hey guys, you know the drill! time for another quick bite from trishells. this one is about a vegan-friendly happy hour in downtown LA.

this past weekend i hit up one of my favorite joints with one of my favorite vegans, @greatbrittania. spitz not only has great food but also has a happy hour that runs all weekend long. *glug glug glug* even though they serve some pretty gross meat selections, when you order at spitz you can be pretty confident about ordering vegan. not only does the menu clearly mark the vegan items but when you order and they put it in the computer you see a big red “VEGAN” come up on the screen that makes me smile every time.

the offerings are minimal but think quality, not quantity. falafel and veggies come in the forms of wraps, sandwiches and salads that are full of flavor…

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(sorta!)

we named them one of the best vegetarian restaurants in los angeles in 2010, only to hear they were shutting down six months later. now it looks hummus king is on the prowl for a new location in silverlake, but until then they’ve launched an all vegan delivery/catering service!

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vegans, rejoice! savyon cafe on pico has officially decided to offer their all you can eat vegan buffet every sunday from 11:30am to 4pm!

every sunday at lunchtime! all you an eat for $8.99!

from what i hear, this buffet is killer…

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UPDATE: hummus king in thee valley has closed down, but they are offering catering and free delivery until they hopefully re-open in silverlake!

you people better get over there and eat at hummus king, because this is NEVER a good sign. the entirely vegetarian restaurant in valley village has slashed its hours, and is now only open sunday through friday until 4pm. they used to be open until 10…so that means they’ve chopped their hours IN HALF, and will no longer be serving dinner.

Vegan Shwarama Sandwich at Hummus King

hummus king is one of our favorite restaurants in los angeles, so this news is pretty worrying to us…

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This week we brought you a list of the 5 best vegan restaurants in Los Angeles, an update on last year’s list. But if a 100% vegan eatery isn’t on the cards for whatever reason, LA has a superb selection of vegan-friendly vegetarian restaurants, some of which rival or exceed the offerings available at vegan-only establishments. From a 60s-era hippie health-food store to a modern hipster hangout, LA has it all. Check out our top five vegan-friendly vegetarian restaurants and please let us know in the comments if you think any don’t deserve the list, or you have a favorite that should be on it.

Elf

This tiny restaurant without any signage on a busy section of Sunset Blvd. in Echo Park is quite the find. With seating for only a handful of people, and usual wait times an hour or more, there has to be something cool about Elf. And, indeed, there is. While vegetarian, many dishes are either vegan or vegan optional with everything prepared from scratch in the open kitchen. Being strictly word of mouth (I mean, a restaurant with no sign outside that doesn’t advertise anywhere has to be, right?) yet so busy shows that there’s something very special inside.

Roasted Flatbread Shawarma made with Crispy Oyster Mushrooms at Elf

The menu is relatively diminutive, yet highly inventive. Some of the food items have been there for a while, and others rotate in and out as the chefs see fit. The atmosphere is dark, and romantic until, that is, the place fills up then it gets incredibly loud and busy and the tables are very close together so one can sometimes feel cramped. Also, they have a BYO policy so you can bring your own wine and pay a small ($4) corkage fee, which always works out to be a fraction of the price you’d pay for the normal 100%+ mark-up on restaurant wine.

Hummus King

UPDATE: hummus king in thee valley has closed down, but they are offering catering and free delivery until they hopefully re-open in silverlake!

I don’t know much about Kosher restaurant certification other than it’s difficult and expensive to get and involves visits from Rabbis etc. I’d imagine, though, that the certification is easier if there’s not meat served in an establishment, so I’m really pleased that Hummus King is 100% OU Kosher and 100% vegetarian (which means basically vegan except for some optional toppings).

Vegan Shwarama Sandwich at Hummus King

Hummus king has a few things going for it, principally the BEST hummus in the 818, probably the BEST falafel (my personal favorite is the crazily spicy “fire ball” falafel) and the best meaty vegan shawarma available. The generous portion sizes, incredible value and beyond polite service make Hummus King one of my favorite places to visit. Whether you’re up for a full-on dine in meal or you just want to grab a stuffed pita to go, Hummus King has you covered. Don’t let the bright fluorescent lights and plastic seats fool you: what lies beneath the low-rent exterior is some of the best vegan food you’ll ever eat.

