• November 1st, 2011quarrygirlhamburger hamlet, hugo's tacos, LA restaurants, two boots

    today is world vegan day, and to celebrate, a few places of town are offering up vegan specials! i’ll list the ones i know about, and if i miss anything, please leave it in the comments.

    hugo’s tacos is offering 20% off select items all day including burritos w/ soy chorizo or mixed vegetables, green tamales plain or w/ mixed veg topping or soy chorizo, salad, and frozato.

    two boots in echo park has launched a new v for vegan pizza, which comes with daiya cheese, artichokes, shiitakes, red onions, and basil & red pepper pesto.

    most surprisingly of all, hamburger hamlet is unveiling two new vegan options today: a portobello mushroom burger with all the fixins, along with ratatouille and basmati rice.

    so, game plan: breakfast burrito at hugo’s tacos, lunch at hamburger hamlet, pizza for dinner at two boots.

    let me know if i’m missing anything.

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  • May 15th, 2011quarrygirlhugo's tacos, LA restaurants

    UPDATE 5/16/11: although the waffle cones are vegan at the moment, be sure to check before you eat them because hugo’s may switch brands. thanks to amy for the info!

    YES, IT’S TRUE!!! hugo’s tacos in studio city now has vegan soft serve…and….wait for it…VEGAN WAFFLE CONES. excuse me while i drool on my keyboard.

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  • February 20th, 2011quarrygirlhugo's tacos, LA restaurants

    haven’t you heard?! both hugo’s tacos locations are offering a 25% discount on vegan items from 5pm until close when you mention “quarrygirl”, and the OFFER ENDS TODAY! get over there and enjoy some insane vegan-friendly mexican food at a cheaper price!

    vegan chocolate soft serve root beer float

    as if you didn’t have enough motivation to head to hugo’s tacos, did you know that the atwater village location always has TWO flavors of VEGAN SOFT SERVE? and that they offer VEGAN ROOT BEER FLOATS? i’m not making this up…

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  • February 17th, 2011quarrygirlhugo's tacos, LA restaurants

    hey vegans, you still have until february 20th to get a 25% discount at hugo’s tacos between 5-10pm when you mention “quarrygirl”! have you taken advantage of it yet? i seriously suggest you get over there and try all the insane vegan food this taco stand has to offer.

    vegan green tamales: sweet corn and spinach tamales. $2.39 with QG discount!

    i’ve recently fallen in love with the tacos and green tamales…

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  • February 16th, 2011quarrygirlhugo's tacos, LA restaurants

    you probably already know by now that hugo’s tacos is offering a 25% discount on all vegan items until sunday between 5pm-10pm when you mention “quarrygirl.” if you haven’t tried the amazing vegan torta ahogada yet, this is your chance.

    it doesn’t look that intimidating wrapped up all neatly in yellow paper, but let me assure you, this thing is one beast of a sandwich…

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  • February 14th, 2011quarrygirlhugo's tacos, LA restaurants, vegan events

    we’ve got exciting news, people! every evening this week, hugo’s tacos is offering a 25% discount on all vegan items for quarrygirl readers!

    here are the details of the deal…

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  • February 11th, 2011quarrygirlhugo's tacos, LA restaurants

    heads up, readers! i just wanted to throw this out there in case you are already starting to make your dinner plans for next week: be sure to pencil in a couple evenings at hugo’s tacos.

    throughout next week, the super vegan-friendly taco stand is gonna be offering a pretty epic vegan dinner deal that i’ll post about on monday morning. it’s gonna be every day from 2/14 – 2/20 after 5pm, at both locations (atwater village and studio city). details to come, but i know you’re gonna love it. i mean, have you been to hugo’s tacos yet?! they have insane vegan burritos, taquitos, nachos, tortas, tostadas, soft serve—i could go on and on—and it’s all part of the deal!

    mexican food on valentine’s day? you know it makes sense. i may just need to have dinner at hugo’s tacos every day next week.

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  • did y’all know that it’s international day of the nacho (look it up)?! and to celebrate, we’re bring you a quickie list of our 5 favorite places to get vegan nachos in los angeles! you should eat some today…you know, to honor the holiday. here we go:

    1.) veggie grill: uptown nachos

    Uptown Nachos Tortilla chips, chili, VG-cheese, corn salsa, avocado, soy cream, jalapenos … $4.95

    i think these nachos are the best, because they come with everything i love: daiya cheese, bean chili, salsa, avocado, soy sour cream, and jalapenos all on top of crispy chips. super good and SUPER cheap at under 5 bucks!

    2.) real food daily: not-chos

    better with cheddar nachos: Tortilla chips, melted cashew cheese, black beans, pico de gallo, guacamole, tofu sour cream. $11.75

    the not-chos at real food daily are BY FAR the best thing on the menu, and i have to order them every time i go. tortilla chips topped with the best homemade cashew cheese i’ve ever tasted, along with black beans, pico de gallo, guacamole, and tofu sour cream. you can add taco mix for an extra $2.75…but with an $11.75 base price, i think these nachos are expensive enough. pro tip: if you like spicy food, be sure to ask for the jalapeno cashew cheese!

