Shoreline Diner and Vegetarian Enclave

Not all vegan but definitely a diner with real home made vegan options, no frozen veggie patties here but rather a real home crafted black bean based burger. The tempeh in the tempeh Ruben also tasted home made.
The food tasted great for diner food.
So nice to have options right off the highway when traveling. Lots of kudos to the diner owner or who ever decided to dedicate a portion of the menu to cater to vegan eaters, thank you!

A vegan, gluten free paradise with options for meat-eaters. This is our must stop restaurant when driving through Connecticut. A sister restaurant to Georgie's in West Haven, both are worth a stop.

It is not often that you see "Diner" & "Vegan" together. This delightful Diner actually has a separate section on the menu that is vegan.
we went for breakfast after an early morning walk at Hammonasset Beach.
The food was very good, and it was great to have choices.
I had the buckwheat pancakes and they were light, fluffy and cakey. I only wish they were gluten-free.
We will definitely be returning, I look forward to trying the Tempeh Reuben.

I was at a wedding at the Madison Beach Hotel and this place was recommended by the valet... A little hesitant as not many people get vegan especially when he said diner. The staff was awesome and they had so many vegan breakfast and lunch options . I would give this place 5 stars but happy cow won't let since its not 100%vegan

Can't beat the location and ease of on/off of I-95 if you are traveling through the area. This place deserves lots of props for offering veg*n options!! I'm not in love with the ruben (unlike some other posters) but the chickpea salad and the veggie burgers are delish (especially with the onion rings)! Salads available, chili and a really delicious butternut squash soup. The best part was dessert, though -- a special that day...chocolate raspberry layer cake! So good and a HUGE portion.

As others have mentioned, this is a great place to meet up with omnis as well. Decor is typical diner with big screen TVs showing food channel or similar. We were there during the summer and the a/c is turned up on HIGH. Prices are on the high side for a diner but the portion sizes are generous.

Would love to see offered non-dairy ice cream, sundaes, milkshakes, egg creams!!

Honestly, the tempeh reuben is so good, I order it every time and it never disappoints. I get fries or the bean chili if I'm feeling virtuous. I've visited many times over the past few years and have no complaints. I noticed they added vegan breakfast options which is great, I'd go for brunch with mixed diet company for sure. Pretty standard diner, fair to good service depending on the waiter and crowd.

My wife & I stopped here for lunch yesterday, and it's probably been a year since we were here last. The veggie options have changed, and there are LOTS more vegan offerings. We split an order of the vegan (yes, vegan) lasagna, and it was WONDERFUL. For dessert, "Chocolate Drift" (a vegan chocolate layer cake) was spectacular, and we also had a totally amazing vegan chocolate mousse (I have no idea how they did that), which was suggested by our waitress, but did not appear on the menu. Both desserts were FANTASTIC. Whatever it is they're doing here, they're doing it right. I've seen a review that talked about the bad service, but our experience here yesterday was NOT the case. Absolutely NOTHING on the I-95 corridor in Northeastern CT compares to this place, and as far as diners anywhere are concerned, this is an amazing find. There are plenty of vegan and vegatarian menu choices. We had previously tried the Tempeh Reuben, which was great, as was the Tofu Picatta. Very good lettuce wraps, and they have wonderful bean soup, too! Not a conveniently located destination, unless you're traveling through CT on I-95, or happen to live in Guilford. One word: "Impressive".
(Updated from my previous review, February, 2011)

My boyfriend & I go to this place whenever we're nearby because there isn't really anything else w vegan options close by. It has decent choices & the food is pretty good. Not the healthiest but then again it is a diner. It's good for mixed groups, we often go with his vegetarian sister & brother-in-law who won't eat out without meat. The menu is clearly marked with what's vegan & there are even desserts.

My wife and I love diners. We're vegetarians, and so those classic, huge-menu, breakfast-all-day diners tend to offer us safe options when traveling. Coming down I-95 today, we saw a sign for not only a diner, but one billing itself as a "vegetarian enclave." Naturally we were excited to try it.

NEVER AGAIN.

This was one of the worst dining experiences we've ever had.

First, they were out of tofu. It took our waiter over 20 minutes after we ordered our entrees to tell us that there was a problem with the order and that my wife would need to change her selection (he neglected to bring a menu). She changed her order from the mock-chicken salad to a veggie wrap in order to get our food out quicker, but it still took more than a half-hour after the order was changed to get our food (which was pretty simple fare). When it arrived, the reuben was okay enough (I would say barely worth the price and not nearly worth the wait), but the wrap contained pieces that were inedible, such as the woody end of a zucchini. Is it too much to expect a kitchen that took over a half-hour to make a simple wrap to make it edible? Neither of us finished our meals.

Our waiter was friendly but not very good. Empty glasses went upwards of 15-20 minutes without refills. He came out three times over a half-hour to tell us our food was on its way. I'm fairly certain part of the delay was because he put in the wrong order: the first time he came out, he "confirmed" that my wife had ordered the veggie burger.

When I went to pay, I told the manager on duty about how long our food had taken and the problems we had in ordering it. He was rude, defensive, and utterly unprofessional. He blamed us for coming "at a busy time" (well over half the seats were unfilled when we arrived before 6 p.m., and only a handful of patrons didn't already have their food), didn't see a problem with his kitchen taking so long to make simple orders, and was openly hostile. Not only didn't he try to make his restaurant's mistakes right, he didn't even recognize that they had screwed up.

This was our first visit, and our last. It was a total waste of an hour, and a total disappointment of a meal.

I give them much credit for advertising the word VEGETARIAN in their name's subtitle, and for that they deserve a dozen thank you's. Thus being lured into the place, I give them credit for an entire column on the menu labeled vegan, not merely vegetarian, and for that they deserve a hundred thank you's. So far, so good, until you find that the menu offers conventional white and greasy American diner fare. An exception is the hummus platter, with its accompanying pita bread of whole wheat. The previous owner was a vegetarian, but the present owner is not, so you must be VERY vigilant. That whole wheat pita on one occasion was warmed on a grill that cooked meat and so absorbed its smell, if not its grease. The waitress defensively denied the possibility, impugning my olfactory nerves, until she smelled the pita too. Beware also the uninformed and incompetent high school student waitresses who work evenings and weekends, and who neglect to inform you of any vegan specials, unless you ask them. While I do not go out of my way to eat here, I do stop here late night (open every night until 11pm) after a long haul from NYC on i-95, as it is just off the easy off/on exit. Do check out it's interesting website, but be patient, it takes a long time to download.

I have eaten here many times, I enjoy their food and they also have a awesome cake (hard to believe that it is vegan)
But, many times I have asked the owner to consider vegan breakfast....but to no avail. This is not a hard request but I won't go back until they are more aware that we have to eat breakfast also!!!

Yes, the tempeh rueben is so good. Try the 7 bean chili and the falafel. I wish they had vegan breakfast options though, like a tofu scramble.

During a recent trip from Boston to New York City on I-95 I happened to notice a road sign for this place. We stopped and everyone in our group (carnivores and vegans alike) was pleased with their meal! The vegan items were clearly marked on the menu (which included two desserts). We tried the tempeh reuben (excellent!), the tofu ravioli (yum), and the chocolate snowdrift cake for dessert (very yum!) What a nice surprise it was to find Shoreline Diner!

This is a great place to stop if you're driving along the I-95 corridor in CT and you're craving a hearty meal. They have an entire "vegetarian menu", and the vegan tempeh reuben sandwich is hands down the best item on the menu! The chili was better than you'd expect, too.