A Snack at Gadsden Variety and Cafe in Gadsden AL

Gadsden Variety is an antique mall and cafe in historic downtown. The store is loaded with interesting things from the past mixed with crafts and furniture. They have a cafe inside and plenty of snacks at the front desk. Herbivores can eat the popcorn, but almost everything else there is for omnivores. If I remember correctly, this popcorn was less than a dollar.

A Vegan Meal at Mater's Pizza & Pasta Emporium in Gadsden, AL

I went to Gadsden AL for the First Friday street festival. Afterwards, I met with family at Mater's Pizza & Pasta Emporium. As an herbivore, I wasn't expecting much from this place. People in Gadsden don't even know what the V word means.  So, here's how it went.

The service was friendly, but I had weird questions like "are the noodles made fresh or are they dry" [fresh noodles always contain eggs] and "is the pizza sauce just a tomato-based sauce or is it seasoned with meat" [some small town places have a "marinara sauce" with meatballs already in it but serve just the sauce without meatballs if ordered without meatballs] and the lady who took our order was acting impatient with such questions during what is probably their busiest hours of the month. I totally understand. So I tried to keep it very friendly and simple. The male server who came by later was a bit friendlier, but the service was slow and disorganized. It's First Friday. I totally understand. No problem. The restaurant was grimy and looked like it needed a deep cleaning. This is in a building that's over 100 years old, like most of downtown Gadsden, so I expected that and ordered with that in mind.

This is what I came up with based on the information the lady was willing to give me. I ordered the Spaghetti Marinara with no cheese. It came with a tossed salad. I ordered a side of oil and vinegar instead of dressing

Tossed Salad

Tossed Salad at Mater's Pizza in Gadsden AL

This was a generic salad blend with cherry tomatoes and cucumber. They gave me more oil and vinegar than I would ever need. Those came in take-out cups, so I took some home for later. This salad was actually very good. It was all pretty fresh. Nothing special, but very good. Better than I expected.

Spaghetti Marinara Without Cheese

Spaghetti Marinara without cheese at Mater's Pizza in Gadsden AL

This was also pretty good. The sauce tasted fresh with ripe tomatoes and light spices. It was chunky and slightly sweet. I didn't taste any meat flavoring. I didn't find meat in it. I'm sure this would have been excellent with the cheese. Mater's Pizza is generous with the cheese. I didn't know but it came with a garlic butter hoagie bun. I couldn't eat that because it was probably real butter, and the bread looked like it was made with eggs.. I gave it away.

Overall, this was good food. I do believe it was overpriced for what I got, but that's because I ordered it with no cheese. I do prefer cleaner establishments, but the grime didn't surprise me because it's Gadsden, and most of Gadsden is a bit rough. Mater's is really made for omnivores, and I believe omnivores will enjoy this place very much. It's not great for a plant-eater, but I would return if invited to join others for a meal. It's good that they do have something a vegan can eat. And what I had was  pretty good.

Hippie Nachos at Blackstone Pub & Eatery in Gadsden AL

This is the Hippie Nachos at Blackstone Pub & Eatery in Gadsden AL. To make it vegan I ordered it with no melted white cheese and no sour cream. This is corn tortilla chips topped with black beans, mushrooms, fresh cilantro, lettuce, tomatoes, jalapenos, black olives, a single peperoncino pepper, and a side of salsa. I also had a Blue Moon Belgian White with an orange slice. This is all vegan!

Hippie Nachos minus cheese and sour cream at Blackstone Pub & Eatery in Gadsden AL

Blackstone Hippie Nachos is a generous pile of comfort food. They usually go heavy on the cilantro, which is why I like them so much. This time they went a bit easy on that and went heavy on the beans. That's great too! The beans were slightly dry and very flavorful, so they may be house-made from dry beans. In fact everything tasted very fresh. The salsa is very good and has a slight Tabasco sauce flavor. Without cheese, the Hippie Nachos basket does need extra salsa. The jalapenos were so hot this time I almost couldn't think straight (or maybe it was the beer getting to me). This was a great meal!

Blackstone Pub & Eatery is usually dark, loud, and crowded. They have frequent live music events in the evening. The building is very old, maybe over 100 years old, so it's rough and grimy inside, but it's very comfortable. Some recent improvements really helped minimize the biker bar feel it had. I'm no longer afraid to use their restroom. They have outdoor seating available for smokers and those with canine drinking partners. The beer selection is huge. The menu is mostly pizza, salad, and quesadillas. I discovered Blackstone during a visit to Gadsden's First Friday street festival. Now I stop by anytime I'm in town.


Click here to see the Blackstone Pub & Eatery website