Restaurants of Acapulco: Verde Vegan and Verde Pistache

Tonight's restaurant of Acapulco is well known among the anarchists here, as it was a favorite destination last year during the Anarchapulco conference. We're featuring Verde Vegan, and Verde Pistache, the built in natural foods co-op next door.  I'll start by being honest, we've not actually eaten at Verde Vegan.  Our budget for eating out is pretty much non existent, most of our eating out is done with our best local friend. That being said, I've heard a lot of really good things about the food there.  It's more expensive than the average place, but it's not quite the average place so that makes things okay.  By American standards, you can get a lot of good vegan food for dirt cheap.

Here's a view of the inside of the restaurant, taken from the perspective of the store next door.  There's a doorway that connects the two businesses.  They have their own sign and store front, while still having that connected feel.  It allows their customers to go between the cooperative businesses easily, which is a smart move to increase sales in either spot. 

There's an outside sitting area for the restaurant as well, although the furniture seems to have been taken in for the night by the time we ended up going there today.  

The place is really artsy, which I like.  The menu is handwritten with chalk, which is nice cause it allows them to change their menu whenever they'd like, a luxury not all restaurants have. 

There were little sections of wall with chalkboard paint on them, with nice drawings like the one above.

My experiences are with the natural foods store, which we've enjoyed. They have a whole range of items, many of them organic.  They sell essential oils, including the neem oil we use on our plants.  

Here's how it looks from the outside.  Verde Vegan and Verde Pistache are located in one of the nicer more modern complexes you'll find in the Coasta Azul area. 

One of the best things about them? They are one of the only restaurants in all of Acapulco that accepts Bitcoin.  This feature drew a LOT of anarchists to them last year, as Bitcoin enthusiasts are known for supporting businesses that accept Bitcoin. 

On the edge of this photo, in the clear bags, you can see the edge of the salt I buy from the store.  It's 21 pesos for a hefty little bag that lasts awhile.  The best thing is it's flouride free, making it the cheapest flouride free salt I've found.  The other option I know of is 105 pesos at Walmart, for a similar amount of salt.  While that 105 peso salt is AWESOME, it's pretty expensive for my budget, which is often just 150 pesos at any one time.

They sell lots of different unrefined oils there, including Acapulco Coconut oil, made here in the city.  

Side view of the table with the salt on it, showcasing some of their options.

They've got a really nice selection of organic gluten free flours.  There's actually a good supply of organic dry goods in general, including beans available as well. 

They have an impressive organic spice selection, featuring a lot of european spices hard to find here in Acapulco. They're cheaper than prices in the states on similar products, so they've been a favorite of the community members here.

They have a small cooler where they store their gluten free breads, eggs, and other things.  From my understanding, they do a program with a weekly produce dropoff from local organic farmers.  I've not participated in this, so I honestly am not sure on this one.

There are also lots of supplements, protein powders and things of that like, for the people interested in those sorts of items.  This is also the place to find local raw honey, some of the options even having the comb in with the honey. 

We felt it was important to share Verde Vegan and Verde Pistache, even though we haven't had the food yet.  We've heard nothing but great reviews, and those we can pass on to you.  I wasn't sure how prevalent this sort of business would be here, especially with the natural foods store.  Honestly, it has a feel similar to any high end natural foods store in the states, with much cheaper prices on a lot of items. It's a welcome business because they offer a lot of products popular among foreigners that just don't exist here otherwise.  And the best part of all is you can pay for it with Bitcoin.  That alone makes it worth a visit!