We took a recent trip to Saint Simon’s Island in southern Georgia. Before we left, Jen did what she always does before we go on a trip – research for vegan restaurants.
For starters, chances are you’re going to be a little disappointed. There are not a ton of great vegan options on Saint Simon’s Island. There are no purely vegan restaurants, and being a beach town, many restaurants are seafood related and not very vegan friendly.
We didn’t let this stop us from finding some great meals though!
We did a couple more chain restaurants than we normally would on vacation, but I can’t complain about anything we ate.
Vegan Options on Saint Simon’s Island
Sea Salt Healthy Kitchen
Sea Salt Healthy Kitchen is recognized for their fresh ingredients and being “diet conscious” with the creation of their menu. They are a casual to-go style restaurant, meaning you walk up to the counter to order and they bring your food out to your table or you can take it to go.
Jen loved their restaurant design and decoration. If you are looking to take pics of your food, eating in would be suggested. They do a nice job with presentation.
You can check out their menu before arriving as Jen did but we did still have a couple questions because “vegan” is termed “plant based” on their menu. And Jen’s question around that is if that truly means vegan since so many companies are now using that term for vegetarian items… we did confirm the plant based items notated are vegan.
I ordered the Very Vegan Wrap that comes with tofu & squash, mixed greens, avocado, cucumbers, tomatoes and red pepper hummus. I subbed out the tofu & squash and replaced it with their vegan chorizo. Loved the vegan chorizo!
The only other thing I would have changed is the cucumbers seemed a little out of place with the chorizo. Some beans or corn would have been a good sub for the cucumbers. I could have created my own wrap with the Vegan Chorizo but it would have cost $5 more than just subbing out the tofu in the Very Vegan Wrap. Overall though, I thought the wrap was delicious.
Jen’s Review
“We had just ate a grain bowl style salad from Salata earlier that day so I wasn’t left with a lot of choices that would be different from that so I chose the Mediterranean Bruschetta. And I’m so glad I did. It was delicious! I chose the Sourdough Bread. It comes with Red Pepper Hummus, Quinoa Tabbouleh, Kalamata Olives with Sprouts. YUM!”
Mellow Mushroom
Mellow Mushroom is one of our favorite chains to grab a vegan pizza. We ordered a Kosmic Karma pizza and substituted the dairy cheeses with the Follow your Heart Vegan Cheese that Mellow Mushroom carries.
You can’t order delivery straight from the Mellow Mushroom website at the St. Simons location. They are partnered with a local company here that does delivery similar to an Uber Eats. Since Mellow Mushroom was only a 5 minute drive from where we were staying, I went and picked it up.
The downtown area where Mellow Mushroom sits was pretty busy and I found parking at a public lot just down the street.
The pizza was amazing. I normally order a modified Pacific Rim pizza, but we decided to split a Large Kosmic Karma instead. Delicious.
I think the Follow Your Heart vegan cheese works wonderfully on pizza. Mellow Mushroom’s crust is one of my favorites and the tomatoes tasted really fresh.
The only downside to Mellow Mushroom (which I’m sure anyone who has ordered from there already knows) is that I still cringe at paying $28 for a pizza. However, the pizza was fantastic and there was enough for us to also have some leftover for lunch the next day so, all in all, totally worth it.
Jen’s Review
“When Mellow Mushroom used to have the Thai Dye Pizza, that was my favorite! When Ryan gets his vegan version of the Pacific Rim, I may have a piece but it’s not one I would pick and I love pineapple on a pizza. Now that we’ve tried the Kosmic Karma veganized, this one went high up on my list of pizza fav’s!
I’m well aware of how good their crust is but had I not noticed how good their tomato sauce is? Was it the tomato combo with the Follow Your Heart Cheese and crust? Or was it this particular Mellow Mushroom that just did a really great job with creating this one? Whatever it was, I will absolutely be getting this one again!”
Salata
We got really lucky with Salata. The Salata location on Saint Simon’s Island opened the day before we arrived. How’s that for good timing!
If you’ve never been to a Salata, think Chipotle, but with Salads.
