Post Punk Kitchen Forum

What a nice topic!
My boyfriend and I are travelling to the States next year in May. We've planned a roadtrip from LA to LA. I'm already looking forward to all the great vegan foods in de US!

What the heck should I do with a full day by myself in OC? I'm going to a conference on Monday (bleeeehhh), but I am flying in Sunday morning. I will be by myself and it will probably be raining, so the beach is out.

I'd consider Disneyland, but I was just there a month about... although the Christmas decorations weren't up yet, so I'm tempted to go again. But if the weather sucks, it's not as fun. How else can I kill some time? I will have a car.

I'm staying in Costa Mesa and plan to go to Native Foods at least once, but I have no other ideas.

Oh and I can expense a fancy dinner if I want, so tell me where to go please!

You should go to Au Lac for your fancy dinner! http://aulac.com/ It's close-ish to where you are and reputably amazing!

Is it too late to suggest Veggie Grill? Veg News selected them as restaurant of the year a few years ago.

Can you guys help me with vegan-friendly omni restaurant suggestions? I'm looking specifically for good omni and vegan friendly American, Chinese, Italian, Mexican and Indian restaurants In Los Angeles.

My sister and brother in law are coming to visit in January, and my brother in law is a picky eater. These are the cuisines I know he likes. He won't eat Thai food for example, because he doesn't like coconut.

Craig's in West Hollywood is upscale American (with Italian options too) with a vegan menu (reservations highly recommended)
EVO Kitchen, also West Hollywood, is more casual, pizza, salads, etc. with a lot of vegan options
True Foods Kitchen in Santa Monica Place - I guess American?
Mohawk Bend in Echo Park - American maybe, lots of craft beer - my favorite restaurant in LA
Hugo's (one in West Hollywood & one in Studio City) - American & some Mexican-like items
Kung Pao in West Hollywood - Chinese, entire separate vegan menu

I can't think of any specific Italian food places off the top of my head, but it's pretty easy to get vegan food at Italian restaurants as long as the pasta doesn't have egg in it.

I haven't found a great Mexican place yet.

Border Grill in Santa Monica has some decent vegan options. (Mexican-ish) (www.bordergrill.com)

Street in Hollywood (I think?) looks like it has some awesome veg options, haven't been there yet...really want to go! (Eclectic menu) (www.eatatstreet.com)

Hosteria del PIccolo (Santa Monica, Venice?) also looks like it has veg options, haven't tried it (Italian) (www.hosteriadelpiccolo.com)

Rosti Tuscan Kitchen (various locations, I visit the SM one) has a separate vegan menu, and it's good! (Italian) (www.rostituscankitchen.com)

Swingers is basic "american" food with veg options, has a Hollywood and SM location (www.swingersdiner.com)

Pradeeps and Chandni in Santa Monica have great veg indian options. Chandni is a little more "traditional/basic", or rather, what you'd expect in an Indian restaurant around here, Pradeeps tries to make things more "healthy". Both are good. (http://www.chandnivegrestaurant.com/) (http://www.pradeeps.com/index.html)

I would also recommend Le Pain Quotidien, just because it is simple food, and most omnivores I know enjoy eating there.. they also have several locations (http://www.lepainquotidien.com/)

There are also good vegan options (especially for brunch) at Omni spots:

BLD:

http://www.bldrestaurant.com/\

and

BluJam Cafe:

http://www.blujamcafe.com/

I forgot about Swingers! We eat there almost every weekend :)

If you like Lebanese food, Sunnin in Westwood has a lot of vegan options clearly marked on their menu as well.

Wow you guys, thanks so much! You've given me a lot of places to research. I've eaten at Street and enjoyed it very much, but I'm not sure my BIL would go for those cuisines. He might or might not. I was underwhelmed by Hugo's and Swingers when I ate there, and Border Grill only had a couple vegan options the time I ate there, but I liked Pradeep's and Le Pain Quotidien. Somehow I managed to forget about most of these. Must try some of the others!

