Trio Plant-Based Dinner on Lake Street

Trio Plant-Based on Lake Street

We made our first visit to Trio Plant-based on Lake Street near Hiawatha in Minneapolis.  Info on their origin, menus and deals are available on their website and on Facebook.

Trio Plant-Based, appropriately named, serves a completely plant-based menu, using 'meat' from the Herbivorous Butcher and plant-based 'cheez'.

Great space with many windows to watch the activity on Lake Street, interesting wallpaper, plant-green molded chairs and a hint of 'industrial' decor.

John went with the big meal,  the soul platter (you can mix and match a variety of sides), and I opted for the soup and sandwich combo, but replaced the soup with their already famous spaghettrios!

Grilled Cheese & Spaghettrios

My sandwich choice was grilled 'cheez'...made with vegan cheese on a nice crusty bread.   I've had some vegan 'cheese' in the past that wasn't particularly tasty or was off-putting.   This was delish.  The sandwich was a perfectly made grilled 'cheez' with crunch and ooey-gooeyness.   The spaghettrios taste exactly like spaghettios...so they've managed to capture that taste of childhood in a vegan dish.   Great work!

Trio Plant-Based Soul Platter

John's soul food platter included ribs from the Herbivorous butcher, collard greens and cornbread with maple 'butter' on top.  John thought the sauce on the ribs was a bit harsh and the 'meat' texture a bit grainy.   It's hard to top our great meal last year at the Howe on Minnehaha south of Lake Street where

they perfected the presentation of the 'meat' from the Herbivorous Butcher.   This one fell a bit short of expectations.   The cornbread was okay (John says "not corny enough"); I loved the maple 'butter' on top.   We both agreed the collards were over-the-top salty...we mentioned it to our server and she returned with a fresh batch for us to take home.   

Trio Plant-Based Peach Cobbler

A complimentary dessert was offered to make up for the salty collards but we'd ordered a peach cobbler which was large enough to share. The offer of another dessert was appreciated.  The bowl had plenty of peaches and a nice level of peachy spicing.

Overall, we felt that the choices were much more grain-based that we anticipated.   We had been hoping for more veggies in various forms.

But, the good news, right after our visit, one of the owners responded to a request for 'more veggie' and created a beautiful plate of sweet potato and black bean lettuce wraps.  The picture was so tempting that lots of us asked them to add this dish. Voila...it's now on the menu!!!

I think more veggie-based options are on the horizon.  That will extend the current basic menu and add a variety of interesting textures and flavors.

Mac 'n Cheese Next Time at Trio

As we finished up our meals several other tables filled up.  We always look to the 'regulars' to see what they are ordering.  All four millenials ordered the soul platter with mac 'n cheese.  That's a great recommendation.

We look forward to our next visit to see what the new items will be.   I'm sure we'll pair them with a comforting bowl of spaghettrios!!!!