• October 19th, 2011quarrygirlLA restaurants, long beach vegan eatery

    the much anticipated long beach vegan eatery opened its doors to the public the other day, and we haven’t had a chance to get down there yet! we posted the menu yesterday, and now we’ve got a full on field report sent in by sasha. i’m hoping that because she visited on the first day, LBVE is still working out some of the kinks. i think i’ll give them some time to fix the glitches, and hit them up in a few weeks. check it out:

    my boyfriend and I ordered the tots, a chicken sando, the bbq drumsticks, and a whoopie pie.

    drumstick style chick'n basked in sweet and our or bbq sauce. served with one choice of side and a roll. $9.95

    the drumsticks tasted great, but they were still cold in the middle! any they weren’t anything i couldn’t have made easily at home.

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  • October 18th, 2011quarrygirlLA restaurants, long beach vegan eatery

    as we announced yesterday, LBC’s newest restaurant, long beach vegan eatery is now open! i can’t wait to check it out. reviews from QG readers have been kinda…er…mixed. here are the first shots of the menu along with much anticipated photos of the food (dinner, appetizer, and dessert!). these were sent to us via an anonymous reader w/ no comment. what do you think? keep in mind, this is the first day in business. i need to get over there and check it out for myself!

    long beach vegan eatery menu page 1
    long beach vegan eatery menu page 2

    Chick'n Parmesan sandwich: Breaded chick'n and tomato sauce in side a grinder roll and smothered in cheese. $8.95

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  • October 17th, 2011quarrygirlLA restaurants, long beach vegan eatery

    ah, i’ve been wanting to try this place for ages. let’s go eat there!

    now open!

    long beach vegan eatery
    2246 N. Lakewood Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90815 · Get Directions
    562-986-LBVE
    Mon – Sun: 11:00 am – 8:00 pm

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  • September 21st, 2011quarrygirlLA restaurants, wok n roll

    hey dudes! time for a field report on vegan chinese food from a somewhat local spot, wok n roll in long beach. what?!?! how have i not eaten here? i go to LBC all the time, and this place wasn’t even on my radar until joel wrote to me about it. anyways, here’s what he said:

    Wok n Roll is easily my favorite spot in Long Beach, the city is a little lacking as I know you are aware. This place does something special; it’s a little vegan chinese fast food gem. Granted this place isn’t entirely vegan, they have a whole vegan-friendly vegetarian menu including ‘meat’ fried rice or chow mein, a couple of sandwiches, soups, and seriously THE BEST vegan chicken nuggets i’ve tried thus far.

    vegan chicken nuggets $6.69

    As for the main options, they pretty much can make you anything off their regular menu but vegan of course…

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  • September 18th, 2011quarrygirlLA restaurants, long beach vegan eatery

    all you people who were stressin’ about the lack of vegan options in long beach when we wrote that less than flattering post about steamed can chill out—a new vegan restaurant is opening next month in the LBC!

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  • August 29th, 2011quarrygirlLA restaurants, steamed

    i hate writing lukewarm reviews about meatless establishments…but after my first visit to steamed, long beach’s newest vegetarian restaurant, i wasn’t very impressed. the place is obviously making an effort, and i’m hoping they’ll improve over time, but at the moment their vegan cuisine is a bit uninspired. the menu is pretty basic—a modest selection of salads, burritos, and quesadillas—most of which are loaded with dairy cheese and/or sour cream.

    we hit up steamed over the weekend and kept it simple with a salad and a burrito bowl. before the food arrived, the restaurant had already lived up to it’s name—we felt as though we were being steamed in the tiny un-airconditioned dining room!

    green salad. $6.50

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  • December 23rd, 2010quarrygirlLA restaurants, zephyr cafe

    long beach is only about 25 miles away from us here in los angeles, and still, i just don’t go there enough.

    a recent visit to the LBC turned into a marathon session of fun that included vegan food, good beer, and awesome music. i need to get out of LA more often.

