JANUARY 1, 2016 -- Vegparadise News Bureau
Vegan Dining Vitalizes Los Angeles
When a friend from the Midwest asked us if there was any interest in vegan dining here in Los Angeles and if there were any totally vegan restaurants, we gave him an earful!!!
We literally shook his world when we told him we could count more than 75 totally vegan restaurants and more than 200 restaurants that were vegan friendly within Los Angeles County.
He was highly impressed. We are, too, and count these dining locales a blessing of delicious treasures in our city where vegan cuisine is thriving. Because Los Angeles is such an exceptional melting pot of cultures, we've dined at restaurants offering cuisines of the world including Mexican, Italian, Indian, Jamaican, El Salvadorian, Guatemalan, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Thai, Sri Lankan, Peruvian, Middle Eastern, Persian, and Israeli.
Our Los Angeles vegan and vegan friendly restaurants range from very casual cafes where the hungry can enjoy tasty soups, salads, and sandwiches at very affordable prices to mid-range eateries serving heartier dinner fare. Pizza lovers are fortunate to have several pizza palaces that list choices galore made with vegan meat analogs and cheeses and even gluten-free crusts.
For those special occasions and romantic date-night dining when only the exceptional restaurant will do, there are several upscale vegan restaurants with pressed linens and elegant cuisine prepared by professionally trained chefs. In keeping with the latest foodie trend, several vegan restaurants specialize in "Little Plates," offering an array of creative dishes served in very small portions that encourage diners to graze on many shared items rather than ordering a traditional meal. An impressive number of our Los Angeles restaurants are committed to serving organic produce, except when unavailable.
Even more impressive is that vegan dining grows more enjoyable each year as new vegan restaurants are added to the already vast array of places to dine on animal-free foods.
Recapping a very tasty 2015, we had a delightful meal of little plates at Moby's restaurant, Little Pine in Silver Lake, a delicious and very innovative chile relleno at Chavella in Hollywood, and irresistibly delicious corncakes masterfully seasoned at Vegetable in Studio City. We licked our fingers eating the open-face wilted kale appetizer at Matthew Kenney's Plant Food and Wine in Venice and went wild over the innovatively veganized Mexican dishes at Gracias Madre in West Hollywood. We thoroughly enjoyed the BBQ jackfruit sandwich at One Veg World in Pasadena and relished Café Gratitude's dish called Gracious in DTLA, truly the very gracious and satisfying hearty salad we were seeking.
We could go on and on, but honestly, we want to encourage you, our readers, to experience some of the most creative vegan cuisine our city has to offer. Below is a listing of some the newest vegan restaurant openings in the past three years. To read full reviews, click on the links below.
Au Lac in Downtown Los Angeles
Café Gratitude in Downtown Los Angeles
The Springs in Downtown Los Angeles
Make Out in Culver City
Vegan Joint in Downtown Los Angeles
Elovate Vegan Kitchen and Juicery in Santa Monica
Gracias Madre in West Hollywood
Shojin Organic and Natural in Culver City