We’ve probably written more about Purgatory Pizza in Boyle Heights than any other restaurant. Since it became the first pizza joint in California to carry Teese vegan cheese, we’ve been regulars at Purgatory. Add in several other vegan Pizza firsts: First to carry Field Roast sausage, Gardein “Chicken” and one of the first in the country to carry Daiya vegan cheese, and we’ve been visiting Purgatory constantly. It’s no surprise, then, that Purgatory is again ahead of the pack, as one of the first places on the West Coast to offer the brand new Teese vegan mozzarella, which we’ve raved about before.

A quick grounder and history in vegan cheese is probably worthwhile at this point…

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…because now you have no excuse! our favorite vegan-friendly pizza joint is open for lunch 7 days a week.

SEE YOU THERE? motherfuckers?

PURGATORY PIZZA. do it.

it’s been a bad year for some of our favorite restaurants. a taste of life has closed its storefront, that’s amore is completely gone, and flore cafe is on the brink of shutting down as well. on top of all this, today i found out that the shitty economy is threatening the best place to get vegan pizza in los angeles: purgatory pizza.

vegan pizza: daiya cheese, roasted garlic, fresh basil, tomatoes, red onions.

the owner of purgatory pizza tweeted this morning, “TRYING to stay open…. Damn economy!” i dug a bit deeper, and the restaurant confirmed that if business doesn’t pick up, it’s a very real possibility that they could be forced to close their doors. i can’t even stress to you WHAT AN EPIC TRAGEDY THIS WOULD BE FOR THE LOS ANGELES VEGAN SCENE. after all, purgatory was named one of the top 5 omnivorous restaurants in los angeles. i know that tons of places in LA are offering daiya pizza now, but purgatory is the only place where you can get pizza with daiya cheese, gardein vegan chicken, AND field roast artisan grain meats. it’s also the best place to get nyc style vegan pizza in town, and they even have vegan pesto as well!

Vegan Chicken Pesto Pizza with Gardein and Daiya at Purgatory Pizza.

seriously, purgatory pizza is a one-of-a-kind restaurant and we can’t let it go out of business. they were the first pizza place to bend over backwards for vegans in los angeles, and i think it’s safe to say they have some of the best (if not THE BEST) vegan pizza in LA. they are a little bit out of the way for most folks, but the food is worth it and they have a quiet atmosphere where you can BYOB! so get out and spend some money at purgatory pizza ASAP. i highly recommend you try either the gardein chicken with pesto or the “classic” pizza with added field roast sausage. they know how to melt daiya vegan cheese perfectly, and i’ve never had a pizza there i didn’t absolutely love. if they shut down, i will cry.

purgatory pizza
1326 East 1st Street
Los Angeles CA 90033
(323) 262-5310

Okay, so we’ve already posted about the best vegan and best vegetarian restaurants in Los Angeles, but sometimes we vegans HAVE to eat in omnivorous restaurants. That’s a part of life. What’s interesting, though, is when we find meat-serving restaurants that we WANT to eat in. That’s a whole different story, and LA has a few outstanding omnivorous establishments that go out of their way to cater to vegans. Here are our favorites.

M Cafe

While the “M” in M Cafe probably stands for Macrobiotic, I believe it actually stands for Mmmmmmmm, which is pretty much what I murmur with every bite of this amazing food. With a totally vegan menu except for fish, M Cafe has a chic urban appeal, backed up with an A-list of ingredients (and clientele) all layered over an efficient kitchen and fair pricing, considering how great the food is. While the last year or two M Cafe’s items have been prepared by kitchen staff rather than chefs, their menu items are still some of the best in town.

Vegan Benedict at M Cafe

The Big Macro is arguably LA’s best vegan burger. The broccolini pepporochini is without a doubt LA’s premier broccolini, and the Vegan Benedict is constantly voted one of the “best” breakfast items on any local menu. There are plenty of vegan options at all times of the day, and the rotating menu constantly keeps one coming back for more. The deserts are out of this world, along with the very best vegan tiramisu known to humanity. Check it out!!

