hey everyone, just a reminder that doomie’s home cookin’ is opening up in hollywood this weekend…and you are gonna need a reservation if you wanna get in. we checked them out last weekend during their test run/soft opening, and i can promise you the food is amazing.

chili cheesebuger: smothered in homemade chili with real or vegan cheese. choice of side. $8.95

of course we ordered way more than we could eat, starting with the chili cheeseburger and onion rings…

Read the rest of this entry »

hey everyone! just a heads up that you are gonna need reservations if you want to eat at doomie’s on their opening weekend (december 11th and 12th)…so i suggest you book NOW.

opening weekend they will be open from noon to 10pm, so let them know what time you wanna come. give ’em a call, hit ’em up on facebook, do whatcha gotta do.

they are probably taking reservations so they can deal with the insane demand for their amazing food. so just book early and don’t miss out. TRUST ME.

to read more about how crazy good doomie’s is, check out our post on their all you can eat brunch, and the first time we ever ate at their old location.

the pre-opening doomie’s home cookin’ all you can eat brunch went down on saturday, and while the lines were long and the place was packed, the food definitely didn’t disappoint. in fact, it was one of the best meals i’ve had in quite awhile and after this weekend i’m even more excited (if that’s possible) about doomie’s opening next month.

the brunch was scheduled to start at 10am, but the kitchen was running a bit behind. one thing about doomie’s is, they can be unpredictable. at their worst, they might be running late or running out of food early…but one thing’s for sure, the quality of the food never suffers. EVER. on saturday at 10:15, doomie’s still hadn’t started serving, but there was already a huge crowd ready to eat. seriously, vegans were excited about this place, and with good reason…

Read the rest of this entry »

aka are you trying to fucking kill me?!

SERIOUSLY, the opening of the new doomie’s location is the LA vegan event of the year as far as i’m concerned…and the fact that they are teasing it with an all you can eat brunch is just plain insane.

we got a SNEAK PEEK at the menu and just had to share it with y’all…

Read the rest of this entry »

holy shit, guys! doomie’s home cookin’ is back and re-opening in los angeles!

back in 2008/9, doomie’s was one of our favorite restaurants. i am talking about an epic and guilty vegetarian (almost entirely vegan) paradise with loads of deep fried southern-style goodness. they went on hiatus and started looking for a new location about a year ago, and we are happy to announce that they have found it!

doomie’s staged the big reveal of their new location for this weekend’s vegan beer fest…but in case you missed it, here are the details!they are re-opening officially next month at fountain and vine. 1253 n. vine to be exact! it’s going down december 11th, so be there.

to get us crazy stoked about the new location (as if we aren’t already) doomie’s is hosting a special all you can eat brunch on 11/20! it’s happening from 10am until 2pm, and will be $10 for all you can eat or $8 for to go boxes. they are also having a $15 per meal vegan thanksgiving special which includes “turkey, gravy, stuffin, mashed taters, green bean casserole, yams, dessert, etc, you get the idea right?” order it now, and pick it up on november 24th and 25th.

we fucking love doomie’s, and you should too. we will keep you posted with more updates as we have them.

big news, vegans! we were devastated when one of our favorite restaurants ever, doomie’s home cookin’, shut down…but tomorrow, we are gonna have a chance to eat their amazing food again when they host a buffet at the meet market in silverlake.

DETAILS —>

Read the rest of this entry »

remember doomie’s home cookin, the best vegetarian restaurant ever? the one that tragically had to close down earlier this year? well they aren’t exactly back, but chef doomie will be cooking up some vegan tacos this weekend at the collectively conscious showcase at 2HeadedHorse! pffft, they think they can get me to drive all the way to their showcase just by promising me doomie’s? damn straight.

here is a bit about the showcase from their facebook event page:
“Collectively Conscious is a vegan grocery store co-op that will open in L.A. in 2010. It will be a one stop vegan store where you truly get everything you could ever want in one visit. Come to the Showcase where you get a preview of what we envision the store to be.”

doomie’s will be selling tacos on saturday from 4-8pm. then the festivities will continue into sunday, when vegan heights will be selling a huge lunch with lasagna, quiche, and loads of other tasty things. rumor has it that mama’s hot tamales may donate some food as well! now that would be awesome.

to find out more this event, check out the facebook page. i’m so going for the food. muahaha.

if you are a vegan in los angeles, you may already be aware of the depressing fact that doomie’s home cookin’ (one of our favorite restaurants ever) has closed its doors. they are currently looking for a new place to set up shop, but for now doomie’s is no more. you still have one last chance to eat doomie’s food though, you can head over to silver lake tomorrow and pay ten bucks for an epic all-you-can-eat vegan feast.

