Boulder's Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant Moves to Spacious New Digs

Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant, a favorite spot among meat-free diners, has moved from 2010 16th Street in Boulder to a new location just a block away. The desire for a larger, more visible space was what inspired the move, explains owner Sara Stewart Martinelli. The new spot seats about 30 percent more guests than the original, which opened in 2006.

The owners felt that potential customers were having a hard time finding their way to dinner at Leaf, since the restaurant was off the main drag of Pearl Street. It's now located directly on Pearl Street, so there’s more foot traffic and it's easier to spot while driving by. “East Pearl is a great area, with some amazing restaurants and great shops just off the Pearl Street Mall,” Martinelli explains.

The new location opened Saturday, December 8, to a full house. It ties in design concepts from the original but adds some new architectural elements, including windows that open directly onto Pearl Street and a design motif that captures a natural, indoor/outdoor feel.

Leaf's menu is updated seasonally, but no changes were made for the move. It's entirely vegetarian, with a large majority of the dishes also vegan or having a vegan option. “We felt that the new location was change enough for our loyal regulars and wanted to reassure them that we’d still have our great vegetarian menu,” Martinelli says. So popular dishes such as the Buffalo cauliflower tacos, "cauliflower-style" oyster mushrooms, Burmese corn curry and Jamaican jerk tempeh with forbidden black rice can still be found.

Leaf is now at 1710 Pearl Street, in the former home of Zeal. The restaurant is open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 5 p.m. to close, with Saturday and Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and a happy hour daily from 3 to 6 p.m. For more information, call 303-442-1485 or visit the Leaf website.