Counter Culture

This is a vegan joint in East Austin. It is a café and rather old school at that. Kind of like stepping into a 70s diner. If you like that sort of thing, well, you will be right at home.
I have been here a couple times and there has never been a wait for a table. There is both outdoor and indoor seating. There is beer and wine if you need some alcohol.
The food is well vegan. I am not a vegan but I appreciate it. The jackfruit bbq is my favorite. The sauce is both sweet and tangy.
The vegan meatloaf was a tad on the spicy side but still good. As for the sides, I am a fan of the beets and the potato salad.
The food overall is pretty decent but not the best vegan food I have had. For Austin though it is pretty good.

Two words sum up our first experience here: Fail and Disappointment!
We arrived on Sunday early afternoon and were seated quickly. Our hostess shared that a big party had just finished up and left; the kitchen was backed up working thru the other orders.
After ordering, our waiter indicated that the food would take 30mins to come out. Kudos for sharing the delay with the customer. In the meantime, he brought out some chips and salsa to gnosh (had to request this).
Thirty minutes comes and goes, as does 45 and still no food. I ask our waiter the status and he says that it should be out in 5 minutes. Still no food after 1 hour; finally at 1hour 15minutes after placing the order, our food arrives. By this time, multiple other parties that were seated when we arrived or after us have ordered, been served, eaten, are paying (paid) their bill and are leaving (left). When raising this point with the waitstaff (we asked to speak with a manager, but no one was available), their excuse is that they were short a chef and that caused the delay. This is infuriating as this doesn’t explain why our food came out soo much later than other customers who arrived after us — our order was off the brunch menu, nothing complicated.
For future reference — 1) ask if the kitchen is slammed, and then ask the waitstaff for a realistic wait time for your food. Had we known it would take 1hr 15mins, we would have found a different place 2) keep the restaurant accountable so that your order isn’t an after thought in their kitchen’s cooking lineup. The brunch items were average and unremarkable in taste and portion size.

Coming from a non vegan: Absolutely delicious vegan food. Little slow to come out (small kitchen, busy place) but worth the wait. For brunch: the biscuit bowl and the east side quesadilla were fantastic.

Coconut water is amazing! Some of the best I’ve ever had. We had the raw banana oatmeal and that was delicious as well. Prices are reasonable and they have a great patio.

Five big bright stars! Hands down best food I’ve eaten in a very long time!
This place is great for omnivores, vegans, vegetarians, and EVERYBODY.
If you like TASTY, healthy, reasonably priced grub, Counter Culture is the spot for you.
You won’t miss the animal at all, NOT AT ALL. Be brave, delight your tastebuds and your heart.
I only wish I could get CC’s vegan delights in the Los Angeles area.
I’ll be back Austin & Counter Culture! And those of you that are lucky enough to live in E Austin, all I can say is «lucky!»

Food was alright. I’m no vegan but I can still say the food was enjoyable. I had the jackfruit bbq sandwich along with the Mac’n cheese and the spinach salad and the potato salad. The staff was super friendly and helpful. It’s worth a try.
P. s. Try the «Little Boss» beer!

I am not a vegan. Let me repeat I am not a vegan. However, my out-​of-​towner parents are. I found Counter via Unilocal.Brunch. Mimosa. Sure — if I can’t find something to eat I’ll drink my breakfast. Luckily, my food was excellent. I got the oatmeal. So good. My parents ordered the quesadilla and the burrito. They have been vegans for 10 years. They know good vegan food. They loved what they got. My mom was full ½ way through, but said she couldn’t let the other ½ go to waste it was so good. I tried their food and surprisingly I liked it! I even like the tofu my husband got. Pleasantly surprised.
Cons: The wait staff was ok — ordered a water 3 times before I actually received it. The mimosas were oranger than orange juice. How is that possible?!
This is a great spot to eat on the east side — vegan or not!

Delish! Whether you go to the brick and mortar location on the east side or the trailer on South 1^st Street, this place makes great food. It’s a healthier approach to many comfort foods that we know and like.
Warning about the trailer location though — bees. That area has a serious bee problem, so if you’re allergic be careful.

Love this place! Great food, vibe and staff:)) it’s so relieving to have a restaurant my husband and I can frequent knowing everything is vegan!