And, if you’re strictly Kosher, why not try Hummus King? Be cruelty free – it won’t hurt (you or the animals).

Cru

I’ve been to Cru a bunch of times, always enjoyed the food and atmosphere but for me it really defies classification. It’s a raw restaurant that serves some cooked food. It’s a vegan restaurant that serves honey (therefore proudly titling itself “vegetarian”). It’s also a small space that never really seems crowded, even though it’s frequently full with long hour plus waits on the outside. One good thing is that Cru seems to be dropping honey as an ingredient in many of its dishes, which is a great thing. Of all non-vegan ingredients, honey is perhaps the easiest to substitute and I’m looking forward to being able to eat more and more of the menu as time goes on.

Raw Lasagna Portobello at Cru

The menu is pretty diverse, but seems to contain the same narrow list of root ingredients, so if you order a few things you may end up with strikingly similar appearing and tasting dishes. Normally that would be instant disqualification from a “best of” list, but because those base ingredients are so damn good everything works out to be excellent. You can taste the quality of the ingredients and the care that went into preparing them. I typically stick to the raw dishes for a change, but the cooked items are superb. Cru won’t disappoint you, but be careful for hidden honey.

Samosa House

We’ve had a hot and cold relationship with Samosa House in the past, but their inclusion on this list is proof positive that our earlier misgivings are all resolved. Located on the Western end of Culver City, Samosa House is an Indian vegetarian paradise. They not only serve the crispiest, tastiest samosas this side of Bangalore, but have a 20-item prepared food section that rotates regularly and is mostly vegan.

Vegetarian Dinner Combo at Samosa House

For only $7.99 you can fill up on rice, roti and three selections from the prepared food section, and occasionally there are some special extras like a burger or bhelpuri that’s been specially created by the chef. Although this is prepared food served at the back of a grocery store, don’t let that fool you, as the quality you’ll get meets or exceeds what most Indian restaurants in LA can offer, and for a fraction of the price.

One word of warning, the lines can get long at the counter, especially after 7pm so go early to avoid the rush. Your food will keep in the fridge for a couple of days, and heats up just fine in the microwave. Great food, great deal and some of the nicest people anywhere wait for you at Samosa House.

Follow Your Heart

It’s a pure coincidence that the last two entries on this list are both supermarkets as well as restaurants. You can fill up on groceries as well as yummy food on one visit, which is a good thing in my book, especially at Follow Your Heart, an amazing vegetarian oasis, established in 1970 in Canoga Park, which has LA’s premier (= only) vegetarian grocery store with a TON of vegan products (some of which can’t be purchased anywhere else). Not only that, it has a cosy restaurant and patio where some of LA’s finest vegan food is waiting for you.

Vegan Reuben with Cottage-Style Tofu at Follow Your Heart

Don’t miss the Reuben Sandwich (make sure you ask for extra 1,000 island dressing), as a human being has to try this out at least once in their life! There are many, many dishes with home made fake meats, and vegan entrees such as breakfast burritos, benedicts etc. Follow Your Heart does a SUPER job with the restaurant food and you pretty much can’t go wrong. If you’re averse to honey (hopefully you are, bees are cool), the buns have honey in them, so be sure to order your delicious burger on VEGAN bread.

i’m becoming obsessed with yalla truck. i was already convinced that the all vegetarian food truck made some of the best falafel sandwiches in town…and then they had to go and blow me away with the incredible firestarter, a “secret” menu item.

firestarter: falafel, red cabbage salad, pickled turnips, pepperonchini, onion salad, pickled carrots. dressed with shaata (chili paste and tahini) $4

now the firestarter isn’t completely secret, after all it is listed on yalla’s facebook page, but you won’t find it on the normal menu outside the truck. ask for it anyways though, and you won’t be sorry. the firestarter is the best sandwich i’ve eaten in ages, and even though i loved the andale at yalla, this spicy little pita has it beat.

