here in los angeles vegan cookies and cupcakes are super easy to come by, but vegan donuts are a bit more elusive. it’s a crime! donuts are the perfect junk food—they’re sugary, often fried, and covered in frosting—and vegans deserve the chance to indulge. this is why i’m super jealous of people who live in the bay area, pepples vegan donuts are everywhere! the main “donut farm,” as they call it, is based in oakland…but pepples treats can be found in oodles of locations from berkeley to santa cruz.

pepples vegan donuts!

on a recent trip to SF i hit up the pepples stall in the ferry building, and had a rough time deciding what to order. they had loads of flavors on hand including salted caramel, orange creamsicle, and matcha green tea to name a few…not to mention a whole tray of FRITTERS!! i’m a self-proclaimed chocoholic though, so when i saw that they had a chocolate covered “chocolate cookie flavor,” i knew i had to have it.

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One of the greatest poets of our times, Robbie Williams, penned the now-classic song “Millennium” to commemorate the demise of San Francisco’s famed restaurant of the same name.

The prescience of his words cannot be understated, as we witness first-hand the falling from grace of this much-hyped, over-priced restaurant:

We’ve got stars directing our fate
and we’re praying its not too late
‘Cause we know we’re falling from grace
Millennium
And when we come we always come too late
I often think that we were born to hate

Let’s deconstruct these inspired words:

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i’ve said it before, and i will say it again: ike’s place makes the best sandwiches, vegan or otherwise. the small san francisco shop is nothing short of legendary (i mean come ON, it has almost THREE THOUSAND yelp reviews) and is loved by herbivores and omnivores alike. when we checked them out in fall of 2010, they were having some major dramz with neighbors and were in the midst of being forced to shut down. fortunately for us though, they’ve found a temporary home at lime nightclub just around the corner in the casto district, and are still serving their famous sandwiches for the time being until they move to a more permanent location. (huge thanks to our BFFs at vegansaurus who keep us updated with ike’s info!) we checked out ike’s new digs on our trip to SF over the holidays, and i am happy to say that they officially served me the best sandwich i’ve eaten, ever.

vegan sometimes i'm a vegan: grilled mushrooms, marinated artichoke hearts, soy cheese. $7.97

here’s how it went down…

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the quick bite series continues! this one comes to us from tettes, who recently hit up gracias madre in san francisco. as of recently we are HUGE FANS OF GRACIAS MADRE….so we were super excited to receive tettes’ glowing review. here goes:

I visited San Francisco during the Thanksgiving holiday, and I went to Gracias Madre twice.

Here are a couple of pics of food items that Quarrygirl didn’t order, including a butternut squash tamale smothered in mole sauce, a butternut squash quesadilla and one of the best items I’ve ever eaten: roasted brussel sprouts in a cashew cheese sauce baked with garlic breadcrumbs on top. OMG!!!

This place is beyond amazing. Perhaps the best vegan place I’ve ever visited!

Butternut squash tamale smothered in mole sauce with a side of refried black beans and spicy pickled vegetables.

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i’ve only been there once, but i’m head over heels in love with gracias madre. the entirely vegan restaurant in san francisco’s mission district serves up huge portions of organic mexican food that’s just fantastic.

we hit up gracias madre a couple months ago, and were shocked by how good it was. we were first taken aback by the amazing atmosphere. i’m used to vegan restaurants being small and often times dingy…but this was a huge wide open space with a clean and colorful decor.

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cinnaholic is an all vegan cinnamon roll bakery (yeah, you heard me right) that opened in berkeley earlier this year. they have gotten rave reviews from many trusted blogs…and i can finally confirm that this place is WORTH THE HYPE!

just think about it. an all vegan cinnamon roll parlor with “build-your-own” options that range from root beer flavored frosting, to pie-inspired rolls, to toppings like cookie dough and vegan marshmallows. there is just one word for it: INSANITY! i can’t even believe that a place as wonderful as cinnaholic exists.

while it’s sad that cinnaholic is located a whopping 6 hours away from los angeles, i’m happy to report that they can ship cinnamon rolls to hungry vegans around the nation! recently on twitter, i was tweeting bummed out messages about how i hadn’t tried cinnaholic yet. within like 30 minutes, they replied to me and offered to send me some of their goodies. of course i said yes!!! damn, i was so excited to try these rolls, and they ended up being even better than i imagined.

cinnaholic sent me two rolls with two different frosting flavors, maple and caramel. they came with easy to use instructions, and after just a few minutes in the oven they turned into warm mounds of gooey goodness.

seriously, i have never had cinnamon rolls this delicious…vegan or not. the frosting was so sweet and melty and the rolls were moist and flaky. i can only imagine how wonderful these things would be right out of the oven. and if plain rolls with just frosting are this good, they must be crazy delicious with added toppings! i am contemplating taking a trip to berkeley soon just so i can eat a vegan cinnamon roll drenched in vanilla frosting and covered in cookie dough and brownie chunks.

if you are anywhere near northern california, get over to cinnaholic ASAP. if you live far away, you can order cinnamon rolls by the dozen as well as frosting shots online. 12 may seem like a lot of cinnamon rolls, but trust me, i could get through a dozen of these in a couple days. oh, and they freeze well too!

i am still getting over the fact that an entirely vegan cinnamon roll bakery even exists. damn, this is such an exciting time to be alive! thank you, cinnaholic!

cinnaholic
2132 Oxford Street, Berkeley, CA
(510) 647-8684 ‎