Frisch Compassionate Eatery, Salt Lake City, UT

After a new search at the start of 2013, I discovered a few new vegan options in Salt Lake. Frisch is a family owned and operated restaurant. It has been open since 2012 and is owned by a vegan couple. It's a small place with a nice open atmosphere and great service. I had the special when I went in which was a breakfast wrap with potatoes on the side and my husband had The Fancy Boy from the regular menu which came with a side of chips. Both wraps were amazing! The prices are reasonable, the portions are filling, but not too much, and the family that owns the place is very helpful. This is a great neighborhood place located at 779 South 500 East, Salt Lake City, UT. (801)532-2216, frischeatery@yahoo.com, www.frischeats.com
They are currently open Monday-Friday from 11a-7p, and Saturdays from 10a-3p.

African Restaurant and Market, Salt Lake City, UT

I kept hearing good things about this Ethiopian restaurant and since I love the Ethiopian restaurant in Grand Rapids, MI I had to give it a try. This restaurant does serve meat, but also has many vegetarian dishes which I was informed have no animal products in them. You can do individual plates of the vegetarian dishes, but I would recommend doing the vegetarian combo, no matter how many people you have (they'll adjust the amount you get based on the number of people it is for). For those of you not familiar, the food comes out on a large dish with their sour bread across it, and all the vegetarian dishes on top. Then you are given extra bread to pick up the food with. I did not like all of the dishes, but everyone has different likes and dislikes so I would still recommend the combo just to try it all and find out what you like. We did not check out the market, but the restaurant is a nice, small area, and the service was great.
Unfortunately they do not have their own website, but you can easily find information about the restaurant and other reviews by doing a search.
The prices are very reasonable. We had the vegetarian combo platter for 2 people and one of us ordered a tea, and the total plus tip came to $20 for dinner.
1878 South Redwood Road, Salt Lake City, Utah 84104. Phone: (801) 671-4501; general manager: Bullale Eshete.

Maggie's Vegetarian Cafe, Lincoln, NE

I stopped by Maggie's while driving across the country on I-80. It's not right off the highway, but is relatively close and I believe is worth the trip.
As it was only 8:30 in the morning when I was there, I only ordered some muffins and scones. All the scones, muffins, muffin tops, and cookies are vegan. The lunch items are all vegetarian with some vegan options clearly marked. There is a little bit of seating inside but not much, and if you're there during nicer weather there is also some seating right outside.
If you're there early enough, there are baked goods from the previous day, still just as good, half-off. I tried a cranberry chocolate chip scone and a bananna chocolate chip muffin, both delicious. My mom, who was with me, tried a orange walnut muffin and a cranberry coconut muffin, and she liked them as well. The cookies, scones, and muffins range from about $1-3 while the wraps, entrees, and salads served for lunch range from $6-10. If I am ever in Lincoln again, I hope to try Maggie's for lunch.
At Maggie's they also focus on using organic, local, and seasonal products whenever possible, and they list information about the local, family run farms which they use.
311 North 8th Street, Lincoln NE, 68508. (402) 477-3959. maggiesvegetarian.com
Open Monday-Saturday from 8am-3pm.

Ristorante L'Insalatiera, Rome, Italy

Ristorante L’Insalatiera (also goes by "Taverna Vegetariana") is a restaurant that offers many vegetarian and vegan options. It was great and seemed to be a family owned restaurant. The woman waiting all the tables was very nice, but didn’t speak much English. Also, the menu was only in Italian. I had looked briefly at the menu online and had translated it, so I already had an idea of what I wanted. Had I not looked ahead of time online, I might have been confused. Also, the menu online clearly marks what is vegan (Vegetariano Vega), vegetarian (Vegetariano), and everything with meat (Contiene proteine animali).

This restaurant is very affordable, and if you are fine with walking (if you're in Rome I hope you are), it's a relatively short walk from the Vatican. We went here 2-3 times during out stay in Rome because we loved the restaurant, the owners, and the food so much.

http://www.tavernavegetariana.it/
Via Trionfale 94, 00195 Rome, 063-974-2975

La Zucca, Venice, Italy

La Zucca, which means "The Pumpkin" is a busy place, and it may be best to try and make reservations ahead of time if you want to go here. However the area it's in is nice to walk around so you could always give them your name and then walk around for a while.

La Zucca is a vegetarian friendly restaurant, and when we went they didn't have any vegan items listed on the menu, but after talking with the waiter he said they could put something together. They made me a bit of a sample plate which was displayed nicely with rice in the middle and 5 or 6 vegan dishes surrounding the rice. Some of the sides had more flavor and some had less. My favorite was the beets with a spicy mustard. It was a little bit more expensive here, but it is a very nice place for a romantic dinner and I really appreciated their willingness to make me something not on the menu. I believe their menu is constantly changing, so it could be some nights they will already have vegan items on the menu, you will just need to talk with them to make sure.

http://www.lazucca.it/

Calle del Tintor, Sestiere Santa Croce, 1762, 30135 Venice, Italy 041-524-1570

As with all places in Venice, be sure to map it out on an application like google maps and make sure you know how to get there, as it is very easy to get lost.

Bar Sport, Venice (Island of Burano), Italy

This would not be my first choice for where to eat since it really is not geared for vegans. However, you will night find anything better if you are traveling around the islands of Murano, Burano, and Torcello when you are visiting Venice. We had packed food, but with all the walking around we decided to try and find something else to eat. This restaurant has many pastas, and after checking with the restaurant I found the Spaghetti al Pomodoro to be a suitable option, just make sure if you go there to ask about the food and make sure nothing else is added, and that the pasta does not contain eggs. The pasta and sauce were good, and at 6 Euro for a large portion, it was very affordable.

The seating outside is in a little square and is a very nice place to have a bite to eat and relax.

041-730-003; San Martino Sinistro 286;

Gam Gam, Venice, Italy

Gam Gam is a Kosher bar and restaurant located in the Old Jewish ghetto of Venice. While it does have meat options on the menu, there are vegan items on the menu or things which can be adjusted to be made vegan. When we were there the menu did not mark vegan items, but the waitress was very helpful. I had the potato latkes with applesauce which was very good and some falafel balls with hummus, which was just okay. The falafel was good and what I was used to, but the hummus tasted very different than how I usually make it. I noticed the hummus was like this though at another Kosher restaurant in another town, so it could be this is what hummus is supposed to taste like, and I just wasnt' used to that.
The prices were reasonable, but the food we ordered was more like appetizers. They also have a nice seating area and the outdoor seating is along a small canal.
You can find information about the restaurant at the website www.jewishvenice.org however this is not just a website for the restaurant so you will have to look for the Gam Gam listing on the webpage. Cannaregio 1122 - Venezia; 041-523-1495.
I would make sure you are looking up the restaurants location on something like google maps and then pinpointing that on the map of Venice  you might carry around with you, as it is very easy to get lost in Venice