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wurstkuche in downtown los angeles: sausages and beer!
16February 26th, 2009LA restaurants, wurstkucheUPDATE: this is probably not a great place for vegans. when i ate there, i was told the buns were vegan, but a commenter wrote in today and said they weren’t…also, he said the hotdogs were cooked on the SAME GRILL as the meat, which i forgot to check on when i was there. eat here at your own fucking risk. i will be back, but only for the beer. the dogs are vegan for sure though, so if you can count on those at least. fend for yourself. beware.
yesterday marked my second day of jury duty at the metropolitan courthouse in downtown los angeles, so naturally i had to check out a new vegan-friendly lunch spot. my carnivorous coworkers have been raving about the newish sausage and beer kitchen, wurstkuche since it very first opened. after hearing their descriptions of monstrosities such as rattlesnake & rabbit, alligator & pork along with duck & bacon sausages, i assumed wurstkuche was a restaurant i would never visit. too bad, i thought, because i had a butchers at the beer list and it was pretty impressive.
my mind was instantly changed though when jona bechtolt, a vegan musician who i’m a great fan of and follow on twitter, tweeted: “Downtown Los Angeles lunch at Wurstküche (***** of 5)” what?! but jona’s a vegan, i thought, so there must be some stuff i can eat at wurstkuche! i prodded jona for more info, and he messaged me back to say there were three animal-free sausages to choose from, not to mention amazing fries with curry ketchup. as you can imagine, i had to haul ass to wurstkuche asap…and my downtown la jury service provided the perfect excuse.
vegetarian beer bratwurst - soy based, traditional flavor. $6. plus belgian fries with curry ketchup. $3.50
i ordered the vegetarian beer bratwurst, which turned out to be a tofurky beerbrat, also the same sausage the frankenstand uses and calls “the witch”. (in fact, all 3 vegan options were familiar tofurky brand links: the beerbrat, the kielbasa, and sweet italian sausage.)
wurstkuche tofurky beerbrat fo sho!
for 6 bucks you get a piping hot sausage on a fresh roll with two toppings— i chose caramelized onions and sauerkraut. i also got an order of thick, fat belgian fries that came perfectly cooked with big chunks of salt and a side of curry ketchup…YUM. everything was delicious, but the fries were definitely the highlight.
and you can’t really talk about wurstkuche without mentioning the beer. although it’s a bit pricey, they have a lineup of 24 impressive draughts including belgian, german and north american selections. i myself went with a spaten pils, and they even served it to me in the proper glass! bonus points for that, most def.
aside from having a whole ton of great tap beer, awesome fries and vegan sausages, wurstkuche is just a really cool place to hang out. it’s spacious and open with tons of seating and has an industrial vibe, with its concrete floors and brick walls, offset by brightly colored orange chairs. there’s a long bar and tons of huge wooden communal tables. this is the kind of place i could spend all afternoon drinking in…if i didn’t have to get back to jury duty.
so when the frankenstand isn’t available, fill your vegan hot dog needs at wurstkuche. sure, they charge more for the exact same tofurky dog that you would get at franken’s, but they are always open and have great fries! oh, and be sure not to leave without getting a beer. thanks, jona!!
wurstkuche
800 e 3rd street
los angeles ca 90013213-687-4444
sunday 12pm-10pm
Tags: downtown la, hot dog, sausage, tofurky
monday thru wednesday 11am-10pm
thursday thru saturday 11am-midnight
14 responses to “wurstkuche in downtown los angeles: sausages and beer!” 
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that dog looks contaminated to me. RU sure it was cooked separately from the rattlesnake and pigeon sausage (or whatever it was called)?
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miss anthrope February 26th, 2009 at 10:14
that’s a good question nick. i didn’t ask them, and i should have! i was the first one there, so i think mine was safe…and the sausage was lightly grilled, not really cooked in anything. there was no taste of meat on it whatsoever. that would be really sick though if your sausage tasted like rattlesnake.
if you want to be safe, don’t go anywhere but the frankenstand.
