When I first moved to Philly, I enjoyed a nice evening at the Plough & the Stars, Olde City Restaurants & some of the other top 25 douchiest bars of Philly.

Luckily, the evolution of Philadelphia’s food scene has evolved with my taste buds.

Philly’s finest restaurants & bars continues to focus on innovative vegan, local & sustainable options for diners!  Here are some of the hottest spots to satisfy your sustainable conscious:

• Going out for a fancy night on the town? Rich Landau’s Vedge is one of my (newish – as of the fall) favorite sit-downs with tons of delicious plates.
• Speaking of Vedge, ex-Horizon’s genius Nicole Marquis hit a homerun with HipCityVeg, a vegan fast food joint on 18th street. I’m officially addicted and literally think of excuses to try a new thing on the menu… The Buffalo Bella filled a hole in my ex-carnivorous, buffalo chicken-loving heart.
• Miss Rachel’s Pantry offers vegan catering, pre-fixe dinner menus and a cafe with ice cream, smoothies, coffee & a savory menu.  I’m specifically psyched for their Farmhouse Table Dinners made from local, fresh & sustainable sourced ingredients.
• White Dog Cafe has a handy little interactive map on their site to satisfy the obnoxious question ‘But where is that from...” for the ever-curious locavores. As their website proclaims, the “choose food from farms we trust, that avoid the use of pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, genetically modified seed or other harmful chemicals.” Amen.
• Honeygrow is pledging to source all of their foods locally. Ranging from noodles, stir fry & salads, their menu has you salivating to try everything immediately. Seriously dudes, where were you during my 40-day locavore challenge?
• Farm & Fisherman BYOB strives for ethical & social decisions for their menu, also focusing on sustainable & locally sourced options. Talula’s Garden also has similar themes.
• Brand new Industry will have a rotation of 12 local craft beers (drink locally too, folks!) for you to choose from.

Obviously this is JUST the tip of the iceberg.  Readers, what are your current sustainable, local or veggie-friendly favs?

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Julie Hancher is Editor-in-Chief of Green Philly, sharing her expertise of all things sustainable in the city of brotherly love. She enjoys long walks in the park with local beer and greening her travels, cooking & cat, Sir Floofus Drake. View all posts by Julie Hancher