At our daycare in McKinney, TX, we know how important it is for your family to eat well-balanced meals that are both nutritious and delicious. Eating a plant-based diet or just incorporating more veggie-focused meals into your diet can have a lot of health benefits for adults and children. That’s why we’ve put together this list of amazing local restaurants that serve plant-based meals that your family is sure to love. The next time you want to treat the kids to a meal out, choose one of these five healthy, veggie-friendly spots in and around McKinney.

Harvest Seasonal Kitchen

“Vegan food” licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Flickr by ella.o

Harvest Seasonal Kitchen is a local farm-to-table restaurant that serves many vegetarian-friendly options. All of the ingredients in every dish are sourced from local farmers and ranchers, so you know that every meal is as fresh as possible. This place even has its own organic farm, so many of the ingredients are free of preservatives, chemical pesticides, and other potentially harmful elements.

You can order lunch and dinner at this awesome veggie-friendly spot. Start with some spinach hummus or the artisanal cheese plate. Order one of the salads made with fresh-from-the-farm microgreens, green beans, arugula, beets, spinach, kale, and other yummy vegetables. Try the egg and sweet potato griddle cake combo, snap pea and red potato with pesto, or sweet potato and carrot soup. If you need a gluten-free meal, Harvest has many great options. Plus, the recipes change with the season, so there’s always going to be something new every few months.

You can find Harvest Seasonal Kitchen at 112 E. Louisiana St. in McKinney. They’re open Tuesday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Honest

Indian cuisine is one of the best kinds of food to eat if you want vegetarian and vegan food. That’s because many recipes feature vegetables as the main ingredient and only use paneer, Indian cheese, in some dishes. In McKinney, Honest is a stand-out Indian restaurant that’s perfect for eating delicious veggie-friendly food and trying authentic Southeast Asian flavors.

If you’re eating vegan (no animal products at all), you can’t go wrong with menu items like bhaji pav, a spiced vegetable and potato mash, veggie-filled sandwiches like aloo mutter featuring spicy potatoes and green beans, or entrees like vegetable jalpuri and hakka noodles. Everything else on the menu is all vegetarian and may feature amal cheese/paneer and amal butter. Don’t forget to order naan with your meal, too!

Honest is located at 8910 TX-121 Suite 220 in McKinney. They’re open Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. You can also visit Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Blue Olive Grill

The Blue Olive Grill serves up Indian cuisine and a variety of Mediterranean dishes for some of the most delicious and nutritious vegetarian food in McKinney. When your family eats here, you get to tour parts of India, Syria, Greece, Lebanon, and other areas of the Middle East, all without having to leave North Texas. Many of the dishes at the Blue Olive Grill are vegetarian, meaning some meals feature milk-based ingredients like cheese or cream. However, there are also plenty of vegan options and those that contain meat, so everyone is sure to find something they enjoy.

You can order delicious appetizers and salads packed with veggies. Dolmas, which are grape leaves stuffed with rice and spices, can be completely vegan if you opt out of the tzatziki dipping sauce, which this restaurant makes with sour cream instead of yogurt. For entrees, try one of their vegetarian Indian curries, the vegetarian combo plate, the vegetarian wrap featuring hummus, fresh veggies, and feta cheese, or the falafel wrap, made with homemade fried chickpea patties called falafel.

Visit this vegetarian-friendly restaurant in McKinney at 2414 W. University Drive. They’re open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

E.J. Wills Gastropub

E.J. Wills Gastropub is more than just delicious twists on American bar food. It’s home to many amazing vegetarian-friendly options, too. 

You can order any of the stacked salads and opt out of the chicken or steak some of the dishes come with, or enjoy a half salad with a bowl of fresh soup. Share in starters like the fried mushrooms, fried deviled eggs (if you’re an egg-eating vegetarian), fried pickles, fried ravioli, or mozzarella sticks. If you’re not into salads, grab a plant-based Impossible burger with your favorite fixin’s or the Pasta Delicata, a vegetarian pasta featuring summer squash noodles, their house red sauce, and plenty of fresh cooked veggies.

Find E.J. Wills Gastropub at 1910 N. Stonebridge Drive in McKinney. This place is open Monday through Tuesday from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., Wednesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m., Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Taco Ocho

Taco Ocho is your go-to place for vegetarian and vegan-friendly Latin cuisine. This place clearly labels all of its plant-based options, so it’s easy to find something you’ll love eating. 

If you’re feeling tacos, they even have a vegan category on their taco menu featuring five different taco recipes with black beans, zucchini, plantains, corn, peppers, and more fresh veggies. All of the tostadas on the menu are vegetarian, and you can order any of the quesadillas with vegan cheese. They have delicious vegetarian and vegan taco salads, too. And if you come for brunch, there are vegetarian and vegan breakfast tacos and entrees.

You can visit Taco Ocho in McKinney at 3041 S. Custer Road Suite 800. They’re open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. In addition to the McKinney location, there are four locations in the DFW area, so you’re never too far from delicious vegetarian or vegan tacos. So there you have it, five of the McKinney area’s best plant-based restaurants. Did we miss any of your family’s favorite local vegetarian-friendly spots? If so, contact Crème de la Crème of McKinney to let us know. We’ll be sure to add it to our growing list!