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No way!!! My boyfriend has been bugging me forever about going here, and I’ve been dragging my feet, because although I’m an omnivore, I’m not a fan of big meaty sausages. Good to know there are vegan options! Especially because it’s a beer joint!
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Nicholas February 26th, 2009 at 11:39
FYI one of the few places that serves non-tofurky vegan sausages is HealthyCA in North Hollywood. Lunch only, though, which might limit access for some people. Here’s a link to a To Live and Eat in L.A. post about it: http://www.toliveandeatinla.com/2007/vegan-sausage/
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Christina February 28th, 2009 at 12:35
I’m so happy there have been random vegan yummies opening in Downtown!! My boyfriend just moved down there and we were worried there would be nothing to eat!
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sampson April 2nd, 2009 at 20:35
i emailed the restaurant and this was the response…
the 3 options are vegan but the bread is not, and they are not prepared on their own grill…. so technically they dont meet the vegan standard
the fries are fried in a canola oil.
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sampson April 2nd, 2009 at 20:36
i emailed the restaurant and this was the response…
the 3 options are vegan but the bread is not, and they are not prepared on their own grill…. so technically they dont meet the vegan standard
the fries are fried in a canola oil.
but that said, i am totally excited about checking it out! fries and beer
and i am ok with the tainted grill sausage situation. -
glitternoise May 23rd, 2009 at 13:03
I was super psyched to try a new place with vegan food downtown. My boyfriend and I waited in line for 20 minutes to find out that only the drinks, fries and vegan sausages are vegan. All sausages (meat and non-meat) are cooked on the same grill. The vegan sausages are stored right next to rabbit, snake and duck sausages in an enclosed case. Ew. So we left. I appreciate any place that offers vegan food but not when they do it half ass. Nor do I support the sale of exotic animals, let alone any animal, for human consumption.
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I’m not a vegan but a vegetarian. Have you been back recently? I just went there the other day and their vegan sausages were different then the ones you described. One was an italian sausage, one was a smoked apple and sage and one was a mexican chipotle. I think its pretty inconsiderate to cook the vegan sausages on the same grill as the others, BUT since they are willing to offer THREE different choices for us, they should be willing to cook them on a clean grill. Maybe if enough people request it, they could change their policy. I just think this place is really cool, and a good alternative for veggies and non veggies to enjoy a meal together.
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Quarrygirl! I love your site, but come on, this is the kind of place we as vegans shouldn’t eat at on principal “descriptions of monstrosities such as rattlesnake & rabbit, alligator & pork along with duck & bacon sausages, i assumed wurstkuche was a restaurant i would never visit. ”
Sure once in awhile we eat at places that make money off of killing animals, but to give money to a place that OVERKILLS animals, forget it, I’ll make a hot dog at home. -
Derek Generic June 7th, 2010 at 07:25
I ended up there the other day with two omnivore friends. Remembering this post, I spoke with the guy in charge of the line. He was polite and said it is no problem to wrap the vegan sausage in foil to avoid contamination from meat. Now we just need them to get vegan bread.
I agree with other comments though, and probably wouldn’t go back. I can get veggie hot dogs/sausage at other places without the hassle. Frankenstand, here I come. -
quarrygirl April 23rd, 2011 at 14:49
you are wrong…there are TONS of vegan beers. and almost every German beer is vegan. just thought you should know.
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if you’re in a situation where there is only one vegan option around you, but they sell meat too, do you stave yourself?
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[…] at a huge table with strangers but the food is great. They have vegan sausages too but apparently the buns are not vegan and also, everything is cooked on the same grill as their meat options like.. Alligator, rabbit, […]
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[…] our veggie sausages and fries. They were amazing. A word of warning, if you’re a vegan Quarrygirl has a heads up: UPDATE: this is probably not a great place for vegans. when i ate there, i was told the buns were […]
nick February 26th, 2009 at 10:04