Gillie's

Went to Sunday brunch with my non-vegan family and it was so good. Always know its a good spot when there is a wait but the wait was not bad.
Tofu Scramble with bbq sauce was delicious - and my companions raved about the potatoes.
Very friendly staff and I mean all of them not just our waiter!
Def returning and I think my non-vegan niece will be there more often since she lives there!
I would give it a 5 if I could!

Gillie's was a truly refreshing and delicious stop on a 12-hour drive from Pennsylvania to Asheville, well worth the 20-mile round-trip excursion off of I-81. Very pleasant atmosphere in the outdoor seating area on a street with almost no car traffic but bustling with students and other college-town residents on foot. Great selection of regional microbrews to start off. Excellent attentive service by two tag-teaming waiters. Interesting and imaginative vegan dishes. I wanted to try the Moroccan seitan Napoleon but they were out of it, so I had the gado-gado, in which they accommodatingly substituted seitan for tofu for me. Nicely prepared and presented. The peanut sauce was very good, but would have been even better with more tamari in the recipe. My husband had the fresh basil pesto on penne and vegetables, which was outstanding, and that's saying something coming from someone (me) who's been making homemade pesto from home-grown basil for 20 years. An hour at Gillie's helped make a 12-hour drive much more bearable. I'd give five cows if I could, but they're disqualified by the salmon and catfish on the menu.

The food was marvelous and full of flavor. Everything was fresh and well seasoned (had the Gillies's burger and Basil Pesto Pasta, would recommend both). The atmosphere was comfortable and cute. The staff were very friendly and fun. If you are in Blacksburg it is a must! Almost all there options are vegan, or able to be made vegan!

Gillies is famous here. They do breakfast and lunches. The food is awesome. The service ok, but busy.
Hardest thing is finding it even though it is on college avenue!

LOVE IT wish I lived closer.

We were driving through Virginia and wanted some healthy food, so we drove the extra distance to Gillies, as it sounded like a nice place. It was a very good experience. The stir fry had lots of vegetable and tempe, and a delicious thai sauce with rice. There were lots of gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan options. We also had a clam chowder, that had lots of flavor and also vegetables.
The only cons were there was music playing over the speakers, and the servers were not the friendliest, but were efficient. Limited outside seating.

Good, hearty food with a number of vegan options, and there's typically a vegan daily special, soup, and dessert. Huge portions. They don't usually have organic food, but they do serve food from local farms from time to time.

There is often live entertainment at night, and there is some outdoor seating available. The atmosphere is friendly. There is a reasonably good variety of beers and wines.

Gillie's is known for its brunch, which is served Saturdays and Sundays (and some holidays) from 8 AM - 2 PM. Be forewarned: Gillie's has a tiny kitchen, and when it is busy in the restaurant, food can take awhile to come out.
Updated from previous review on Friday May 06, 2011

I took my husband here last year and he ordered one thing but after waiting (what seemed forever) they brought a different dish. Even though vegan friendly- eggs and dairy are in most of the menu items. It serves its purpose in a college town but having been to veg restaurants around the world, not the best service or food.

I have eaten at Gillies twice, about 12 months apart, while dropping my brother off in Blacksburg for college, and both times have been excited about the idea of eating at 'THE vegetarian restaurant in town!', and both times have been utterly disappointed.

The first time, I noticed a lack of vegan options (including no desserts), but finally made my choice (a vegetable and peanut saute dish) and received a dish that was passable in quality and creativity, but which I definitely could have made myself (and better) at home.

The next time, I was fuming by the time I left. I know I'm a bit sensitive, but as a long-time vegan, when I go to a vegetarian restaurant, I EXPECT to be catered to. This is how vegetarian restaurants should work. Except, we happened to go to the place on a Saturday, which meant that only 'brunch' food was available until later in the day. Brunch food means, I found out, eggs. Eggs, cheese, toast, biscuits, and non-vegan pancakes, waffles and french toast. A special vegetarian brunch menu, indeed. Little icons noted that all egg dishes could be veganised by subbing in tofu for $1 more. Literally, the only vegan option available, on the entire menu, was tofu--either with potatoes and toast, in a non-vegan (honey and dairy-based) wrap, or as 'scrambled tofu'. With mounting frustration, I ordered the scrambled tofu, which turned out to be hard, fried cubes of tofu (such as you might have with *any* vegetarian dish), covered in barbecue sauce. This does not qualify as 'scrambled tofu' in my book.

On top of my irritation with the heavily ovo-lacto bias of this vegetarian restaurant, I was also again impressed by the considerable lack of any imagination when preparing the menu or items. There was literally NO ingenuity required in their brunch selection at all; you could probably do better at an IHOP even (!!!)--and still end up with the same high fructose corn syrup 'jellies' as your table's centerpiece. Gillies adds nothing special to these options. Why it's important that it's a 'vegetarian' brunch is beyond me, since pancakes &c are generally vegetarian.

Bottom line: if you want decent ovo-lacto vegetarian food in Blacksburg and aren't willing to venture on Virginia Tech's campus (where it apparently has award-winning food), come on over. If you're vegan or an amateur or aspiring chef yourself, I wouldn't get yourself too excited or your hopes too far up.

I've been to Gillie's numerous times - they have a great variety of meals - and have even added some seafood (for those with "skeptical" friends who aren't vegetarians).

It sounds like this place is mostly known for breakfast, so I almost didn't even check it out for dinner, but I'm really glad I did! 80% of the menu can be veganized (and apparently without losing the essential elements). And it was a pretty elevated-but-casual menu for a breakfast place. Had an almond arugala salad with cilantro vinaigrette, a moroccan napoleon and an almond-cranberry cookie to go. They've got a decent organic wine selection too.

It was an all around pretty good meal. We had a breakfast there on a Saturday. We got a table right away, but the service was slow. Everyone liked their food. Portions are big (I shoulda gone with two pancakes instead of the standard three).

Travelling through VA and decieded to stop in Blacksburg (College Town) and pull out Happy Cow :) We were hoping for the best! Ended up at Gillies - I ordered the "Chappies Choice" (Scrambled eggs and white cheddar topped home fries) and my boyfriend ordered the Tofu Scamble (BBQ version here ...)

Service was okay, little slow - food was good and portions were plentiful. We both bad 1/2 of our plates left and left very full and satisfied. Although we came during breakfast there was a solid selection of choices. Many options to choose from.

Service notoriously sucks here. Also, I don't know what is so "vegetarian" about seafood. I'm pretty sure every biology 101 teaches that fish are living beings that feel pain.

Lots of items can be made vegan on the menu. Beware, though. I asked for a soycheese pizza and got real cheese--with no apology or sympathy in the least for such an offensive and dangerous mistake. Who needs a knockoff of a cruel product anyway, I guess.

It's nice to have a vegetarian restaurant in town that brings the diet and lifestyle to the mainstream, but I think they could be a little more welcoming and understanding to real vegetarians and vegans. Also, confusing the public with seafood and promoting fish, shellfish, etc as objects that apparently are no different than vegetables--is just plain irresponsible.