Vegan and vegetarian restaurants around the Front Range

In Boulder and Denver, it’s entirely ordinary to meet someone who introduces themselves by name, pronouns, political beliefs, favorite trail and whether or not they eat eggs. Around here, diet functions less as a dietary choice and more as an extension of personal identity — right up there with zodiac sign, voting history and what brand of running shoes are currently in rotation.

There are, of course, your standard vegetarians — but from there it begins to branch. Lacto-vegetarians forgo meat, fish and eggs, but keep dairy; ovo-vegetarians skip everything but the egg; and lacto-ovo vegetarians embrace both, just not anything with legs.

Pescatarians are content to eat creatures of the sea but draw the line at animals that breathe air, while the fair-weather flexitarians approach meatless