As a vegan, Vida Vegan has been a frequent spot for me since their opening in 2019. The eatery serves a variety of dishes, from “chickn’” sandwiches to veganized ceviche, and is heavily influenced by Latin cuisine. The co-owner, Mao Granada, is Colombian and likes to show off the cultural flavors through the menu, which has evolved incredibly since their doors first opened.  

The numerous plants, low lights, and acoustic covers provide a lively ambiance to the atmosphere of Vida Vegan. It’s what a great night is supposed to feel like. When you enter, the front staffs greet you and are extremely helpful with giving out recommendations to those who cannot pick between all the delicious meals listed on the menu. For this Pasta Night, the options were between fettuccine alfredo and “chickn’” parmigiana, and after an employee’s recommendation, I had my heart set on the fettucine alfredo.  

The dish comes with a side salad as an appetizer while you wait for the entrée, and you have an option between Caesar or ranch dressing. The salad itself was refreshing and light but the plating choice of a stainless silver steel bowl was a bit strange to me and didn’t match the theme of the eatery.  

Along with the pasta, I indulged in a red velvet cake served in a cup and an order of pickle fries with a dipping sauce of south-western ranch. The cake was moist, rich, and covered in a buttercream frosting. While the pickle fries were tasty, the breading lacked that crunch factor you hope for from deep-fried foods. The drink of choice was a new addition called the Encanto Vida Palmer, a strawberry lemonade with butterfly pea tea. It was a beautifully layered beverage providing a sweet flavor from the lemonade and a tartness from the tea, making it a perfectly balanced sip in between bites of extreme flavor.  

While the pickle fries didn’t impress me as much, they did impress Katie Greenfield, another enjoyer of the eatery’s food that night. 

“The pickle flavor is great; I wasn’t expecting to like it this much,” Greenfield said.  

The star of the show, the fettucine alfredo, came out plated beautifully and the flavor profile was sated with comfort. The noodles were al dente–topped with crispy vegan “chickn’” and broccoli–and soaked up the creamy sauce like a tender hug. It even comes with a side of garlic toast– pasta’s best friend. The only questionable thing about the dish was the chopped green onions tossed in, which I’m assuming was used to bring color and freshness to the dish but stuck out like the new kid in class. According to a 2019 Yelp review by Chris M., it seems that green onions are a frequent visitor in the noodle dishes.  

Overall, the pasta night was a success and left me feeling like I had just eaten a friend’s home-made meal.