Celebrate Vegan Restaurants in Colorado Springs

Vegans, it’s your time. For the fifth straight year, Vegan Restaurant Week is highlighting vegan menus all over Colorado Springs. And 28 restaurants, food trucks, breweries and distilleries—the most ever—are serving special plant-based dishes. This year’s vegan week kicks off on Nov. 1 (World Vegan Day) and runs through Nov. 7.

Local vegan author and culinary instructor JL Fields organizes the seven-day event on behalf of Colorado Springs Vegan Events to showcase plant-based cuisine in the Pikes Peak Region. “As always, this week is not just for plant-based diners,” Fields says. “This is a way for everyone to try something new and it just happens to be cholesterol-free and planet-friendly. Win-win-win!”

In addition to creative dishes from all of the vegan restaurants in Colorado Springs, this year’s event kicks off on World Vegan Day with a happy hour at The Carter Payne. Participants can meet and greet with some of the participating chefs and restauranteurs. (The ticketed event happens Monday, Nov. 1, from 4-6 p.m. Details are at coloradospringsveganevents.com/cos-vegan-restaurant-week).

“I love how enthused our restaurants get!” Fields says. “They really come up with creative plant-based dishes and menus, and they are so warmed by how grateful the vegan community is.”

“It’s like a big week-long vegan party,” says Matt Dettmann, owner of Trinity Brewing Company. “Vegan Restaurant Week takes on its own identity and literally hundreds of new customers flock in all week long and want to talk food. Our regular non-vegan customers are wonderful, but our vegan customers will talk food for 20 minutes, and we love it. It’s a total blast, and we learn more from our customers during vegan restaurant week than any other time.”

The week has even brought permanent changes to the local dining scene. “This is our second year participating in Vegan Restaurant Week,” says Jessica Immel, operations manager at Blackhat Distillery. “Last year, I was a new vegan who was trying to navigate the restaurant scene and realizing how hard it was to find things I could have. We updated our menu so that everything on our menu can be made vegan. We’ve continued to make sure that every menu since then is available vegan. It’s been great to know that all our guests can come in and feel like they have a great variety of choices.”

And for the area’s full-time vegan restaurants, Vegan Restaurant Week is a chance to offer new specials, highlight their regular menus and welcome new diners curious about plant-based dining. “We are honored to be included in Vegan Week again this year,” says Shirley Hernandez, owner of Santana’s Vegan Grill. “Our Vegan Week breakfast special will surely be one of your favorites!”