Sia’s Garden Grown Review – Vegan Dining in East Liberty

Sia’s Garden Grown is a Vegan Gem in East Liberty

We often lament the fact that we can count on one hand the number of restaurants in Pittsburgh that focus on vegetarian and vegan cuisine. It’s a shame, really, considering Pittsburgh’s close proximity to beautiful farm land and access to super fresh veggies. So we were especially excited to hear about Sia’s, one of Pittsburgh’s newest vegan restaurants. We love that the spot is fast casual with counter service and grab and go options, making it a great choice for a quick lunch or an easy dinner.

While the menu does have a few plant-based meat substitute options, the majority of the menu items are simply excellent preparations of fresh veggies. On our visit, the sandwich options included a blackened “chicken” and ranch sandwich, a “brat” sandwich, and several veggie-filled sandwiches like the Eggplant Agro Dolce and a Cauliflower Muffuletta.

On the salad side of things, a potato salad, carrot couscous salad, and three bean salad were just some of the colorful and healthy offerings. Soups included a vegetable noodle and a pasta fagioli, while desserts ranged from a blueberry bread pudding to an apple shortbread tart. Coffees and smoothies featuring fruit and vegetable juices were also on offer.

We tried two different sandwiches, the Eggplant Agro Dolce and the Cauliflower Muffuletta. The cauliflower sandwich featured local cauliflower, an olive spread made with pickled veggies and lupini beans, a black garlic salsa verde, and lettuce. This was a flavor bomb with texture from the cauliflower, tanginess from the olive spread, and pungency from the garlic sauce. A thick, deliciously nutty toasted semolina bread enveloped the whole thing.

The eggplant sandwich was our favorite, though, with sweet and sour eggplant, peppery arugula, tomato, and hummus, all served on sourdough. The toasty bread provided a nice textural contrast to the smooth filling, and the intense garlic flavor of the hummus balanced the sweetness of the eggplant.

The pasta fagioli soup was rich and mushroomy with cannelini beans, pasta, lots of different mushrooms, carrots, leek, and onion. It had a lot going on and if you didn’t know, you’d be surprised to learn it was vegan due to its rich umami flavors.

I’m a sucker for desserts, so we also had to try the lemon shortbread tart. This one had a crisp shortbread crust, a tangy and rich lemon curd, and a just-sweet-enough blueberry compote on top. It really was hard to believe this was vegan as it was so creamy and rich!

Sia’s brings a much-needed addition to the Pittsburgh vegan dining scene. We appreciate the use of fresh veggies and ingredients, the bright and intense flavors of the dishes, and the fast-casual nature of the restaurant- something we’re not upset seeing more of in East Liberty, too.

We will be back soon!

Sia’s Garden Grown is located at 220 N Highland Avenue in East Liberty.

Looking for more great vegan restaurants in Pittsburgh? Click the previous link to check out some of our favorites!