2 flavors of doomie's vegan mac n cheese!

doomie’s is throwing two parties this weekend, both all-you-can-eat buffets to get rid of their perishable food, and to remind the vegan community what a kick ass restaurant they were. i attended the shindig today in south gate, and it was fucking amazing. i implore you to go check them out on the eastside tomorrow, this could be your last chance to eat the genius vegan food that is doomie’s.

doomie's home cookin', squatting in the m-vision graphics warehouse in south gate.

we drove all the way from hollywood to get our doomie’s fix and arrived in south gate at around 3:30pm. by the time we got there, the place was already buzzin’ with vegan hipsters carrying patch-covered backpacks and strange old hippie types with animal rights slogans printed on their t-shirts. there was a box for payment, ten bucks a head, sitting on the table and everyone was on the honor system to kick down some cash and hopefully a donation towards the reopening fund. doomie was standing behind a long table, cooking dish after dish, adding more and more food to the buffet table as people lined up pile their plates high with vegan goodness.

the doomie crew serving it up!

hungry vegans!

everything on the table was flat-out delicious, and even as we were leaving, doomie was cooking up more recipes. i looked around the warehouse and almost everyone was holding an empty plate, patting their stuffed bellies, and still eyeing up the trays of food. people who had never tried doomie’s found a reason to be depressed like the rest of us; the food is just so fucking good, and it’s a shame it won’t be available anymore.

spicy gumbo, herbed macaroni and cheese, delicious pot roast

the husband and i tried to sample a bit of everything, and i think we left about ten pounds heavier. pictured above are the spicy seafood gumbo, a new type of herbed mac n cheese, as well as a hearty pot roast. all of it was very tasty, but the pot roast was out of this world. seriously, the fake meat was all thick and succulent, the gravy was rich and salty, and the vegetables were chunky and and soft. pot roast may sound kind of standard or boring, but this was some of the best food i’ve ever eaten. and i’ve eaten a lot of food, man!

i also finally got to try doomie’s standard mac n cheese, and OMFG i LOVED it!

mac n cheese with salad.

this was some of the best vegan mac i’ve ever had. this could take the pepsi challenge with any other vegan mac n cheese shit, any day of the fuckin’ week. what the hell does doomie put in his cheese sauce? it was so thick and creamy, and tasted like REAL cheese in a really creepy and exciting way. i could have eaten like 5 helpings…but with all that food there, i had pace myself. the salad was also damn good.

doomie's burger, piled high with bacon and slathered with cheese.

in between cooking amazing mac n cheese and quite possibly the best pot roast ever, doomie was taking special burger orders as well. the husband and i split a cheesy bacon burger and it was INSANE. they had chili burgers as well, but we skipped those because of the mess factor. regardless, our burger was awesome—from the perfectly grilled patty, to the crispy rashers of bacon, to the runny cheese sauce. i am so glad we got to try it. the crowd was super pleased as well, everyone i saw with burgers shoved in their mouths were chewing and smiling at the same time.

frito pie! fritos smothered with chili and cheese.

lastly, we helped ourselves to a serving of frito pie. it was basically chili cheese nachos with fritos instead of tortilla chips. talk about guilty pleasure. i don’t even want to think of what went into this dish…all i know is that it didn’t contain any dead animal body parts, and it tasted incredible. again, the cheese sauce was killer…it tasted just like that sketchy but tasty runny stuff that comes out of a pump and covers nachos at the movie theater or the baseball stadium. sinfully authentic vegan food. i love it.

that’s it. i tried, but i couldn’t eat anymore. as we were leaving, doomie was well into cooking some mashed potatoes and asked someone, “hey, where are the pie crusts?” we took that as our cue to run for the door. dude, too much good food! and whatever the heck involved mashed potatoes and pie crusts, well, i’m sure that was great too.

so go, go, go, GO to silver lake tomorrow and eat what doomie has to offer. who knows, this may be your last chance. i can tell you, you will definitely get your ten bucks worth and probably eat some of the best vegan food you’ve ever tried. go there, eat lots, and tip well. you and doomie both deserve it.

R.I.P. DOOMIE’S HOME COOKIN’ (at least for now). let’s hope doomie’s reopens again very soon. here’s to arguably the best restaurant ever to serve up affordable and tasty vegan food in los angeles. it’s an outright crime that they were only open for 3 short months.

for all of you who want to reminisce, click here. and here.

according to their myspace blog, doomie’s home cookin’ has officially closed for business in its current location. we reported on their temporary closure yesterday, and today it’s looking a lot more permanent.

on a hopeful note, they state that doomie’s is planning to open again in a new location by the end of the year.

unfortunately, on the first day of february, the end of the year is a long, long way away.

i don’t know what to say, i am completely and utterly shocked and saddened by this news. they were one of my favorite spots in los angeles, no doubt. 

