• vegan brunch people’s co-op in san diego

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    April 28th, 2010quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), san diego

    as far as i’m concerned, the people’s organic food co-op in ocean beach is a MUST VISIT anytime you find yourself in san diego.

    the small, clean, vegetarian grocery store has been in business since the 70s, and is now housed in a eco-friendly building made from recycled steel and engineered lumber. on the bottom floor, there’s a completely meat-free market filled with everything you’d need to get you through the week. on the top floor, there’s a modest cafe that serves up a killer vegan breakfast every morning.

    when we stopped in at around 9am a few sundays ago, we were met with several delicious sounding options. everything on the cafe’s menu is vegan, and it’s dished out by workers behind the counter, where you can stand and tell them exactly how much you want. when they’ve piled enough food onto your plate, you pay for it by weight and grab a seat at one of the tables overlooking the grocery store.

    we got our fill of tofu scramble, potatoes, tempeh sausage, biscuits, gravy, and even a breakfast sandwich—and the whole bill for 2 meals was about $10. pictured above at the top of the post is my husband’s plate. he opted for the fluffy tofu scramble…and although i refused to try it because it was littered with bell peppers, he tells me it was quite good. i did eat some of his breakfast potatoes though, and i can personally vouch for those. they were crispy, thick, and warm as though they were just made.

    as you can see on my plate, i had a piece of tempeh sausage covered in gravy, a breakfast sandwich, and a biscuit covered in gravy as well. everything was so good, it was extremely hard to resist getting seconds. the biscuits and gravy were incredible—soft moist bread smothered in perfectly spiced and salty sauce. ugh, why is there NO WHERE to get vegan biscuits and gravy in LA?!!

    the breakfast sandwich was also superb—a piece of tempeh sausage, some vegan cheese, and tomato all stacked on a warm english muffin. i put some gravy and hot sauce inside, and this baby was perfect.

    after eating, you take your receipt and pay at the grocery check out downstairs. on our way out we wandered around the store for a bit, and i felt quite sad that i don’t have a people’s co-op down the street instead of my local supermarket. the place is just lovely beyond belief.

    definitely check out people’s co-op next time you are in the san diego area—it’s a real gem.

    Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Cooperative
    4765 Voltaire St
    (between Ebers St & Sunset Cliffs Blvd)

    (619) 224-1387
    Mon-Sun 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.
    San Diego, CA 92107

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12 responses to “vegan brunch people’s co-op in san diego” RSS icon

  • how convenient. i shall be in SD in a couple of weeks. thanks for the recommendation.

  • I love this place! I go to San Diego about twice a month, and every time I hit up the farmers market to pick up guacamole from Vila’s Salsa (the best I’ve found!), and then head to the vegan co-op. For dog lovers, there’s a huge dog beach a couple of blocks from here.
    Their menu rotates, but my standbys are the mock chicken salad and the tempeh BLT with avocado (they make pretty much any sandwich you can come up with to order; you just fill out a little card next to the deli case). Last month, they had vegan cinnamon rolls that were to die for! I’ve been going there for about 2 years and that’s the first and only time I’ve seen them, but I hope they make them more often because they are amazing!

  • I grew up eating food from OB People’s! I absolutely love this place and was so happy to see their progression from a converted little house (many, many years ago) to the large beautiful space they now occupy. They have always been true to their values and never compromised the quality or selection of the food and produce that they offer. Thanks for highlighting them on the blog.

  • For the two years I lived in SD I was a CoOp member.

    an absolutely awesome place. their deli food is pretty darn tasty and overall this is a lovely place. they do community outreach and have classes too.

    SD is short stacked on VEG places to eat, but the ones they do have make up for it in quality – the CoOp is one of these places!!!

  • I love this place! It doesn’t hurt that Stephanie’s Bakery is a hop down the street either!

  • Stupendous!! 🙂

  • I love People’s. I still dream of the barbeque seitan and mac and cheese I had there one time. Plus, like Lex said, a visit to SD isn’t complete without also going to Stephanie’s, which is down the block. Their cinnamon rolls are the size of your face, but better.

  • Thanks, dude! I’ve never heard of this place. It looks fantastic. Looks like it’s time for me to head south 🙂

  • Ah, man. I’ve been staying at my cousin’s apartment for Comic-Con for the past 3 years and it was 4 blocks from this place… except I didn’t know about it. And now he moved.

  • That all looks delicious! Great find, thanks for sharing!

  • Woah, that was totally me in the next to last photo. I feel like such a star now! 😉

  • I love the People’s Food Co-Op. It is such a treasure and I feel so lucky to live so close.
    How do I follow your blog? I am on blogger and kind of tech stupid.

    You can find me here


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