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vegan soft serve, mex & burgers at hugo’s tacos!
17November 24th, 2008hugo's tacos, LA restaurantsfor so long i have been on the hunt for vegan soft serve. when i was 12 years old, i took a 2 week trip to the uk and lived off a glorious and ubiquitous brand of ice cream called mr. whippy. at least two cones per day maintained my mandatory 7th grade sugar high and kept me happy & full of energy. it was similar to mcdonalds soft serve, but 1000x better. creamy and sweet, white frozen matter swirled into a magical and delicate-about-to-melt dessert. totally heavenly. since becoming a vegan 4 years ago, i have found nothing that comes even close. sure, we have soy dream, tofutti and the marvelous scoops. but none have that good old-fashioned soft serve quality.
that is…until now. thanks to my trusty tipsters liz (¡yo soy!) and sunny, i found that hugo’s tacos in atwater village offers a vegan soft serve that can scratch my itch. rich, creamylicious, and double-flavored, this chocolate-caramel soft serve makes me feel like i’m eating that old familiar fast food ice cream.
caramel and chocolate vegan soft serve.
the soft serve at hugo’s tacos was nothing to be scoffed at. rich and decadent, flavorful and tasty; i couldn’t ask for much more. they shun the classic vanilla flavor for the more adventurous caramel, but other than that, this treat is just the way you remember it. the choice between 2 flavors, or a decadent swirl means i WON’T be disappointed! PLEASE NOTE, this freez-a-licious awesomeness is only available at the atwater village location. sorry valley-dwellers, you will have to make the trek to hipsterville for this treat.
next up, hugo’s tacos offers up more for vegans than just ice cream and mexican food. they also have the newly-introduced burger. while it’s nothing to get too excited about, the hugo’s tacos burger is a fucking steal for the price. juicy, flavorful and filling, it is incredible…albeit a bit on the small side.
veggie burger: griddle-cooked and finished. served with lettuce, tomato and special sauce. plus french fries...not much extra $!
now, strict-ish vegans like myself beware: the veggie burger by default comes with a chipotle honey sauce. opt for it without the sauce if that offends you, and the burger is every bit if not EVEN MORE tasty. for a crappy, under 5 bucks with fries “taco stand” burger, i was quite impressed. this dish doesn’t look like much, but it actually tasted pretty fucking nice. good sauce and a well-grilled patty on a scrummy bun—what more do i need? considering the hours and price of this joint, my fellow vegans, you couldn’t do much better.
lastly, let’s not forget the actual TACOS at hugo’s tacos! modest little corn tortillas layered and topped with incredible vegan offerings and freshly made salsa. yum! this time i got the soyrizo filling with the salsa negra. super hot, smokey seasoning along with delectable fake mexi-meat made this a taco to be remembered. yeah, it was small…but the crazy flavors made up for it. plus, this taco clocked in with tons of taste at under 3 bucks, and at the time, i was at the time saving myself for the more exciting and more difficult-to-come-by soft serve.
taco with soyrizo and salsa negra. $2.75
the mini taco was small, yet savory. considering you could get a portion for six bucks large enough to feed a horse, i was quite happy to settle on the little size. i left hugo’s feeling full and glad to have been there, not stuffed and remorseful. at under $12, this 3 course meal for 2 (although we shared a bit) proved to be good food for good prices, without a shred of regret.
not to mention the outdoor seating and kickass friendly service. if you haven’t been, you need to check out the hugo’s tacos in atwater village. this HT beats it’s sister stand in studio city, purely because of the vegan soft serve option. they seem to have a bigger menu as well, although i could be wrong because maybe the valley branch has expanded and i just don’t know about it.
hugo's tacos in atwater village.
some ungrateful hipsters have torn this place to shreds on yelp, but seriously, pay them no heed. they are only bitching because hugo’s costs maybe a buck more per dish than the scary roach coaches filled with lard that they are used to. imho, hugo’s tacos is WELL WORTH IT.
long story short: haul your ass east and get some fucking great vegan mexican food, burgers, fries, and soft serve. your inner-junk-food fiend will LOVE you for it!
Tags: Add new tag, burger, dessert, ice cream, mexican food, soft serve, tacos, veggie burger
14 responses to “vegan soft serve, mex & burgers at hugo’s tacos!” 
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Yeah, hipsters who talk shit about Hugo’s Tacos need to STFU. Their food rocks and they are vegan friendly… I’m willing to pay an extra buck for that.
They better install one of those soft serve machines at my Studio City Hugo’s soon or I’m gonna be pissed.
