PETA has named Portland the second most vegetarian friendly city in the U.S. behind Washington DC. Yay for us! Seriously. As much as I bitch and moan about anarchist foie-protesting vegans, I'm very proud of the veg scene here. Diversity in dining, allowing for all types of diets and dietary creeds, can only be a good thing.

But read the press release further and it's clear while PETA is right about the city's top vegetarian billing, they're right for the wrong reasons:

The showstopper at Papa G's Vegan Organic Deli is the vegan lasagne, which features organic noodles, sunflower "cheese," tofu, seasonal vegetables, and homemade marinara. Papa G's also offers an array of vegan delights in its bakery. The Red and Black Café excels with its very own "TLP," which includes tempeh bacon, herbed Vegenaise, lettuce, and roasted red peppers or tomatoes. And after one bite of the Blossoming Lotus' barbecue tempeh platter, you'll know that you'll be back. The platter features tempeh and red onions sautéed in a rich, smoky barbecue sauce and comes with spicy black-bean chili, cornbread, and a mixed green salad.

I don't want to take anything away from these fine eateries, but where the hell is Portabello? How about Los Gorditos? And vegetarian lasagna? Walk a block down from Papa G's to Taste Unique and you can find one of the most transcendent veg lasagnas I've ever had the pleasure of stuffing in my face.

Here's the thing: The city is great for having places like Papa G's and Blossoming Lotus, sure. But what makes Portland so vegetarian friendly is the fact that you can go about anywhere in this town and find very good vegetarian fare. It's not always necessary to go to a meat free establishment to do so. Now that's what I call a vegetarian friendly city. DC ain't got nothing on us.

So what do you think, Blogtownies? What other top notch veg, or veg friendly, restaurants did PETA miss?