    3.) hugo’s tacos: vegan nacho grande

    nacho grande (vegan): Freshly made tortilla chips topped with your choice of filling, choice of salsa, daiya cheese, topped with a dollop of guacamole. $5.92

    hugo’s tacos sells “normal” nachos, but if you request them with a vegetable filling and daiya cheese, they are instantly vegan. they use the italian blend daiya rather than cheddar, which may sound a little bit odd, but it’s surprisingly good! i get mine with the soyrizo, potato, and zucchini filling; along with the jalapeno hot sauce! the serving size is absolutely massive (enough for 2 people to share), yet only costs $5.92.

    4.) chili addiction: chili vegan addiction nachos

    Chili Addiction Nachos: Try our fabulous homemade corn tortilla chips (or potato chips) smothered with chili, VEGAN cheese, and diced jalapenos! $8

    what makes these nachos stand out are chili addiction’s phenomenal homemade chips and chili. the chips just taste incredibly fresh, and the chili is by far the best in town. you get a huge portion of those, plus a layer of daiya cheese, diced jalapenos, and onions for $8. if they would just melt the daiya a little, these things would be PERFECT.

    5.) mandoline grill: vegan vietnamese nachos

    vegan vietnamese nachos: tofu served over crispy corn tortilla chips topped with scallions, jalapeno, mint, cilantro, and sriracha aioli. $4.50

    a fresh take on vegan nachos, these don’t have any kind of fake cheese on them, but instead are covered with a creamy sriacha aioli. they also come with a healthy amount of mandoline’s amazing lemongrass fried tofu, scallions, mint, cilantro, and jalapeno. and at just $4.50, they’re an excellent value!

    those are our picks for the best vegan nachos we’ve actually tried in LA, but native foods has some brand new nachos as well that look amazing:

    Nuevo Native Nachos: Homemade corn tortilla chips covered in black beans, Native Taco Meat, Native Chipotle Crema, Native Cheese, salsa fresca, and guacamole. Topped with corn, green onions, and cilantro. $7.95

    these are definitely at the top of my list of foods i need to try. with both homemade chips and cheese, i bet they are spectacular!

    so let’s all go eat some vegan nachos tonight, and show everyone that the international day of the nacho doesn’t need to include meat or dairy. weeee!

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  • May 4th, 2010quarrygirlhugo's tacos, LA restaurants

    the daiya revolution is in full swing, and the latest restaurant to hop on board is hugo’s. both the upscale eatery and the taco stand of the same name have adopted the revolutionary vegan cheese, and the result is some damn delicious food.

    i hit up the taco stand yesterday and tried a whole slew of vegan offerings, all with daiya cheese, and they did not disappoint!

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  • November 24th, 2008quarrygirlhugo's tacos, LA restaurants

    for so long i have been on the hunt for vegan soft serve. when i was 12 years old, i took a 2 week trip to the uk and lived off a glorious and ubiquitous brand of ice cream called mr. whippy. at least two cones per day maintained my mandatory 7th grade sugar high and kept me happy & full of energy. it was similar to mcdonalds soft serve, but 1000x better. creamy and sweet, white frozen matter swirled into a magical and delicate-about-to-melt dessert. totally heavenly. since becoming a vegan 4 years ago, i have found nothing that comes even close. sure, we have soy dream, tofutti and the marvelous scoops. but none have that good old-fashioned soft serve quality.

    that is…until now. thanks to my trusty tipsters liz (¡yo soy!) and sunny, i found that hugo’s tacos in atwater village offers a vegan soft serve that can scratch my itch. rich, creamylicious, and double-flavored, this chocolate-caramel soft serve makes me feel like i’m eating that old familiar fast food ice cream.

    caramel and chocolate vegan soft serve.

    caramel and chocolate vegan soft serve.

    the soft serve at hugo’s tacos was nothing to be scoffed at. rich and decadent, flavorful and tasty; i couldn’t ask for much more. they shun the classic vanilla flavor for the more adventurous caramel, but other than that, this treat is just the way you remember it. the choice between 2 flavors, or a decadent swirl means i WON’T be disappointed! PLEASE NOTE, this freez-a-licious awesomeness is only available at the atwater village location. sorry valley-dwellers, you will have to make the trek to hipsterville for this treat.

    next up, hugo’s tacos offers up more for vegans than just ice cream and mexican food. they also have the newly-introduced burger. while it’s nothing to get too excited about, the hugo’s tacos burger is a fucking steal for the price. juicy, flavorful and filling, it is incredible…albeit a bit on the small side.

    veggie burger: griddle-cooked and finished. served with lettuce, tomato and special sauce. plus french fries...not much extra $!

    veggie burger: griddle-cooked and finished. served with lettuce, tomato and special sauce. plus french fries...not much extra $!

