Stop by these restaurants with vegetarian options for spicy, savory, and tangy meatless wings ahead of Super Bowl Sunday.
Who says you should miss out on all the fun of game-day wings just because you don’t eat meat? Or, maybe you’re just looking for something lighter to save more room for pizza and beer? Either way, these Hudson Valley restaurants and pubs chef up crispy and flavorful cauliflower wings that are sure to scratch that spicy itch. From blazing hot sauces to umami Asian tastes, there is something for everyone whether you like your wings mild, medium, or extra hot.
New York Restaurant
Catskill
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While it reopened in 2015, New York Restaurant’s history dates back to 1913. The Catskill eatery’s menu is inspired by owner Natasha Witka’s Polish roots, combining the best of traditional Polish and modern American cuisines. New York Restaurant’s casually elegant dining room serves up delicious seasonal craft cocktails and local craft beers that go great with anything from the list of extensive appetizer options, but especially with the cauliflower wings. Smothered in buffalo sauce and served like traditional chicken wings with blue cheese dip, these bites are not to be missed.
Santa Fe
Tivoli, Kingston, Woodstock
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With three locations scattered around the Hudson Valley plus an additional fourth spot dedicated exclusively to burgers, Santa Fe is an award-winning Mexican restaurant that crafts legendary guacamole and killer margaritas. The culinary excellence doesn’t stop there however, as the southwestern-inspired menu also features a delicious take on cauliflower wings in the form of crispy Mexicali cauliflower. The meatless morsels are panko-crusted and fried to perfection before being coated in Santa Fe’s signature Mexicali buffalo sauce and served with homemade blue cheese.
Sweet Grass Grill
Tarrytown
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Tarrytown’s Sweet Grass Grill is all about local and seasonal food in a casual setting. With a menu that varies weekly depending on the daily harvest, few things are mainstays at this plant-dominated restaurant, but the cauliflower wings are certainly one exception. Rather than battered and fried pieces of cauliflower, Sweet Grass Grill crafts its vegan wings out of a combination of cauliflower and celery root to create a new and exciting texture that rivals that of traditional meatless wings. As for the sauce, a tahini buffalo and vegan blue cheese add flavor to the dish and keep things vegan and gluten-free.
Thai Golden
Carmel
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This family-owned restaurant and café in Putnam County’s Carmel hamlet cooks some of the finest homestyle Thai cuisine in the lower Hudson Valley area. From boba tea to curry, the lakefront eatery truly has it all. Classic Thai dishes like pad Thai and kie mao permeate the menu, with some unexpected twists on traditional flavors like the pad Thai wings and vegan coconut kale soup. When it comes to crispy cauliflower, Thai Golden does it like no other with its sesame cauliflower dish that is completed by battered and fried cauliflower drenched in a house-made vegan sesame sauce. Topped with sesame seeds and scallions and served over jasmine rice, this dish is mouth-watering goodness.
Wunderbar Bistro
Hudson
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In Hudson, Wunderbar Bistro offers progressive American comfort food with everchanging specials and dishes inspired by flavors from around the world. Opt for the French onion soup or garlic parmesan fries for warming winter favorites, or switch things up with the cauliflower wings that come breaded and deep-fried with your choice of mild, hot, atomic hot, Thai chili, teriyaki, barbecue, garlic parm, or General Tso sauce.
Related: 6 Allergy-Friendly Dining Spots in the Hudson Valley
