La Semilla: What’s Vegetarian Editorial Review

La Semilla is a fully vegan restaurant in Reynoldstown built around Cuban and Mexican cooking. Every plate skips meat, dairy and eggs. No exceptions, no fine print. Eater named it one of the 12 best new restaurants in the country the year it opened. It still holds a five star average on HappyCow from more than 70 reviews. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called it a good vegan restaurant, no asterisk needed for the diet.

What’s vegan at La Semilla

Everything on the menu is vegan. There’s no separate vegan section, because the whole kitchen runs on plants. A vegetarian doesn’t need to interrogate a server about which dish secretly has lard in the beans. That question matters at most Latin restaurants, where lard, chicken stock and cotija show up in places a printed menu rarely flags. Cross-contact isn’t a worry here either. No animal protein exists anywhere in the building to contaminate a fryer or a grill, which is rare for a kitchen doing this much frying and griddling.

What to order

Start with the Cubano. It’s built on seitan instead of roast pork and still carries the tang from pickles and mustard that make the sandwich work. The Crunchwrap Supreme does the fast food nostalgia trick better than the chain it’s riffing on. The carne asada tacos hold their char even without the beef. Want something less familiar? The yuca con queso swaps in a cashew based sauce, and sikil pak, a Yucatecan pumpkin seed dip, is one of the more distinct starters in Atlanta right now. Queso blanco and masa fried mushroom round out the appetizer list for a table of small plates. Save room for the guava flan and the tres leches cake. Both nail the custard texture without eggs or condensed milk, the harder trick in vegan baking.

Hours and location

La Semilla sits at 780 Memorial Drive SE, Unit 4A, in Reynoldstown. Hours run Tuesday through Thursday from 5 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5 to 11 p.m., and Sunday 5 to 9 p.m. Closed Monday. Reservations are required, not just recommended. The dining room is small and books up fast on weekends. A full bar pours craft cocktails, natural and biodynamic wine, and local beer, and free validated parking waits in the garage behind the building. Both indoor seating and a patio are available. Call (404) 228-3090 for a same-day table.

Good to know

Expect to spend more than a taqueria. Two people ordering a few dishes with drinks and tax run around $76. That’s closer to a sit-down dinner than a quick bite, and it’s the trade for a kitchen that makes its own seitan and cashew cheese instead of buying frozen patties. It’s also part of why the restaurant landed a Wikipedia entry within a couple years of opening. Most neighborhood restaurants, vegan or not, never get that. Order the Cubano and the sikil pak first. Then decide if the rest of the menu earns the reservation. Most people who’ve tried it say it does.