Paladar Latin Kitchen

Paladar Latin Kitchen and Rum Bar is a small national chain with one location near the city of Cleveland. The menu is Latin fusion with dishes from Mexico, Cuba, Central and South America. The bar prepares great drinks with an emphasis on rum, cachaca and tequila.

Paladar makes a ton of dishes for diners with dietary restrictions including a menu with symbols denoting vegetarian and vegan dishes. There is also a gluten-free menu.

Almost all of the side dishes, with the exception of the black beans and the refried bean dishes, are vegetarian. The pinto beans are vegan. Sides include rice dishes, vegetables and the ubiquitous fried plantain.

Guacamole is prepared to order and includes seasonal ingredients. The seasonal version was made with pepitas and queso blanco. 

The baked empanada appetizer was portioned to share. It was stuffed with portobello mushrooms and queso blanco.  It was dressed with a finely chopped pico de gallo and a garlic aioli that gives the dish a nice bite.

The sweet potato tacos give a great taste to a vegetarian classic. Hearts of palm add crunch, and the rest of the taco is filled with pinto beans, cabbage, scallions and tomatillo salsa. It is an exercise in flavor and texture.

Cocktails were well made but a little expensive. It's best to look for happy hour deals.

La Parada

On a recent road trip, I managed to grab lunch at La Parada in Indianapolis. It is an authentic Mexican restaurant on the city's East Side in a strip mall filled entirely with Latin businesses. The decor is festive, and business can be brisk.

The beans and rice from La Parada are both vegetarian. There are a number of meatless dishes on the menu, although many are made with cheese.

Everything from La Parada is delicious washed down with a glass of house-made horchata. It is light, creamy and redolent of clove and cinnamon. It is vegan.

The salsa is heavy on tomatoes and very mildly spiced. Guacamole had cilantro, onions and jalepeño. Elotes, the classic grilled corn in mayo, chili powder and Cotija cheese, is a can't-miss side dish.

The cardiac A-bomb comes in the form of a veggie chimichanga in a spicy, creamy queso sauce. It is stuffed with veggies, beans and cheese, and the plate probably registers at about 1,700 with rice and beans.

There are a couple on TVs in the dining room that were tuned to daytime talk shows. Servers were excellent, although many speak English as a second language. It is worth double checking on dietary restrictions when ordering at La Parada.

Z Cucina di Spirito

Z Cucina in Grandview features traditional and old fashioned Italian fare with Mediterranean accents. It has a nice focus on local, seasonal ingredients, and the bar churns out great cocktails that keep it busy.

The kitchen of Chef Jamie George makes their own mozzarella, which adds so much to every dish it is used in. There is a great variety of vegetarian dishes on the menu. Other dishes can be also be modified for vegetarians. There is also gluten free pasta available.

The mozzarella is delicate and creamy, an unctuous vehicle to convey flavors in the classic Caprese salad. The simple ingredients are amplified by the great house-made cheese.

The eggplant Parmesan was also excellent. The slices of eggplant were tender, with a crispy breading. It was liberally topped with cheese, pesto and a bright Pomodoro sauce.

Hearty root vegetables dominated the fall seasonal offerings. Not every vegetable paired elegantly with Gorgonzola, which was in heavy use in dishes, and used with a bit of a heavy hand.

Desserts are excellent. There is a nice after dinner drinks list.

Veritas Tavern

Veritas Tavern is an exciting small plates spot located in practically the last place you would think - Delaware. The fast growing community North of Columbus is home to this exciting restaurant. It is well worth the drive if it is far from you to experience the work of chefs Avishar Barua and Silas Caeton, and it's even better if Delaware is in your back yard.

The menu features great seasonal ingredients. While there are a limited number of vegetarian items on the regular menu, the kitchen is able to accommodate vegetarians with additional dishes if given advance notice.

The dining room has ample bar space, and the bar has a nice selection of wine, beer and great cocktails. Mixed drinks are made with quality ingredients, and show great care. 

The decor is fun with cookbooks adorning the walls as well as menus from the restaurants of renowned chefs Grant Achatz and Thomas Keller. While the dining room is whimsical, it could benefit visually from a greater focus and organization.

The feta dip appeared straightforward with cucumber and flatbread on the plate. The flavor is clean with a subtle richness, and the dish is far more complex than the simple ingredients belie.

The potted blue cheese with chocolate biscuits and port wine in a squeeze dropper is a study in flavor. When combined, the sweetness of the wine tempers the strong cheese, and the chocolate adds layers of roasted notes. Each element can also be removed, changing the flavor profile considerably. 

The Brussels sprouts were roasted and served in a deeply savory sauce that made them irresistible. They were tender, falling apart. The sauce held the essence of tamari soy sauce. I'm not normally a Brussels sprouts fan, but these were good enough to order again.

The grilled asparagus with late harvest peas, maitake mushrooms and ricotta made fantastic use of great ingredients. The mushrooms were seared, and the texture and flavor were as close to bacon as anything I have ever experienced as a vegetarian. The cheese added a creamy background to the dish, and the peas sweetened it up and gave the dish a nice texture.