it’s filled to the brim with tiny freshly-fried falafel balls, red cabbage salad, pickled turnips, pepperonchinis, onion salad, and pickled carrots…all tossed in an incredibly hot blend of chili paste and tahini. YEOW! this thing did start a fire in my mouth, and i am hooked! you can’t tell from the picture, but the sandwich was so full that ingredients were spilling out all over the place. i’m talking loads of crispy falafel and all kinds of marinated flavorful vegetables. plus it was SPICY. ahhhh i wish i had another one right now!

yalla truck!

if you like falafel, and you haven’t tried yalla truck yet, you need to hunt them down ASAP! follow them on twitter for their schedule and make it a point to hit them up. you will be sure to get one of the best falafel sandwiches you’ve ever eaten. make it the firestarter!

yalla is a new vegetarian food truck that has been roaming the streets of los angeles for a few months, and after trying their food yesterday, I AM SMITTEN. they specialize in “falafel fusion,” basically traditional falafel sandwiches with non-traditional ingredients. there’s no meat on the truck, and most of their ingredients are vegan…just be sure to specify when you order, and avoid the dairy sauces and feta cheese.

the ándale (southwestern) made vegan: falafel balls, green cabbage salad, corn, black beans, black olives, onion salad, tomato/cucumber salad, Pickled carrots. dressed w/ tahini sauce. $5

i went with the ándale, a southwestern-style sandwich made with falafel balls, green cabbage salad, black beans, corn, black olives, tomato cucumber salad, onion salad, and pickled carrots. this sandwich normally comes with a creamy chipotle sauce, but the dudes at yalla were happy to swap that out for tahini to make it vegan. this sandwich was nothing short of fantastic! the falafels were of the little fried variety, not the big fluffy kind, and they packed tons of flavor. the toppings were absolutely excellent—as you can see from the picture above, yalla does not skimp on ingredients. my sandwich was absolutely overflowing with fresh vegetables, beans, salads, and rich tahini sauce. i had to eat it with a fork! SO GOOD.

i honestly cannot WAIT to return to yalla and try out even more of their stuff. they have a menu posted on their facebook page that’s even bigger than the one posted outside the truck. i don’t know about you, but i’m dying to eat the “firestarter”—falafel, red cabbage salad, pickled turnips, pepperonchini, onion salad, and pickled carrots.

follow yalla on twitter for their whereabouts, and hit them up for some falafel as soon as you can. i was highly impressed with their food, and i think you will be too. and remember, specify that you want it made VEGAN.

maoz vegetarian is our favorite chain restaurant by far, so imagine how excited we were on our recent trip to new york to see that they’d opened a new location in times square. we hit up the new maoz, which is the most vegan-friendly one we’ve visited to date, on our way out of town right before heading to the airport. it was quite a wonderful send off.

maoz sandwich with hummus: falafel, hummus, and buffet salad bar! $5.70

in case you don’t already know, maoz is a tiny little falafel shop, and the menu is the same at locations across the globe. you basically get a sandwich or salad box with your choice of filling–falafel, hummus, etc. then you add as many toppings as you like from the enormous buffet-style salad bar. there are tons of vegan options, and at this maoz, every item in the salad bar was clearly marked as to whether it was vegan or vegetarian. i’ve never seen this labeling system at maoz before, but i love it! it took out all the guess work.

the seating is always cramped at maoz, with usually a few tables and maybe some stools lining the window. this maoz, however, had no seats inside! just a counter to stand at, and a bench outside the front door. that’s cool though, because eating this kind of food is super fast, and a counter is all you really need.

we each got the traditional maoz sandwich, which comes with a generous amount of falafel, and added hummus for an extra 75¢. we filled those up until they were overflowing with fried broccoli, cauliflower, corn, radishes, hot sauce, and creamy tahini. talk about delicious, stuffed, and colorful sandwiches. i so wish i could get something like this back home.

belgian fries. $3

we also tried the belgian fries for the first time, which were excellent. thickly cut, warm, and not too greasy. i stole some hot sauce and tahini from the salad bar to dip them in, which went down perfectly.

