It wasn't long after I moved to Tampa that I heard about Ella's. "Ya gotta go to Ella's!" "I love Ella's!" "It's a really cool place!" and, the biggest selling point, "They're vegan-friendly!"
Still, it took me six months to finally mosey on down to what could quite possibly be the cutest
I love when places have funky art and junk all over the place, don't you?
You ready to get to the food? We're getting closer.
I am by no means a boozer, but some of the drinks at Ella's sounded very interesting. Sangria is always tempting, but I decided to go with the Bloody Ella. The homemade tomato juice and BBQ rub rim sold me. ("Rub rim" sounds funny. Go ahead -- say it! Rub rim. Rub rim. Rum rib.)
Their tomato juice is impressively fresh and delicious!
Ella's is known for their hummus of the day, also homemade. I'd heard about their pumpkin hummus (in the autumn months), their PB&J hummus, and their apricot hummus. On this particular night, they had a sweet chili pepper and jalapeno hummus. I had a taste and kind of had a moment: It was AMAZING!
So creamy and smooth and flavorful... And they sprinkled chopped cilantro over the top... Perfection, my friends.
Since I had rounded up the vegan troops for my first taste of Ella's, the fine folks there put together a nice little vegan special that night: sauteed asparagus with roasted eggplant over mint couscous with yellow heirloom tomato coulis. Ooh la la!
But as much as I FREAKING LOVE asparagus, I just wasn't feelin' the special, so I ordered the Good Burger, the lone veggie burger on the menu, sans bread to save my guts. [I did get a taste of the special from my friend Lisa's plate and it was light and summery and good.]
Avocado is so good on other things. The burger itself was really good, too: full of beans and veggies.
The Good Burger comes with sweet potato fries, but I wasn't really digging those, either. They were kind of too fried, if that makes sense.
Other folks at the table ordered the Hippy Pizza (which I did not sample because that would be wheat overload)
and the Sulu Panang Curry (I did taste this, and it was quite good. I was impressed to see some lotus root action).
Closing Thoughts on Ella's Americana Folk Art Cafe
* totally cute atmosphere
* fun drink menu
* rockin' hummus
* decent menu -- would love to see a hearty, VEGAN salad and a vegan dessert or two make it to the menu
* a little on the pricey side, in my opinion.
Still, the hummus and the drinks shall bring me back!
I always love my Good Burger. and the hummus has yet to disappoint. i do think they could lower their price just a tad though... i may go there more often. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, I've lived in the Tampa area for years and have never heard of this place. Will have to check it out.
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