Vol. CI | Spring | Issue IV

Hi y’all! Whether you’re here for the first time or are a returning reader, we’re happy that you’re here! This week, we’re reporting on our culinary adventures during our slightly chaotic spring break. With our friends, we decided to try something new and take three separate day trips instead of one big vacation, and Aakanksha and I definitely ate to our heart’s content, even as vegetarians! 

New York City, NY

While celebrating a friend’s birthday, we took our beloved PATH right to the World Trade Center, took the E train uptown, and arrived at Chelsea Market, one of the most well-known spots for food in the city. Here, we stopped at Chote Miya for some delicious Indian street food, Mokbar for spicy vegan dumplings, and L’Arte del Gelato for — you guessed it — pistachio and chocolate gelato. Chelsea Market has so many options, but we can confirm these three are great ones! And it’s definitely close enough to NJIT via public transportation for any night/weekend visits. After our walk around Little Island and down the High Line, and a long visit to the Met, we had dinner at the famed Carmine’s. We love places with big family-size portions, and Carmine’s Italian food delivered the comforting carb-loading feel we wanted. While there weren’t as many vegetarian options as we hoped, the garlic bread and penne vodka were serious standouts. Plus, the servers sang “Happy Birthday” to our friend with a huge bowl of tiramisu (candle included).

 

Philadelphia, PA

We started our 14-hour day trip in Philadelphia with breakfast at the iconic Green Eggs Cafe. You might think this trip isn’t as doable, but we were able to get $10 Amtrak tickets and explore all of the history Philly had to offer. For our fellow vegetarians, the cafe is known for its gluttonous (in the best way possible) French toasts. With flavors like cookie dough, pecan pie, cinnamon bun, crème brûlée, and so many more, it is THE spot for a sweet breakfast. It also has an extensive vegan menu, including savory food as well. My favorite feature of this menu is its various boards. The French toast board lets you try their three most popular French toast styles, and their snack board lets you pick from a variety of savory options. I (Aakanksha) ordered their Sweet & Savory board, which featured their crème brûlée French toast, mac & cheese, and potatoes with peppers and onions. The French toasts definitely lived up to the hype; they were balanced and fluffy, even the vegan pecan pie one that I (Rashi) ordered. For dinner, we ordered online from Monster Vegan and ate while watching the sunset on the Cira Green rooftop. We tried the fried chicken banh mi, Korean BBQ wings, truffle parmesan fries, and “exorcist fries” (spicy seasoned fries with jalapeños and vegan cheese on the side). The Korean BBQ wings were a little tough but had good flavor, the banh mi gave everything we needed it to give, and the exorcist fries had a good kick to them. We ended our night holed up in a Shake Shack, trying the new milkshakes (not worth it).

Edison, NJ

Okay, so we know this isn’t really a top destination, but we have friends in the area (as most of you probably do), and we’ve been so excited to visit Ugly Dumpling that we had to make this one of our stops. After successfully completing an escape room (with just 48 seconds left on the clock), we drove over and feasted on Chinese food presented in a cutesy way. Just like its expensive analog Din Tai Fung (Rashi’s favorite restaurant), Ugly Dumpling has plenty of vegan and vegetarian options. We ordered the scallion pancake, vegan dumplings, spicy vegan wontons, wonton soup, and, finally, green tea noodles with sesame sauce — which we ended up ordering seconds of. While they do not offer any vegan soup dumplings, we can confirm our carnivore friends enjoyed those too. If you like sharing meals as much as we do (it’s the more economically friendly way to go), and you have a car, check out Ugly Dumpling, as there are many locations nearby.

We hope you enjoyed reading about our spring break eats, and we’d love to hear about yours! If y’all want to keep up with more of our eats, feel free to follow us on Beli (@aakankshaa and @rashimatha). As always, thank you and see you next time!

Vol. CI | Spring | Issue III

Hello again, everyone! Welcome back to plant-Based! This week, we’ll be reviewing one of our favorite cuisines — Mexican! Whether it’s authentic, Texas-style, or incredibly and offensively American (we <3 Taco Bell), there’s never a day we won’t want to eat it. After all, it caters surprisingly well to our dietary restrictions. Read below for our reviews of three local and beloved spots at a variety of price points. 

Dario’s Tex Mex

Walk 15 minutes towards downtown Newark, and you’ll find yourself at a small but cozy establishment where the delicious smells will draw you right inside. Dario’s Tex Mex is one of the best fresh and local meals you can get for only $8.90 total, regardless of whether you get a quesadilla, burrito, taco bowl, or hard/soft tacos. We frequent their veggie burritos and quesadillas, which are always served with sides of rice, salsa, and sour cream. The entrees are filled to the max, whether you’re choosing veggies or one of their meat options. However, one of the vegetables included is broccoli, a choice that not everyone may agree belongs in a burrito. But we don’t actually mind it! The rice can be a little salty sometimes, but overall, it is a great deal for when you have those cravings!

Taqueria Los Gueros

With several locations within either walking or driving distance from campus, take a chance on Taqueria Los Gueros, where if they say a salsa is spicy, they MEAN IT. The menu is more extensive, featuring tacos, quesadillas, fajitas, burritos, and a variety of appetizers/sides (including their flautas). Their veggie tacos come with four corn tortilla tacos with beans, veggie mix, pico de gallo, and avocado. With a squeeze of lime on top and their green and red salsa, I (Aakanksha) think this is genuinely one of the best tacos. The beans and veggies are cooked and seasoned well, and their pico de gallo and avocado add the bright freshness that everyone loves in Mexican food. They also have so many fun agua fresca options that will complement your meal so well. For a great and reliable meal available even late at night, why not give this spot a try?

