30 of the best vegetarian and vegan restaurants in L.A.
It’s easy to embrace a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle in Los Angeles. From fine dining to fast-casual, just about every restaurant has a portion of their menu that’s dedicated to the season’s produce while others take it a step further by omitting animal products altogether.
But it wasn’t always like this. Liz Jaime is a filmmaker and producer who became vegan upon moving to L.A. in 2006, and remembers when their best options for eating out were French fries and a salad.
“Back then, you couldn’t even find a veggie burger on most menus,†they recalled. “And if you did, they were using a Morning Star patty, which has eggs in it, so it wasn’t even vegan.â€
These days you’ll find thriving plant-based dining scenes in most metropolitan cities, with L.A. rising to become one of the best cities for vegans and vegetarians in the U.S., placing second behind Portland in a 2023 WalletHub ranking.
“Across the board whether it’s meat or vegan, I don’t think you’re ever going to find as many options as you are in L.A.†Jaime said. “Not even just the amount of options, but the amount of great options. There’s just no better food scene.â€
Yet even in this abundant landscape, restaurants are struggling, with former favorites such as Beleaf, Double Zero, Hasiba and Honeybee Burger shuttering in the last year. That makes your support all the more impactful, especially for newly opened ventures that hope to make lasting customers.
Whether you’re already a plant-forward person or contemplating a change in diet, here’s a list of restaurants to check out, from Ethiopian-inspired cuisine in Santa Monica to Vietnamese in Fountain Valley, ramen in downtown, soul food in Compton and much more.
Showing Places
(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Ambala Sweets & Snacks
Artesia Indian $
It is difficult to not fall fast — and hard — for the papdi chaat at this tiny restaurant and snack shop in Little India in Artesia that’s been around for more than 40 years. The popular Indian street-food snack is a crowded medley of highly craveable, complementary flavors and textures and is built like an artfully structured mountain of nachos. The base is papdi — puffy, fried discs of dough with hollow middles. Atop the papdi are scattered chickpeas, bits of boiled potato and diced raw onion, a layer of yogurt, a drizzle of sweet and syrupy tamarind chutney and dollops of tart green chutney. It’s finished with what tastes like a sprinkle of chaat masala and broken bits of sev, a crunchy noodle made from chickpea flour paste. Crunchy, sweet, sour and spicy, it hits all the pleasure pressure points. And there’s a lot more on the menu too: crisp, delicate dosas, paratha stuffed with paneer or vegetables, and an entire bakery case full of sweets.
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(Au Lac)
Au Lac Fountain Valley
Fountain Valley Vietnamese $
The best pho involves a broth that simmers for hours, developing layers of flavor and sophistication from boiled and roasted bones, vegetables and spices that subtly lap at the senses rather than overwhelm them. At Au Lac, the traditional noodle soup is pho-like, but the richness of boiled down beef bones is replaced by a wallop of star anise (the restaurant describes the soup as an anise broth with saw-leaf herb). For something a little more balanced, the Royal Noodle soup is a work of art. Similar to a tom yum, the broth is fragrant and tart with strong notes of lemongrass. Both soups are served with your choice of noodles (there’s even a gluten-free kelp noodle option), and traditional pho accoutrement, along with sliced mushrooms and strips of soy “beef.â€
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Baba's Vegan Cafe
Chesterfield Square Pan African Vegan $
A lifelong vegetarian and vegan since adulthood, chef and activist Wo’si Ko’fi knows how difficult it can be to find fresh produce and healthful foods, especially in neglected food deserts. He’s made it his mission to bring vegan options to South L.A., first by selling Jamaican-style patties in Leimert Park, and more recently through his bricks-and-mortar Baba’s Vegan Cafe. You’ll find the same addictive patties on this menu, stuffed with purple cabbage, mixed veggies, sweet yams or a walnut-based “beef.†For a heartier meal, the Welcome Plate overflows with fried cauliflower, steamed purple cabbage, curry-spiced veggies, black beans, rice, and kale and macaroni salad. The all-day menu also features smoothies, tacos, a breakfast sandwich, a lentil burger, potato chowder and desserts, including sweet potato pie by the slice. Browse the gift shop that’s stocked with art and small-batch items from local makers while you wait for your order or settle into a table and stay awhile.
