Gladys: What’s Vegetarian Editorial Review

Gladys is a vegetable-focused restaurant in the Edgewater Public Market, just west of Denver, and its food is always vegan. Its ordering page says so in the first line. A vegetarian can order anything on the menu, from the burger to the pasta.

Chefs Rocky Hunter and Dave Grant founded Gladys in 2021, and the restaurant now runs a dining room at the front of the market. Lunch is counter service. Dinner brings table service. Its kitchen builds the menu around six growing seasons, and the current menu is Abundance. Its motto is Plants Forever, and it says it buys from local purveyors, nearby farms, and artisans. Dishes rotate, so check the menu page before you plan around a single one.

Start with the Root Vegetable Reuben, which costs $19. The kitchen cooks celery root in the style of pastrami, stacks it on toasted marble rye with kraut and horseradish creme fraiche, and serves it with fries. The Greg Burger, also $19, puts a house-made patty of seeds, legumes, and grains under carrot cheddar, special sauce, pickles, and white onion. At $20, the Lucky swaps in breaded, fried lion’s mane mushrooms glazed with sweet chili sauce on a Bluepoint bun.

Smaller plates make a good opening. Dressed Fries cost $8 and come tossed in sour cream powder with black garlic aioli. Carrot Sticks cost $11. The kitchen roasts them, tosses them in buffalo sauce, and adds a dilly sunflower seed crunch with tarragon-almond ranch. Charred Caesar costs $13 and tops cabbage and lettuce with black garlic caesar dressing, chili-crisp breadcrumbs, and miso parmesan. Garlic Bread costs $12. Beans and Grains costs $15.

Hungrier? Antipasti Flatbread costs $21 and carries almond ricotta, pepperoni-spiced chickpeas, olives, and orange-pickled fennel. Polenta Tofu costs $24, pairing creamy polenta and red lentils with a roasted tofu cutlet. Tomato and Sweet Corn Pasta costs $23 and finishes orecchiette with chile butter, cashew cream, and miso parmesan. Desserts include Carrot Cake for $12, Spiced Rice Pudding for $11, and a Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Cookie for $4.

The restaurant tags gluten-free dishes and marks which ones contain nuts or seeds. Dishes with a gluten-free-optional tag are ones the kitchen can adjust. Gladys asks for no substitutions, so read the tags and note allergies in the comments box when you order online. Its menu page also credits fifteen people by first name.

Walk-ins only. Gladys takes no reservations, and every table goes to whoever arrives first. It also says it does not answer its phone. It is open seven days a week. Hours differ across the restaurant’s pages, and the ordering page lists 11:15 a.m. to 8:45 p.m. every day, so check before a late visit.

The beverage list includes lemonade, MOR ginger grapefruit and cherry limeade drinks, and two beers. Gladys promises vegan food and makes no such statement about the beer, so ask if that matters to you.

Show up for lunch at the counter, order the Root Vegetable Reuben, and add a slice of Carrot Cake to share.