We picked up Salata for lunch after a day trip over to Jekyll Island (which we highly recommend checking out if you’re visiting Saint Simon’s Island). As you might expect, considering it was their 3rd day being open, it was a madhouse.
Having said that, the staff was very friendly and doing their best to accommodate a very busy lunch rush while still figuring things out on the fly.
Jen had reached out to Salata prior to our trip to verify if the wraps are vegan (they are! — the ingredients list had appeared to be but the nutrition guide did not have them notated as vegan so she double checked when creating Salata’s Vegan Guide) but we had not heard back from them yet so we both ordered salads. Like a kid in a candy store, Jen and I just picked everything that we liked with no regard for what ‘made sense together’.
I also want to preface what I’m about to say with, I’m not a salad person. I don’t generally even order salads, but this salad from Salata I absolutely crushed. The portions were generous, everything tasted super fresh and the Lemon Vinaigrette dressing was amazing.
We’re not even going to list everything we had on our salad because it was so random. Mine included everything from strawberries to banana peppers while Jen’s had everything from mandarin oranges to sesame sticks and falafel. She did mention that she wouldn’t get the falafel again and would ask for another scoop of chickpeas.
Other Vegan Options on Saint Simon’s Island
We noticed a few other potential vegan options on the island. These are places that we didn’t try, but you may want to check out.
Sandy Bottom Bagels
If Sandy Bottom Bagels had vegan cream cheese like it states on Happy Cow’s website, we would have been making our way there! Jen did contact them. Vegan cream cheese was not on their list of vegan items available.
To make it easy with what vegan options they have… all of their bagels, except for the Egg Bagel (contains egg) and the Chocolate Chip Bagel (contains dairy), are vegan.
They offer hummus for a spread and have fresh veggies. According to the menu on their website they also offer peanut butter and jams. And they have a bagel sandwich called, The Uncle Don. Sounds good with hummus, spinach, tomato, cucumber and avocado.
V Pizza
V Pizza just missed the cut of restaurants we were wanting to try. Since they have a vegan cheese and an ingredients list available, we were able to come up with some items we could have ordered…
- Bruschetta. Sub parmigiano reggiano with vegan cheese
- Side Salad. They do not offer any vegan dressings though (the balsamic vinaigrette contains egg)
- Caprese Sandwich. Sub fresh mozzarella with vegan cheese
Pizzas. All pizzas are 13–14”, lightly charred and well done, and finished with EVOO, Pecorino Romano, and oregano. *Order with NO Pecorino Romano as a finish and sub all dairy cheese on pizza with Vegan Cheese.
- Pizza Margherita. San Marzano tomato sauce & fresh basil*
- Pizza Vegetariana. San Marzano tomato sauce, mushroom, artichoke, fresh garlic, fresh spinach, cherry tomato*
- Pizza Napoli. Eggplant, roasted red pepper, red onions, fresh garlic, fresh basil*
Calzone & Stomboli. Finished with EVOO, pecorino romano, and oregano. V Signature San Marzano tomato sauce served on the side. Stromboli has no ricotta. *Order with NO Pecorino Romano as a finish and sub all dairy cheese in a calzone or stomboli with Vegan Cheese.
- Traditional Calzone or Stromboli. Extra virgin olive oil & fresh basil*
- Build Your Own Pizza or Calzone. Order with NO Pecorino Romano as the finish, with Vegan Cheese and whatever veggie toppings you choose.
They do offer a brunch and dessert menu but from what we can see, none of the items could be made vegan.
Smoothie King
Smoothie King is a great option for a cool treat. We did not stop at this location but did notice it on Frederica Rd. across from the St. Simons Redfern Village.
We saw a couple other restaurants that have vegan as a tag when searching for vegan restaurants on Google or Trip Advisor but after looking at their menus, none of them offered a vegan item or one that appeared it could be modified. With that being said, we chose not to mention them here.
We hope you find some great vegan eats on St Simons Island but if all fails or you need additional choices, they do have a couple grocery stores (Winn-Dixie and Harris Teeter) you can also visit.
Did we miss your favorite vegan friendly restaurant on Saint Simon’s Island? Please reach out to us and let us know your favorite restaurant and what you like to order there!