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(Bakers Bench)
Bakers Bench
Chinatown Pastries $
It takes some bakers years to perfect the art of the croissant, but for Jen Yee, a veteran of some of the world’s most storied restaurants and pastry programs, perfecting the vegan croissant took only a few months. The former pastry chef of Echo Park’s Konbi branched out on her own with a kiosk within Chinatown’s Far East Plaza in 2021, and it’s there on weekends that she sells some of L.A.’s best, most exquisite and primarily dairy-free baked goods. The croissants maintain that iconic layer upon layer of buttery flakiness and are worth a visit alone, but there’s much more on offer here: chewy and sweet molasses cookies, Danishes brimming with seasonal fruit, sugar-dusted cinnamon knots and whatever else catches Yee’s imagination. Just get there early: Pastries are sold first come, first served, and almost always sell out. This spring look for a larger, second location of Bakers Bench in Victor Heights, which will also offer an extended menu with tarts, more savory items and cakes.
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(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)
Berbere
Santa Monica Vegan Ethiopian $$
Chef Tezeta “Tete†Alemayehu first turned heads as a vendor at Smorgasburg L.A., with plant-based plates that take inspiration from her Ethiopian homeland. Named after the spice mixture that flavors many Ethiopian dishes, Tete put down roots with a Santa Monica bricks-and-mortar in fall 2021, offering vibrant spreads with spongy injera bread and tofu tibs, in addition to dishes that first became popular at the Sunday market, such as her ET Twist tacos filled with berbere-spiced mushrooms, lentils and roasted potatoes, with house awaze and tangfaye sauce zigzagged on top. The menu also spans fresh juices, smoothies, shiro, gluten-free teff pancakes and flatbread topped with a cilantro spread, oyster mushrooms and berbere-sauteeed purple cabbage and onions. Open seven days a week, the restaurant is a popular lunch option for nearby office workers.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Cena Vegan
Lincoln Heights Mexican $
From a single Highland Park taco stand to a plant-based restaurant empire, Cena Vegan has grown to serve some of the best vegan Mexican food in Los Angeles and at some of California’s biggest events. The secret is in the sauce: Founders Carmen Santillan, Mike Simms and Gary Huerta built the brand with generational recipes for marinades and spice blends that infuse house-made seitan al pastor, jackfruit carnitas and other proteins with East L.A. flavor, and then fold them into freshly pressed corn tortillas, massive burritos, nacho boats, tamales and heaped-high tortas. A rainbow of salsas, chipotle cashew crema, guacamole and more accoutrements provide all the customization you’d find at a classic nonvegan taqueria. Find Cena Vegan for takeout locations in Lincoln Heights and Long Beach, a weekly pop-up at Smorgasburg on Sundays, and a residency at Whittier Brewing Co.
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Compton Vegan
Long Beach Soul Food $
Compton-born Lemel Durrah is a former high school teacher who tried a 21-day plant-based diet and never looked back. In 2017, the self-taught chef started Compton Vegan as a food truck serving what he calls vegan soul food: jackfruit ribz, cornbread, macaroni and cheese loaded with plant-based fried chicken and plant-based fried shrimp. I recommend an order of the BBQ jackfruit ribz, which come with macaroni and cheese (it has more of a cheese-ish seasoning than an actual sauce), baked beans, well-seasoned collard greens and a cornbread muffin. The ribz are tender and slathered in Durrah’s signature barbecue sauce; a thick, smoky, spicy sludge worth licking off your fingers. You can order it with most of the menu, and you should. Find the truck’s schedule on the Compton Vegan Instagram page.
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(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
Crossroads
Beverly Grove New American $$$
After more than a decade as one of L.A.’s finest plant-based restaurants, chef Tal Ronnen’s Crossroads Kitchen remains an innovator in vegan dining — and it’s recently been spreading that innovation with multiple new locations. One secret to this success is treating the restaurants as comfortable spaces serving cuisine that can appeal to everyone: vegans, meat lovers, vegetarians and “flexitarians.†The menus comprise Mediterranean and modern American dishes, including fresh handmade pastas such as the silky tagliatelle; thick wedges of Sicilian-style pizzas with coconut cheese that melts in satisfying puddles; carbonara with yolk-like tomato that’s mixed with the pasta; and “artichoke oysters,†which are fried mushrooms topped with kelp caviar to replicate that brininess of the sea. Ronnen and his team also like to keep things fresh. Some items are unique to their locations, such as the Calabasas restaurant’s take on potato chips with caviar that features vegan French onion dip and kelp caviar, while the Las Vegas outpost offers a sprawling and entirely plant-based brunch buffet. The menus seemingly offer something for everyone, and that’s the key, no matter which Crossroads you visit.
