Augusta Eats: Looking for a vegan restaurant in south Augusta? Your search could be over

Vegan restaurants have been sprouting around the Augusta area for the past several years. South of Gordon Highway, not so much.

Augusta's vegan cuisine tends to thrive downtown and in upscale neighborhoods while south Augusta restaurants are known for more traditional meal offerings such as barbecue and soul food.

That's why a restaurant named Veggie In Smoothie Bar and Bistro is likely to grab your attention at 2516 Peach Orchard Rd., between Roadrunner Café and Bill's Family Restaurant.

Meat-lovers can keep walking. Veggie In's menu is committed to "serving and enhancing the lives of others through a healthy, holistic approach," as the sign reads out front.

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The smoothies sport familiar flavors. Every smoothie place has at least one "green" item. Veggie In's version contains green apple, cucumber, lime, celery, kiwi, spinach, kale and organic apple juice.

Though there's just one smoothie bowl on the menu, the number of potential add-ins, from elderberries to turmeric to bee pollen, make it easy to customize your order.

The sandwiches are more savory than described, such as the grilled portabello mushroom sandwich with sauteed onions. Veggie In's veggie burger, the Oh Burger, is packed with enough flavor to make a customer forget about red meat.

The restaurant's Chick-less Chicken Salad Sandwich, and its spicier Buffalo version, give veggie lovers two more reasons to come back.

The location started as a Maryland Fried Chicken franchise opened in 1968 by former University of Georgia and NFL running back Theron Sapp. Bulldog fans might remember Sapp's nickname "The Drought-Breaker" in 1957 for leading UGA to snap an eight-game losing streak against hated rival Georgia Tech.

Sapp and business partner Alton Davis changed the restaurant to a barbecue place, Pig-N-Stew, in 1976, but just months later it became a location for Edmund's Bar-B-Que. In 1978 it became a Sub Station II and added Jack's Subs, Wings and Burgers in the early 1980s.

Veggie In, which opened earlier this year, is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Thursdays the restaurant closes at 2 p.m..