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  • September 25th, 2010quarrygirlvegan events

    just a heads up, readers, that an event of epic vegan proportions is taking place this week…and we wish we could attend!

    it’s the 5th annual compassionate cuisine event in long beach to benefit animal acres! not only is it for a good cause, but all kinds of crazy delicious food vendors are gonna be there including seabirds truck, follow your heart, c’est la v bakeshop and more. be sure to check this out if you can. for more info and tickets, hit up the compassionate cuisine website.

  • September 7th, 2010quarrygirlLA restaurants, zephyr cafe

    hi everyone, time for another vegan field report! this post is written by the talented Aj aka QueerVeganRunner, and comes to us all the way from the LBC. so sit back and enjoy her awesome review and drool-worthy burger pix…

    We have new friends who live in Long Beach and so we ventured down there for the first time a month or two ago and keep going back. It seems that vegan restaurants are not plentiful in the LBC and Zephyr Café it one of the only options. That’s fine by me, because it’s great…except for the hours (only open until 4 pm on Sundays, wha-what?).

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  • May 30th, 2010quarrygirlLA restaurants, zephyr cafe

    long beach has got nothin’ on LA when it comes to vegan food. it’s actually quite shocking after having been spoiled in this vegan mecca to drive just 20 miles south and be met with so few dining options. lucky for us herbivores, the LBC does have one entirely meatless restaurant and while it isn’t worth a special trip, it definitely fills the void. i’m talkin’ about zephyr cafe.

    mf burger: homemade patty, tofutti cheese, sprouts, tomato, onion, romaine, mushrooms, avocado & vegan mayo

    zephyr cafe is a spacious comfy eatery with lots of hippie vibes and a completely vegetarian menu. i raved about the place two years ago, but looking back on my review i feel like must have not gotten out much back then. now i eat at vegan restaurants like it’s my job, and the zephyr praise just doesn’t hold up. don’t get me wrong, the food is decent and good…but it just hits the spot, without going the extra mile.

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  • June 1st, 2011quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), san diego

    san diego is a beautiful place to visit, and when in town its worth organizing your trip around a weekend breakfast in ocean beach at people’s organic foods market. the all vegetarian co-operative store has been around since the 70s, and houses a small vegan cafe upstairs with a morning spread that can’t be beat. we’ve reviewed brunch at people’s co-op before, and i’m happy to report that when we visited again a few weeks ago, it was just as good as we remembered.

    vegan biscuits and gravy, rice and beans. $3.99 per pound

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  • May 1st, 2011quarrygirlflorida, more restaurants (not LA)

    hey, everyone! time for another field report. this one comes to us from jessica of Bein’ Green Savin’ Green (check out her awesome blog), and she’s lettin’ us in on some vegan options in delray beach, florida. here we go!

    On my visit to Delray Beach, Florida to see my grandma, we struggled to find enough vegan-friendly restaurants and thus ended up frequenting a café called The Green Gourmet. The cute café was nestled in an upscale strip mall and seemed a little out of place next to heavily meat laden Italian restaurants. The primary focus of Green Gourmet is to offer fresh, healthy and delicious organic food. My grandma and I inquired which of the menu options were vegan and the man, who appeared to be the manager, answered that many of their dishes were vegan or could easily be made vegan. We opted to sit outside and enjoy the Florida sunshine. I was a bit surprised that the outside tables were covered in a fancy white tablecloth, but I guess this was reflective of the expensive menu items.

    I decided to order a half order of the Organic Veggie Lasagna ($6) along with the Mashed Cauliflower side. My grandma wanted something simpler and chose the Veggie Burger.

    The Organic Veggie Lasagna was very good. I had no idea it was possible to make such a delicious dish with just vegetables! Nevertheless, the vegetables were layered in a way that made me not even notice the dish lacked noodles. The vegetables were very well cooked and seasoned and the tomato sauce was sweet enough to contrast the savory spices. Each vegetable was soft but had a slight crispiness to it.