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(Lucas Kwan Peterson / Los Angeles Times)
El Cocinero
Van Nuys Vegan Mexican $
The quesabirria taco has fully arrived, if even jumped the shark a tiny bit (it is on the menu at Disneyland, after all), but have you tried a vegan version? At El Cocinero, which stakes its claim as the Valley’s first vegan Mexican restaurant, tender strands of jackfruit birria meld well with a slightly sticky vegan cheese, folded in a tortilla and served with a cup of piping hot, gently spicy consommé. Nachos are good, too, covered in your choice of “meat†(the carne asada, made with soy curl, is smoky and flavorful) and all the fixings, including a generous portion of pickled jalapeños.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Just What I Kneaded and Justine's Wine Bar
Elysian Valley Café $
After years as a plant-based pastry wholesaler to a range of L.A. coffee shops, Justine Hernandez’s homey bakery operation debuted a bricks-and-mortar cafe in Frogtown, then followed it with one of L.A.’s best new wine bars. At the bakery, Just What I Kneaded, Hernandez and her team serve a rainbow of revolving treats: gourmet pop tarts, lemon-zested cinnamon buns, pinwheels, cookies and tea cakes alongside an expanded menu of savory vegan goods that tend to be produce-forward: quiches filled with farmers market vegetables, breakfast burritos, bodega-inspired sandwiches on house-made bagels, granola bowls and grilled cheese sandwiches among them.
There’s ample patio space and a full coffee bar for anyone who needs to take a break with a plant-based pastry, an almond milk latte and a bit of sunshine. That patio does double duty in the evenings for Justine’s Wine Bar, the chic bar and lounge located behind the bakery. With a blend of Old World Austrian and French wines and funky, fun local labels, Justine’s pours a tight but exciting wine list that complements vegan pizzas, vegetables such as Chinese-stir-fried mushrooms with peppers and garlic, and Moroccan “cigars†filled with Impossible meat and spices.
There’s ample patio space and a full coffee bar for anyone who needs to take a break with a plant-based pastry, an almond milk latte and a bit of sunshine. That patio does double duty in the evenings for Justine’s Wine Bar, the chic bar and lounge located behind the bakery. With a blend of Old World Austrian and French wines and funky, fun local labels, Justine’s pours a tight but exciting wine list that complements vegan pizzas, vegetables such as Chinese-stir-fried mushrooms with peppers and garlic, and Moroccan “cigars†filled with Impossible meat and spices.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Kitchen Mouse
Highland Park Vegan Foods $
The popular catering operation from chef Erica Daking has quietly grown to become Highland Park’s plant-based restaurant empire with a cafe, multiple walk-up spots and a full-fledged vegan bakery and coffee shop. It started simply with the sunny Kitchen Mouse, a full-service all-day restaurant specializing in classic diner fare such as pancakes, breakfast sandwiches and “silver dollar specials†alongside burger bowls, tacos and nondairy mac and cheese. Then came Topo, the adjacent walk-up counter for to-go cookies and sandwiches such as a lentil pâté banh mi , all stationed within a small gift shop that also sells take-and-bake Kitchen Mouse meals, dressings and pantry staples. Kitchen Mouse expanded again with a bakery and coffee shop around the corner, displaying a full case of all-vegan bagels, pastries, cookies and sandwiches, and most recently debuted a walk-up window in a former doughnut shop where coffee cakes, scones, cookies, bagels and select hot items — such as smothered buckwheat waffles — are all on offer.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Maciel's Plant-Based Butcher & Deli
Highland Park Vegan Butcher Shop Deli $
Maciel’s isn’t simply a fantastic sandwich shop. It’s one of L.A.’s few plant-based delicatessens, where refrigerated cases are lined with house-made nut cheeses, seitan-and-chickpea bacon strips, tofu turkey slices and more. The restaurant and deli’s namesake, chef Maciel Bañales Luna, runs the operation with her husband, Joe Egender, and together they pile sandwiches and other creations with house-made meats and cheeses for options such as an umami-packed, mushroom-topped take on the Philly cheesesteak; a transcendent, perfectly seasoned Mexican “rib†sandwich; and griddled breakfast burritos sporting eggs, bacon and cheddar. Never leave without scouting the fridges and countertops for sweets and specials like the stalwart jars of Mexican chocolate mousse or one-off baked goods such as tea cakes, brownies and cookies.
