Grasshopper Vegetarian Restaurant
1 N Beacon St
Allston, MA 02134
(617) 254-8883
Allston, MA 02134
(617) 254-8883
Grasshopper Vegetarian Restaurant
Restaurants, Family Restaurants
Green Tags: animal-friendly, ethical business, healthy, responsible, vegan chinese food
Good Tags: delicious, friendly, generous, vegan chinese food, vegan takeout
I love Grasshopper, always have, and always will.
The food is delicious, the atmosphere is comfortable, and the owner and waitstaff are always friendly. Although their ingredients are probably not organic, they definitely get points for having an all-vegan menu.
I am obsessed with their hot appetizers. The bean cake and the spring rolls are to die for. They have a buffet on the third Sunday, on every month, which is awesome.
This place is incredibly hit or miss, but certain dishes make it the perfect place for vegetarians and vegans to pig out. The No Name, Grasshopper's take on sesame chicken is probably the best thing on the menu. The deep fried seitan comes in a portion that's easily enough for 2-3 meals, but will probably make you feel disgustingly sick afterward due to the heavy sauce that smothers the dish. The fake chicken fingers are equally as good with a batter that tastes just like a fortune cookie. If you love mushrooms, there's a great hotpot mushroom dish with 3 types of mushrooms in a brown sauce. Again, its very heavy on the sauce but still delicious.
However, most everything else I've had here has been disgusting. The miso soup tastes like feet, and for a vegetarian restaurant none of the vegetables are that fresh or flavorful. I've also heard some pretty bad horror stories about cockroaches and other disgusting things in the kitchen an dining room.
So I'll give 'em green creativity points for being able to make chicken out of tofu... but I have to be honest... everytime I've eaten there, about an hour later, I feel like I'm tripping. I don't know if it's MSG or some sort of secret ingredient, but I do know that it makes me super ill.
It may taste good at first, but beware.
Greasy Chinese takeout for the vegan crowd. It's not healthy, but it's pretty good. Get the No Name if you have a hankering for sesame chicken - it's wheat gluten based, I believe, but it'll bring back memories of the real thing.
Also, the tofu-based cheesecake is tasty -- and makes me feel much less guilty than the real thing.
Grasshopper's popularity has always befuddled me a bit. They are very similar to Buddha's Delight in Chinatown (and its sister restaraunt My Thai Cafe in Brookline), having a largely identical menu of vegan Vietnamese and Thai dishes. In my experience, the food is a bit less flavorful than Buddha's Delight, and costs a bit more. This is not to say that it is bad - it isn't - but it also doesn't quite live up to its reputation for me. The overall ambiance of the restaurant is comfortable, and the large fish tank - while not the most energy-conscious piece of decore they oculd have chosen - is very nice to look at. As far as organic ingredients and such, I didn't notice any indication one way or the other last time I was there, but serving exclusively vegan dishes is already a big step up from most restaurants.
Food: Delicious! They provide huge portions for a decent price. I'm not vegan, but I'm a true believer in seitans and vegetable glutens after eating from this place. Personal faves: The No Name Lunch Special - sweet and sour gluten, served with brown rice, small salad, and steamed veggies; Eggplant Tofu Surprise - eggplant, tofu, seitans, and asparagus in a savory black bean sauce, also served with brown rice.
Staff: I love the staff! They are so friendly and if you go there often enough, they will definitely remember you. I've also had the pleasure of meeting the owner and his family, as their kids go to the Jackson Mann School. They are some of the nice people...EVER!
Corporate Social Responsibility: I work for Leaders of Tomorrow, Inc., a small non-profit based in the Allston-Brighton neighborhood, providing holistic services to the Jackson Mann School and Brighton High School. We hold a Family Group at the Jackson Mann every Monday evening during the school year, as well as several events focused on family involvement. The Grasshopper has donated a tray of Lo Mein to our Family Group for each session, for 2 years now. They also donate extra trays of goodness to our larger events.
I heart The Grasshopper!
