Just happened to be in P'cola for a meeting and was looking for quirky places to eat. Stumbled across Sluggo's on Yelp, and we were really pleased. Though it is in what I would consider a bit of a strange location (though, again, I do not live in the area), we found it easily. Since the weather was pleasant we ate on the sidewalk. The patrons were nice and our server was very helpful and pleasant. I really loved the Berliner Sandwich - so much that I am now on a quest to make the perfect corned beef seitan, and my friend had the Popeye Bowl. We were both very happy with our choices.
Wish there were more Sluggo's in the world!
I can't blast the food...I haven't tried it yet, I'm sure it's delicious if you are into that. I'm not a vegan or even a vegetarian. So before anyone gets bent out of shape my "star" rating is based off of what I experienced as a whole...NOT THE FOOD. Â I met a friend here for some drinks. The staff was pretty cool. Ordered a Margarita while everyone else was sipping PBR and making sure their bike chains were locked. Â It took a minute for the guy behind the bar to find the Margarita mix....I wonder when the last time they made one was? Lol. The margarita was..well...you can't really screw up a margarita. It seems like your typical downtown Pensacola hipster hideout. Â Probably why I didn't blend in..that's where the outside seating was a bonus....for those gas sucking car owners who eat meat and don't recycle while listening to Dubstep and R&B who don't quite fit in. The atmosphere?? Meh..Pretty dull. Then again it's all about the food right??
Review Source:O-M-G!!! It's been like a week since I was here and I've thought about my meal here at least 10x a day since. I've had vegan food, I've had vegetarian food, and I've had good food at restaurants near me...but I'd happily go all the way back to Pensacola just to eat here, because they surely know how to make food taste sooo good! Extra points because it's all vegan. And extra extra extra points because it's inexpensive. We got pecan dusted seitan, lentil burger, a hummus appetizer, and a side order of sweet potatoes for $28.00...I ate until I was falling over and still had left overs for three meals afterwards.
Really, the look of this place is deceiving!
Located in Downtown Pensacola, across the street from the Pensacola News Journal. Sluggos serves delicious Vegan and Vegetarian food. It has a wrap around bar with side tables for lunch/dinner seating (think bar rather than restaurant). The service is a little slow during their busy hours so I wouldn't recommend going here if you have a short lunch break. The atmosphere is laid back and your server/bar tender may not be bubbly and will most likely have tattoos... a heads up in case that's something that may offend you.
Review Source:Oh, how I wish there was something like this in New Orleans! Â Solid vegan/vegetarian restaurant.... the portions are big, the prices are cheap, and everything is delicious. This is one of the few bars/restaurants I've found outside of New Orleans that carries Abita rootbeer on tap, which makes it a win in my book!! Â
Don't let the fact that it doubles as a punk/DIY music venue intimidate you, the general ambience of the place is chill and comfortable. I noticed in a few other reviews that there were some complaints about the punk rock patronage but if anything that will give me more of a reason to frequent a place..... I know I won't be sneered at or looked down upon because the punx are generally an openminded bunch. Â
As it stands the last time I was there for most of the other patrons were 'normal' looking office types on their lunch hours.... which is super encouraging for a restaurant that only serves vegan food. Â I can only dream of convincing my coworkers to pick something besides Applebee's for their lunch outings - vegan to them might as well be a foreign language!
I could completely annihilate this place in my review, but I will try my utmost to remain objective.
DISCLAIMER: This review does not encompass the actual food offerings because we didn't even make it this far.
DISCLAIMER: Â I'm a normal, nondescript person with no body piercings or tattoos, without dyed hair, and I am not a cross-dresser. Â
We were excited to try our first ever Vegan restaurant and were really glad to have found one while visiting Pensacola.
We dropped in on Sluggo's on a Thursday night about 530 maybe.
The outside of the joint looked nice enough. Â Upon entering, we noticed the place was setup more like a bar than a restaurant. Â There were a few patrons at the bar, with one gentleman who gaped at us incessantly for the few brief minutes we were in the establishment. Â There were a few scattered tables and I think a couple of booths.
Otherwise the atmosphere was ghastly. The lighting was low and the walls were adorned with art depicting various severed, bleeding body parts and the like.
There was evidently one employee in the place, whom we did not see until several minutes after we entered, standing aimlessly (and being gawked at) waiting to be greeted. (NOTE: I say "several minutes" because even 60-120 seconds standing in an entryway waiting to be served - or on hold with customer service, etc - seems like several minutes.)
Once I saw the employee, I approached the bar behind which she was standing and calmly and politely asked if we should just help ourselves to a table. Â With a bizarre, quizzical expression on her face, she said we could.
