Heart and Soy / Roots — Restaurant in Louisville

I was pleasantly surprised to find a vegetarian/vegan restaurant in Louisville during my recent short visit to town. The place was fairly empty, but it was a Thursday night when we walked in. We were immediately greeted and were allowed to pick wherever we wanted to sit. We chose to sit in the back, which had recessed seats, so it felt like you were sitting on the floor but your feet could still be under the table. Wish I got a picture of it because it was definitely a neat concept. The décor was modern Asian and the atmosphere was a little intimate, and certainly nice for a date.

There are small plates of food that are perfect for trying a little bit of many things on the menu and to share with others. We had the avocado egg rolls, the pot stickers, a Vietnamese savory crêpe (banh xeo), rice in a steamed banana leaf, and a steaming rice plate and they were all delicious.

The tea menu is also impressive. We both got tea and were given a small hourglass timer so we would know when our tea was ready.

Service was attentive and friendly. She made sure our water glasses were always full.

I am usually take it or leave it when it comes to desserts, but vegan desserts are typically incredible so we agreed to look at the dessert menu after being thoroughly stuffed. He got a peanut butter chocolate gelato that was heavenly. I'm a sucker for flan so I got that. It wasn't my favorite though; the caramel sauce that I usually love on a flan was more of a vanilla sauce that seemed a little too heavy on the vanilla extract.

All in all, I would highly recommend this place, whether you are a vegetarian, vegan...

A great spot for a quiet, healthy lunch. Tea house ambiance, precise and personable service. Vegetarian menu with many vegan and gluten free options. The majority of the menu is pan Asian. There are some global choices: fajitas and a panini. My favorite feature was getting a tiny hourglass for my green tea so it would be perfectly steeped. Many plates are small enough to order two - you can figure out how large they'll be by the price. When I went (just once so far) I had the mushroom with tofu clay pot and it was around $10 and made two small meals for me. Roots shares an owner and a building with the more casual Heart & Soy. Though you can't take food from one restaurant to the other, you can walk back and forth. In Heart & Soy you can see the machines that make the tofu and soymilk they serve in both restaurants. They also have a grab & go case. This really can't be beat in Louisville for a healthy, affordable, almost spa-like atmosphere (check out the sink in...

I came to Roots with my friend a while back and loved the food! It was delicious and made so well that I was surprised it was all vegetarian and vegan; the flavor profiles were amazing. Additionally, I went to Heart and Soy today to pick up some vegan & gluten free options for an event where I work (a university). The workers were so kind and helped a lot, and the food cost was pretty good considering how many people it fed and that it was technically specialty food. The vegetarian/vegan students were really happy and impressed with the food! There was also enough to where some of us non-vegetarian/vegan folks felt okay trying some, and we loved it as well. My boss wasn't kidding when he said the egg rolls were the best in Louisville; THEY ARE! Thank you! I can't wait to come back for myself and order some more food :) Also, thanks to the kind lady who was working who gave me a free cookie, haha. That...