Veggie Fajitas Lite at Mexiville in Chattanooga TN

I decided to try the Mexiville restaurant on Market St in Chattanooga. I already posted about the Cherokee Blvd location.  Mexiville is one of the very rare Mexican restaurants with a vegan menu. The server at the Cherokee Blvd location was confident that the vegan food was actually completely vegan. I assumed the visit to this location would be similar.

This location is easy to find, but the small Mexiville sign is not. Go to the intersection of Market St and W. 8th St, then look in a southwestern direction. Find the attractive building with Art Deco detailing. There it is!

The first thing I saw inside was a full bar. The ceiling is very high with highly decorative antique ceiling panels. The other areas were simple with plenty of wood furnishings. There's a bench running along the left side. I assumed that's used as seating at night when the tables are pushed away and the dancing starts. Mexiville looks like it's just as much a bar as it is a restaurant.

When visiting non-vegan restaurants I often ask about what is vegan even when there's a vegan menu because many people think vegan and vegetarian are synonymous. At Mexican restaurants I must ask about the use of butter in fried foods and rice, lard in the beans and chips, chicken fat in the rice, real cheese as a garnish, etc. The server was unsure about what was and was not vegan. After asking the server to check on some things, I was told the following meal was vegan. But the server was not as confident and convincing as I would prefer.

I enjoyed the good sweet tea, chips, and salsa as I waited. I forgot to ask if the chips were vegan, but the other location told me they are, and I didn't taste anything that would make me think they were cooked in lard. The salsa was mild with mostly tomatoes. It was good.

Veggie Fajitas Lite

Sauteed broccoli, zucchini, onions, carrots. Served with rice, beans, guacamole salad, and corn tortillas.

Veggie Fajitas Lite at Mexiville in Chattanooga TN

Veggie Fajitas Lite at Mexiville in Chattanooga TN

 

This fajita meal was very good! All the old veggie favorites were in there. They went heavy on the onions, but I would never complain about having too much of that. The broccoli and carrots really gave this the garden flavor that I hoped for. This had a nice skillet char flavor. The serving size was very large, enough for 2 people to share. I do prefer a less oil, but over all this was great. I loved it!

 

Side of Beans, Rice, and Guacamole Salad at Mexiville in Chattanooga TN

 

The beans, rice, and guacamole salad came in a separate plate and was also a generous portion. The rice had a nice mild flavor and light texture. The beans were very blended and mild with a light heat after taste. The smell made me nervous and reminded me of Vienna Sausages. I went easy on those just in case. I was hoping to be completely convinced that they were vegan. The guacamole salad was standard with lettuce, tomato, and guacamole. The guacamole was smooth and had a nice sting from jalapeno peppers.

 

Unfortunately, this guacamole salad came with stray pieces of cheese in the diced tomatoes.

 

 

Over all, this meal was very good. I do wish I could be more confident in the vegan status of the food. I like the vegan menu and the fact that the vegan menu seems to only have vegan foods listed. It appears that they know what vegan means. The smell and flavor of the beans did concern me. The server said they use soy based butter for grilling the veggies. From my experience in the food industry, I know that's the cheaper more common option for restaurants, so that does make sense. At this time, with what I do know, I can recommend this place to vegetarians and casual vegans. Very strict vegans and those with specific allergies may want to be very cautious and ask plenty of annoying questions. Check your tomatoes for cheese. But don't worry about the flavor of the food. So far, I can say it's really good.