as the blog says, DOOMIE’S IS STILL AVAILABLE FOR CATERING. if anyone is interested in pitching in ten bucks and having an awesome, vegan mac ‘n cheese throw down, please contact me. let’s give doomie’s some catering business whenever we can.

vegan los angeles is definitely changed now that doomie’s has closed its doors; i will miss the awesome food, great service, and all around unhealthy-tasting and delicious home-cookin’.

philly cheesesteak: strips of beef smothered in cheese piled with grilled onions and mushrooms. $8.75

i hope doomie’s comes back. i mean, WTF…they had the best vegan junk food i’ve ever tasted. not fair i tell ya, fucking not fair.

to keep track of doomie’s and what they are up to, friend them on myspace. they deserve all the support they can get from our vegan community!

i got some sad news today when i logged onto myspace. it looks like one of our favorite los angeles vegan restaurants, doomie’s home cookin’, is closed until further notice. they alerted us via their myspace blog, and i for one am very upset about this.

let’s hope this closure is due to something really trivial, and doomie’s will be up and running again in no time. until then, i will just keep craving their tap beer and vegan BLT.

b.l.t.: vegan bacon, lettuce and tomato with vegan mayo on toasted white or sourdough. $6.95

seriously doomie, come back soon, really fucking soon. the vegan community needs ya.

UPDATE: since this post, doomie’s has closed for business. this is very sad news, and we hope they will be back up and running again soon. for old times’ sake, the original post on doomie’s follows. but please note, the restaurant is CLOSED.

It was late on a Friday afternoon, and I found myself wandering Skid Row on foot in Downtown LA. Don’t ask how I got there, what I was doing there or even why I’m writing this post (some things are best left unasked), but I was very glad that it happened to be my wedding anniversary and my wife, coincidentally, was with me.

We were tired, a little inebriated and more than a little hungry when we trekked through the ghetto to Chinatown towards Doomie’s. As always, finding the place is challenging, not least because it’s elevated off the street, has no visible signage (other than a windswept cloth banner) and the entrance is a foreboding set of steps surrounding a disused elevator that bring you to a patio above street level where you will wander into a dark, disused nightclub that looks like (and is about as welcoming as) back-stage when a band has finished playing.

Once the staff notice you’re there, you begin to realize that the book which is Doomie’s should not be judged by the cover of its approach. You will be welcomed by a knowledgeable server (in this case the daughter of one of the owners) who will stop at nothing to make sure you’re seated right and served so well.

Although there were only two of us, we were sat at a nice large table which had a great view of Chinatown and the Hollywood Hills, replete with our own heat lamp to ward off the dim December gloom.

From the extensive menu we chose some dishes that looked to be filling and tasty – and we were not disappointed.

country fried steak: this beefy, breaded bad boy comes smothered in our homemade country gravy! your choice of roasted reds or garlic rosemary mashed potatoes. $9.95

I plumped for the Country Fried Steak with mashed potatoes and gravy. Now, I’ve never had a real fried steak, but this concoction of seitan and crispy batter was so damn good I wolfed it down in a jiffy along with the perfectly creamy mashed potatoes.

The wife opted for the absolutely humongous “Meatball Samich” which is a gooey tomato sauce fest of firm meatballs, soft bread and tangy marinara. Oh, and the welcome side of onion rings were to die for.

meatball samich: our homemade meatballs smothered in marinara sauce and melted cheese! real cheese or make it vegan. $8.95

We cleaned our plates, and relaxed back full but not stuffed while we watched the shenanigans of Chinatown down below. At all times our server was there for us, and was cheerful and informative.

You see, the experience at Doomie’s is anything but Fine Dining. If you want that, go to Real Food Daily, stand in line for ages and pay $20 for an entree. If you are more focussed on tasty good value food and friendly service then Doomie’s will go the extra mile to ensure you’re satisfied.

Doomie’s has all the traits of a family business staffed by people who really care that you have a good experience. On the evening we were there we ran into Doomie himself, two generations of the owners and Doomie’s girlfriend. How often does that happen when you go out to eat?

Doomie’s again delivered wonderful service and (just like they say) “Home Cookin'” that is the perfect intersection of professionally produced restaurant food and the stuff that mom used to make. Only you don’t need your mom no more, as Doomie is there to cook for you, and it’s highly unlikely he’ll ask you to go tidy your room before he serves the food.