The white and dark chocolate dessert played with the contrariety of temperature and texture. White chocolate was frozen in liquid nitrogen. The dark chocolate was an ice cream, served with an even-darker hot chocolate fudge. The white chocolate dissolved into a rich frozen smoke. The chocolate was even more rich, and the warm fudge added a great contrast. Drops of Pedro Ximenez sherry add complex oxidized notes to the dish.

Service was exceptional. The staff capably deals with dietary questions. The menu changes often enough that regular visitors would not have to worry about repeating dishes. Interestingly, reservations on the weekend are not taken, and diners are seated first-come, first-served.

Mashita Noodle Bowl

Mashita Noodle Bowl is a food cart that serves ramen and other Japanese noodle dishes. While the traditional broth is prepared with pork, there are vegetarian sauces on the menu, and they capably prepare vegetarian and vegan dishes to order.

The choice of noodles was traditional and spicy ramen, as well as Korean sweet potato noodles traditionally called japchae. There is a limited selection of seasonal veggie toppings which included squash, zucchini and mushrooms.

The vegetarian preparations are cold. There are enough options and sides to create customized orders. There is also soy sauce and Sriracha to tinker with the taste profile of the dish.

Mashita can be located with Twitter and Facebook.

Houlihan's

Houlihan's in Upper Arlington is a relaunched version of the old TGI Friday's-esque chain. They replaced the old menu's cookie-cutter Americana with fresh food that more than makes the grade for the gourmet set.

The menu offers a fair amount of choices for vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free diners. The menu has symbols that represent vegetarian and gluten-free items, while many items can be prepared vegan upon request.

There are a few vegetarian apps, salads, soup, veggie sliders, flatbreads and sandwiches. All of the side dishes are vegetarian but the baked potato.

Veggie sliders can be ordered individually or in a three pack. It is a soft black bean and chickpea patty topped with aged cheddar and ranch-dressed greens. It's a great happy hour snack.

The bar offers an array of flights from craft beer to wines and even sugary martinis. The decor is cool, and the restaurant is kid-friendly.

Tortilla Street Food

Tortilla Street Food is a new food truck that brings the Chipotle approach to Mexican street food. They whip up the usual tacos, burritos, quesadillas and bowls, and all of the ingredients are pictured on the side of the truck, allowing diners to customize their meal.

All of the ingredients from Tortilla with the exception of meats are vegetarian. Toppings include white rice, Mexican rice, black beans, refried beans, fajita veggies, cold veggies like peppers and onions, queso dip, cheeses, a variety of sauces and sour cream.

Overall, the fare at Tortilla is closest in character to California Mexican. It is a good stand in for Chipotle.

Dishes are prepared in the assembly line fashion of fast-casual eateries. The burrito is large enough to be a very hungry person's lunch.

Side dishes include chips and dips such as salsa and guacamole. Tortilla also offers churros with strawberry filling, dusted with cinnamon sugar with chocolate and caramel dipping sauces as dessert.

Bibibop

Bibibop in Grandview Heights brings the fast-casual approach to Korean food. Much in the model of Chipotle, diners pick a format (bowl, salad or rolled sandwich) and have the staff behind the counter fill it up with their choice of fresh produce, sauces and toppings.

Charley Shin, the founder of Bibibop, is also involved with other restaurants like Charley's. There is little similarity between the sandwich chain and Bibibop.

The decor at Bibibop is fun. There is seating for about 50 inside the restaurant, and like other fast-casual eateries, service is efficient. 

The veggies behind the counter were of exceptional quality. Ingredients include white or purple rice, noodles, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, corn and jalepeño, daikon and a delicious mildly spiced organic tofu. There are three different sauces, all of which are vegetarian. The bowl is a sort of Westernized take on classic bibimbop.

The edamame were fairly ordinary. The soybeans lacked salt. Other than this minor shortcoming, the overall experience was great. 

Hills Market Downtown

The Hills Market Downtown is a little bit smaller than the original location outside 270. It brings the same focus on fresh, local produce to the heart of Columbus, with an excellent hot bar and deli fare to eat in the store or to-go.

There is a salad bar, a warm bar and a deli at The Hills Market that prepares pizza and sandwiches. The deli sign says that they will heat anything you buy at the Market.

Regular specials are on an ever-changing rotation at the Hills Market. They are a good follow on social media to help keep up with the latest thing they have had delivered.

The dining area is small but makes great use of the space. It should be bustling with Columbus State and CCAD students as well as Downtown workers.

Mai Chau

Mai Chau is a Vietnamese food truck. It has a fairly limited menu, but luckily for vegetarians and vegans, it offers a vegan pate bahn mi sandwich on a regular basis that makes it a destination worth tracking down.

The pate is vegan mushroom walnut. It is a meatless equivalent of cha lua, the classic Vietnamese pate, though it has a deeper savory essence that mimics truffles.

The bahn mi is served on a perfectly soft French bread that is hollowed out and filled with pate, cilantro, daikon, carrots and hot sauce. It is a substantial sandwich.

The staff is receptive to vegan and vegetarian requests. Mai Chau can be tracked via Twitter, Facebook or related food-truck social media.