    now, strict-ish vegans like myself beware: the veggie burger by default comes with a chipotle honey sauce. opt for it without the sauce if that offends you, and the burger is every bit if not EVEN MORE tasty. for a crappy, under 5 bucks with fries “taco stand” burger, i was quite impressed. this dish doesn’t look like much, but it actually tasted pretty fucking nice. good sauce and a well-grilled patty on a scrummy bun—what more do i need? considering the hours and price of this joint, my fellow vegans, you couldn’t do much better.

    lastly, let’s not forget the actual TACOS at hugo’s tacos! modest little corn tortillas layered and topped with incredible vegan offerings and freshly made salsa. yum! this time i got the soyrizo filling with the salsa negra. super hot, smokey seasoning along with delectable fake mexi-meat made this a taco to be remembered. yeah, it was small…but the crazy flavors made up for it. plus, this taco clocked in with tons of taste at under 3 bucks, and at the time, i was at the time saving myself for the more exciting and more difficult-to-come-by soft serve.

    taco with soyrizo and salsa negra. $2.75

    taco with soyrizo and salsa negra. $2.75

    the mini taco was small, yet savory. considering you could get a portion for six bucks large enough to feed a horse, i was quite happy to settle on the little size. i left hugo’s feeling full and glad to have been there, not stuffed and remorseful. at under $12, this 3 course meal for 2 (although we shared a bit) proved to be good food for good prices, without a shred of regret.

    not to mention the outdoor seating and kickass friendly service. if you haven’t been, you need to check out the hugo’s tacos in atwater village. this HT beats it’s sister stand in studio city, purely because of the vegan soft serve option. they seem to have a bigger menu as well, although i could be wrong because maybe the valley branch has expanded and i just don’t know about it.

    hugo's tacos in atwater village.

    hugo's tacos in atwater village.

    some ungrateful hipsters have torn this place to shreds on yelp, but seriously, pay them no heed. they are only bitching because hugo’s costs maybe a buck more per dish than the scary roach coaches filled with lard that they are used to. imho, hugo’s tacos is WELL WORTH IT.

    long story short: haul your ass east and get some fucking great vegan mexican food, burgers, fries, and soft serve. your inner-junk-food fiend will LOVE you for it!

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  • September 11th, 2008quarrygirlhugo's tacos, LA restaurants

    well, i didn’t actually order a taco, but hugo’s tacos in the valley definitely scratched my mexican food itch. god, so good and so vegan…what a great place to intersect. this creative yet wonderfully traditional mex left me wanting more. string beans, white beans and zucchini all seemed a little out of my comfort zone, but when they came rolled up with some guacamole goop on seasoned rice or in a huge, thin white tortilla, i definitely remembered i was at a taco stand. superb.

    the food withstood the car ride home and was so much tastier than it looks.

    burrito: flour tortilla with spanish rice, white beans, choice of filling, choice of salsa, onion & cilantro. $5.95

    burrito: flour tortilla with spanish rice, white beans, choice of filling, choice of salsa, onion & cilantro. $5.95

    it’s so hard to take a picture of a taco stand burrito. you don’t want to cut it in half because it should be eaten whole, but then it just looks so boring. take my word for it, the thing was huge and there was a lot of exciting stuff on the inside. at hugo’s you pick and choose your salsa & filling for every dish, and lucky for us, they have two different vegan filling options. we got this burrito stuffed with zucchini, corn and string beans along with salsa habenero.

    not bad! the vegetables were well cooked, and even though the salsa habenero wasn’t quite spicy enough, some extra hot sauce solved that. at under $6, the best thing about this burrito wasn’t the taste, but that it was such a great deal. seriously, i’m used to paying like 9 bucks for a burrito of this enormousness. the bowl was pretty good as well…

    choice of filling, choice of salsa, lettuce, spanish rice, white beans and onion & cilantro topped with a dollop of guacamole. $5.95

    choice of filling, choice of salsa, lettuce, spanish rice, white beans and onion & cilantro topped with a dollop of guacamole. $5.95

    this dish originally comes with cheese, so vegans beware! the bowl pictured came covered in salsa negra with a soyrizo, potato & zucchini filling. i was stoked to try the soyrizo, because i love the stuff at home and have never heard of it being used at a taco stand. hugo’s definitely delivered—it was well seasoned, perfectly browned and juicy. one of the bestest fake meaty things i’ve ever had.

    while i can’t really ask for much more than a soyrizo option, there are definitely some things on hugo’s menu i would change. i’m really not sold on the white beans. while it mostly tasted like traditional taco stand food, the beans kept throwing me off. some lard-free refried beans, or even black beans would be appreciated. also, the zucchini, corn & string beans filling was kind of meh. i wish they had a mushroom option or something instead. string beans really don’t belong in a burrito, they belong with gravy and mashed potatoes and other shit like sprouts. but these are pretty minor annoyances…i like to nitpick.

    overall, hugo’s was a great find. i am gonna go back and try out some of their taquitos and tacos as soon as i get a chance. they are cheap, fast, serve large portions, and offer food that you can be sure is vegan. for a mexican place especially, this is very rare. no lard, no chicken stock, and they even have bloody soyrizo on the menu!

    come on, vegans! let’s give hugo’s tacos our support!

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