This is a great spot for delicious, healthy food with interesting flavor combos and daily specials! I have a lot of food allergies and things that I need to avoid, which can make eating out difficult. Counter culture has a variety of options, including great dinner and desserts! Their raw pad Thai and bruschetta are some of my favorites. Most of their desserts are sweetened with dates and prepared fresh. Their menu clearly labels how a dish is prepared, making it easy to find the right option for you. Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, a meat-​eater, or anywhere in-​between, this restaurant is definitely worth a try!

My boyfriend and I try to go every Saturday for breakfast and at least 1 – 2 times a week for lunch/​dinner. This place is truly amazing, the staff is also very helpful and have great recommendations! It is a very relaxing atmosphere too. We’ve been trying every vegan restaurant in Austin and this is still by far our favorite place! (btw the Mac n cheeze balls are to die for!)

This isn’t a Give a Vegan Restaurant 5 Stars on Unilocal type of review. This is legit 5 stars! Counter Culture was so good and so different from anything I could possibly have where I’m from on Long Island or in Manhattan. Everything vegan on the Island or in the City is super expensive. Counter Culture was pretty great for its food, its ambiance and its price points!
This is what we ordered: raspberry kombucha (homemade by a local Austin company and sold by Counter Culture and a few other places too); raw flaxseed cracker brushetta with pesto (so good!); a tempeh reuben (very good, my wife’s favorite of the meal); and a raw kelp pad thai with a ginger garlic cream sauce.
I ordered the raw pad thai over the mac and cheese to try to be healthier (we had just gone to the brewery down the street), and I wasn’t expecting much from it since I never had kelp noodles and figured they were gross and tasted like the sea. But I can make mac and cheese at home and I wanted to try something different.
It was awesome. Easily my favorite thing at Counter Culture and my body appreciated it also. The sauce was creamy and really good, not as spicy as our waitress said but it definitely had a kick.
This place got really busy too, another great sign. The waitress (Abby, I think her name was) was really awesome and very helpful. She was a vegan too, which made me trust the place even more. And she knew everything about everything on the menu.
Since I had had a few beers before dinner, I didn’t try anything at this place but the drink menu looked good too.
Keep up the good work. If I’m ever back in Austin, I’m coming to you guys first.

This place is pretty awesome, coming from a meatatarian that I am. This place literally has no meat. Majority is gluten free and vegan.
Their specialty board said 100% vegan on it so we ordered the two specials that was on the board, the lasagna and the pizza. Both was pretty awesome, we also ordered their nachos.
Everything tasted great!
I also had their hibiscus mint iced tea, very refreshing.
And their coconut water was PURE.
Great staff, I believe on the receipt her name was Leah, she did a wonderful job serving us. (Tatted with blue hair, and glasses)
I’d definitely come back!
Also their menus are labeled with a key at the bottom: soy, gluten free, vegan, etc.
if you’re vegetarian or vegan you’d definitely like this place!

First of all, I’m personally not vegan & was SO surprised (in a good way) when I had lunch here with a friend.
We started off with the East Side Nachos, and let me tell ya… I couldn’t believe the dish was cheese-​free. It tasted exactly like what you would get at the ball park.
For our entrée, I ordered the Meltdown with a side of potato salad and he ordered the Beet Mushroom Walnut Burger with a side of the jalapeño cornbread.
The Meltdown amazing… I was literally in shock during my entire meal because I couldn’t believe there was no cheese/​tuna in my sandwich. My friend enjoyed his meal as well but said that the cornbread was a bit dry.
For dessert, we ordered the brownie sundae. Overall it was tasty, but the ice cream was a little too watery for me.
Our waiter was amazing and mentioned that the brunch is even better… DEFINITELY will be coming back for that.

I am new to the Vegan party but I did find this gem and I am sold on meat alternatives. It’s a nice little restaurant on the far East side but was worth the drive. I got myself an Almond Joy Stuffed French Toast. It was amazing to say the least. Get it with a side of tempeh bacon and you will have a good brunch.
I also had the vegan breakfast burrito along with the biscuit and gravy. That too was a winner. I want to just go through the whole menu sometime and see if they have anything bad. My guess is no.
Only downside is that the kitchen is small so they do get backordered and it can slow down your food arriving. Also, they get busy and it may take a while before a server gets to you. Otherwise, it’s a definite win for vegans!

