Honey Berry Cafe: What’s Vegetarian Editorial Review

Honey Berry Cafe is a breakfast and brunch chain with a big meat menu and a sweet menu that needs no meat at all. Vegetarians can eat well here, because pancakes, waffles, crepes, French toast, and breakfast bowls fill whole sections of the board. Vegans have a short list of their own. The brand runs 13 cafes across Illinois, Wisconsin, and Texas, and this profile covers the brand through its Dallas shop on Frankford Road.

Sweet food comes first. The Specialty Pancakes section lists the Signature Honeyberry, Key Lime Pie, Red Velvet, Banana Coconut Cream Pie, Cinnamon Roll, Oreo S’mores, and Creamy Nutella, and none of them lists meat. The Wonderful Waffles section includes a Pure Belgian Waffle, Granola Berry, and a Gluten Free Honeyberry waffle. Colossal Crepes include Strawberry Shortcake, Apple Cinnamon, and Blueberry Danish. French toast runs from Brioche to RumChata to Churro Toast Sticks. The menu doesn’t mark eggs or dairy in the sweet dishes, so vegans should ask before ordering.

Savory options exist too. The Signature Skillets list includes a Veggie skillet, and the omelette list includes a California omelette with no meat named. Several other omelettes carry bacon, ham, or sausage, so ask your server which fillings you can swap. The menu also offers Lox and Bagel for pescatarians, a Veggie Quesadilla, a Tomato Basil soup, and fresh salads such as the Caesar. Kids can order PB and J or a grilled cheese.

Vegans should head to the Heart Healthy section. The menu names three items vegan or plant-based: the Vegan Breakfast Hash with a Beyond Burger patty, the Vegan Breakfast Sandwich with marinated tofu, and the Vegan Beyond Burger. The same section lists Gluten-Free Avocado Toast, an Egg White Frittata, and Gluten-Free Rice Waffles. The Quinoa Power Bowl lists turkey sausage, so skip it if you eat no meat. The Delicious Bowls section covers the Acai Power Bowl, Power Parfait, Cranberry Walnut, Chia Powder Bowl, and Steel Cut Oatmeal.

Meat shows up everywhere else, so plan for a shared kitchen. The menu lists Applewood Smoked Bacon, ham, corned beef hash, sausage, turkey bacon, and chicken. Honey Berry Cafe doesn’t publish a cross-contact policy or say how it separates meat from meatless cooking. If you avoid meat for ethical reasons, say so when you order and ask for clean utensils.

Sides help a vegetarian plate: toast, a biscuit, a bagel with cream cheese, hash browns, fries, sweet potato fries, cottage cheese, and a seasonal fruit plate. You can add protein to any smoothie for $2. The cafe also pours Brew and Bubbles cocktails, mocktails at $7, fresh juices, and house coffee.

Hours at the Dallas cafe run Monday through Friday from 7am to 2:30pm and Saturday and Sunday from 7am to 3pm. The address is 4520 Frankford Road, Suite 100a, in the 75287 ZIP code. The cafe takes reservations and a waitlist through Yelp, and the chain advertises 20% off when you order online. Yelp holds more than 900 reviews for the Dallas cafe, and a reviewer from the past month called the food very good and the room clean.

The chain’s tagline says happiness is a pancake breakfast, and vegetarians can take that literally. Order a stack, ask about the omelette fillings, and bring a vegan friend for the Beyond Burger.