    Organic Veggie Lasagna

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  • February 6th, 2010mr meanerbrighton, more restaurants (not LA)

    I live in Southern California where we have perfect year-round temperatures, palm trees and sun-drenched beaches. A Beach Cafe here looks like THIS:

    Paradise Cove Beach Cafe. Malibu, California

    (picture courtesy of flickr)

    Whereas a beach cafe in my home country of England looks, shall we say, a tad less exotic, especially on a rainy, blustery October day. However, while the Paradise Cove might LOOK attractive from the outside, what’s inside it is positively ugly. Tanks of dying “fresh seafood” – lobsters, crustaceans and even fish waiting to be plucked and cooked in boiling water.

    VBites, on the other hand, is a wonderful and entirely vegan cafe on the “English Riviera” at Hove, just west of Brighton on the South Coast. Yeah, there’s no sandy beach outside the door or palm trees waving in the wind but what’s inside will warm you right to your soul on the coldest of winter days.

    Once you walk through the doors of VBites, it’s like being transported to a city-center cafe like you’d find in London or New York. Bright colors adorn the walls, and everything is light wood, concrete, stainless steel or funky plastic. Right away, you know you’re somewhere different as the first thing you see is a large bar dining area with a “cupcake conveyor belt” rotating, you guessed it, many varieties of vegan cupcakes past your nose as you eat. It was off hours when we went there, so sadly the belt was not operational which is a pity.

    To the left of the bar is a children’s play area with soft mats and toys – a real boon to vegan parents who can pop their toddler in a safe environment and keep an eye on them while they eat. What a great idea!

    Towards the rear of the restaurant is the dining room which has a long bar down one side and comfortable tables along the other. Funky music, cool lighting and bright decor really did make me feel very urban, not at all like I was sitting a few feet form the beach.

    The huge menu is delightfully varied, and has to be one of the best I’ve ever seen at an entirely vegan restaurant. You can start the day with a tofu scramble or vegan full English breakfast, then eat your way through plenty of lighter options such as burgers, hot dogs, nachos, sandwiches, and salads. If you choose to go for a romantic dinner in the evening, there’s also a full-on lunch menu, and a long list of entrees (Italian, Indian, you name it!). Additionally, there’s a “build your own vegan pizza” option with tons of toppings, all baked on dough specially brought in from Italy.

    Nachos with soya melted cheese, salsa and guacamole. £4.75

    We opted for some down to earth comfort food: nachos followed by bangers and mash. The service was very fast and attentive, the food arrived extremely well presented, and didn’t hang around long on the table. The nachos were awesome – home baked chips, salsa, guacamole and cheezly cheese topped off with jalapenos and a lime.

    Soya bangers and mash with onion gravy. £6.95

    The traditionally English “bangers and mash” sincerely blew us away. Creamy, buttery mashed potatoes (probably the best I’ve had since becoming vegan) topped with three hearty VBites sausages and smothered in a rich, creamy onion gravy. I know my description sounds like something off a menu, but those adjectives are all highly accurate, I can assure you!

    Our only regret when we visited VBites is that we were on the south coast for just a few hours, and had to get back to London for the evening otherwise we would have tried far more things on the menu. On the way out there are fridges full of VBites food items (VBites is the brand formerly knows as Redwood Foods) so you can get many of the ingredients to take home and prepare. The bangers, cheezly, fake meats, burgers etc. are all available at the same prices you can pick them up in a supermarket.

    Oh, and talking of prices, VBites is remarkably inexpensive considering what you get. The portions are large, the prices are low and you’d usually expect to pay a heck of a lot more considering the beach location and standard of decor and service.

    Finally, there’s one more contrasting fact between our English version of a beach cafe and what exists in America: NO BEACH VIEW. Yeah, due to the crazy winds on English Channel there’s a large storm wall and built-up promenade between VBites and the sea.

