CLOSED: Shangri-La

We came through on a Wednesday, which just happened to be burger buffet only day (burgers, buns, toppings, french fries and ice cream for dessert). The burgers were excellent, probably the best veggie burger I've ever had! Was hard to tell what else was and wasn't vegan. Really wish we'd gotten a chance to try more of the menu. Maybe next time we come through town.

Happy Cow's android app lead my family to Shangri-La while driving through town. We were lucky enough to hit the Wednesdnight night 'hamburger' buffet. The food was excellent, and Shangri-La was an oasis for three travel-stunned, hungry vegans.

My fiance and I experienced Shangri-La's veggie burger, which was truly the best we've ever had. If you are looking for a real burger experience without the meat, this is it! Also, check out the bathroom. It's an experience in itself.
Definitely the place to eat when visiting St. Louis.

The owner is the sweetest person in the world and has a true talent in the kitchen. I recommend her veggie meatloaf (which can be made vegan if you ask) and my fiance recommends the vegan burger. She makes amazing vegan desserts and we always have her bake cakes for our special occasions. Even if you don't know exactly what you want, she'll throw together something wonderful. The decor is awesome and makes me feel right at home.

She does serve salmon, but I don't see that as a bad thing. I'm a strict vegan and much of my family views that as "weird", however, when they come down once a year and I take them to my favorite restaurant, they can order meat and feel "normal."

Even if you have had a bad experience in the past, I encourage you to give this place another shot. I've only been going for a year, and I have seen this place improve and grow in just that short amount of time, and I thought it was pretty good to start with!

And they have an awesome buffet on Sunday. Not everything on it is vegan, but she does bring out vegan alternatives to your table if you want them.

First of all, there is nowhere, and I mean "NO WHERE", where I've felt more at home! I walk in, the owner knows me, I even get special vegan dishes that are not even on the menu!

This restaurant has an "anti-aging" menu geared towards the theme of Shangri-La... where if you never leave, you never age!

The vegan food is great and the cook knows exactly what to make and even creates great sides. The menu changes seasonally, so make sure you catch the summer specials soon!

I can only say that you get out of this restaurant whatever energy you give. Which means, if you're a happy person, you get happy energy back! I like that they also welcome alternative people to their restaurant (goodness knows that I am far from the "polo and khaki" crowd). I also recommend this place as LGBT-friendly AND -competent. So feel free to bring you, your partner, and your family!

The only thing I can say is "Yay!" for the owner (who, by the way, did the award-winning brunches at MoKaBe's and had the coffeehouse, "La Patisserie", in the Delmar loop). She has worked hard and been dedicated to the St. Louis area for many years. She stays on top of vegan delicacies and always puts a lot of love in every dish she makes.

I absolutely love this place! The atmosphere is so awesome, the decor really creative, and the food is fantastic. I had the vegan pulled pork sandwich which was delicious. The vegan baked beans had a different flavor than typical baked beans, but were still very good. The vegan Hostess cupcake was much better than a packaged Hostess could ever be, and the brunch buffet on Sunday was phenomenal. Scrambled tofu, hash browns, toast, sausage patties, watermelon slices, sesame ginger brown rice pilaf, strawberry blueberry crisp. . . you can't get much better than that. It did seem to take a while for my table and others to get their food, but it was definitely worth the wait, as everything was so tasty and freshly made. The prices were not too bad, considering this. I was dining with carnivores both times and they thoroughly enjoyed the food as well. I couldn't recommend this place more!

Great veggie burger, as it says.
Very helpful, friendly staff. The hostess cupcakes, as it says are really amazing. The pecan pie is GREAT!
The atmosphere is a lot of fun and they specify whether is something is veggie (not vegan) or vegan. If you have questions, everyone there seems to be well aware of the menu for assistance.

The Shangri-La was the light at the end of a long day's drive, and it proved to be all we had hoped. We showed up close to closing time on a Sunday, and the staff welcomed us in anyway, not in the least annoyed that they would have to stick around longer. Everyone was very friendly. The decor is a pop culture-lover's dream. We had yummy vegan shakes to start. I had the St Louis Slugger (vegan version) for my main meal. I was uncertain if the flavor combination would work, but was rewarded with a unique and delicious meal. To say the owner was generous when it came to the desserts would be an understatement. She treated us very well, and we were able to sample a variety of the vegan dessert offerings (I can't choose a favorite; everything was amazing). I had read some mixed reviews about this place, but my experience there was wonderful, and I'm glad we stopped there.

I thought that being a vegan with an addictive sweet tooth would be challenging in St. Louis, but I'm constantly surprised. The vegan hostess that she makes is worth every bit of praise that it gets...and then some! It's extremely delicious; you'd swear it wasn't vegan!

The main course meal was so-so. I wasn't impressed with my bbq vegan burger. It tasted a tad bit...stoney. I have had much better. The fries were pretty good, just a little cold. The owner seemed a bit condescending and rude with our group. (But there was a reporter in that day and she was sweet as pie to her...) And I had some major MAJOR sanitation concerns. The workers in the back, one in particular, appeared very dirty- from their clothes, to their skin, to their hair... And there had been a water break (the owner said) so they had been out of water and unable to make certain dishes. THAT made me wonder how they were cleaning our dishes and their hands! And our waiter, who came in half-way through our meal, came right in from the street, went straight to the kitchen, and to our table. We advised him of his wrong-doing and sent him away to wash his hands.

