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    Laughing Seed Cafe

    4.2 (909 reviews)

    Laughing Seed Cafe Photos

    LAUGHING SEED CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Outdoor seating
    Good for kids

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    Recommended Reviews - Laughing Seed Cafe

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    Best curry dish of my life!
    Alison M.

    Omg. This is the best vegetarian restaurant I've ever been to. Parking was a bit rough and there is some roadwork blocking roads so it was an adventure to get here - but everyone was so nice to us when we finally arrived - a full 25 minutes later than expected and within about 30 minutes until closing. They said no problem and easily seated us and said no rush. They have a nice indoor area but also a cute patio outside with some firefly lights and bistro tables with umbrellas to provide shade and excellent vantage point for people watching while you eat. Our waitress was phenomenal. Very knowledgeable about the menu and able to answer all our questions and make suggestions on substitutions and easily navigated my friend's soy allergy. Their menu has tons of fantastic things on it which made it hard to choose. Lots of inventive takes on classics like a sweet potato Rueben and buffalo fried cauliflower wrap. In the end - I split a Laughing Seed Salad with my friend - a small size which was huge - and got the coconut curry entree. The salad was delicious and I loaded with veggies, sprouts, etc. I chose the Champagne Derby house-made dressing and did not regret it. Light and delicious with a slight mustard flavor. Very fresh. Now, the coconut curry dish. SO good. I just kept eating and eating and eating. Coconut rice, fresh veggies, the amazing curry sauce. It was a large portion and it was phenomenal. My favorite curry dish I've ever had, vegan or not. I am going to be talking about this forever, and if I'm ever back in town, I'm gonna come get this 2-3x! I like coffee with dinner and warned our waitress as they were close to closing that I like coffee after dinner. She brewed me a fresh pot and offered for me to take some to go and refilled as much as I needed. Although we were probably here until 9:30 - they never rushed us out (another table showed up after us and was still sitting). The food here was some of the best I've had in a while - vegetarian or not. If I lived here I would eat here all the time! Located in a nice part of downtown Asheville on "Wall St" where there is a ton of other shops and restaurants and bars. This is a place to sit out on the patio and people-watch and you can walk around and shop afterwards if you like. Yum! Run. Don't walk.

    Misti M.

    What a great find on such a cute street in Asheville! Laughing Seed has plenty of indoor and outdoor seating and a bar in the center. We arrived mid-day on a Saturday and had our choice of where to sit. What drew us there were the mocktails listed on the website ($7 each) and we were excited to try them out! Between the two of us we had a Strawberry Basil and a Blueberry-pineapple Mule. Both were done very well and it was so nice to see a mocktail menu of more than just one option (I think there were at least 5 on the list). The fully vegetarian menu gave plenty of options, we settled on sharing the loaded fries (beans, vege-chorizo, queso, jalapenos). The $1 extra for the chipotle ranch was worth it - the flavors were great together! Laughing Seed is a winner - surely for vegetarian / vegan options, but as an alcohol-free carnivore, I was very pleased with what they had to offer!

    The Laughing Seed Cafe
    Catherine N.

    This was such a quaint place to frequent just in the nick of time. I sat at the bar and the service was great. I had a glass of wine with a side of avocado and a side of homemade fries. They were amazing!!! The fries were SO light and non greasy! I would definitely recommend these items if you were to visit. Until next time, cheers!

    Awesome food at Laughing seed cafe Hummus and pita. Spinach Pesto Manicotti (Raw) Delicious ever time I go, best eat clean restaurant ever!
    Ellen P.

    Food was good. Staff was nice, service was okay, our waitress forgot we needed water for a long time. But other than that it was all good. The restaurant was clean . They took some favorites off the menu and added other stuff and made our favorite dish smaller. But still delicious and still a great place to eat . I can't wait to try the cashew cheese cake. I recommend to everyone one. It know this is a vegetarian restaurant.

    Interior of The Laughing Seed Cafe from the back seating area.
    Tony S.

