Nicole Monroe is the new owner of Tenth Street Vegetarian Bistro, at 125 E. 10th St., and hopes her new menu items like the garden mushroom pasta will be a treat.

Folks walking down Tenth Street these days might be in for a shock. The Tenth Street Vegetarian Bistro has risen from the dead.

The bistro, 125 East 10th St., opened initially in November 2009, but closed down last year when owner Nancy Nguyen converted it into, ironically, a fried chicken restaurant, Oh Boy! Chicken. But now, Nguyen has the vegetarian restaurant opened again under an agreement with sub-leased owner Nicole Monroe.

The crux of the deal: 25 percent of all profits from the restaurant are to go to charity.

Which charity? Several says Monroe, who has compiled a long list of would-be beneficiaries for the redone restaurant, including:

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Douglas County
• Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence
• Douglas County CASA
• Just Food
• Lawrence Art Guild
• Lawrence Humane Society
• Lawrence Meals on Wheels
• Opportunity International
• Red Cross Douglas County
• Salvation Army
• The Willow Domestic Violence Center
• United Way of Douglas County

Monroe says that those familiar with the old bistro will notice the menu has changed, but the aim is still clear — to provide vegetarian and vegan options for Lawrence’s non-meat-eaters.

“We’ve completely revamped the menu,” Monroe says. “We have a kind of seasonal menu set up. Our menu will probably change around winter time, just so we can get some of the warmer, richer dishes in, that wouldn’t sell during the summer. We also do a daily special type thing. … A lot of what that is is my chef goes, ‘Hey, I could make this and it would be amazing.'”