There are a group of us who like to get together and eat at veggie restaurants, but whenever this one comes up, I always decline. Maybe one day I'll stock up on my germ-x and Lysol and give it another try. There were a few other items that looked inviting on the menu... And the decor is very fun and hip.

If for nothing else, I'd order a couple of vegan hostesses to go! :D

I had a decent hummus wrap. I had an astounding bbq "pork" sandwich - suspiciously pork-y! yum.
BYOB (which I LOVE). The owner even sat with us for while and accepted some of my cheap box-wine. She's awesome.
The vegan hostess cupcake was dreamy.
My friend had vegan chili on hash browns and tofu "egg"s. She asked for cheese on it and got lots, and I think it made the dish a little too oily. I am going to go back and get that dish myself, but without the cheese.
The atmosphere is phenomenally fun. I wish I lived closer!
Oh yeah...the veggie burger and the "blt" were really good too, from the little bites that I stole from my friends.
I would give it 5 cows if they would let me, but since it sells fish, oh well.

We made a detour as we were driving south to try this place out after reading the reviews on Happy Cow. I had the vegan pulled pork sandwich and it was fun and messy, just like it is supposed to be. The fries were nothing special. My girlfriend had the bbq vegan burger, which was ok. But the Hostess Cupcake (you know - the one with the cream filling and the curly white icing on top of the chocolate icing) was the best vegan desert I have ever had.

We finally got to taste the illusive vegan "Hostess" Cupcakes! The nonvegan version are kept in the pastry box, but the vegan ones are kept behind in the fridge to keep the EarthBalance from melting!

Amazing!!! Do not miss!!!

I'm pretty sure this is the only location in St.louis that has vegan baked goods and desserts now! Message me if you know otherwise!

Wow, I just had the BEST vegan HOHO ever!! I totally felt like a kid again. It was completely sinful.

The vegan dishes and deserts are wonderful. The atmosphere is fun and relaxed. The waitress is great. The prices are really good. My only complaint is the owner appears a little too stressed and can be rude to her waitress- she doesn't quite fit with everything elese. I have eaten there several times none-the-less and will still recommend it as a great vegan palce in St. Louis!

When I visited the Shangri-La Diner a couple of weekends ago I ate the "Vegan Pulled Pork" and my friend had the "Fat Mattress" - we both enjoyed what we had. Overall the employees were friendly and the food was good. I plan on eating here again soon.

I did try their buffet as well; it's definitely nice to have a Vegan option when it comes to breakfast foods! One thing to note however is that they're only open on the weekends.

i visited happycow.net for the first time to find a vegetarian restaurant and to be honest, my expectations were not high. i entered shangri-la with caution but was immediately surprised. the atmosphere is adorable and hip. there are bright paper lanterns and bright menus and everything is perfect. the staff was friendly and welcoming. our server talked to us about vegetarianism and music and all sorts of interests.

my little sister ordered the nachos with vegetarian chili and i order a veggie burger with fake bacon.

her nachos tasted decent...just like nachos should taste but nothing special. my veggie burger on the other hand was EXCELLENT. the best veggie burger i have ever had. the only complaint i had was that the fake bacon was morning star bacon which i'm not particularly fond of. other than that, i was very very satisfied. i'm taking my best friend there tomorrow. i highly recommend this place but i do wish they would be 100% vegetarian and take salmon off of their menu.

having visited alot of restaurants, i was looking forward to this place which was described to us as a vegan diner. after a long perusal of the menu, we finally decided on french toast, scrambled tofu and the fruit salad. the french toast was ok but when the scramble came out, we were shocked. it was basically a watery bowl of plain silken tofu that was slightly warmed up but not cooked. no spices, no seasoning, just some raw onion. upon asking the server if there was some soysauce to add to it, she answered "ahh no, but we have soymilk". the fruit salad was a few dried up grapes still on the vine with one slice of watermelon. a friend got the home fries which were just some chopped up french fries. with a little more spices in the kitchen, there could be some improvement.

I miss this place a LOT sometimes. I ate here as frequently as possible...and I was really sad to se the Sunday brunch go.

I highly recommend the BBQ "pork" sandwich with beans and fries. Talk about comfort food heaven.

The french toast is also quite addicting, as is that awesome CURRY KETCHUP they have on the table.

The wait staff can be a little weird sometimes. We had an annoying waitress on more than one occasion who just seemed a little....strung out?

Regardless, this is a vegan mecca in a rather lacking city

Oh, and lock your car.

Oh my, their seitan (wheat gluten) based BBQ pulled pork sandwich is to die for. Everything on the menu was clearly marked to id vegan and vegetarian items. Sadly, the tofu scramble seemed bland and the hash browns seemed stale, but don't let this dissuade you from their other menu items. The service was top notch and the atmosphere was very enjoyable. I will be happily returning here every time I pass through St. Louis in the future. Our fantastic server more than made for for any disappointment that I may have had with the tofu.