    I'd rate this one a 4.5 -- not quite a 5, but really good vegetarian/vegan food. The decor reminds me of restaurants in Europe and the skylights provide nice natural lighting. Service is good. I love sweet potatoes so I had to order the Reuben, where the "pastrami" is made from sweet potatoes. They were sliced like deli meat and while the taste wasn't like pastrami or regular sweet potatoes, they were good just for what they tasted like on their own. The consistency was a bit off, but that's often the case with vegetarian substitutes for meat. After a couple bites, I got used to it. The slaw was good as was the Swiss cheese (you can order it with vegan cheese). The marbled rye bread was excellent. The dressing could have maybe used a little more pop. We also had the "chorizo" taco: good taco seasoning, but again the toppings could have used a little more flare. The real gem of the meal was the French fries. They are medium thick natural-style fries with just the right amount of skin left on, and were well seasoned (not too salty) and cooked crispy brown. They were served hot [nothing worse than lukewarm or soggy cold fries]. But what made them special were the crispy onion pieces mixed in, along with a few jalapenos. If you eat vegetarian/vegan, it's easy to find good menu items in many places in Asheville, but as a completely vegetarian/vegan place, the Laughing Seed Cafe gives you a lot of options. We'd go back. One nit: they add a BoH service charge. Frankly I'd prefer they either pay the BoH employees more and charge a bit more (although prices are a bit high for Asheville already) or tip share between BoH and FoH employees. I typically tip for food quality as well as service, assuming at least some of the tips are shared with BoH or they are paid more than FoH to balance that. I don't like adds-on like this. It's irritating, and I adjust the amount I ultimately tip to reflect this added service charge.

    Lacy H.

    This is a great place for a birthday meal. The vibe is really cool and comfortable and the servers were very kind. It's a bit on the pricey side in my opinion, but they serve really great food. It's not fully vegan so make sure you're aware of that if you're a lil dummy vegan!! The drinks are really delicious for no reason too.

    Fries
    Mansi R.

    Great vegetarian options. We liked the jalapeño onion fries also with the east & west tacos. The tacos were pretty big and had a unique flavor with their sauces they used. I preferred the east taco, but recommend trying both. They have some daily specials as well. Great menu and service.

    Bahn mi, vegan
    dan g.

    Lots of great vegan choices clearly indicated. Good service, lovely spot for lunch. Really enjoyed the vegan bahn mi. It was made with seitan which was pretty well. I got the jalapeno onion fries and they were extremely delicious.

    Violet E.

    Laughing Seed Cafe had awesome food and spectacular service! We ordered the Mediterranean salad and Reuben with fries. The food was flavorful and hot. Would come back next time I'm in Asheville!

    Lotus Grain Bowl and Rueben
    Hannah D.

    We went to the Laughing Seed on a busy Saturday for lunch in Asheville. We had the choice between sitting inside and outside. We picked Outside and were seated immediately. The Laughing Seed is in a fantastic location central to downtown. I recommend sitting outside because there is often live music/street performers that are not too far away. It's a really friendly and fun vibe. As for the food, it is a vegetarian's (and non-vegetarian's) dream. As a vegetarian, it's rare I can go to a restaurant and pick from anything on the menu. However, as a completely vegetarian restaurant, that is exactly the case here. Both the grain bowl and the reuben sandwich were absolutely incredible. We tried the two kombucha options ("fire" and "water") and loved both. As an Asheville local, I wholeheartedly recommend eating here!

    Cold pressed juice
    Jessica C.

    We had lunch at Laughing Seed Cafe during a weekend visit to Asheville. We have a plant-based diet so we were excited about all the options Asheville has to offer. Our lunch at Laughing Seed was average and a little pricey. We ordered two of the cold-pressed juices thinking they would be made fresh, but it was actually already processed and bottled, which was disappointing. We ordered the Greek fennel and white bean soup as an appetizer. The soup was okay, basically a tomato-based vegetable soup, but we didn't see a single white bean. We asked the server if it was the right soup since it didn't have any white beans. She said it was, but wasn't sure why there weren't any beans. For our entrees, we got the cauliflower tacos and the harmony bowl with tofu. The cauliflower tacos and sweet potato chips were actually really delicious, but they were definitely heavily fried. The harmony bowl was bland with no seasoning. Our total check was $80. I think next time we'd try a different place with all the plant-based options in Asheville.

    Buffalo cauliflower tacos with fries
    Natalye R.

    After checking out The Big Crafty, our group of four adults and two kids was feeling hungry, so we headed over to Laughing Seed, which was next to where we parked, and which has a menu that seemed to have something for everyone. I can't speak to everyone else's food, but I can say that my buffalo cauliflower tacos were delicious. Buffalo anything is my favorite, and since it's not a "thing" back in Germany, I always order it when I see it on the menu on my visits stateside. This definitely didn't disappoint. I decided on fries as my side and it worked well together. There are also a lot of sandwiches and bowls that looked delicious, and if I lived here I'd be back to try out more. It was a bit of a crisp day but I still prefer sitting outdoors, and we were easily accommodated on the patio (which does have heaters). Our service was attentive and friendly.

    Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos with Jalapeño fries
    Priyanka R.

    Awesome to have a vegan cafe with varieties of options. We came in with a big group (no reservation) and ended up splitting up into multiple smaller groups because everyone was super hungry. Luckily the food came out quick! Staff was also nice, but did take a little while to get our bill, so had to find the lovely person serving us since the rest of our group had finished and they were able to product the bill on the spot to us. I ordered the buffalo cauliflower tacos with fries on the side. The fries were quite dry / over fried so wouldn't recommend getting, but the tacos were great and came with this chipotle sauce that really allowed you to enjoy the different textures. Overall - recommend for a quick bite and for those looking for a variety of flavor profiles in one restaurant (that is also vegan!!).

    Southwestern fries

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    Laughing Seed Cafe Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Laughing Seed Cafe

    What oil do they use to fry or saute their fries and other foods? (I'm trying to stay away from the inflammatory oils like canola, corn, safflower, and sunflower.)

    They use canola oil

    Is this place dog friendly?

    I have seen people seated in the outside seating area with dogs.

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    Rosetta's Kitchen

    Rosetta's Kitchen

    4.3(603 reviews)
    0.2 mi
    $$

    We stopped in while walking along this quieter street…read more Surprised to find that there is some inside seating as their website focuses on to go food. Only tried ginger chocolate chip cookies that was tasty and crispy. Impressive to find all vegan dessert options. Overall, it did not strike us as being very clean though . Will try on our next trip!

    I went to Rosetta's for the first time today, and I will definitely be back! There were so many…read moregreat vegan and vegetarian options for all sorts of different preferences, moods, and cuisines. The restaurant felt like a diner / kitchen-style place, which was fun. The outside area was also nice with lots of plants and a good view for people-watching. We had the buddha bowl with the great miso ginger sauce, but the best sauce was the sauce on the rice - I think it was peanut. The avocado could have looked a little better, but the tempeh was tasty, and the bowl was hearty and filling. We also shared the family favorite, which was a tofu, smashed potato, and boiled kale plate. The tofu was cooked in a peanut sauce, but I couldn't really taste it. It was still great, and I really enjoyed that smashed potato. Also, I don't usually like gravy, but this was the best gravy I've ever had. A plus is that it doesn't have mushroom (my husband is allergic). We also had the two mocktails, which were both refreshing, delicious, and reasonably priced! I will definitely be back to try several other dishes or order one of these again!

    Photos
    Rosetta's Kitchen - Interior

    Interior

    Rosetta's Kitchen - This us a Half order of chili cheese fries... if you can believe that ! They were yummy ... the chili is delicious! Vegan cheese the Bomb!

    This us a Half order of chili cheese fries... if you can believe that ! They were yummy ... the chili is delicious! Vegan cheese the Bomb!

    Rosetta's Kitchen - Outdoor seating

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    Outdoor seating

    The Smokin' Onion

    The Smokin' Onion

    4.7(50 reviews)
    2.3 mi

    The wife and I discovered this joint while spending my birthday weekend in Asheville. Being vegan,…read moreI definitely had to check it out and I'm glad we did! I ordered the chick'n and waffles situation and the wife got the burger. We also shared the fried green tomatoes and Brussels sprouts. Man... those Brussels sprouts were on another level! Finished everything off with the cheesecake and a blueberry jasmine kombucha. Food, atmosphere and service were all on point. Definitely one of the better vegan spots I've visited and I will be back whenever I'm in Asheville. Now my only complaint... why don't we have one of these joints in the Queen City?! Smokin' Onion, please consider bringing this goodness to Charlotte! You already have at least two customers waiting.

    The Smokin' Onion was a great find in Asheville! It's hidden behind a second hand store. The…read morerestaurant is relatively small so avoid the lunch crowd. The Mexican-inspired fusion dishes were incredibly tasty, with generous portions that left us full and happy. The fried "chicken" burrito was so tasty and got a spicy punch topped with generous slices of avocado. The black beans were well season. The gyro was my favorite--it was packed with flavor and surprisingly satisfying. Ashville being Asheville offered draft beers even at a cafe!! :) I also appreciated that the entire restaurant is vegetarian, making it easy to order anything on the menu. Just keep in mind that it's a self-service setup, so you bus your own table and grab your own utensils and to-go boxes. You order at the counter and look a table to enjoy your meal. They also sell HUGE chocolate chip cookies but I was too full for dessert.

    Photos
    The Smokin' Onion - Interior

    Interior

    The Smokin' Onion - Buddha Bowl with fried "chicken" so good!!