Grasshopper not only serves delicious food but has a friendly wait staff as well. The atmosphere is always welcoming and the waiters and waitresses are eager to please you. Try the buffet on every third Sunday to get a sampling of some of Grasshopper's most popular dishes. The #18 hot appetizer plate is an amazing sampling of wantons, spring roll, dumplings, bean cake, vermicelli rolls, and salad--it comes highly recommended by me! It is a meal in itself. They also serve some of the best hot and sour soup I have ever tasted, and the no-name (sweet and sour battered gluten) is sure to win you over! My most meat loving friends and family still love Grasshopper and all of the delicious dishes they have to offer.
This Allston gem is worth the hike. Grasshopper is a vegan or vegetarians fast food dream. Most Asian restaurants have vegan or vegetarian fare on their menu, however it is fried or made with tons of salt and oil etc etc. Grasshopper is like gourmet Asian that caters to vegans.
The décor is nothing to write home about, but that is not we are here is it. The food is amazing, some of my favorites are : Vegi-Pizza, Vegetarian Tempura, Sauteed Kale. Every third Sunday there is a lunch buffet.
The prices are decent and service is friendly and prompt.
The Grasshopper Vegan Restaurant in Brighton is very similar to the other vegan Asian restaurants in the area. I find the food pretty good, the atmosphere to be nice, and the prices not too high.
They do not contribute to the meat industry which is described as "one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global" (2006 United Nations report). They don't however use organic ingredients, and therefore could be using genetically modified foods and oils, although I have not asked about this. Does anyone know?
The best thing besides their commitment to veganism is definitely their Sunday buffets!! If you've never been to Grasshopper than you must have your first experience at one of these because you get to try lots of different things for a $10 all you can eat extravaganza! Check out http://grasshoppervegan.com/events.html for the buffet schedule.
Also notable is that the Boston Vegetarian Society holds their monthly lectures there which are great to check out! http://www.bostonveg.org/
Are you guys nuts? You forgot to mention the awesome buffet every third thursday. Just bring a few bucks with you and you can practically eat as much as you can bare to stomach.
The next time you're in there I highly recommend the Grasshopper Supreme. If you're into eggplant, asparagus, spinach, and portabello mushrooms with a basily type of flavor, you'll dig this dish.
I have absolutely no knowledge of what the Grasshopper does to be green. I'll upgrade their green rating if they start giving away their oil for veggie vehicles.
I LOVE Grasshopper. Ever since I was a young'n attending shows at the Jackson Mann and ICC Church, I've been going to Grasshopper afterwards. It's just become tradition. (I also tend to frequent TJ Scallywaggles next door.. but never after a concert for some reason).
The No Name is probably my favorite dish, but the chicken (tofu) fingers are also to die for. Skip the chicken finger entree.. the appetizer of it will do, coming with 6 pieces and a delicious sweet and sour sauce.. and it's way cheaper. The sweet and sour soup is unlike any I've ever had--there are so many vegetables in it, and it's so thick with a nice gingery flair. When I was broke from spending all my money on merch, I would just get soup and brown rice. I still wouldn't be able to finish it, the portions are so generous.
I agree that vegan restaurants tend to be more environmentally conscious so my rating is indeed an estimate. There are vegan themed posters all over the walls, and the plants are a nice touch. Having eaten here for years I can tell it's under a legitimate management that is in fact concerned about protecting animals, and hopefully being environmentally friendly just comes with that territory.
Grasshopper has been serving the Allston community delicious vegan food for many years. The offer an extensive menu including tofu dishes, mock meats, tofu cheesecakes, noodles etc. I highly recommend the "No Name". It is a special dish of crispy fried seitan in a sweet sauce. If you can't decide what to order, visit the all you can eat buffet. The service is accurate and timely. This is also a great place to get takeout from.
By default, I think of vegan food as more green than non vegan food. As for Grasshopper, I don't know their practices on recycling, local food or natural/organic ingredients. Does anyone know?
