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Miso Vegan · 03-21-2006, 07:00 PM

I meant to do a quick update, in case anyone ever goes where I went.

I was staying at a resort in Carefree, which is 20 minutes N of Phoenix (at least, from the N edge of Phoenix; nearly 1 hr from the airport). Also, Carefree is annexed to Cave Creek, which is more of a town. Carefree has a Giant Sundial.

There's precious little for vegans, specifically. The vitamin store guy had no recommendations. However, the owners of the store I was working with took me to a restaurant in their shopping "village" that was quite accomodating, making me a pasta dish with very spicy, chipotle-flavored tomato sauce. It was quite good. I also got a very nice, leafy side salad with oil and vinegar dressing. The margueritas, made by a female bartender, were the second-best I've ever had (after my brother's). I never knew the restaurant's name, but I will say it's in the same shopping center as a small store called Sage & Cedar, it's sizeable, and there was nothing vegan on the otherwise extensive menu.

This shopping center is attached by a driveway to the south side of the Giant Sundial tourist spot.

I did find a sandwich counter at a new natural food store in Cave Creek. They made me their veggie sandwich with roasted veggies, left off the cheese, and substituted hummus for whatever spread they had. The bread - don't know if it was vegan. It was sourdough, and I can tell you, vegan or not, it could not have been more bland. The folks were very nice and it was a new store (half-full shelves) so hopefully it will stay open.

From them I also bought, for my hotel room:
hummus
crackers
black olives
chips
Clif and Luna bars
Odwalla (I think? or similar) protein drinks

They also had produce, and some vegan cereal, soymilk, cookies, and various other hotel-friendly snacky things (had I been staying longer, I'd've bought more). Alas, the free chips that came with the sandwich were not vegan (salt and vinegar flavor, fer cryin' out loud!).

So, for the record:
Sonoran Sun Fine Foods
6130 E. Cave Creek Rd, Ste #1
Cave Creek, AZ 85331
480.595.1221
In the Las Tiendas Shops & Galleries

The day that I worked in Phoenix, I was working at the 2 Whole Foods Markets (Phoenix and Tempe) and had no time to spare, so I just ate there. They do not have nearly the vegan selections of either the Orlando or Seattle stores, but there was enough in the prepared foods.

By the way, it's rather hard to be vegan and correctly pronounce the town of Tempe. It's not tem'pay like the food, it's temPEE'.

And traffic in Greater Phoenix sucks.

03-21-2006, 07:00 PM	#8
Miso Vegan We park our cars in the same garage. Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Seattle WA Posts: 3,149	my trip to AZ I meant to do a quick update, in case anyone ever goes where I went. I was staying at a resort in Carefree, which is 20 minutes N of Phoenix (at least, from the N edge of Phoenix; nearly 1 hr from the airport). Also, Carefree is annexed to Cave Creek, which is more of a town. Carefree has a Giant Sundial. There's precious little for vegans, specifically. The vitamin store guy had no recommendations. However, the owners of the store I was working with took me to a restaurant in their shopping "village" that was quite accomodating, making me a pasta dish with very spicy, chipotle-flavored tomato sauce. It was quite good. I also got a very nice, leafy side salad with oil and vinegar dressing. The margueritas, made by a female bartender, were the second-best I've ever had (after my brother's). I never knew the restaurant's name, but I will say it's in the same shopping center as a small store called Sage & Cedar, it's sizeable, and there was nothing vegan on the otherwise extensive menu. This shopping center is attached by a driveway to the south side of the Giant Sundial tourist spot. I did find a sandwich counter at a new natural food store in Cave Creek. They made me their veggie sandwich with roasted veggies, left off the cheese, and substituted hummus for whatever spread they had. The bread - don't know if it was vegan. It was sourdough, and I can tell you, vegan or not, it could not have been more bland. The folks were very nice and it was a new store (half-full shelves) so hopefully it will stay open. From them I also bought, for my hotel room: hummus crackers black olives chips Clif and Luna bars Odwalla (I think? or similar) protein drinks They also had produce, and some vegan cereal, soymilk, cookies, and various other hotel-friendly snacky things (had I been staying longer, I'd've bought more). Alas, the free chips that came with the sandwich were not vegan (salt and vinegar flavor, fer cryin' out loud!). So, for the record: Sonoran Sun Fine Foods 6130 E. Cave Creek Rd, Ste #1 Cave Creek, AZ 85331 480.595.1221 In the Las Tiendas Shops & Galleries The day that I worked in Phoenix, I was working at the 2 Whole Foods Markets (Phoenix and Tempe) and had no time to spare, so I just ate there. They do not have nearly the vegan selections of either the Orlando or Seattle stores, but there was enough in the prepared foods. By the way, it's rather hard to be vegan and correctly pronounce the town of Tempe. It's not tem'pay like the food, it's temPEE'. And traffic in Greater Phoenix sucks.