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(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Monty’s Good Burger
Koreatown American $
The buzzy and philanthropic vegan burger shop with big merch drops, fundraisers and collabs with artists such as Travis Barker and Brockhampton also happens to sell some of the best non-meat, nondairy burgers in the Southland. From Culver City to Riverside, Monty’s Good Burger takes a streamlined-menu approach, offering a seemingly simple roster of Impossible burgers, fries, tater tots and oat-based shakes — not to mention a house-made fried chicken sandwich, which took months and at least $10,000 to develop, according to co-founder Nic Adler (Nic’s On Beverly, Eat Drink Vegan). But there’s also a secret menu with items promoted on Instagram that might include freshly baked cookies blended into shakes or, if one is really hungry, the Dogpile: a mound of fries, tots, onions, cheese, and two Impossible burger patties smothered in all of the restaurant’s house-made sauces.
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Namaste Spiceland
Pasadena Indian $
There is a constant line along the hot bar at the Pasadena location of this restaurant and market (there’s another in Thousand Oaks), where the day’s offerings are displayed. You can always count on a selection of vegetable dishes and at least one paneer. On a recent visit, the paneer jalfrezi — rectangles of paneer with diced tomato, peppers and onions simmered in a rich, creamy gravy — was wonderful. I ordered a few spoonfuls alongside the okra and potatoes, with chunks of okra and potato stewed until tender with lots of fresh cilantro. The samosas were heavy and dense with curried potato. The paratha were on the thinner side, but with crisp, almost flaky edges and a chewy middle. If you pay an extra $1 with your combination plate (which includes pickles, chutneys and raita), you can have garlic naan in place of chapati. The naan is puffy, blistered and served piping hot. It’s well worth the extra $1.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Nic’s On Beverly
Beverly Grove New American $$$
Nic’s serves a broad and well-executed modern American menu to its plant-forward patrons on one of the best hidden-gem patios in Beverly Grove. There are plenty of classics to be found (fried mushrooms with dashi-braised collards; falafel burgers with truffled tahini; substantial Impossible burgers in a range of options) as well as a few hyper-local nods, including the Chinois on Beverly, an ode to Wolfgang Puck’s famous Chinese chicken salad. Even the Detroit-inspired square pies hit every note, with crisp-bottomed pizza dough laced with caramelized, crunchy cheese around the edges.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Nomoo
Fairfax American $
Nomoo launched in the former Johnny Rockets space on Melrose Avenue in early 2020 and has been serving plant-based burgers, shakes and fries at an old-school wraparound counter ever since. While the fried Nashville-style hot chicken sandwich features Chick’n, the signature burger patties are created by Nomoo itself, and the sauces, salads and hand-spun milkshakes are all whipped up in-house. The menu is small but offers plenty of customization: The organic sodas can include CBD for $2 extra; sides can be ordered as half fries, half salad; and the fries can come loaded animal-style, a la In-N-Out, or smothered in nondairy cheese. This is a quick and casual slice of Americana, but plant-based.
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(Betty Hallock / Los Angeles Times)
Olivia
Koreatown Vegetarian $$
Nearly every table at Olivia, the vegetarian restaurant that chef Mario Alberto opened in a Vermont Avenue strip mall where Koreatown meets Little Bangladesh, orders at least one of the bubbly-crusted pizzas. The vegan kimchi pizza is a no-brainer if you’re choosing among several nondairy options (this one’s made with sunflower cheese), but all feature Alberto’s signature crunchy, tasty crust. Handmade pastas are sauced with jackfruit ragu or lentil Bolognese, which are “meaty†in the best way — without the ersatz processed substitutes. Small plates show the range here (Alberto has worked at restaurants across L.A. including vegetable-focused Gjelina and Peruvian Mo-Chica): crispy-fried oyster mushrooms with gochujang; melon salad with macadamia ricotta; a chopped kale salad with sesame coconut dressing, dukkah and Fuji apple. All are big on flavor.
