A love letter to Lovin’ Spoonfuls on its 20th anniversary

It’s Lovin Spoonful’s 20th anniversary today. They’re celebrating both today and over the weekend:

I’m celebrating in a different way – by expressing my love for this restaurant through a sweet little love letter.

To The Lovely Lovin’ Spoonfuls,

Discovering restaurants like yours is one of the reasons I fell in love with Tucson, and why I ultimately acquired Tucson Foodie.

For that, I have to say – thank you.

Do you remember when we met? I’ll never forget.

It was 2016. Three years before I went fully vegan. It was Tucson Foodie that recommended you, six years before I became its captain. 

I did not realize you were a fully vegan restaurant the first time I walked in. Apparently I can’t read signs. I was chasing after the photo I saw on Instagram of your Fried Chicken Dinner. It looked so good. As a boy from rural Missouri, I love me some fried chicken. My brother served KFC and beer at his wedding and not one of my 100+ family members complained.

After learning the menu was vegan, I ordered anyway because that chicken dinner in the photo just had to be as good as it looked. I also got a chocolate fudge milkshake and a brownie. Did I think they’d be good? Yes. Why? Because within that ten second period after ordering the chicken, I completely forgot the menu was vegan. That’s how my mind works (or doesn’t work) sometimes. It’s fun.

By the time I got my food, I was ready for my chicken-filled chicken dinner, my milk-filled milkshake, and my…brownie.

All the flavors and textures was so spot-on, that I continued eating it in a closed-eyed carnivorous fever dream until the plate was clean. Washing it down with what was clearly a real-milk milkshake, I took a bite of the brownie.

“Mmm, this brownie is the best vegan brownie I’ve ever had,” I thought to myself. 

That’s when it hit me.

“Wait…the chicken was vegan too! And the buttery mashed potatoes! And the gravy!”

It seemed like a revelation to me, but I had only discovered what many Tucsonans – both plant-based and not – had been enjoying for over a decade: a locally-owned restaurant serving delicious comfort food that also happens to be vegan.

When I made the decision to try a fully vegan diet, I started stopping by to see you more often. Because you’re open for breakfast, lunch AND dinner, you were always there for me. When cravings hit for comfort foods I thought I’d left behind, you always had the answer.

Your cookie menu is so long, it makes me cry just thinking about it. And your smoothies? Please. Just stop. I can’t handle it. That Orange Dreamsicle is nostalgia in a glass, without the casein and saturated fat.

It pains me to write to you for fear of what you may think of me. I am not fully vegan anymore. I had a successful seven year run, and it was way more delicious, satisfying and easy than I thought it would be – in part because of you.

I hope that won’t put a distance between us. I can’t imagine it would, as you’ve always opened your arms (doors) to everyone and you’ve never pushed a vegan agenda on any of them. But, just in case it hurts to know that I am currently doing hands-on research on the best friend chicken sandwiches in Tucson (what I job I’ve got, right?), I want you to know that my feelings for you haven’t changed. Not one bit.

And I’m ok with the open relationship you asked me for. I get it. You have a lot of love to give.

Love,

Your number two fan (I think Hannah might love you more?), Shane

Thanks for reading y’all. Go check out Lovin’ Spoonfuls. They’ve been holding it down for 20 years in a city where only 2–4% of the population identifies as vegan. That’s no small feat and it means a lot of non-vegans go there, and with good reasons: their food is comforting, nostalgic, and always satisfying. They’ve earned their spot as the only full-service, fully vegan restaurant in Tucson—and one of the most beloved. Good food is good food.

Lovin’ Spoonfuls is located at 2990 N. Campbell Ave. Ste 120. Keep up with Lovin’ Spoonfuls on Instagram.