Purgatory Pizza

It’s probably inaccurate to credit Purgatory Pizza with single-handedly introducing incredible vegan pizza to LA, but we’re going to anyway. The insatiable team, formerly headed by Chef Ricky, that painstakingly worked to veganize an entire product line and food preparation process has gone from strength to strength. Purgatory was not only the first pizza place to embrace Teese (the ground-breaking alternative to Follow Your Heart Cheese), but is also the first to stock Gardein and Field Roast as toppings, and one of the first to serve Daiya (the best vegan cheese at time of posting) in SoCal.

Vegan Chicken Pestop Pizza with Gardein and Daiya at Purgatory Pizza.

To get your Purgatory Pizza kicks (if you’re not in the delivery area), show up with a bottle of cheap wine and/or a six-pack of beer, then order your pizza to dine in. Feeling like a cross between an 80s suburban pizza joint and some kind of modern art experiment, Purgatory has a great, brightly-lit atmosphere and friendly staff to keep you entertained while you swallow slice after slice of LA’s best vegan pizza.

Hugo’s Restaurant

With two locations (one in West Hollywood, the other in Studio City), and a full-on meat-oriented menu, one might be surprised to find that the Hugo’s chefs have created some seriously innovative vegan cuisine. Not only do they have loads of options, but they have menu with several clearly marked animal-free alternatives, as well as dishes that can be optionally veganized. If you can get past the trendy atmosphere, long waits and constant celebrity sightings (I’ve watched the staff at the WeHo location fawn over Gabriel Byrne and Jeff Goldblum within the past few weeks) you’re in for a vegan treat.

Tikka Masala Veggie Patties at Hugo's Restaurant

Although I’ve long been a fan of the tofu scramble, I also love the Very Green Casserole (one of the best vegan burgers I’ve ever tasted atop stewed vegetables and sauce in a pot) as well as the salads, tikka masala veggie patties, stir-frys and wraps. Make sure you specify “VEGAN” clearly when you order, while the restaurant is extremely vegan-friendly, there may be butter hiding in unsuspecting dishes.

Toi

Sadly, the Toi chain has contracted from two locations to just one, on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. Thankfully the sacrificial lamb of this two-outlet chain was the Santa Monica outlet on Wilshire and not the ultimate rock and roll dining location sandwiched between Guitar Center and clothing stores most mortals are too… well… mortal to shop in. Toi has a loud, brash atmosphere with a class-based seating system (some tables suck ass, others are amazing — you ride the wind and luck of the draw depending your arrival time).

Vegan Pad Thai at Toi

Get the vegan pad thai with grilled tofu for a real treat, or the Saigon spring rolls…and make sure you request the hot sauces to dollop liberally over your food. The portions are huge, the kitchen respects us vegans, and most things on the menu can be made vegan — substitute chicken for tofu, oyster sauce for vegan oyster sauce, and you’ll get a superb meal. Take your omni friends there, and chillax the fuck out listening to rock ‘n’ roll on the speakers. Step into the parking lot at the back and you can smell weed in the air. Need we say more.

Mama’s Hot Tamales

OK, I’ll admit, MacArthur Park (just West of Downtown LA) has a shady reputation. Lotsa crime, lotsa drugs, lotsa pigeons, lotsa bodegas and lotsa REAL, AUTHENTIC Mexican restaurants. How glad are we vegans, then, that one of the most popular, Mama’s Hot Tamales, has a full-on vegan menu, complete with Daiya cheese, vegan sauces and all the trimmings. Did you hear that? Authentic Mexican food AND Daiya Cheese!!!! That is reason enough to make any top 5 list, as far as we’re concerned.

