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sunpower natural cafe: a new vegan restaurant in studio city
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May 4th, 2009quarrygirlLA restaurants, sunpower natural cafe

hey kids, i’ve got some good news for ya. today marked the opening of los angeles’ newest vegan restaurant…and it wasn’t vegan thai. that’s right, sunpower natural cafe in studio city opened its doors to the public with organic raw and cooked offerings for the health-conscious, ranging from burgers and salads to quiches and cakes. i know what you are thinking: a 100% vegan restaurant in studio city that doesn’t serve thai food? it sounds too good to be true! fortunately though, sunpower is a reality. you gotta get over there and check them out asap.

i hit up sunpower with my friend and fellow vegan blogger, brittany from sickoflettuce.com, and both of us are dying to go back. for a newly opened establishment, sunpower is already making some bangin good food, and i’m pretty excited to see what the future holds.

chopped seitan salad sandwich: seitan, celery, onions, vegenaise, dill and parsley on a whole grain bun. with a side of hummus and pita. $8

tons of stuff on the menu looked delicious, but i decided to go with the less adventurous seitan salad sandwich. this was basically like an old-fashioned tuna sandwich made with seitan instead of fish, and sunpower really nailed it. the seitan was top notch, the vegenaise was creamy, and the chopped vegetables were fresh and flavorful but not overwhelming. the seitan salad itself was really exceptional. although it sounds a bit boring, it was just so perfectly mixed and the seitan was so succulent, i doubt i could replicate this at home. i’d definitely order it again.

the sandwich came with “choice of side dish” and i went with the pita and hummus, which i loved. other options included coleslaw, cookies, vegetables with dipping sauce, and kale. the hummus turned out to be an excellent choice, because they gave me like a vat of it. 8 bucks for a load of hummus and hearty seitan sandwich? can’t beat that.

for dessert, brittany and i split a slice of the special of the day “cacao cheesecake”. the thing was so rich and dense, it was fucking ridiculous. i loved every bite, but it was so thick that it was hard to eat with a plastic fork! this cheesecake probably could be a meal on its own, it was so decadent. however, it didn’t sit like a brick in my stomach as do many desserts. sunpower really has conquered the intersection of delicious and healthy(er).

vegan cacao cheesecake. $6

a few things to note about sunpower: they are a ‘take out’ restaurant officially…kinda like seed in venice. so while they have tables, your food is served in to-go containers and you pay at the counter. the service is great and the meals come out super fast. this is an excellent choice if you are in a hurry. also, the staff and ownership are pretty passionate about veganism. we really felt at home there and the people serving us showed genuine concern that our food was good. hell, they even invited us to an animal rights conference happening soon in LA! total vegan homies. oh, and they were also open to criticism…so if you eat here and don’t 100% love everything, they seem like the kinda people who would appreciate your feedback.

so vegans, let’s welcome this new animal-free restaurant to los angeles. get your asses out to studio city and eat at sunpower natural cafe!

sunpower natural cafe
3711 Cahuenga Blvd
Studio City, CA
(818) 308-7420
11am to 8:30pm, 7 days a week
Tags: cheesecake, dessert, raw, sandwich, studio city, the valley, vegan

19 responses to “sunpower natural cafe: a new vegan restaurant in studio city”

Foodeater May 4th, 2009 at 19:22

Awesome. I didn’t think they were open yet, looked empty when I drove by. The menu looks great… any restaurant who mentions “massaging” their kale is alright by me. I may end up living there!
JennShaggy May 4th, 2009 at 19:26

I never thought I’d be excited to live closer to the valley 🙂
Brittany May 4th, 2009 at 19:28

QG and me: comin’ at ya tag-team style!
wordwarthree May 4th, 2009 at 19:48

Amazing!! Finally a full vegan spot in my neighborhood! Sunpower lunches on the regular!
Daniel Alvarado May 4th, 2009 at 22:50

I just moved to Studio City and so far I’m in vegan heaven! I’m going tomorrow for lunch! Thanks QG
Lex May 5th, 2009 at 01:22

oh wow! Seitan salad sandwich looks delish!
Michelle May 5th, 2009 at 08:38

This looks delish! And thank goodness it’s not Thai! 😀
Vegyogini May 5th, 2009 at 09:23

I can’t believe I ate there for a pre-opening tasting and you still beat me to the blog post! I’m so behind. I’m really happy you liked the food and the people at SunPower…they’re totally amazing and I can’t wait to go back!
Vegyogini May 5th, 2009 at 09:25

P.S. I was lucky enough to try that seitan salad at the tasting and they really nailed the seitan (that’s true for all their seitan dishes) as far as flavor and texture. Yum!
Kara May 5th, 2009 at 16:01

That seitan sandwich looks SO good! Now I have to figure out the recipe!
Shauna May 5th, 2009 at 19:40

OMG! I’m so stoked about this place! It’s right by my apartment! Whee!
Melisser May 6th, 2009 at 03:26

See what happens when I leave?! I miss out.
Smyth May 7th, 2009 at 15:13

I just returned from my first visit there after reading this post and it is so amazing. I got the Lettuce tacos… I cannot describe how delicious these things are, they’re cashew cheese and “Chorizo” is incredible. My friend got the raw pesto pizza, the sunflower burger, a lemonade AND the cacao superfood shake (he is a big guy) and I sampled each item…. ALL AMAZING. I cannot stop thinking about this food. you must try all these things! 🙂
Christina May 13th, 2009 at 21:58

just went there today (at 5:30) and it was closed they are only open 11a-3p mon-wed the rest of the week open til 9p… i guess ill have to try it another day.
Lilian May 17th, 2009 at 12:54

The best healthy food I ever eat!
LiLia May 17th, 2009 at 12:59

The customer service is AMAIZING! and the food the most delicious in LA!
Healthy Restaurant Los Angeles May 17th, 2009 at 13:03

Yes, I agree! This is a great new vegetarian restaurant. Where else can you get a healthy, delicious cashew kale shake?
Gauri Radha April 8th, 2010 at 12:54

Cool place!! I had dance meetings in Studio City today so I stopped in. I’ll be going back for sure.
Nicky August 10th, 2010 at 10:39

I dunno what that closed at 3p jazz is about. I stopped by on Monday around 5, and they were still open. I got the Italian sandwich on spelt with a side of kale, which was good, but I wasn’t all that happy with the portion size. There was definitely a good amount of kale, but for $12 I was hoping to get a sandwich larger than your average every day dinner roll. The sandwich itself tasted exactly like a sloppy joe, which isn’t bad, just not what I’d envisioned. It’s definitely well-seasoned (I ate mine straight out of the fridge without heating it up, and it was still super flavorful), it just so happens to be sloppy joe flavored. All that aside, I’ll definitely be going back to try more stuff.