Tacoria

Yes, a taco from here will run you $4-5 PER taco, but hear us out! If you’re ever having a fun night out in Jersey City, Montclair, or Hoboken, consider giving Tacoria a try if you’re down to spend a little extra. The premium price comes with elevated flavors and lots of options. You may think guacamole is good, but my (Rashi) favorite way to consume avocados is definitely from Tacoria. The deep-fried golden avocado paired with all their made-daily sauces, crema, and other toppings seated on a bed of perfectly seasoned rice and beans is definitely already one of my favorite meals of 2025. None of the places we’ve mentioned are fully vegan, but Tacoria is the most inclusive of many different diets, so you can probably bring all your friends here! And please don’t skip their nutella nachos or horchata if you’re looking for something sweet, because both are so addictive and so good.

Thank you all for reading along! We hope you’re able to take some time to enjoy some of these spots even during these busy weeks. As a reminder, if y’all want to keep up with more of our eats, feel free to follow us on Beli (@aakankshaa and @rashimatha)! We’d love to know if you try any of our recommendations or have any places for us to try!

Vol. CI | Spring | Issue II

Hello everyone, and welcome to our column: plant-Based, where we, as vegetarians, are going to talk about the foods and restaurants near us! Our specific brand of vegetarian is no meat (no fish and marshmallows!) and no egg if it is visible (no to omelets, yes to cookies). For this issue, we’re going to give you our top restaurants — ones that we recommend everyone try, even if you have no dietary restrictions at all. 

Brick City Vegan

Brick City Vegan is a 100% vegan, American-style restaurant located on Broad Street. While writing this spread, we started craving it and absolutely had to order it for lunch. What we love most about this place — besides the fact everything is made from scratch every day — is their commitment to flavor. We’ve unfortunately had MANY bland and dry “veggie burgers” from other restaurants, but Brick City Vegan’s food completely redefined burgers for us. Our favorite is their iconic Black-Eyed Pea burger, which is drenched in their homemade sauces, making every bite so savorable. The burger also comes with a side of salad, which is a hit or miss depending on whether or not they remember to put dressing or vegetables (we literally got a box of plain spring mix leaves once!) Now, we’re not Beyond Meat people (it’s just a little too real), but those options are available as well. They also offer power bowls, smoothies, teas, biscuits, sandwiches, and delicious cookies. We highly recommend the mint tea! The only downside to this place is that it can be pricey, but we recommend you give it a shot and let it change your life!

The Green Chicpea

The Green Chicpea is a delicious local Mediterranean spot on Halsey Street. Now, while you can get a platter from the various food trucks on campus, THESE hit differently. Aakanksha’s regular order is a veggie platter with falafel, hummus, tabouli salad, Moroccan potato salad, and a side of pita with garlic mayo sauce and spicy green S’chug. Shout out to them for having a stacked combo and never skimping on portions! Falafel can fall victim to being dry and crumbly, but not this one! This falafel is consistently soft, moist, and well-seasoned. Now let’s talk about all these sides. The hummus could use slightly more salt, but amidst the combination of the falafel, pita, and other sides, you don’t really notice. Tabouli salad is quite a polarizing dish, but the acidity and tang elevate a simple bite of pita bread with falafel and hummus smeared on it. Now, the most unique thing in my platter is the Moroccan potato salad. We are not potato salad people, but this one is spiced and NOT mayo-based (we’re big mayo haters, sorry!) However, the garlic mayo here is not like other girls. It’s more of a thin sauce that, when combined with the green S’chug (which has a considerable kick to it), is great on the platter. Lastly, they also have fun house-made lemonades, such as a piña colada lemonade, that are also delicious. Overall, the Green Chicpea is a great vegetarian value spot with meat options as well, so it’s perfect for all of your friends!

Veggie Heaven

Veggie Heaven is the OG vegan restaurant for us. Rashi’s 16th birthday was hosted there, because I wanted everyone to experience it. What this place specializes in is Asian food, but more importantly, DUPES of classic dishes everyone knows and loves. This is where you go if you’ve ever wanted to know what General Tso’s tastes like! Now, we mentioned earlier that we’re not Beyond Meat people, but something about this place is just different. We’ve gone here so many times we’ve lost count, and there are multiple locations for y’all to try, though our favorite is Denville! Their menu has endless options, but the most noteworthy item is their sushi. We can NEVER have sushi for obvious reasons, and we think vegetarian/vegan people deserve more than just an avocado/cucumber/carrot roll. At Veggie Heaven, we can get anything from a Philadelphia Roll to a Crispy Veggie Crab Roll to one of their house special Fireball Rolls, which contains spicy tuna, avocado, Thai spicy sauce, and spicy mayo. The entrees are all unique and delicious, and they’re great value because you’ll almost always have leftovers. Don’t skip the starters here, because who doesn’t love dumplings? We’ve been going to Veggie Heaven for nearly a decade, and there’s still so much of the menu left to try, so we recommend you start exploring it yourself the next time you’re craving some Asian food. It’s worth the drive!

We hope you all enjoyed reading about the range that vegetarian food can have ⏤ it’s not just sad salads, we swear! Check in next time to read about new places we’re trying with our honest reviews. Also, if y’all want to keep up with more of our eats, feel free to follow us on the app Beli (@aakankshaa and @rashimatha)! Let us know if you try any of our recommendations or have any for us on the app!