One of the most amazing places I’ve been to in the course of my vegan travels. Incredibly kind and inviting staff, willing to help, answer questions, and top off my tea. Unreal good cheeze plate. Delicious vegan comfort food (try the seitan loaf!!!). And sinful desserts that still leave you feeling light.
I also ended up with good conversation with the patrons at the table next to mine about Rich Roll and Scott Jurek.
Couldn’t recommend this place more. For the food, the service, the compassionate loving vibes, and the likeminded people.

I came back for lunch, and my experience was much more pleasant. It helped that it was a warm, sunny day (in January!), and I sat outside this time. Much nicer in my opinion, as indoors is dimmer and feels a little more stuffy and stark. I feel like vegan food is just better experienced outside with nature, you know what I’m saying?
Anyway, my server was very knowledgeable and willing to help me out with the menu. He and the others probably have to do this all the time for people unfamiliar with a lot of the items (jicama? seitan?), so I applaud them.
The food I ordered was way better in my opinion. The plate felt a little more like three sides than one entrée and two sides.
— «Rawvioli» (jicama slices filled with cashew cheese and topped with pesto) didn’t seem like much at first, but each bite was very tasty. The jicama and cashew cheese were pretty tasteless by themselves (and probably why I didn’t like the mac and cheese), but with the pesto, it all worked together just right. Pesto was strong and robust, so combined with the textures of crunchy jicama and creamy cashew, it was a winning combination. Plus uniqueness points, too. And a big portion.
— Jalapeño cornbread by itself wasn’t spectacular, but I found myself eating it all because I liked the texture of the butter. Was better with hot sauce, too.
— Pac-​man salad was cute, and the dressing was very tasty and makes kale more palatable (although I’m one of those people who actually loves raw kale). Felt like there was too much dressing though — was slathered on pretty thick. But not a problem because it tasted really good.
— Lavender lemonade was delightful. I was worried it was basically just going to be lemonade with only the smallest hint of lavender, but it was well-​balanced enough to also not be super floral. Well done. I’d like to make some of that at home.
Overall, I’d come back for the rawvioli and lavender lemonade, though some of the other sides may be better.
In the interest of full disclosure, I came back on invitation from the owner who wanted me to give the place another chance. And I’m glad I did! Glad to have a good experience from another uniquely Austin restaurant.

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Austin. They serve up fresh, creative and delicious vegan dishes that both vegans and omnivores can appreciate. Endless options — there is something for everyone. And I love that they use local ingredients and always have new specials on the menu. And the owner and staff are SO nice and thoughtful.
The dining room is so cozy, I love the vibe and the fun local art. They have indoor and outdoor seating — weather permitting, I prefer the patio. Great for weekend brunch. Lots of good adult beverages also. Go check them out, you won’t regret it!!!

One of my favorite vegan spots in Austin.
I love that everything my wife and I tried was healthy.
The very best thing about it was the macaroni and cheese. It might be the best vegan mac I have ever had. They incorporate broccoli perfectly.
My other recommendations are the spinach artichoke dip and pesto rawvioli.

Jackfruit BBQ is amazing! I’m a southern girl that hasn’t had BBQ in 6 years!!! So full disclosure: I was a bit leery of trying this but the server said it’s her favorite so I said what the heck and ordered it… So glad I did. It’s a little sweet (think extremely mild pineapple hint) and the texture is dang close to a chopped BBQ sandwich. And I love pickles and onion and both were included. I didn’t realize how much I missed BBQ since I stopped partaking of meat in ²⁰⁰⁸⁄₂₀₀₉. The bread is pretty spectacular also. The quinoa salad was just ok. Nachos were pretty delish, huge portion for $ 3.50 due to appetizers being ½ off for HH (3 – 6 M-​F). Drinks are $ 1 off. I sent my sister a picture of the BBQ and she demanded I be a good sister and bring her one to RR. She gave it 2 thumbs up!
***forgot to mention: parking is a bit off but street parking was easy enough to find. The place wasn’t particularly busy when I went so my server was not too busy to help me with menu choices, the place is just really cute and low key, I didn’t feel any judgement for ordering a lot or eating alone (it happens!) and the doggy artwork made me smile!
Thanks to the Unilocal reviews for helping a starving vegetarian make a great choice today. I’ll be back!