El Chupacabra Loves Vegans

Those of you who call Phinney Ridge, Ballard, Greenwood, or Fremont home are likely quite aware of the eclectic and hoppin' El Chupacabra Mexican restaurant and bar, but for the rest of Seattle this little joint could be a well-kept secret.

If you haven't been there, picture a tiny house filled with La Calavera Catrina tchotchkes, a cozy fire, a bustling bar, twinkling x-mas lights, and an amazing jukebox selection. That this restaurant has served house-made veggie chorizo since it opened, is quite unique - but the news that they now offer Daiya vegan cheese and two types of vegan "meat" for their dishes is just out of this effing world!

El Chupacabra already has a strong reputation for good food, creative house-made hot sauces, and killer margaritas - add these new mega vegan friendly options and there is no Mexican place that compares for about 800 miles!

I ordered the vegan "steak" quesadilla - I've never had that before in my life! It was as glutinous as it sounds, (next time I'll order salad too), but was DELICIOUS. I added lots of the tomatillo medium salsa. KC had the taco salad made vegan with the "steak" and it was enormous! He used almost the whole bottle of their much hotter sauce (our friend BP recently commented that KC has no taste buds left).

quesadilla and taco salad

Next time I am going to get a a vegan chick'un burrito - I haven't had something like that since 1992! Their meats are Gardein brand, so you can be sure that not only are they vegan, but they have a wide variety of protein sources as well (usually some combo of soy protein, vital wheat gluten, quinoa, amaranth, millet and kamut, and/or pea protein).

One warning: this place is a really popular neighborhood haunt. Even on a Tuesday you could wait 45 minutes for a table. I recommending going for lunch, or happy hour, or after 9pm. And bring your friends, because the atmosphere is like a party.

El Chupacabra
6711 Greenwood Ave N
Seattle, WA, USA
(206) 706-4889