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Planta Cocina
Marina del Rey Vegan $$
The Bang Bang broccoli at Planta Cocina are as addictive as your favorite crunchy snack, though they’re probably even crispier. What’s in executive chef David Lee’s golden broccoli batter is a heavily guarded secret, but we do know that it’s gluten-free, and that it’s so crisp, it cracks. The broccoli come heavily dressed in both a bang bang chile sauce that registers as more of a thick, tangy, gingery chutney and a smooth and creamy peanut butter sauce. Though the broccoli feels like something you might find at a Thai restaurant, the Planta menu veers into multiple culinary lanes with sushi, falafel, pasta and ceviche. Somehow, with a view of the marina from my sunny table on the patio, it all makes sense.
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(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Plant Sushi Yoko
Vegan Sushi $$$
Yoko Hasebe’s vegan sushi business, Plant Sushi Yoko, launched as a mid-pandemic delivery service and now also regularly pops up in Los Angeles, most recently at L.A. Homefarm in Lincoln Heights and Jewel in Silver Lake. Hasebe’s emphasis on vegetables is artful. “We have so many great vegetables, I want to use the ingredients that are from here,†she says, “instead of having fish shipped from Japan, which is amazing that we can do that, but I think vegetables speak of California.â€
Hasebe, who learned to make sushi alongside chefs such as Kimiyasu Enya at Enya and Morihiro Onodera of Morihiro, prepares platters of nigiri with neta, or toppings, such as slivers of Fuji apple with tofu smoked over apple wood; king trumpet mushroom stems that are cut into thick coins then butterflied; and corn sheared from the sides of a cob so that the kernels remain attached to one another in filets that are battered and fried. “I used to put a lot of stuff on top of sushi,†she says. “But it has to be more simple. If you put too much, it’s not wrong; customers wanted that. But I wanted to focus on the flavor of the vegetable, appreciate the raw ingredient for what it is.â€
Hasebe, who learned to make sushi alongside chefs such as Kimiyasu Enya at Enya and Morihiro Onodera of Morihiro, prepares platters of nigiri with neta, or toppings, such as slivers of Fuji apple with tofu smoked over apple wood; king trumpet mushroom stems that are cut into thick coins then butterflied; and corn sheared from the sides of a cob so that the kernels remain attached to one another in filets that are battered and fried. “I used to put a lot of stuff on top of sushi,†she says. “But it has to be more simple. If you put too much, it’s not wrong; customers wanted that. But I wanted to focus on the flavor of the vegetable, appreciate the raw ingredient for what it is.â€
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angels Times)
Pura Vita
West Hollywood Vegan Italian $$
Chef Tara Punzone’s pizza crust is perfectly spotted, crisp and chewy in the appropriate places. She makes all of the cheeses at the restaurant, with a silky cashew ricotta, cashew mozzarella that melts as well as any other plant-based cheese and shaved macadamia Parmigiano. They all come together on the Amelia pizza, along with a layer of garlicky cashew cream sauce and a heap of arugula. This specific pizza doesn’t come with Calabrian chiles, but you can add a few dollops of the spicy pepper paste. To start, the carciofi are especially addictive, fried well and studded with pepitas and plenty of Parmigiano. And the creamy lemon and almond dressing on the Caesar salad manages to evoke the savory umami taste of anchovies. Pura Vita is the local Italian restaurant you want in your neighborhood, and it happens to be vegan.
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Rahel Vegan
Little Ethiopia Ethiopian $
You won’t find any alternative proteins on the menu at Rahel Woldmedhin’s restaurant in Little Ethiopia. When she opened two decades ago, she wanted to highlight actual produce, putting together a plant-based menu of mostly stewed vegetables. The vegan feast combination is indeed a feast, and the best way to sample most of the menu. The platter is served on a tire-sized piece of injera, the slightly sour-tinged springy flatbread made from teff that serves as both your plate and your utensil. A scoop of various stews are all neatly lined up on the bread creating a mosaic of colors: cabbage stew, whole lentil stew, split lentil stew, split pea stew, string beans with carrots, zucchini stew, chopped kale, chopped tomato with jalapeño and garlic and sunflower seed mixed with injera. They are all wildly different but with a single throughline: regardless of the spice, the flavors are concentrated and vibrant. Served alongside the platter is a large, crispy sambusa filled with berbere-spiked lentils. This is a meal best enjoyed with others, but even alone, the act of ripping off pieces of injera and using them to swipe up ginger, garlic and turmeric-laced stew is comforting on any level.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Ramen Hood
Downtown L.A. Japanese $$
Chefs Ilan Hall and Rahul Khopkar don’t just serve some of the best vegan ramen in town — it’s some of the best ramen in L.A., period. The “Top Chef†winner and Lucques vet, respectively, run a plant-based ramen-ya housed within Grand Central Market that ladles rich, satisfying and substantial broths into wide-brimmed black bowls with perfectly chewy eggless noodles. This ramen carries much of the creaminess and depth one finds in a tonkotsu broth, with none of the pork. Here, sunflower seeds and garlic paste provide a base, while traditional toppings can include baby bok choy, bean sprouts, chili threads and nori slabs. Other options, such as alt-protein OmniPork or an “egg†made with reconstituted broth, Agar-Agar and soy, mimic meatier proteins. Round out the meal with small plates such as cucumber salad or the “ahi tuna†crisps, where seasoned beets replicating fish get piped into crispy rice spheres.