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Mmmmm, vegan soft serve! That taco looks deliciously spicy, too. I’ve still never been to the Studio City Hugo’s taco stand, so I apparently need to get w/ the program. Hopefully, very soon.
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those are definitely some mouth watering photos. Wow!
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I am so, so, so happy that vegan taco, and soft-serve, options are expanding across our city. It all looks wonderful!
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Seriously, who would talk shit about this place?? Hasn’t anyone heard that a higher-quality product might cost a little more? If people want to pay $1 for a taco, they should hit up a taco truck, which serve up plenty of fine greasy goodness, if you’re in the mood for that sort of thing. For something a little more inventive and fresh, Hugo’s is the way to go. I love this place. The honey chipotle salsa was off the CHAAAAAIN!!
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hippiechick November 25th, 2008 at 17:28
I heart Hugo’s something fierce!!! I think I’ve tried pretty much every vegan option on the menu at this point – – oh, yes, deliciously fun soft serve included – – and can honestly say that I have never been disappointed! Yay for Hugo’s and yay for the people who appreciate it!
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miss anthrope November 25th, 2008 at 19:41
foodeater: seriously, i couldn’t even BELIEVE those reviews on yelp. tearing the place apart for no reason.
lex: sweet, i am checking out the weho hugo’s for the first time tomorrow! super stoked.
vegyogini: no excuses. go eat some awesome vegan mexican food.
lisa and trina: thanks, i assure you this meal tasted even better than it looks!
kirby! and hippiechick: so stoked you feel the same way as i do. man, i wish i could go jack up the stars for this place on yelp. it ain’t doing so well.
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How funny, I was just telling my husband that I was craving a soft-serve ice cream cone McDonald’s style, but since a vegan version didn’t exist, I would have to settle for regular soy ice cream from a container. Thank you once again for the heads up. Can’t wait to try it!!!
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I work across the street from Hugos in Sherman Oaks but I will TOTALLY haul my cookies to that Hugos for vegan soft serve!
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Michelle November 30th, 2008 at 10:59
Thanks for the heads up on this place. It was amazing! We headed out on a Saturday evening for some vegan tacos and soft serve. They had a steady stream of customers the whole night.
First off I’m blown away by $2 (with tax) soft serve! It was a really good heaping serving. I ordered 2 crispy tacos w/zucchini, corn, & string beans with the second hottest salsa. The salsa had plenty of heat and a lot of nice flavor. My husband ordered a burrito and immediately commented on how fresh & flavorful it was. We split a crisp pineapple drink to wash everything down with.
This place is a definate gem! 🙂
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What?! I want soft serve! Ryan wants rolled tacos! Sounds like we need to get back to Hugo’s!
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I am The Taco Inspector.
First off, to be fair, maybe I shouldn’t have been inspecting “organic tacos,” since I like regular-tacos…from taco trucks…but oh well.
I loved Hugo’s location, but upon arriving they told us no cameras (we were filiming my weekly “Taco Tuesday” program.) Sure, that’s their right–but every taco place we go to welcomes us AND our cameras and are happy to have us.
Anyway, on with the review. The tacos tasted weird. They were expensive. The pico de gallo was bland. I gave Hugo’s 2 out of 5 sombreros.
You can see the VIDEO review I did at Hugo’s at http://www.thetacoreview.com and judge for yourself!
The Taco Inspector is out!
T.I.
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Gauri Radha April 13th, 2010 at 15:22
I am becoming addicted to their vegan nachos!! So good.
I forgot to try the vegan soft-serve last time I went, so I ordered it this time. The strawberry flavor was not available today however the chocolate flavor was available, so I had that. It was delicious.
I am soon going to need my own parking space for this place. Hehe.
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vegan menu at the interim cafe in santa monica | vegan food and living in Los Angeles December 8th, 2008 at 09:07
[…] and healthy at the same time. it didn’t taste like ice cream, it wasn’t creamy like the soft serve at hugo’s tacos. this stuff was more dense and flavorful, and the texture reminded me of the frozen yogurt i used to […]
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[…] I want to go to Hugos Tac…@MatthewLush: I want to go to Hugos Tacos and get vegan soft serve http://archives.quarrygirl.com/2008/11/24/hugos-tacos-soft-serve-vegan/ […]
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[…] thanks to reader greg who sent us this pic! while hugo’s tacos in atwater village has had vegan soft serve for years, now the valley can FINALLY get on the cruelty-free swirl craze. and as an added bonus, even the […]
Foodeater November 24th, 2008 at 22:45