    That’s not a bad thing, though, as our beaches are a lot less picturesque than the ones in Southern California. Just ask Holly Walsh who made this great video just a mile or two from VBites:


    I hate the seaside – Watch more Funny Videos

    Our friend Lex, at Vegan-LA/Vegan-Europe described VBites as “… like finding the gingerbread castle in a fairy tale. You’ll rub your eyes in disbelief.”. So true!

    Vbites
    Hove Lagoon, Kingsway, BN3 4LX
    01273 933757

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  • September 29th, 2008quarrygirlflorida, more restaurants (not LA)

    recently i took a trip to florida, and in addition to soaking up sun and bobbing around in the ocean, i made it a point to visit as many vegan eateries as i could. over the next few days, i’ll bring you stories of meat-free food from ft. lauderdale, downtown miami, and the beach areas…starting with south beach, which is where i stayed.

    i did a lot of research before visiting florida on sites like happycow and found that there weren’t really any vegan restaurants near my hotel—i was pretty much resigned to the fact i would have to drive over the bridge to try out the really good places. so imagine my surprise when i was walking down lincoln road, a trendy little street of shops and restaurants reminiscent of 3rd street promenade, and spotted a menu propped up on a stand with the word VEGAN clearly labeling an entire list of items. the vegan-friendly menu belonged to books and books, a hip little book store that also functions as a café. of course the husband and i had to try it out. the result was pure delciousness.

    black bean and hummus sandwich $6.95

    black bean and hummus sandwich $6.95

    while the menu had a lot of vegan options, many of them contained bell peppers, which i absolutely hate. one tasty dish, however, that could be easily made without peppers was the black bean hummus sandwich. black bean hummus sounded way too good to pass up, and i was right…it was soooo freakin’ yummy. i inhaled it in like 4 seconds, but from what i remember, it was pretty damn perfect. the hummus was thick and substantial, not as runny or mushy as normal hummus, so it made for a hearty sandwich filling. the black beans added so much flavor and an unexpected crunchiness to the chickpea puree. plus, the sandwich was piled high with crispy cucumbers and juicy tomatoes. a very good find.

    vegan chicken sandwich $9.95

    vegan chicken sandwich $9.95

    the vegan chicken sandwich was also quite lovely, but definitely not worth $3 more than the hummus sandwich, which i preferred. the fake chicken was nicely grilled, but it did taste like it was probably a frozen patty to begin with. that’s not bad, though, for an omnivorous restaurant in miami beach. i’m just stoked they have vegan options at all, let alone actual fake meat! the vegetables were also scrumptious on this sandwich: a big thick slice of avocado, tomato, and mixed greens all added fresh flavor to the succulent little piece of chicken.

    while so many other things on the vegan menu sounded amazing, these sandwiches really hit the spot for quick and satisfying light lunch. the side salad was quite tasty as well, boasting tons of dark leaves, a mound of shredded carrots and a zesty vinaigrette. plus, the sandwiches came already cut in half so they were perfect for sharing. we pulled our favorite trick: ordering 2 and then swapping halves.

    besides the fact that the food is pretty awesome, i urge you to support books and books for boldly dedicating an entire section of the menu to clearly-marked vegan items. it was so lovely to sit in the sun, amongst all the shoppers, in a city with few vegetarian restaurants, eating food i knew to be vegan at a “normal” café. the servers were also unbelievably helpful and friendly. one even mentioned that during breakfast hours, any egg dish can be made vegan by subbing tofu or modifying the ingredients. sweet!

    so if you ever head down to miami beach, check out books and books. great atmosphere, super service and a bunch of vegan options. and they do have a lot more than just sandwiches, but lemme tell ya, the sandwiches are damn good!

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  • May 20th, 2011quarrygirlLA restaurants, zephyr cafe

    rah rah! in the midst of all these horrible LA vegan restaurant closures, we’re happy that we finally have some good news to share: zephyr cafe in long beach has decided to dump the dairy!

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