Living at the edge of Chinatown has its share of advantages and disadvantages. The most obvious, is that the weekend brings bustling, produce lined sidewalks and Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants on every block. The downside is that if you aren’t in the mood for Asian cuisine, there aren’t many choices within walking distance.

On our walk over to Manifest this morning (we go here to study/work during the day), we passed the closed doors of a new diner and lounge, Downbeat. A quick glance at the menu left me drooling. The first line stated that there was a vegan or vegetarian option for EVERY single menu item.

Being that we’re both vegetarians, I literally jumped up and down. Then realized they weren’t open until 11am (it was only 10:30a). So we had some coffee and did some work (okay, we really just played the dropbox scavenger hunt challenge, dropquest) until my stomach started making noises so loud they could be heard OVER the music at manifest.

It has a mind of it’s own I tell you.

We walked the few steps over and the first thing I noticed when I walked in was the décor. Bright red booth seating with a pattern of celebrity faces. I’m horrible at celebrity names and faces, but I did recognize Iz! Check out the picture below and see if you recognize anyone.

Ry wasn’t as hungry as I was, so we started with cheese fries and the loco moco with a vegan patty. The fries don’t come with any special sauce, but we asked for a side of veganaise, since we spotted it on the menu. The waitress suggested we try the veganaise with dill and capers, so we got some of that too.

I love fries. These were handcut russet potatoes, and sprinkled with what I’m guessing was mozzarella and cheddar. They were good without the veganaise, and even better with them.

The loco moco was interesting. I wasn’t sure what to expect since I’ve never had a vegan burger before. Their menu said the vegan burgers were made of mushrooms, veggies and gluten base.

The texture reminded me more of hash than a burger, which actually worked out for my loco moco. It was served on “hapa” rice, with their downbeat gravy. I thought it was pretty good, but not the best loco moco I’ve had.

When Ry realized that I wasn’t sharing (my stomach seriously was making noises), he ordered a vegan teriyaki burger. This came with teriyaki sauce, sautéed mushrooms and onions, swiss cheese, and lettuce. I think the texture of the vegan burger isn’t really suitable for an actual burger (vs. being in a loco moco). It sort of just squishes out when you bite into it. Also thought it could’ve used a bit more sauce.

Even though it was lunch, and lunch isn’t typically followed with dessert, I figured that since I was writing a blog on this place, we should go all out! We ordered the Mac nut brownie ice cream sandwich.

My brain is programmed to think of ice cream sandwiches as, well, not this. This was warm brownie goodness, smothered in vanilla ice cream and drizzled with chocolate.

This made all the studying, database updates and the very thought of running tonight, seem completely do-able.

Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but it was delish!

Downbeat Diner and Lounge
42 N. Hotel Street (directly across from Bar 35)
808.533.2328