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Seabirds Kitchen
Long Beach Eclectic $
I will never tire of good Brussels sprouts. Everyone’s favorite gastropub starter was labeled a fad, but they never really faded away, and that’s a good thing. The sprouts at Seabirds are crispy — the kind of crispy that tastes deep-fried and makes you forget you’re eating a cruciferous vegetable. Tossed with lime, Dijon, cayenne pepper and fried garlic, they’re tangy, salty and keep their crunch. It’s an ideal prequel to the bibimbap bowl brimming with fermented cauliflower, spicy, tender jackfruit and plenty of gochujang over brown rice.
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Smorgasburg (Happy Ice, Señoreata and ManEatingPlant)
Downtown L.A. Many Cuisines $
Think of Smorgasburg as a plant-based paradise complete with vintage shopping and clean restrooms. With a handful of vendors selling vegetarian and vegan offerings, the Sunday food market is the perfect place for a good old-fashioned food crawl. Start with a cup of colorful, refreshing water ice from Happy Ice. The next logical step is to eat the mushroom bao and garlic noodles from ManEatingPlant, a vendor housed in an old school bus. The noodles are springy and pungent with garlic, and the bao is actually two fluffy bao stuffed with fried mushrooms. For a savory dessert (my favorite kind), there’s the Frita Cubana sandwich from Señoreata. It’s made with Impossible meat that mimics the consistency of sloppy Joe, a slice of melted plant-based cheese and a heap of fried potato matchsticks. It’s what you wish the lunch lady shoved over the counter in high school, but even better.
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(Lauren Von Der Pool)
Stuff I Eat
Inglewood Vegan Soul Food $
From barbecue to Belizean, you’ll find a plethora of cuisines on and off downtown Inglewood’s Market Boulevard. But when it comes to vegan food, you won’t do better than Stuff I Eat from Ron and Babette Davis. Founded in 2008, the spacious restaurant was a community staple long before the plant-based trend took hold over the city. The menu leans Tex-Mex with an enchilada pie being the most popular item, though you’ll also find chili, tacos, quesadillas, a quinoa bowl, salads and sandwiches with jerk-spiced tofu or carrot “un-tuna.†A breakfast plate and burrito are offered on the weekends. Try the beet lemonade that’s sweetened with agave for a tart and sweet treat.
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(Danielle Dorsey / Los Angeles Times)
The Grain Cafe
Vegan Mexican $$
The Grain Cafe first opened in a homey outpost in a West Pico strip mall in 2013, and has since expanded with additional locations in Long Beach, Culver City, Redondo Beach and Van Nuys. Much of the menu is centered in Mexican cuisine, including mole-topped enchiladas and burritos, huevos rancheros and chilaquiles, though it branches out with sweet and savory crepes, sandwiches, wraps, pasta and pizza. The all-organic restaurant is a great option for groups with vegan and omnivore diners as well as those who are newly converted to a meat-free diet, with solid takes on comfort-driven items such as a club sandwich with house-made tempeh bacon and a wet burrito topped with salsa roja or salsa verde and melted dairy-free Daiya cheese. The West Pico location is the only one that serves wine and beer.
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(Danielle Dorsey / Los Angeles Times)
The Moody Vegan
East Hollywood Vegan Bakery $
Following the successful launch of her food truck in 2020, Melany Nazarian opened the Moody Vegan on a sunny corner in Little Armenia last summer, with the help of her husband Alex Bakhach, who grew up nearby. The drink menu features “smoodys†with organic nuts, berries and vegetables; shakes blended with Craig’s vegan ice cream; and espresso from Dubb’s Coffee Blends, plus ceremonial grade matcha tea and fresh-brewed Armenian coffee. Nazarian bakes the pastries daily, ranging from a moist and crumbly blueberry coffee cake to birthday blondies with sprinkles baked in to savory, flaky options that zing with Aleppo pepper. Whole cakes can be ordered with advance notice.
