HappyCow is a (http://www.happycow.net/) global vegetarian restaurant guide, a searchable dining guide and directory of vegetarian restaurants, cafes and health food shops worldwide.
The website has won the popularly-voted title of Favourite Vegetarian Website from 2006 - 2009 and has been recommended by noted vegetarian celebrities/musicians such as Moby and The Beastie Boys among others.
I first came across the HappyCow website while searching the internet for vegetarian restaurants in Sydney a couple of years ago. Not only did I find a comprehensive list of vegetarian restaurants and reviews within Sydney, I realised it would help me find listings, reviews and printable maps for vegetarian restaurants and cafes wherever I travelled globally.
Since then, I've used HappyCow to search for restaurants before traveling to Hong Kong, Tokyo, Berlin and Paris and have found the listings and reviews to be more accurate and up to date than those found in various Lonely Planet-type guides I've also depended on (sometimes only to find that a restaurant has shut down long ago). Users of the site are encouraged to provide updates and reviews to ensure that listings are removed if a restaurant closes its doors or if it's suspected that the business may no longer be in operation.
The best thing about the site has been the 'happy accidents' I've had. There have been more than a few situations where I've discovered eclectic and fascinating neighbourhoods that I would never have known about otherwise, that were off the 'Lonely Planet' radar.
One example, while in Berlin, was visiting Cafe Morgenrott. Here's the description on HappyCow, which, you'll have to agree sounds pretty interesting, if not exactly to everyone's taste:
"This Berlin vegetarian cafe evokes an atmosphere of a meeting place for young political activists and punks, and kinda like a beer house. Some items are pay-what-you-can within a given range. Open Tue-Fri from 10am, Sat-Sun from 11am, with a vegan-vegetarian breakfast buffet served until 3pm. Cash only."
My partner and I had a great, inexpensive (very German - minus the wurst) buffet lunch here and then spent the day exploring the surrounding area which was in a very interesting area of Berlin that was controversially undergoing gentrification (as seen in the protest signs on old buildings earmarked for renovation) and included clubs and alternative markets.
Cafe Morgenrott
The prevalence of Turkish vegetarian-friendly restaurants in Kreuzberg, Berlin, gave us clues about the history of migration and culture in the area (just as the Vietnamese restaurants in Cabramatta would for a a traveller to Sydney).
HappyCow (http://www.happycow.net/) was conceived in 1997 by Eric Brent, an American who had traveled extensively and was living in India when creating the site in 1999.
Following is an extract from an interview with Brent that was published online (http://www.vegparadise.com/).
VIP: Could you briefly tell us the events surrounding the founding of HappyCow?
At that time, there was only one internet website that had a guide to veggie restaurants, but it was no longer being updated. I had tried to contact the owner of that website but did not receive any replies. So I felt compelled to take on the HappyCow project as a hobby and a service. I was really moved by the idea that through an internet portal I could promote vegetarianism and have the capability to help other vegetarians and vegans worldwide find veggie restaurants and health food.
VIP: What are some of the key features people can find at HappyCow?
EB: First and foremost, people come to HappyCow to use our guide to veggie restaurants and health food stores that currently has over 7300 constantly updated listings that cover 99 countries. Additionally, visitors to HappyCow will find other useful features such as:
• Interactive maps to located places within a given distance from one's location
• Over 11,000+ reviews for the listings
• Our Members Community and the Community Forum
• Our monthly MooZine e-Newsletter
VIP: How does HappyCow keep its information current?
EB: People all over the world, vegetarians and non-vegetarians, send emails daily. We get a lot of updates, and we sort through them as they come. Sometimes we will call the businesses and/or browse their websites to verify information, but mostly, our visitors send us good information and we just make the changes to the website.
VIP: How has the vegetarian community responded to the website?
EB: Very well, for the most part. Not all vegetarians we met know about HappyCow.Net. That's when we hand them cards and ask them to check it out. However, the people who do know and have used HappyCow.Net tell us they appreciate it. We've met restaurant owners and people at vegetarian meet-ups and events who tell us that they use HappyCow whenever they plan to travel.
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| Eric and Dianne of HappyCow.Net |
VIP: Can you tell us about the worldwide readership of HappyCow?
EB: HappyCow visitors are definitely global in scope. About 60-65% of the visitors come from North America, mainly USA; about 30% come from Europe and Australia; and the remainder from Asia and other countries. It's fun to connect with people from all over the world via email. Occasionally, we will meet up with some of our visitors in person when we take a trip.
VIP: Tell us about any future plans for HappyCow?
EB: There is so much we want to do. We will continue to keep HappyCow comprehensive, up-to-date, and user-friendly.
HappyCow is well worth a look. Whether you're researching veggie restaurants in cities you plan to travel to or discovering those in your own city you may not know about yet.
On a final note, you might want to check out HappyCow's top 5 Vegetarian-Friendly cities and their list of top 50 cities with the most Listings (Sydney comes in at #32).