UPDATE: since this post, doomie’s has closed for business. this is very sad news, and we hope they will be back up and running again soon. for old times’ sake, the original post on doomie’s follows. but please note, the restaurant is CLOSED.

a new vegetarian restaurant opened in los angeles this weekend, and i can tell you it is incredible. doomie’s home cookin’ veggie-vegan serves up a huge menu of sinful comfort food, all of which can be prepared vegan, and a offers a pretty nice selection of draft beer. i think i have found my new favorite place.

special thanks to reader and commenter jason, who told me to check out doomie’s!

check out the menu here:

take the chilled out bar atmosphere, nice seating, and good beer from pure luck then combine it with the ridiculously “real” tasting junk food from the vegan spot and you have doomie’s. i think any meat-lovin’ carnivore could dine out and doomie’s and completely forget they are eating a vegan meal. everything i tried was insanely delicious.

philly cheesesteak: strips of beef smothered in vegan cheese piled with green onions, peppers and mushrooms. served with homemade onion rings. $8.95

when i go to doomie’s next time and try something new off the menu, i know this sandwich will be extremely hard to beat. i threw caution to the wind and scarfed the the whole thing down pretty quickly, it was just soooOOOOOOOoooOOOOo good. the vegan cheese was absolutely amazing. it had a sour taste that seemed exactly like real cheese, and it coated the juicy beef strips and greasy vegetables perfectly. it was a globby cheese, kind of like the stuff on the mac & cheese over at a taste of life. not so much like the thick stretchy cheese on the sandwiches at the vegan spot. this just mixed in and covered everything in the sandwich, making it taste like cheesy deliciousness.

additionally, doomie’s gets extra points for this sandwich because they were able to make it for me without bell peppers. i absolutely fucking hate bell peppers, and they come in so many vegan things. often at restaurants, when i specify that i want my dish sans peppers, they apologize and say it won’t be possible because the vegetables are already in a mix together that was made at the beginning of the day. doomie’s on the other hand, supplied me with a pepper-free sandwich without any fuss, even though they also had a pre-made mix that contained peppers. it was great to see a restaurant go out of their way to accommodate my request with a smile, even though it meant more work for them.

the side of homemade onion rings the sandwich came with were also out of this world. freshly battered and steaming on my plate, i could tell they had just been cooked. there were a lot of them too, $8.95 is a great deal for such a hearty sandwich and a huge side.

crispy onion-ringy perfection

for you healthy eaters out there, doomie’s also has a wide variety of salads. we got the chop salad with ranch dressing and vegan cheese, and it was pretty damn tasty.

chop salad: chopped and tossed for goodness in every bite. this one has it all! you pick the dressing. real or vegan cheese. $8.95

while this salad is still pretty decadent, it’s probably a lot healthier than some of the meatier-cheesier stuff on the menu. all the vegetables were fresh and finely chopped, and the creamy dressing was delightful. i know anyone, vegan or otherwise wouldn’t be able to tell this stuff was lacking dairy. it’s just delicious, period. not delicious for being vegan.

lastly, we couldn’t leave without trying something really intriguing off the dessert menu…vegan gell-o. i gotta say, it tasted even better the bone-filled jell-o from when i was a kid. this stuff had the same sweet flavor but was just a little bit thicker. a big improvement, and no bones!

gell-o $1.50

on top of serving up arguably the best vegan food in the city, doomie’s has a pleasant outdoor atmosphere and friendly knowledgeable staff. it’s located in a place called roberto’s that turns into a swingin’ nightclub after dark. there are some seats inside and a huge sunny patio with tons of seating and a view of chinatown.

we had a couple questions about the veganocity of our food, and within moments the chef, doomie himself, joined us outside to chat with us and answer any of our concerns. he really knew his shit, as he talked about which menu items contained organic sugar and which products had been purchased from other companies whose sugar source couldn’t be verified. so even if you are the strictest vegan, this guy will have all the answers and be able to put your mind at ease about what you are about to consume. doomie also talked a little about his reasons for starting up this restaurant, explaining that he wanted to open a place that vegans and non-vegans alike could visit and enjoy really good food. not healthy-tasting vegan food, just GOOD FOOD, that everyone would love no matter what they were used to eating. i think doomie definitely succeeded. you really need to check this place out.

roberto's club, home of doomie's restaurant

pleasant outdoor patio seating

a couple things to note: doomie’s is CASH only. but they do have an atm. i suggesting coming prepared, however, with enough money so you don’t get bitch-slapped with an atm fee. also, on sunday afternoons there is some biker event or something that takes place on the patio. you can still eat there, you will just be surrounded by rowdy bikers. they are actually pretty entertaining and i didn’t mind them at all, it’s just something you may want to know about going in.

also, while we were lunching at doomie’s on sunday afternoon, we had the fortunate experience of bumping into another vegan blogger, foodeater from to live and eat in LA. she was eating something completely different than us, which looked just as tasty. be sure to check her blog often, i’m sure her review and pictures will be nothing less than drool-worthy.

so head on over to doomie’s home cookin’ veggie-vegan, get a huge plate of vegan comfort food and a tall glass of cold stella. this place is giving all the other vegan restaurants a huge run for their money.

doomie’s home cookin’ veggie-vegan
@ roberto’s 686 n. spring street
chinatown, LA 90012

(714)883-7657

myspace.com/doomieshomecookin