Marblehead Lunch Spots

I work in Marblehead and, while there are no vegetarian restaurants in town, there are several decent places to get a vegetarian lunch. These are my recommendations in order of preference.

1. Atomic Cafe - many vegetarian sandwich options, salads and smoothies. The also offer at least one vegetarian soup option. My favorite lunch is the Cucumber Deluxe sandwich with a Chai Velvet smoothie. Vegans can choose from a few salads, but most sandwich options include cheese, although they are very good about custom orders. It can get pretty crowded during lunchtime and right after school gets out.

2. Foodie's Feast - Despite the slightly pretentious name, Foodies employees are always very friendly and welcoming. They have vegetarian sandwich options, soup/salad combos. Again, vegans may have a harder time. Breakfast options are delicious, as is the daily quiche selection. There website leaves something to be desired and they never seem to have a printed take-away menu. I love their egg salad sandwich and the hummus and veggie wrap is a good summer option. On a nice day get the sandwich to go and walk down to the waterfront to watch the boats go by.

3. Shubie's - upscale market you would expect to find in a town like Marblehead. I was hesitant to go in, figuring the prices would be too high for me, but they have a fantastic wine selection, awesome wine tasting events each week and a delightful $10 and under wine section. As far as lunch, I was craving a salad and decided to bite the bullet and go in for a $9 salad, but was so excited to see that they now have a lunch bar (or maybe I missed it before) with very reasonable sandwich/soup/salad options. There were two vegan soup options, so I decided on a cup of white bean soup with a house salad. The salad came with your choice of greens (I choose arugula), dressing (low fat basil blue cheese-yummy!), cucumber and grape tomato. All for $7. I have a feeling I will be eating here quite a lot from now on.

4. Fen Yang House - There are two places to get sushi in Marblehead. I've tried both and I wont even mention the other. Fen Yang is never full at lunch, the waitstaff is super attentive and the sushi is decent. I wouldn't say its the best I've ever had, but at least they have Inari sushi (rice filled tofu). Fen Yang is primarily a Chinese restaurant, but I've only ordered the scallion pancakes from that part of the menu, as I'm not a big fan of Chinese food. no website, 40 Atlantic Ave.

5. Marblehead Chowder Company - A little pricey, but they always have a vegetarian soup option. They also offer salads and panini sandwiches. I'm not sure how vegans would do here. I think the carrot artichoke soup is vegan and they do have a nice beet salad. One issue I do have is that the soup is often served too cold, but they will apologetically reheat it for you.
***(Update 11/21/09) It appears that the Chowder Company is under new management. There are different food options and there seems to be less vegetarian soup choices. I tried the "Mulligatawny" soup, which wasn't at all like the authentic Indian version. It was ok, but I most likely won't return because of the lack of vegetarian options.***

Well, that's about it. Many days I will venture to Whole Foods in Swampscott for their salad bar or meet my husband in Salem, which will be the topic of another post.