Bay Area Vegetarians - Best Veg Restaurants 2004

And the winners are ....

We are pleased and excited to announce the results of the 2004 BEST OF VEG sponsored by Bay Area Vegetarians. Thank you to the members of Bay Area Vegetarians and the general community for their votes and participation in our 2nd annual contest to recognize the BEST OF VEG in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Click here to see who the voter prize winners are.


	Overall
	Best Overall Vegetarian Restaurant - Millennium Best Overall Vegan Restaurant - Millennium


	Regional
	Best East Bay Veggie Restaurant - Cha-Ya Best North Bay Veggie Restaurant - Sparks Best SF Veggie Restaurant - Millennium Best South Bay / Peninsula Veggie Restaurant - BayLeaf Café

Categories

Best New Veg Restaurant - Café Gratitude

Best Asian Cuisine - Golden Era

Best Veggie Burger - Herbivore

Best Vegan Dessert - Millennium

Best Mexican - Flacos

Best Veggie Pizza - Lanesplitter Pizza & Pub

Best Raw Foods - Café Gratitude

Best Veg Caterer - Sparks

Best Farmers Market - San Francisco Ferry Building

Best Daily Choice/Everyday - Herbivore

Best Special Occasion - Millennium

Best Service - Millennium

Best Ambience - Millennium

Best Local Activist

There are many local activists who work tirelessly to help animals and others. We wanted an opportunity to recognize and thank local activists for their efforts, hence this new category "Best Local Activist". We'd like to thank everyone for their time and energy in making the Bay Area and beyond a more veg and animal friendly place to live.

This year, two individuals stood out and received an overwhelming number of votes and praise from their peers and the local community. They are Christine Morrissey of East Bay Animal Advocates and Veg Video's Gabe Quash.

Here's some of the praise that was shared:

Gabe

Christine

"Vegan TV -- every week, Gabe convinces a different vegan to go on TV, & then organizes, produces, hosts, serves as the camera person, etc. for his show. And this is just one part of his work for animals. He has another show -- which he must also organize, produce, etc. -- to show factory farm footage. He leaflets so much, every time I see him, he has a box of flyers, etc. with him. And he does it all with a peaceful, caring presence!"

"Gabe does a tremendous amount of activism--from leafleting on college campuses, filling PETA's veg starter guide stands, coordinating veg events, airing public access shows all over the country, and staffing PETA's exhibit all summer."

"Veg TV, Street TV, PETA exhibit, etc. He does it all."

"He distributes info to local businesses, does a public access show that reaches a lot of 'regular' people, and loves to get new people involved."

"dedicated! unselfish, hardcore about AR"

"She does hands on animal rescue. she is on top of all the cruelty issues. Evidently has a lot of ambition."

"Christine Morrissey, the director for East Bay Animal Advocates, is courageous and tireless in her work on behalf of animals."

"Tireless, fearless, dedicated, honest."

"Christine embodies everything that an activist should be: she works tirelessly and knows no boundaries when it comes to saving animals. She is also a kind, modest, selfless, and warm-hearted person who cares just as much about her friends, family and helping human animals as helping non-human animals. I have only known this woman for no less than a year and have already been blown away by her successful efforts. I wish there were more activists out there like her."

We'd also like to thank everyone who was kind enough to acknowledge the efforts of Tammy and/or Chris, as well as Bay Area Vegetarians (blush!) It was very uplifting to read all the comments and to know that we are making a difference; that is the best reward of all.


	Bay Area Vegetarian Dining Factoids
	What types of foods do you eat when out? Vegetarian/Mostly Vegetarian - 23% Vegan/Mostly Vegan - 70% Omnivore - 7% How often do you eat out (per week/average)? 3.9 times How much do you spend eating out (per week/average)? $56 What type of veg restaurant would you like to see? Japanese Vegan Pizza Vegan Mexican American Dinner / Fast Food More non-asian vegetarian More vegan brunch options More vegan Indian More Raw


	Voter Prize Winners
	With the wonders of a random number generator to identify random votes, and thanks to our prize donors, Sun Flour Baking, Wild Bryde Jewelry, VegNews Magazine, and Tammy & Chris (vegan cookbook), the following voters won in our voter prize giveaway Doug Strauss, Menlo Park - Sun Flour Baking cookie basket Michael Torres, San Francisco - BAV logo pin & vegan cookbook Andrea Lindsay, Oakland - VegNews Magazine subscription

Last year's winners