You’ll usually find Bakhach chatting up customers at the register, but he’s also behind the crowd-favorite breakfast burrito that he claims as one of the best — vegan or not — in the city. The saucy wrap stands apart with crispy potatoes that are flash-fried, frozen and fried again for extra crunch, with house-made pico de gallo and chipotle mayo, avocado, dairy-free Follow Your Heart American cheese and crumbled sausage from Before the Butcher, with a zesty cilantro-avocado sauce served on the side. To finish, Bakhach hand-presses the burrito on the griddle for a charred and flaky exterior.
For lunch, don’t skip the flavor-packed shawarma wrap with tender strips of portobello mushroom in place of spit-fired meat. Bakhach is currently developing a recipe for lahmajoun, also known as Armenian pizza.
You’ll usually find Bakhach chatting up customers at the register, but he’s also behind the crowd-favorite breakfast burrito that he claims as one of the best — vegan or not — in the city. The saucy wrap stands apart with crispy potatoes that are flash-fried, frozen and fried again for extra crunch, with house-made pico de gallo and chipotle mayo, avocado, dairy-free Follow Your Heart American cheese and crumbled sausage from Before the Butcher, with a zesty cilantro-avocado sauce served on the side. To finish, Bakhach hand-presses the burrito on the griddle for a charred and flaky exterior.
For lunch, don’t skip the flavor-packed shawarma wrap with tender strips of portobello mushroom in place of spit-fired meat. Bakhach is currently developing a recipe for lahmajoun, also known as Armenian pizza.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Ubuntu
Fairfax West African Vegan $$
The stylish, jewel-toned restaurant from Shenarri Freeman of New York City’s Cadence holds its own on a crowded Melrose Avenue. It’s the kind of place where hours easily slip by unnoticed, whether you’re seated in a plush velvet booth in the the dining room or among draping ivy on the patio. The plant-based menu puts a bright, playful spin on West African flavors, such as charred okra swimming in a passionfruit vinaigrette with red kidney beans and pigeon peas and crispy arancini that burst with curried jollof rice. But Freeman keeps the menu fresh with recent additions such as maafe, a spicy peanut butter stew that’s perfect for those brisk L.A. nights. The beverage menu crafted by mixologist Colin Asare-Appiah follows suit with ingredients such as sorrel and Creole bitters featured in cocktails and nonalcoholic options. Sample Freeman’s soul food takes at Ubuntu’s newly launched Sunday supper series that features the chef’s popular Southern-fried lasagna, fried oyster mushrooms and waffles and maple buttermilk cornbread.
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Vege Valley
San Gabriel Valley Chinese $
The former Vege Paradise in the San Gabriel Square is now Vege Valley, located in the Life Plaza Center just down the block. You’ll still find versions of kung pao chicken, shredded pork with bean curd and various fish dishes made with soy-based proteins. And most items on the menu can be made vegan — you just have to ask. The congee is a cross between a corn soup and rice porridge, thick, gloppy and comforting. One dish I never miss is crispy oyster mushrooms. The plump mushrooms are lightly dusted in a gossamer breading that shatters on impact. A few slivers of chopped chiles and fried leaves of basil serve as an unnecessary but welcome garnish. I could eat an entire bowl of these dangerously perfect mushrooms, and I have. I think I found my new favorite Netflix snack.
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(Lucas Kwan Peterson / Los Angeles Times)
Vinh Loi Tofu
Reseda Vegan Southeast Asian $
When you go into Vinh Loi Tofu, there’s a good chance that owner Kevin Tran will tell you what to eat. That was certainly the case when I went recently one evening, and Tran asked me what I wanted. “Noodles,†I said, and Tran confirmed I liked spicy food before disappearing. He emerged five minutes later with a steaming container of impeccable, fat, stir-fried udon noodles with vegetables and vegan duck. Another dish, fresh spring rolls in rice paper (also with a hearty portion of vegan duck) was just as good. So if you’re ever craving fantastic vegan food and happen to be feeling slightly indecisive, Vinh Loi Tofu is the perfect place. Get their version of omakase, and leave the details up to them.
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