Vegan Daiya Cheese Enchiladas at Mama's Hot Tamales Cafe

At Mama’s you can enjoy all the greasy, cheesy filling Mexican food that omnivores love to death, but prepared under the supervision of Mama herself: the real deal, a Mexican señora who could not be more understanding of what a vegan is, what we need and how to prepare the food for us.

Honorable mentions: Green Peas, XIV, Zpizza, Cafe Muse, Interim Cafe, Mani’s Bakery

one of chef ricky's specials from purgatory pizza

los angeles vegans, drop whatever you have planned tonight and head over to purgatory pizza.

tonight is the famous chef ricky’s last night on the job, and it may be your last chance ever to eat one of his amazing pizzas. if you don’t know who chef ricky is, well he is the best vegan pizza maker in los angeles and he is moving to seattle.

while purgatory pizza will continue to be awesome even after ricky is gone, it will never be quite the same without him.

GO TO PURGATORY TONIGHT. and if you are feeling brave, just ask for a chef ricky special and let him get creative with your pie. you won’t be sorry.

to see some of the incredible pizzas that chef ricky has made in the past, check out this post or this post.

chef ricky at purgatory pizza

purgatory pizza
1426 e 1st street
los angeles ca 90033
323-262-5310
open 6pm to 11pm

vegan pizza: daiya cheese, roasted garlic, fresh basil, tomatoes, red onions.

los angeles vegans, drop what you are doing and get over to purgatory pizza ASAP. purgatory is known to serve arguably best pizza in town covered with daiya cheese, and in just a few weeks their talented chef ricky is moving to seattle! while he’s trained the other employees to cook his recipes, the place just won’t be the same without him and you should definitely get over there before he’s gone.

we have been fans of ricky for so long, that now when we go in we just ask him to whip up a “chef special,” which means any recipe he can come up with on the spot. our most recent visit to purgatory yielded some of the best pizzas i’ve ever tasted. the first one, pictured above, came with huge chunks of roasted garlic, sliced tomatoes, fresh basil and red onion. the garlic and onion combo was delicious, and even though the chunks of garlic were huge, they weren’t overpowering.

ricky’s next creation was even more adventurous—a chicken taco pizza covered in daiya cheddar cheese, gardein chicken slices, black olives, jalapenos,tomato and red onion.

vegan chicken taco pizza: daiya cheddar cheese, gardein chicken, jalapenos, black olives, tomatoes, red onions.

this pizza was so fucking good, i can’t even describe it. it really did taste like a chicken taco converted into a pizza. i wanted to eat it up with a side of salsa and vegan sour cream. i usually don’t like cheddar on pizza, but this worked surprisingly well and gave it a much more mexican taste. the jalapenos made it extra spicy, and as always, the gardein tasted amazing.

other recent chef ricky specials have included a greek pizza topped with kalamata olives…

vegan pizza: daiya cheese, kalamata olives, fresh basil and tomatoes.

and a vegan cheesesteak pizza with gardein beef strips, carmelized onions and sauteed mushrooms. (so unbelievably good!)

vegan cheesesteak pizza: gardein steak strips, carmelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes, oregano.

i mean, just look at these crazy pizzas. i guarantee that you can’t find pizza this tasty or inventive ANYWHERE else. while ricky is leaving behind his recipes, and purgatory will still continue serving up some of the best vegan pizza around, he is taking with him the magic that goes into making pies like these on the spot. i am pretty sure ricky leaves in around 3 weeks, and he works on fridays and weekends. be brave, and go ask for one of his special pizzas. you really won’t regret it.

and if you want to see even more delicious ricky creations that will help convince you to get your ass to purgatory, check out this older post.

if you haven’t tried purgatory pizza yet, you really are missing out. they are the only pizzeria in town offering daiya cheese AND high quality meats like field roast and gardein. i never ever thought vegan pizza could taste this good.

purgatory pizza
1326 east 1st street
los angeles, ca 90033
323 262 5310
open everyday 6pm – 11pm

we are gonna miss you chef ricky, but thanks for leaving behind the recipes for the best vegan pizza ever.