I nearly starved trying to eat vegan in KC. Then I found this Northland spot

When I was in college in Washington, D.C., a few years ago, I had my vegan awakening. Turns out, I wasn’t cut out to be a full vegan; I just wanted to cut back on my meat intake.

Being in such a liberal city, shopping at Trader Joe’s and learning more about the planet, I decided I wanted to eat more consciously. But I couldn’t commit to being vegan, especially when I came home for holidays to Kansas City, and all my family wanted to eat was brisket, ribs and greens with pork in them.

The first Christmas I came home was rough. I was practically starving, so I did an all-call on social media and my family for vegan spots, but made sure that folks knew I wouldn’t eat unseasoned fake meat.

That’s when someone suggested I try The Tree Hugger Kitchen, located at 841 NW Vivion Road in Riverside.

Everything at Tree Hugger is vegan, including their desserts. The spot is owned by a couple, Mandy and Phil Newman, who have been vegan for several years. Before it opened as a brick-and-mortar in May 2022, they ran a vegan food truck.

“We want it to feel food truck-y and grill-y,” said Phil. “We want it to feel like just a normal spot, not pretentious, you know, like we want to be approachable.”

The want for the food and atmosphere to feel like a regular spot reflects in the business, for sure. The inside is super casual and nothing upscale, so it’s perfectly fine to come as you are and enjoy some of their board games while you enjoy your food.

Over the years, I’ve had Tree Hugger probably a dozen times. My loyalty to Tree Hugger runs so deep that every time I attempt to try another vegan restaurant in KC, I find myself not satisfied with the menu.

Tree Hugger doesn’t get too creative with their menu, and I know their food will be seasoned perfectly each time. They’ve perfected the texture of their imitation meat, which is a nonnegotiable for me.

When I need a reminder of my life and the habits I picked up while in college in DC, I’ll take a 15-minute drive to Riverside for a quick bite.

Now, I’ve put faces to the names of the businesses, which makes me want to support them even more.

Despite the couple having their hands in three other projects (their cat is social media famous!), you can tell they pour their all into the restaurant. Their menu shows they aren’t trying too hard to hippie vegans. Instead, it’s a regular finger food menu with a twist on classic food items, nothing fancy.

I usually do carry out a vegan chicken sandwich, but when I went with my partner and one of The Star’s photographers, Dominick Williams, we dined in to enjoy our meals. Both my partner and I discovered tasty new meals in the Northland.

My partner, Lasley, was hesitant at first and makes fun of me every time I eat vegan food, calling it fake food. But he even enjoyed his buffalo mac and cheese wrap.

The wrap, priced at $13, was made with vegan cheese, bacon bits, jalapeños, buffalo sauce, and sour cream inside a flour tortilla — all vegan, of course.

I watched his face closely because I knew he couldn’t hide if he hated it, but he surprisingly didn’t make a face and kept eating his wrap.

“I was skeptical,” he said. “But it ended up being a good mixture.”

Which, I think, speaks volumes for those who aren’t fond of vegan food. I’ve tried to make my partner plant-based bacon, chili and other basic meals at home. Watching him eat at Tree Hugger was the first time he didn’t make an annoyed face or roll his eyes.

Co-owner Mandy said that’s the intention for their homemade recipes. She is usually the one who turns classic meals into a vegan dish using research and experimenting in her own kitchen.

“It’s food for everyone and I want, especially non-vegans, to understand that and enjoy it too,” said Mandy. “I think they think vegan food is all artificial and tasteless, and I so try to be the opposite and I try to bring tons of flavor.”

On the other hand, I wanted something less cheesy since I’m not a huge fan of vegan cheese. I got the chick’n Caesar wrap ($13) made out of soy curl chick’n with romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, croutons and Caesar dressing, which is a lot different from my usual chicken sandwich.

The wrap was different from my usual choice and something I’d try again when I don’t want a heavy sandwich.

The wrap, as I expected, was amazing and creamy. I tend not to like vegan sauce because it lacks the consistency of the real deal. But Tree Hugger’s Caesar dressing was perfectly creamy. I could also taste the seasoning on the chick’n, which is where most vegan spots fail.

Dominick, who has been vegan before but isn’t at the moment, said he was a frequent customer at Tree Hugger. He ordered the Frito burrito ($13), which he said tasted like a bowl of chili. Of course, he said his burrito was good as expected.

Tree Hugger can be a bit on the expensive side, but it was definitely worth it.