• December 22nd, 2009quarrygirlLA restaurants, veggie grill

    lunch plan for today: head over to the west hollywood veggie grill location and get your pick of vegan dessert for FREE. they have carrot cake, chocolate pudding, and chocolate chip cookies…all for the taking!

    here are the details:

    you gotta be there at 1pm sharp.
    you gotta say “kevin sent me.”
    and they will be snapping pix inside, so you gotta be cool with having your photo taken.

    that’s it! go get ’em!

    veggie grill weho
    8000 W Sunset Blvd
    Los Angeles, CA 90046
    (323) 822-7575

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  • December 16th, 2009quarrygirlLA restaurants, veggie grill

    vegan daiya cheeseburger at veggie grill

    listen up!! the veggie grill has invented some amazing new daiya cheese-filled recipes, and they are testing them out starting today at the el segundo location to see how they are received. i couldn’t resist heading over there this afternoon and ordering all 3 new menu items. every single one was absolutely awesome, and i implore you to go taste for yourself.

    first i tried the vg cheeseburger (pictured above), which is basically the standard v burger slathered with gooey cheese. this meal contains two of my favorite vegan products ever, daiya and gardein, and it sure is a winning combo. if you like cheeseburgers (even if you aren’t vegan!), you will love this thing…it’s thick, juicy, and cheesy as can be.

    vegan mac and cheese at veggie grill

    since the vg cheeseburger comes with a side, i ordered it with the new vegan mac and cheese. again, this stuff was made with daiya and it was really fucking good! i don’t know what veggie grill did to it, but this daiya was creamier than any i’ve ever tasted. i’m so used to having it chopped up and melted in little shreds, but in this it was completely smooth. plus, i think it had some jalapenos mixed in to give it a little kick. yum!

    vegan nachos at veggie grill

    lastly, i got an order of the nachos…and before you ask, no i did NOT eat all this at once!! i took most of it home and it’s in the fridge. the nachos were excellent, and are definitely my favorite of the new menu items. crisp tortilla chips covered in melty daiya and fully loaded with beans, salsa, guacamole, sour cream and cilantro….all for under 5 bucks!

    please take my advice and get out to the veggie grill el segundo location NOW. and if you can’t go now, be sure to go ASAP. the chick working the counter told me they are only trying out these menu items, and won’t keep them around if they don’t do well. i can tell you, they are amazing….so let’s make them do well.

    veggie grill
    plaza el segundo
    720 Allied Way
    El Segundo, CA 90245
    310-535-0025
    11am to 10pm

    oh and be sure to follow veggie grill on twitter to hear about stuff like this, that’s where they made an announcement about all the new menu items.

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  • December 4th, 2009quarrygirlLA restaurants, veggie grill

    veggie grill west hollywood

    about two months ago a veggie grill location opened up in west hollywood (dangerously close to my house), and since then i just can’t get enough of it! for those of you who have never been there…it’s kind of like an upscale fast food place with relatively low prices, that serves an all vegan menu of burgers and sandwiches. unlike your typical fast food place though, the portions at veggie grill are massive and appetizing, and the atmosphere is clean and relaxing.

    the v-burger: marinated and grilled veggie-steak burger, pickles, lettuce, tomato, onion, chipotle ranch. comes with a side/ $8.95

    the v-burger: marinated and grilled veggie-steak burger, pickles, lettuce, tomato, onion, chipotle ranch. comes with a side/ $8.95

    veggie grill is the kind of place you’d want to take an omnivore who thinks vegan food is bland and boring. the menu is filled with meat facsimiles ranging from burgers and beef sandwiches to wings and chicken wraps. one of my favorite things to order is the v-burger (pictured above). it comes with a moist and succulent gardein patty (which is probably my favorite product gardein makes, yet it isn’t available in stores!), topped with fresh vegetables and chipotle ranch. it’s hearty and filling, yet not huge and disgusting. i feel satisfied and just right after eating it, not all sick and bloated. if you are a burger kind of person, be sure to try this one because i think it’s one of the best vegan burgers in town.

    steamin' kale: tender kale with a ginger-miso dressing and roasted sesame seeds.

    steamin' kale: tender kale with a ginger-miso dressing and roasted sesame seeds.

    the v-burger comes with a side of slaw or chili, but for an extra charge you can upgrade to a side of sweet potato fries or kale (pictured above). while the sweet potato fries are great and come with a really tasty dipping sauce, i can never resist the leafy allure of the kale. veggie grill steams it so that it’s soft and wilty but with a slight crunch. the best thing about it though, is that it’s covered in a tangy miso dressing with sesame seeds that is so delicious i could drink it straight. oh, and over by the soda machine, veggie grill has an unmarked bottle of hot sauce. that also goes well on the kale, and that i could also drink straight.