Restaurants
Big Picture
When you go out to a restaurant for your food, it's easy to assume that restaurateurs care about the food they are giving you – where it comes from, what’s been added to it, and how far it had to travel to get to you. But what's going on behind the scenes? It’s time to explore the art of dining out and being green – not so easy in Boston, but getting easier. The more questions we ask, the more we will inspire change.
Factoids n' Stuff
- Your average cheeseburger accounts for approximately 6.3 - 6.8 lbs of carbon emissions. (Jamais Cascio, "The Cheeseburger Footprint" January 2007)
- Reusing a glass jar 5 times at home can save about half of the energy a commercial packager consumes to make 5 disposable containers. (Pimentel, David, and Marcia Pimentel. Energy use in food processing for nutrition and development, accessed September 1, 2006.)
- In 2005, American farmers used more than 22 million tons of chemical fertilizers, turning agriculture into a leading source of water pollution in the U.S. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service,"U.S. Fertilizer Use and Price. September 25, 2006, accessed October 13, 2006.)
- Approximately 80% of U.S. ammonia emissions come from livestock manure on factory farms. (Doorn, Michael R.J., et al. Review of Emissions Factors and Methodologies to Estimate Ammonia Emissions from Animal Waste Handling, Research Triangle Park (NC): Environmental Protection Agency, 2002: ii.)
- Herbicide tolerant GE (genetically engineered) crops have created weed resistance, causing pesticide use to increase by 70 million lbs between 1997 and 2003. (SustainableTable.org)
- Perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, found in Teflon (a chemical used to make nonstick pots and pans) and paper plates, has been found to cause cancer in animals. Once released into the environment, PFOA does not break down and remains there indefinitely. (Environmental Working Group "Is There an Extra Ingredient in Nonstick Pans?" July 2005)
What Goes In?
Where does the food come from? What kinds of chemicals or drugs are already in the food? Are there steroids, antibiotics, or hormones in the meat? Is the food fresh or did it come from a can? How is the food prepared? What kinds of pots and pans are being used?
What Comes Out?
Does the food taste good? Are the portions too big? How much food is wasted? What do they do with that wasted food? Throw it away? How is the food being served – are they served on plastic, paper, or real dishes? Do they use paper or linens for tablecloths, napkins, and place mats? Do they recycle? Are they encouraging you to recycle?
How's it Run?
Do the employees seem happy and healthy? Do they take the time to explain what you are getting – i.e., do they know where the food comes from and are they happy to tell you about it? Do they have a genuine care for quality rather than quantity? What is their dishwashing process? How do they clean the restaurant? What do they use to wipe down the tables/bar? How do they wash their linens?
What They Care About
Do they understand the interest in organic and local foods and do they know why that’s important? Have they researched local suppliers and do they think about meeting the farmers or fishermen who provide them with food? Are they thinking of ways to offer more natural choices, or do they just care about making a buck?
What to Ask
- What’s been added to my food?
- Where does my food come from?
- Is this food local, organic, or both?
- Does this meat come from a factory farm, or was it naturally raised?
- How far did my food have to travel to get to my mouth?
- How was my food prepared?
- What do you do with the leftover food? Do you compost it?
- What kinds of chemicals do you use to wash dishes and clean the restaurant?
- What are you doing to help the negative impact that the mainstream food supply currently has on the environment?
- Do you know what your carbon footprint is (given all the different foods you are providing) and what are you doing to offset your carbon footprint?
- What are you doing to conserve the energy, water, and resources your restaurant uses?
What to Do
- Buy local – find out what on the menu is local and choose that!
- Choose organic items from the menu.
- Eat a little less animal protein, and get high quality naturally raised meat – you saw the stats above – you CAN make a difference.
- Ask a lot of questions – you’ll know what’s up by how your questions are answered and it’s the only way to make the restaurant aware that their customers are paying attention.
- Take your own bag or container for leftovers – pretty self explanatory but this makes a huge difference.
- Split your meal – most restaurants provide us with out of control serving sizes – split more and waste less!
- Get an appetizer instead of an entrée – saves you money and the serving sizes are smaller so there is less wasted.
- Look for restaurants that use cast iron or stainless steel pots and pans.
