FINAL POST: A Month Of Vegan Gravy. A Rant. And a Review.

I've been working on this final post for TWO years of gravy blogging. I've written and re-written and in the end..... I'm going to cop out. I can't do it.

My original plan was to review and rate the different places in Portland and Seattle that serve vegan gravy. A vegan gravy tour, if you will.
I've visited them all (or nearly all). And every place I go, I order something (tofu scramble, biscuits, potatoes, etc) with gravy AND an extra order of gravy on the side, so I can try the gravy plain and unadulterated. It's a miserable job, but someone has to be responsible for informing the masses, right? I LOVE going out. I don't do it often, but look forward to rare trips to places that serve all American vegan comfort food (including GRAVY!) like Paradox Cafe, Hungry Tiger Too, Juniors, Wayward, Caffe Dei, Quickies Too, Cafe Flora, Papa G's........ the list goes on and on and on...

I've definitely come up with a list of favorites and also have those places where I won't order their gravy again. There is good gravy, REALLY good gravy, bad gravy, salty gravy, lumpy gravy, starchy gravy, funny-tasting-instant-gravy and (a lot of) bland, tasteless gravy out there in vegan restaurant-land. And I wish they could all get it right, because gravy can make or break a meal.
But I love each of these many restaurants for different reasons, and gravy aside, I would recommend most any of them to someone looking for a vegan meal. They're places that serve VEGAN food and that's not always easy to find. (Except in Portland, pfffttt.)
And really, it's not fair, because I'm VERY picky about gravy - my personal opinion on a restaurant's gravy may not be ANYTHING close to the general population's consensus. I'm sure of this, in fact; because I can think, right off hand, of two specific places (one in Seattle and the other in Portland) where literally everyone (at least all the vegan people I know!) raves deliriously about the heavenly wonderousness that is their gravy - yet I find it pretty tasteless, bland, starchy, lumpy and awful.
I have to wonder, are other people eating the same gravy I am?
And several places that I personally thing make awesome gravy? I've had friends say it was salty or "weird"...
Even so, I would hate to have others judge someplace (especially a vegan place - I want to support those as much as possible!) based on a sentence or two that I wrote, and plastered all over the Internets, condemning their gravy.
Besides, just because their gravy is awful doesn't mean their other food... or Bloody Mary's... are not worth the trip. Every restaurant that serves vegan food is doing me and my fellow vegans a huge favor and I have a hard time ever publicly criticizing what they do. Most of them are small, locally owned establishments where the owners are putting their heart and soul into surviving. They live and die on word-of-mouth reviews. I admire the services they provide (even if I don't always like the gravy) and I want them to stick around and keep doing what they do!
So, there you have it. My cop-out, no recipe, no pictures, no opinion, NON review of Seattle and Portland's vegan gravy offerings. Google "Portland Vegan" or "Seattle Vegan" and try them all, they are ALL GOOD in their own way, for different reasons and different menu items!
And... if you want my opinions, go HERE to read my REVIEWS OF STORE-BOUGHT GRAVY MIXES. That was a WHOLE lot of fun and might be helpful for the Holidays!
Thank you, and good night!