    bean me up chili: red and white beans, touch of soy cream, chopped green and red onion. $2.95

    bean me up chili: red and white beans, touch of soy cream, chopped green and red onion. $2.95

    another item i seem to order every time i’m at veggie grill is the bean me up chili. this vegan chili doesn’t have any faux meat in it, it’s just two types of beans in a slightly spicy sauce, topped with vegan sour cream and onion and served with crispy bread. you can get a small serving that’s pretty filling for just under 3 bucks! score!

    all-american stack: grilled veggie steak, thousand island dressing, pickles, lettuce, tomato, topped with crispy onion rings. comes with a side. $8.95

    all-american stack: grilled veggie steak, thousand island dressing, pickles, lettuce, tomato, topped with crispy onion rings. comes with a side. $8.95

    the all-american stack is the sandwich i hear people raving about the most from veggie grill, so this may be the one you’d want to recommend to a meat-eater. it comes with grilled strips of steak and fresh vegetables on a bun, all topped off with thick and crispy onion rings. this thing is pretty decadent and very filling, so eat it when you are super hungry.

    chipotle bbq: shredded veggie-steak, marinated in tangy bbq sauce, with chopotle ranch, caramelized onion, lettuce tomato. served protein-style on kale. $8.50

    chipotle bbq: shredded veggie-steak, marinated in tangy bbq sauce, with chopotle ranch, caramelized onion, lettuce tomato. served protein-style on kale. $8.50

    for the carb-watchers out there (you crazy freaks), veggie grill will serve your burger or sandwich on kale rather than a bun at no extra charge. i don’t why you would ever want to do this, but my omnivorous co-worker ordered the meal above and absolutely loved it.

    so if you haven’t been to veggie grill weho yet, i don’t know what the heck you are waiting for! they are conveniently located at sunset and crescent heights and they even validate parking. i love this restaurant for hearty, simple, vegan comfort food…and it’s a great place to bring people who think eating food w/o animals in it means deprivation.

    veggie grill west hollywood

    veggie grill
    8000 W Sunset Blvd
    Los Angeles, CA 90046
    (323) 822-7575
    7days 11am-11pm

    PS: rumor is, veggie grill is gonna start carrying VEGAN MAC AND CHEESE soon too!!!!!!! omg can’t wait.

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  • September 26th, 2009quarrygirlLA restaurants, veggie grill

    just a brief bit of vegan news for you all in los angeles…

    veggie-grill-2

    on tuesday september 29, veggie grill is opening its newest location in west hollywood. 8000 sunset to be exact, at crescent heights in the sunset 5 complex. woo hoo!

    veggie-grill-1

    veggie grill already has a few locations in southern california, and they make awesome fast-food style cuisine using mock meats such as gardein. get over to weho and check them out asap.

    veggie-grill-building

    welcome to the neighborhood, veggie grill!

    veggie grill
    8000 W Sunset Blvd
    Los Angeles, CA 90046
    323.822.7575

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  • September 2nd, 2008quarrygirlLA restaurants, veggie grill

    as i’m sure you know, yesterday was a holiday. it was labor day here in the u.s., and even though it’s kind of a bullshit holiday when people like to actually go out (rather than sit home with their families worshipping god or whatever), most of my favorite vegan restaurants decided to close for the day. lame! so imagine how stoked i was when i phoned the veggie grill and found out they were open! we decided to grab a few beers in nearby redondo beach, and hit up the veggie grill for some take-out on the way back home. for a quick, vegan holiday meal when everywhere else was shut, this was a pretty tasty find.

    chop-chop chef: chopped romaine, tempeh, veggie-steak, chillin' chickin, green onion, roasted corn salsa with a chipotle ranch dressing. $9.95

    chop-chop chef: chopped romaine, tempeh, veggie-steak, chillin' chickin, green onion, roasted corn salsa with a chipotle ranch dressing. $9.95

    we also got the v-burger (which i didn’t bother snapping because you’ve already seen it here) and started off with an order of steamin’ kale.

    steamin' kale: organic kale with ginger-miso dressing and roasted sesame seeds. $3.95

    steamin' kale: organic kale with ginger-miso dressing and roasted sesame seeds. $3.95

    as i’ve said before, the veggie grill is full of hidden charges. adding mushroom or avocado to a burger is an extra $1.50. getting salad instead of slaw as a side is an extra $1.95. if you want FRIES with your burger, that’s an extra $2.25! it’s all pretty ridiculous. by the time we shelled out the extra 2 bucks to swap out the slaw for salad, our entire order cost $26.85 before tip.

