On November 9, 2014, me and two of my friends, whom I will refer to as T and C, went to The Green Owl for brunch. For those of you who have never been to The Green Owl, which opened in 2009, it is strictly vegetarian and vegan fare located in the Schenk-Atwood neighborhood on the near east side of Madison WI.
The restaurant is small and local, which I prefer versus big box chains, and the decor is simple. There are only about 15 tables and can fill up quickly. As for the menu, on Sundays the brunch menu is smaller than the regular menu but still offers a fair amount of choices. Some of the choices include Tofu Scramble, Biscuits and Gravy, Omelettes, French Toast and Nuevos Rancheros. If you choose a vegan option, they offer Daiya cheese and you can request to substitute eggs for tofu.
T and I had a Mimosa to start. T ordered an omelette, C and I ordered the biscuits and gravy. When our dishes arrived, we were all a bit surprised at the small amount of food on our plates. The biscuits and gravy had one ordinary sized biscuit with a small amount of brown 'gravy' on it. I'm used to the way my mother makes her gravy...a white flour/milk based gravy. When I am home my mom will make it vegetarian and it tastes wonderful. Not exactly healthy, but it is good to indulge every now and again, right? The Green Owl gravy was very thin. Gravy on your biscuits should never be thin, it should be thick. In my mind, brown gravy with biscuits; it simply doesn't go together. Ever. The biscuit was over-seasoned and thus I couldn't tell if the thin, lifeless, watery 'gravy' had any taste or not. Included with my dish was a small handful of roasted red potatoes. They were a bit dry but good. T enjoyed her omelette stating that the eggs were made the way she likes them. C appeared to like the B&G better than I did and stated that white gravy over biscuits is more of a southern thing. I'm from Chicago and I still like white gravy. Okay, okay, I'll end the discussion there.
As for service, I found it to be a bit slow. The server was nice but she was missing that somethin' somethin' you want in a server. Also, we had to wait quite a bit of time for our food. Many of the patrons around us had already ordered and/or were eating their food when we arrived. Under normal circumstances I would have eaten all the food on my plate, especially considering the small amount, but not this time. There was about half a biscuit remaining. T and C finished their food.
This is not the first time I've been to The Green Owl and I have noticed one constant, the portions are not enough for what you pay for. For the 3 of us, it was about $45 before tip. As a result, the probability that I will return to this establishment any time soon isn't very good. There are other places around town that offer vegetarian options with larger portions for the price.
Gee, are there any redeeming qualities you may wonder? Yes. First, and foremost, they are a strictly vegetarian/vegan restaurant and the only one like it in Madison. Second, they do work with local businesses and farmers. Third, they use jackfruit. I never heard of jackfruit until The Green Owl opened. I am giving The Green Owl 3 out of 5 stars instead of 2 for the reasons listed.
For excellent, consistent vegetarian/vegan food, I would recommend going to the Chicago Diner the next time you are in the windy city. They have two locations, the original location on Halsted and the newer location on Milwaukee Ave.
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