Happy Girl Kitchen
173 Central Ave., Pacific Grove (831) 373-4475, happygirlkitchen.com
“Where’s the beef?!” was the famous ’80s tagline for Wendy’s. But while some people clamored for more meat, others veered sharply away, especially after vegan John Robbins (ironically son of a Baskin-Robbins ice cream co-founder) published Diet for a New America in 1987. Despite the new interest, vegetarianism was still pretty niche – mainstream restaurants were slow to catch on. That’s evolved over the years and now vegetarian dishes are on nearly every menu and more vegetarian restaurants have sprouted up. There are still a low number of vegetarians in the U.S. – some estimate it’s only 3 or 4 percent – but there’s a growing number of “flexitarians,” people who eat mostly vegetarian. Luckily for Monterey County, Happy Girl Kitchen provides a welcome place for anyone not looking for the beef – even if it’s only a few days a week.