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Vegan and vegetarian eating has transformed in recent years, as a growing number of chefs and restaurants eschew meat, dairy, and other animal products in favor of vegetables, fruits, and proteins made from plants. And the Twin Cities — home of the Juicy Lucy, no less — has embraced the tide of cauliflower wings, egg-free cinnamon rolls, and clever seitan dupes that have become hallmarks of the plant-based scene. As vegan and vegetarian restaurants continue to pop up around the Cities, here’s a list of some essential spots.

Though Advellum, a stall in The Market at Malcolm Yards, is a great place for your vegetarian and vegan friends to eat, my favorite dish there is *mostly* vegetables, with a little perfectly crisp pork belly to gild the lily. The base of the dish is a crazy flavorful mung bean pancake, and adornments of crisp kimchi and gochujang aioli are tasty enough to make an amazing vegan meal if you’re not into the pork part of it. But if you are, the melt-in-your-mouth, maple-soy-glazed bacon is where it’s at.

Make sure to get that Bebe Zito beef-and-bacon burger, and I’d get the double for $9. With great pickles and an incredible special sauce, this is unctuous, fatty decadence. Balance that burger with a stop at Advellum, where chef Michael Shaughnessy (who helped Ann Kim open Young Joni) knows how to coax flavor out of vegetables. Order the Bowl Lotta Love ($14), featuring brown rice and quinoa and a ton of seasonal veggies in a pineapple-turmeric chutney. You can add protein to anything—if you must—but don’t sleep on the Benjamin Bacon ($15), two mung bean pancakes topped with maple-glazed pork belly and bok choy kimchi. Breakfast for dinner has never tasted so good.

This shiny new food hall really has something for every taste and every dietary need. Gluten-free? No problem. Vegetarian? Tons of options! Vegan? They have you covered. One of our favorite stalls at the market is Advellum Vegetable Eatery, which does have a few meat options but is focused on vegetable cookery. Chef Michael Shaughnessy is treating those vegetables like the precious gems they are and making dishes we actually prefer to meat. Best-in-class avocado toast, a vegetable burger that puts all others to shame and a killer, seasonal dish that highlights heirloom tomatoes were all standouts...

Although this is a “vegetable eatery,” chef Michael Shaughnessy wants you to know that eating vegetables is about way more than just salads. Indeed, I did not try a single salad off his menu, which also includes some meat, but I did have the best veggie burger I’ve ever eaten, some ridiculously good avocado toast, mung bean pancakes that made me sigh with happiness and a tomato burrata salad that let in-season heirloom tomatoes (there’s nothing better) sing. Shaughnessy’s chef credentials include executive chef runs at the fabulous Young Joni and California-cuisine darling Mill Valley Kitchen...

Mike Shaughnessy knows vegetables. As the opening chef at Young Joni, he worked with Ann Kim to execute some of Minneapolis' most impressive veggie sides. After 2½ years at the helm, he went on to run the California/Slow Food show at Mill Valley Kitchen. Now, he's here with his own Advellum Vegetable Eatery. (The name combines "adventure" and "element.")...

Not every new offering is jumping on the fast food train. Local chef Michael Shaughnessy just launched Advellum Vegetable Eatery, a new casual restaurant in the highly anticipated Malcolm Yards food hall in Minneapolis. He’s quick to not label it vegan or plant-based, yet his veggie-focused menu still speaks to broader audiences with a flexible menu...

This brand new concept from Chef Michael Shaugnessy and wife/business partner Viorica Pierce promises to showcase locally-sourced, seasonal vegetables. The online menu is clearly labeled and adaptable for dietary preferences and gluten allergies – and while Advellum labels itself as a veggie eatery, it isn’t strictly vegetarian. Side dishes like the Benjamin Bacon – a mung bean pancake with oyster mushrooms, bok choy kimchi, gochujang aioli, and more – also feature pork belly. For the devout meat-eater, additional proteins like salmon, chicken breast, and vegan Herbivorous Butcher smoky ribs can be added to any order of fresh greenery.

Southeast Asian cuisine will be on the menu at Abang Yoli from chef Jamie Yoo, who most recently worked in the kitchen of Bellecour in Wayzata until it closed last summer. Trained as a French chef, Yoo had always wanted to cook the Asian food he grew up with. Enter Abang Yoli. The restaurant, his first, will focus on "modern eating habits" and offer low-carb, gluten-free and dairy-free options...