Keep the suggestions coming, if you have more!

I ended up going to Veggie Grill once and Native Foods twice. It's probably good that I don't live near a Native Foods because I'd probably be there every week if I did.

I wish I got the fuss over Native Foods. I've eaten there at least three times, and nothing ever blew me away. I'm not too far from their Culver City location, and I still miss the M Cafe that used to be at that spot.

Hey guys this is super last minute, but anyone around tomorrow? I'm visiting with a friend and she's going to be at her residency interview from 7 to 2 so I'm on my own and completely overwhelmed by this huge confusing city. Is anyone around for breakfast or lunch or hanging out? Her interview is in santa Monica but we've got a rental car so I can drive.

Check your PM's, joyfulgirl. I replied there.

I found a good Chinese place in West Hollywood with vegan options. Kung Pao Bistro. Went there with omni friends on Christmas day after discovering there was a place that suited all out diets (one friend is on a low carb diet) and that was open on Christmas. I was surprised by how good the food was and will definitely come back.

I like Kung Pao Bistro as long as I don't get fake meat. Fake meat in Chinese & Thai places freak me out for some reason, but as long as there is tofu options I'm happy :)

I'm passing through LA this weekend and I want to hit up a few places I've never visited. I'm going to check out Real Food Daily for lunch and I also wanted to pick up some sweets. Are there any vegan friendly bakeries I could check out (preferably easy to get to from the 5!) The first one that came to mind is Babycakes, but I've heard mixed reviews.

Thanks, guys!

Real Food Daily serves a brunch menu from 10AM until 3 PM on weekends. Personally I like their dinner menu much, much better, but I believe they don't start serving the dinner specials (which rock) until after 4PM on the weekends (there is an hour in between in which neither brunch items nor specials are available). Just FYI.

Re. bakeries. I like Babycakes. M Cafe de Chaya has some nice desserts and actually the Real Food Daily in Santa Monica has a vegan Real Food Daily bakery attached to it (desserts listed http://www.realfood.com/menu/desserts). The Golden Mean in Santa Monica has an excellent coconut cake and at least one or two other desserts.

One of my absolute favorite desserts in town is the carrot cake at Veggie Grill. If you are a lover of carrot cake, don't miss it! Veggie Grill only has three desserts though and the other two are less impressive, so I would only go there for dessert if you like carrot cake. They have awesome vegan fast food sandwiches and salads, though, and several locations in Southern California.

Also, if you like gourmet ice cream, do not miss Scoops! They have three locations and awesome flavors in non-dairy as well as dairy. The flavors change on a regular basis. Today's nondairy flavors at their Westside location are Salty Chocolate, Coffee Molasses, Cinnamon Vanilla Oreo and Strawberry Balsamic. (I got the info here: http://scoopswestside.com/).

Have fun and report back when you get home!

Yummy Cupcakes always has three vegan options available, and they are good (in the very sweet, no one would know they are vegan, not "healthy" way at all). They have a few locations: www.yummycupcakes.com

I second the M Cafe suggestion for sweets, so good. i haven't been there in so long - still mourning the closing of the culver city location.

I think Sweet E's on Robertson vegan cupcakes blows away Babycakes and Yummy. They always have a few vegan options and usually vegan brownies too.

the one time i went to sweet e's it was awful. and the people were rude and unfriendly. maybe i went on an off day. this was also awhile ago, so maybe that has something to do with it, too..

That's a bummer! I've always had luck with the shop and their food truck. I like Yummy, but it can be very sweet. I had Babycakes in NYC and thought it was amazing, but when I went the ones in LA the cupcakes tasted off to me every time. I was really sad.

i'll have to give them another try then! yeah, i agree that Yummy's cupcakes are very, very sweet. (reminds me of my childhood!). but sometimes it's too much.

Me too!!! Why oh why did they have to close that location? I guess not enough people supported it, but I miss it so much.