    $26.85…that’s kind of a lot. it’s right up there with m café, yet the veggie grill doesn’t deliver anywhere near the same quality of food. don’t get me wrong, my lunch was absolutely delicious…but was it really worth almost $30? i mean, the salad was full of crunchy white lettuce bones, nothing like the soft and dark leafy greens that fill the bowls over at m café.

    that being said, the salad was packed full of tasty protein. the tempeh was definitely my favorite. the veggie-steak and chillin’ chickin were good too—they tasted almost exactly like morningstar farms starter strips, which i’m a fan of. i didn’t eat the side of chipotle ranch, instead i used some awesome and healthy dressing that my dad brought me when he visited over the weekend. it went perfectly with the salad, the green onions and sesame really complimented each other. the BEST thing about the salad, though, was it came (as all veggie grill salads do) infused with a hearty scoop of quinoa. i love quinoa, and i don’t think you can really go wrong adding it to anything. i don’t know why anyone eats rice anymore, when they could eat those little white blobs of protein instead.

    in the end, the veggie grill salad really hit the spot. not to mention the delicious kale and its amazing miso dressing. i am so glad they were open on labor day. if only they weren’t so damn expensive. oh well, being a vegan and saving the world isn’t cheap…but it sure is worth it.

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  • May 16th, 2008quarrygirlLA restaurants, veggie grill

    congrats veggie grill, you have yourself another return customer! i went once before, i was kinda impressed, and now i’m back! despite the rampant blog controversy, i trust you veggie grill, plus i don’t give a crap about the egg content of your wine, because i don’t drink it.


    bali bliss: indonesian styled tempeh, sauteed and grilled, lettuce, tomato, red onion, chipotle ranch…with a side of kale (an additional $1.95) $8.45 total


    the v-burger: marinated and grilled veggie-steak burger, pickles, lettuce, tomato, onion, chipotle ranch…plus a portobello mushroom (an additional $1.50) $9.75 total

    now before you start to think this is merely a fluff piece praising the VG, i want to make it very clear that i definitely have some complaints about the restaurant:

    1. it’s expen$ive!
    and mostly because of add-on costs, which i completely hate. most restaurants give you a sandwich and a reasonable side for no extra charge. well, not the veggie grill. they give you a sandwich and thimble of coleslaw. if you want fries, salad, or kale you are gonna pay an extra $1.95. that’s like an additional 1/3 of the price! ugh. similarly, if you wanna add some avocado or mushrooms to your stack, it’ll cost ya $1.50. i myself prefer the pure luck model: they give you avocado on almost everything, and then charge you a buck if you want more of it.

    2. bell peppers are inevitable.
    yep, on every dish they sprinkle an un-announced bell pepper/parsley combo, not to mention the unexpected vomitous “relish” that sporadically appears on a number of dishes—this pukey mixture contains not just bell peppers, but other unmentionables that taste like fruit? pickles? onions? snot? i dunno. it’s the hotdog of condiments, you aren’t quite sure what you are eating. suffice to say, i always specify that i want my meal without any bell peppers or relish, and since these items aren’t even mentioned on the menu, you are on your own to remember!

    3. i hate the word veggie.
    i always have. it’s way too cute, and i feel embarrassed even saying it. i think “veggie grill” is a stupid name…not just because of that word, but also because it’s too damn literal.

    phew. now that i can put all that petty animus behind me, i fully endorse the veggie grill. at the end of the day, the food is pretty damn good.

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  • April 15th, 2008quarrygirlLA restaurants, veggie grill

    so…this sunday i went on a wild drinking binge until i felt so ill i wanted snuff it. and by “wild drinking binge” i mean, literally 2 beers. yeah, the ipa at this deathtrap otherwise known as the red car brewery makes me sick every time i go, and i always attribute my pain to some poor undeserving factor. well, never again. you heard it here: the red car brewery ipa is fucking toxic. don’t drink it. if a serious lush like me wants to crawl into bed with a sick sack after just two pints, it has no business being behind the counter.

    luckily for me, on the way home from my sunday bender, i passed the veggie grill and decided to give it a try…in spite of my ailment.

    and boy, was i grateful! while i may not place the exact same order again, i will definitely return to the veggie grill.

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