Jason's Deli

Jason's is a fast-casual deli chain that started in Texas. There are currently two locations in Central Ohio in Dublin and Grandview. I visited the Grandview Yard store.

Jason's Deli specializes in New Orleans favorites like the po' boy and the muffaletta, although it also makes wraps, paninis and other sandwich types. There is a huge salad bar, and the kitchen prepares a wide variety of soups, salads and pasta dishes. The menu has extensive vegetarian options, and Jason's Deli offers a complete gluten-free menu as well.

The Grandview location is large, with extensive indoor and outdoor seating. Like Noodles & Company and Pei Wei, orders are placed at the counter and served at a table with a number clipped to it.

As an avid devotee of Gulf Coast cuisine, my order was decided before I walked in the door: the veggie muffaletta

The veggaletta is made on thick, crusty sesame seed-encrusted bread. Thick slices of portobello mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, red and yellow peppers and red onions are piled on the melted provolone and olive salad-laden bread. The mushrooms were cooked with a hint of red wine, and had great flavor. The sandwich was on the dry side, and the olive salad could have been served in a larger proportion to offset the moisture lost to the toasted bread. Another solid option might be to add guacamole to the sandwich, although that would get you shot in New Orleans.

The sandwich had good ingredients and a great appearance. It's composition needs to be tinkered with in order to be more successful.

The vegetarian French onion soup was rich and savory. Beef broth is replaced with a mushroom broth, and the soup crock is crowned with melted Swiss cheese. The soup is delightful, and it's a great example of how judicious substitution of ingredients when making vegetarian versions of non-vegetarian dishes can create fantastic results.

Other vegetarian items on the menu include three soups, the spinach veggie wrap, a portobello wrap, a build-your-own sandwich, a mushroom pasta dish and assorted sides like chips and salsa, steamed veggies and a hummus platter. A large percentage of salad bar items are labeled organic.

Prices at Jason's seem slightly high, although there is plenty of vegetarian variety on the menu. Overall, it's a safe bet for vegetarians and health-conscious diners, but it doesn't jump off the page.

Jason's Deli

Creole Kitchen

Those immersed in the cuisine of the Gulf Coast view vegetarians with the same level of contempt and consternation as residents of the planet Earth would view an encounter with an alien life form. As I discovered in my travels to New Orleans, however, if you search long and hard enough, you can find meatless gems filled with the character that makes Creole food a world classic.

Creole Kitchen in the King Lincoln District follows the same formula as many other Gulf Coast establishments. Vegetarian options on the menu are few and far between. However, the few vegetarian options on the menu are full of flavor without the burden of blackened animal pieces.

Chef Henry Butcher's restaurant is hidden in a shopping plaza that is easy to drive past without noticing. Butcher has a long track record in Central Ohio, with stints at Tony's, the Delaware Hotel and Ollie's in Grandview. Creole Kitchen is a take-out joint. It has no tables or dishes.

The main attraction at Creole Kitchen is the roster of po boys, one of Louisiana's two signature sandwiches. Po Boys are the New Orleans rendition of a submarine sandwich. Creole Kitchen has a vegetarian po boy made with three different melted cheeses and grilled cabbage, onions, mushrooms and green peppers on a soft white roll. The seasoning blend, a mixture of black and cayenne pepper with hints of garlic and green herbs, adds a great flavor to the grilled veggies.

The veggie po boy costs $5 and comes with a side of herbed potato chips. The chips are tasty. A few of them were soggy, but they definitely blew away anything made by Frito Lay. The whole package is an absolute steal for $5. Let the sandwich cool down a bit, because it is stuffed with so much veggies and cheese that the toppings will explode everywhere if it isn't eaten carefully.

A few of the side dishes are vegetarian. The macaroni and cheese is vegetarian, but the red beans and rice, which contains sausage and ham, are not.

There are limited breakfast items at Creole Kitchen. Beignets, or New Orleans doughnuts, are a sweet and savory way to start the morning if you're so inclined.

Creole Kitchen is tough to find but easy to love. Although there are limited choices available for vegetarians, the vegetarian po boy shows that they take as much care with their vegetarian fare as they do with the other Gulf Coast favorites.

Creole Kitchen