but they make and sell vegan gourmet cheeses too. Worth a trip for sure! It's only a two hour drive south. In fact I will be headed to St. Paul this weekend to be fitted for pointe shoes (for ballet).

Also, if you are looking for dairy free supplements (ie calcium, vegan d, multi etc), there are a few at the Vitamin Shoppe and at Betty Lou's Health store in Duluth.

I hope this helps! One more. Target store in Duluth sells pea milk (Ripple brand) that is comparable to soy milk as far as calcium and protein. If you haven't tried it yet, please do! It is very rich and creamy and is also fortified with B12 and vegan DHA. It is higher in calories than some other plant milks but nutrient dense and the unsweetened has a nice neutral flavor that works very well when making vegan mashed potatoes. I find many of the other plant milks too runny for mashed potatoes. It is very low in sugar too. There are other plant milks at all of the stores I mentioned, such as flaxmilk (Good Karma brand), coconut milk, cashew milk, Tempt Hemp milk, Silk Soy Milk, Westsoy soy milk, Silk and Califia almond milk as well as Almond Breeze, SoDelicious coconut milk, and others.

[WhitePicketFences]

Robinwomb, thank you so much for this information. So, so good to know. I do also buy tumeric and curry pastes. I haven't explored nut cheeses very much though I eyeball them in Oh She Glows etc. The same daughter is also allergic to peanuts and some tree nuts although we do not keep a nut-free home/equipment in the same way and I love my pad thai

I was unfamiliar with pea milk; appreciate the tip. (But I didn't think target would have food stuffs since it isn't a SuperTarget?)

Anyway, thank you again! Several of those restaurants didn't even come up in all of my googling!

[Robinwomb]

You are welcome! Yes, the Target store in Duluth carries quite a few food items, including produce, refrigerated, and freezer section. It is the only store I have been able to find Ripple Pea milk at (they have single serve as well as large bottles), though I think Whole Foods Coop is now trying to stock it (I saw a coupon for it for them).

I have discovered some of these vegan items at restaurants by trial and error, and lots of calling ahead and word of mouth. I used to belong to the Duluth Vegan Meetup group here before it disbanded, and you learn a lot about where to find stuff from others on the same path. . I have written a few reviews on Happycow.net which is an app for finding restaurants and stores all over the world that are vegan or vegetarian friendly. I think I wrote them under my same username I use here. Most vegan friendly restaurants up here have only two or three menu items that are vegan, with the exception of Pizza Luce, Duluth Grill, and Sarah's Table which have quite a few more than your token few items. Even Lake Ave Cafe sometimes has gourmet vegan meals but it's hit or miss with them.