We seated ourselves but pretty quickly realized this was not going to be a good experience. Â We left.
If you're going to run a restaurant, you need to staff the restaurant, greet and seat the customers, and not treat people rudely. Â
Perhaps this place has great food but from my experience, average, middle-class, plain-looking people and families are not welcome here. Â
P.S. My wife actually has 2 tattoos, but alas, they were obscured by her outfit on this particular occasion.
Why Sluggo's (questioned in reference to the name)? The only conceived connection with vegan(ism) in my mind is the celebrated Banana Slugs most commonly found in Coastal California regions where it's a common perception that everyone is a tree hugging granola head, but even that's a stretch. I wish the website said to quiet my wondering mind and foster a little connectedness (said half tongue in cheek) with this hipster haunt.
Fresh off Meatless May and excited about this further foray into meatless territory, Vegan; an unexpected find in Pensacola, a bit of an enigma, Sluggo's enticed us. Â An oft pescatarian since 2003, I hadn't had the occasion to eat many vegan meals and wasn't very familiar with many of the ingredients like seitan and TVP, but google was on the job.
Dan the Former S.O and also a recent "meatless" convert, choose the pecan dusted seitan and for me the black bean burrito with rice, lettuce, salsa, and soy cream both with a side of collard green. The huge (HUGE) plates arrived and laughing in disbelief at the massive portions Dan says "We need to start sharing plates."
A novice to seitan, it tasted a lot like a mealoaf especially in the gravy with a hint of nuts from the pecan dusting. My burrito was good, I wish I would have ordered outside my comfort zone and my usual craves and gotten something else, something more vegan inspired, like the Popeye Bowl or one of the many sandwiches. Anyway, the vegan sour cream was awesome, a bit citrusy and the collard greens, NOT cooked with a turkey neck or a ham hock (Yes!) were spicy and a bit briny. Yum!
If I lived in Pensacola I'm sure Sluggo's would be in my regular restaurant rotation. The prices are awesomely cheap, they have a unique menu in addition to a bar and a music venue. In fact Dan texted me the other day, "Went to Sluggo's. Had the spinach wrap (good), mashed potatoes (excellent), and salad (average at best). I'm going to eat here a lot I think."
I had the reuben and it wasn't that good. Not sure what the big deal was about the carrot cake. Â Also found a piece of hair in my food. Â The atmosphere just feels kind abandoned and run down. Â Friendly staff, though.
Go to End of the Line Cafe if you're looking for yummy consistently quality vegan food.
I should have been wearing my spiked belt and leather cuff. Â I came here on a Monday night at about 10pm and I was in awe, I have recently gotten into the show "Sons of Anarchy" and I felt like I was on the set!! Â Although I was out of place dressed in a flowy dress and heels I really wished some of the bikers would have came and chitchatted with me and given me one of their studded choker necklaces.
I have heard they have a "Mexican Coca Cola made with real sugar not HCFS, but I did not know how to ask for it without sounding politically incorrect.
Now so you don't look like a lost soul, when you come in go to the bar and grab a menu or look at the specials written on the chalk board to the far right. Â Don't ask for a menu get it yourself don't be a newbie. Â Have a seat, once you figured out what you want go back to the bar and place your order. Â They will then bring your food out.
Im not 100% Vegan yet but this place would surely make it easy for me. Â I got the Philly Seitan yum. Â Next time I will order with extra Veggies they were so good
Sluggos is an excellent restaurant to get great vegan food done right. Â The menu is extensive and includes lots of options from seitan sandwiches to salads to gourmet hot dogs.
My wife and I ate dinner here the other night and they have a nice little bar/restaurant with ample seating and a good beer selection.
I recommend the carrot cakes for a great appetizer akin to a crab cake. Â My wife had the Berliner sandwich that was excellent and resembled a reuben. Â I had a mushroom walnut burger that was gigantic and delicious.
The portions are large, the price is inexpensive, the food is ALL vegan and so darn good that I am considering moving to Pensacola just so I can eat at Sluggo's more often!
My husband and I stopped in Pensacola on our way through moving to Dallas from South Florida. Our reason for Pensacola was friends I went to college with were going to keep our cat and cars at their property while we spent the night in a hotel. We went to Sluggo's based on the recommendations I had heard and the reviews here on Yelp.
First let's focus on the positive: It is a vegan diner and the food is spot on. My husband and friends are omnivores and willingly went to Sluggo's for me. Our actual server was a young man and extremely helpful, knowledgeable and accommodating to our needs. My husband got the black bean burrito, the one friend ordered the Popeye bowl and her husband and I had the Berliner.
