I judge a lot of breakfast places by their huevos rancheros. This one is spicier than most others but very tasty.

Give me my ? sticker, please.

As we’ve talked about on this blog before, taking transit instead of driving solo is one of the things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint and help slow the pace of global warming. Even if it’s only for one day a week, it’s still a way to contribute to a better environment. For me, the reduction of my carbon footprint is more a fringe benefit. I take transit because sitting in traffic literally stresses my heart, but if it means I also get a smiley face sticker for leading a greener lifestyle, I will accept it.

I also didn’t stop eating meat because of environmental concerns, even though I’ve read plenty of articles that say eating less meat (and beef in particular) could be a better way for people to cut carbon emissions than giving up their cars (cows produce a lot of methane, a nasty greenhouse gas). I don’t necessarily believe that to be true, but I do think eating less meat is a good thing, both for the environment and for your health. (If you really want the details of why I gave up meat, feel free to hit me up on Twitter.)

What I’m getting at here is that taking transit and eating less meat are two small, fairly simple things you can do to reduce your environmental impact…so maybe we should try to make Meatless Mondays with Metro a thing. I know, I know, meat tastes delicious and you love your car, but it’s only one day a week!

To get you started, here’s my recommendation for a Metro-accessible vegetarian restaurant, so you don’t even have to worry about cooking a meal sans meat: Kitchen Mouse. All of their menu items are vegetarian, and many are also vegan, so you don’t have to play the ‘can I eat this?’ game while deciding what to order. (So many salads come with bacon bits, y’all, so many.)

Tiny pastries are what I’m all about.

The space is cozy and quite family friendly: they even have a small play area in the back for kids. If you’re not a fan of dining with children, don’t worry. The café acoustics are in your favor. It’s not a quiet place, but it also doesn’t feel noisy, and I’ve eaten there during weekend brunch hour.

Kitchen Mouse is located a super short walk from the Gold Line Highland Park Station. You can also take Metro Bus 81 to Figueroa/Ave 59 or DASH Highland Park/Eagle Rock. It’s located just around the corner from Mr. Holmes Bakehouse, which is great because you walk right over to get a cornflake cookie for dessert, and terrible because you walk right over to get a cornflake cookie for dessert.

Got other recommendations for vegan/veggie restaurants? Let me know in the comments!