    Buddha Bowl with fried "chicken" so good!!

    The Smokin' Onion - Storefront

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    Storefront

    Chai Pani

    Chai Pani

    4.4(1.8k reviews)
    0.4 mi
    $$

    First time to their 'new' location (visited back there 2.5 years ago). They have what seems to be a…read moremuch bigger menu than I remember. We sat at the bar and made some new friends. We got right in as a result. The space is so much nicer as it is now really large. What a colorful and awesome place. We ordered the vada tots. This is a change up on tater tots with a great dipping sauce. The food came out incredibly fast! Both were not merely good, each was utterly fantastic!!! We eat at Indian places everywhere and have never had flavors this profoundly amazing. I can see why they earned the James Beard Award! We were traveling through and wanted to give them another try after 3 years. The owner is the Michelangelo in the field of amazing flavors! He has won us over and the finess with each flavor show his dedication to perfection. If ever you come to Asheville, do yourself a favor a definitely stop in, wait if you need to and then feast!!! Absolutely awesome!!!

    Chai Pani has been on my list for quite some time and it certainly did not disappoint. I got the…read morebutter chicken and my friend got the KFC sandwich. I'm used to a spicier butter chicken, this one was particularly sweet, but I did love the other curries it came with as well. It's quite a lot of food, I feel like two people can share it, especially if you get it with naan. The KFC sandwich was so good, I would definitely get that again. It's a nice mixture of American Indian food and the sauce is really where the money is. What I can't stop thinking about is the carrot halwa cake. It was incredibly moist, not too sweet and had a wonderful spice. I would definitely come back to try other dishes. Important to note it gets very busy and I ended up waiting about an hour on a weeknight to get seated. The service wasn't great, she seemed somewhat irritated that she was working, but could've caught her on an off day.

    Photos
    Chai Pani - Inside seating

    Inside seating

    Chai Pani - Butter Chicken

    Butter Chicken

    Chai Pani - Cumin/chili/ginger/lemon tequila and pani puri

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    Cumin/chili/ginger/lemon tequila and pani puri

    Chestnut - Brunch - Biltmore Burger

    Chestnut

    4.4(1.6k reviews)
    0.3 mi
    $$

    Fyi no pics taken since we went here for our anniversary dinner. Will be sure to take some the next…read moretime we come here....they'll be on the list for sure. Our evening started with complimentary champagne....booked in advance and told the staff we were in town celebrating and they took great care of us. We skipped the apps, but were impressed that they offer smaller plates, along with their entrees. My wife ordered the 4 Oz filet, which was so tender that it didn't require a steak knife to cut it. Her butter knife was sufficient enough. Honestly, her fork would've been enough. You can tell they have good beef quality....the filet was very tasty. Was served with a sauce and whipped potatoes, along with fresh green beans. I ordered their scallops and polenta dish. Honestly, I think the garnish was a bit over the top.....however, their scallops were delicious and tender. I normally like a good sear but can appreciate how they prepared theirs. The seasoning was flavorful and their sauce with the garnish went well with it. The only mark I can make had to do with the polenta. It was quite tasty, but the consistency didn't match the description of the dish. Regardless, it paired very well with the scallops. Ended the night with complimentary dessert, which was their blackberry peach crumble with ice cream, which was delicious. One of the best desserts we've had in some time. Our waiter James was fantastic. He was great in describing dishes, and was timely with the service and making sure our drinks were taken care of. The manager on duty, Brooke, was wonderful as well and even extended well wishes on our celebration. All in all, their staff did a great job. You can also tell that the other tables got similar service as well. We had all intentions on coming back and checking out their brunch, which was highly recommended, but ended up doing something else the following day. This is a solid option for date night dining. Very intimate setting downtown. Parking is ridiculous to try and get close by, especially on a Friday night, but theres a parking deck under a mile away from the front door. This is another Asheville spot we'll have in the rotation. Very impressed and can't wait to try other options there in the future.

    Chestnut is centrally located and was convenient to our hotel. The Aloft Downtown recommended…read moredining here. We tried to come for dinner but they were on a wait. Instead, we opted to come back the next day for lunch. Our waitress, Danielle, was friendly and made a great old fashioned for my dad. The dining room was busy for lunch but comfortable. Great coloring provided for kids too!

    Photos
    Chestnut - Me encanta como se ve este bar

    Me encanta como se ve este bar

    Chestnut - Chocolate Caramel Tart

    Chocolate Caramel Tart

    Chestnut - Su-Mack Down

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    Su-Mack Down

    Laughing Seed Cafe - vegetarian - Updated September 2026

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