I LOVED the Berliner, but I am a lover of seitan, which is necessary here. This sandwich is loaded with seitan strips and reminiscent of a standard corned beef Reuben sandwich. This is made with soy cheez, a soy based Russian dressing and sauerkraut. Despite the similarity, soy cheez and seitan are both acquired tastes and my friend was not too happy with his. He is also a hard core omnivore eating few vegetables or fruits so I'm sure it's not what he was expecting.
I did sample the burrito and the Popeye bowl and both are what one would expect from their descriptions on the menu. We did not have dessert.
Now for the negative and why I'm only giving this place three stars. Apparently there was a shift change and our server did not bother to tell us he was leaving, nor did he leave a check on the table or ask us to settle before he left. We asked for our check so we could settle and leave. This was after more than two hours of visiting. We realized we were there for a while, but we were ready to leave. FIFTEEN minutes later we STILL didn't have a check. When my husband asked the bartender about it she rudely snapped, "Give me a sec." That was the WRONG thing to say to people who have been in food service for 20 years.
We came thisclose to walking out without paying. Our husbands walked outside to wait for us while my girlfriend settled the bill.
Bottom line: Service was fine up until the end which somewhat marred an otherwise enjoyable meal. The food was delicious. Since this day in September was the first time I was in Pensacola in eight years, I'm guessing it will be a LONG time before I'm here again. And based on what happened, my friends will not be returning.
I've been coming to Sluggo's for years for shows, but never sat down to eat a meal until a couple of months ago. Â Why did I wait so long?! The portions are big, the price tag isn't huge, and I really like their downtown location. Â Good selection of beers and soft drinks, including the Mexican version of Coca Cola, which is made with cane sugar instead of HFCS. Â I'm not so sure about the new staff they've hired, though; I'm hesitant to call them rude but that's the first word that comes to mind. Â Those, however, are just details and have never ruined or detracted from my recent experiences there. Â
Remember that there's a $5 minimum on all credit card charges.
Sluggo's is, by far, my favorite restaurant in the Pensacola area. I'm new to the area and I had read about Sluggo's on Yelp and Happy Cow. I even had an employee at the kitchen store downtown tell me her vegetarian boss tried it and loved it, so I had to check it out. One day, my boyfriend and I decided to go grab some lunch there. The area has metered parking, but it doesn't apply on the weekends. Either way, it's only 25 cents for an hour (I'm used to San Diego where that buys 15 minutes, so that's a great deal). I've only been here during lunch hours, so I don't know if the evening is any different. I know they have music events, so for a quiet meal, lunch is your best bet. They're a Vegetarian Cafe, but I believe most of their meals are vegan (the employees can verify what meals are vegan).
What you do is order at the bar and sit down, they bring it out to you (I've paid before and after, not sure which is preferred). On our first visit, I ordered the Philly Seitan plate with pasta salad (not on their regular menu, it was a special) and it came with a salad. My boyfriend ordered The Berliner, which is a Seitan Ruben. Both were fantastic. My Philly had a little too much cheezy sauce, but I scooped it off and it was perfect. I've never liked rubens ("real" ones or past vegetarian ones I've tried), but I LOVED this. So much so that the next 2 times we went back, we got it (one time the bread was soggy, which sucked, but the other times were great). Their seitan is the best I've ever had. The pot stickers are also very good, all 3 sauces were equally great. The Spicy Cheeky wings were delicious, but VERY spicy (they're not kidding). The mushroom gravy mashed potatoes are heavenly as well.
Overall, I highly recommend this place. If I lived closer, I would go every week. The prices are absolutely reasonable as well, my guy and I usually spend around $14 for both of us, plus tip. There are pictures to go with this review as well.
Update to 3/20/2010 Review: They have now moved into their new diggs and the hours are as stable as the calendar. Also, they have more staff and a new menu!!! You cannot go wrong with any of the food, but my fave is a combo of potstickers and the Berliner sandwich.
Old review from 3/20/2010-
This Vegan restaurant is the bomb for awesome fresh vegan food. The owner is awesome, the staff are all SO friendly, and the food is worth driving across town for. Some nights there are shows at the venue, and things get a bit crazy, but if you get there early enough there is no problem. Don't ask me the hours because they change pretty often. Tip: Call before you go and ask if they are serving food. Despite the wondering if they are open or closed, the food deserves your attempt to try it!!
One word describes it all...awesome...the food, the staff, the new kick butt downtown venue,& well everything. They have a great variety of many different vegan dishes with big portions for a great price! Whether you're vegan or not you'll love the food. With so many options, occasional shows with awesome bands,& liquor; there really is something for everyone. The only thing more amazing than the food& venue is the staff. The only thing more amazing than the staff...the owners! Try it...trust me...you'll love it!
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