i am so happy to see new maoz restaurants popping up all over the place. i just really hope their next stop is somewhere in los angeles. don’t you think this kind of restaurant would do great on hollywood blvd, or maybe westwood, or downtown la? somewhere that gets a lot of foot traffic? come on maoz!! until then, i guess i will just have to keep eating maoz whenever i visit a city where they have a location. i hit them up loyally on every single trip to nyc and london. 🙂

maoz vegetarian
check website for locations

UPDATE: hummus king in thee valley has closed down, but they are offering catering and free delivery until they hopefully re-open in silverlake!

ever since we posted brittany’s glowing review of hummus king, an all vegetarian restaurant in valley village, we have been dying to go there. we finally made the trip this weekend, and i can safely say that it’s one of my new favorite spots.

the menu at hummus king is large, inexpensive, and almost entirely vegan (i think the only animal products at the restaurant are eggs as a topping). they’ve got several platters, salads, and sandwiches filled with your choice of homemade falafel, spiced vegan shwarama, and SEVEN different kinds of hummus to choose from. the second we walked in, a friendly fellow behind the counter started whipping out spoons filled with hummus, offering us a chance to try each flavor. they were all super tasty; i knew immediately that we were in for an awesome meal.

falafel platter: small hummus plate, eight falafel balls, two sides, two pitta breads, and a fountain drink. $9.95

we decided to share the falafel platter, which isn’t a platter at all, but rather several small plates of food. this would probably be enough to feed 2 people, or one VERY hungry person. our platter came with 8 falafel balls (a mix of normal and fire flavor), a side of salad, a side of shwarama, a side jalapeno hummus, 2 pieces of pita bread, and fountain drink.

lemme start by saying the falafel was FANTASTIC! some of the best i’ve ever had. super fluffy in the middle and crispy on the outside, yet not burnt to a crisp. it wasn’t overly oily, and it was perfectly seasoned. i highly recommend doing what we did and asking them to throw some “fire balls” (spicy falafel) into the mix, because those were even better than the normal falafel.

the side of shwarama that came with the falafel platter was huge, i couldn’t believe it was just a side when they brought it to our table. one bite of this stuff and i was in love—thinly sliced and super meaty, it was all mixed up with fantastic mediterranean spices and little bits of grilled onions. i’m definitely gonna work this shwarama into my order every time i go to hummus king.

the salad was very nice as well, light and refreshing with crispy cubes of cucumber, plump tomatoes, and shredded cabbage. it went great stuffed on top of the falafel in the warm pita bread.

the last component of the falafel platter, the small side of hummus, was probably my favorite thing on the table. there were so many flavors to choose from, but we went with jalapeno and were not disappointed. this was some of the creamiest, most flavorful hummus i’ve ever tasted and it was finished off with a chunky scoop of chickpeas and some spiced oil. TO DIE FOR. i honestly wanted to pick up the plate and face palm it.

the falafel platter was so good, i would highly recommend it! i mean just look at the four pictures above—all that food for under 10 bucks! and you can’t even see the pita bread!

vegetarian shwarama sandwich: pita bread with choice of hummus, filled with mediterranean spiced shwarama, chopped vegetable salad, green tahini and mango sauce. $6.95

oh, but that’s not all my friends. not knowing how epic the falafel platter would be, we also got a shwarama sandwich to share. this was a very generous portion of the same tasty fake meat described above, shoved into a soft pita picket with salad, hummus, and green tahini. i would order this hefty hand held meal again any time, it was wonderful! it was all the deliciousness of the shwarama, salad, and hummus i described above neatly tucked together in an easy to eat sandwich. if i were at hummus king on my own for lunch, this would be my go to meal. it’s the right size for one person without having any leftovers.

our first experience at hummus king was phenomenal, and just thinking about it makes me want to drive over there right now. the place is pretty basic on the inside (as you can see in the picture above), but the food is out of this world. plus, the service is friendly, the prices are low, and you can sample pretty much anything you want before you order. oh, and it’s kosher!

get over to the valley and show this vegetarian business some support! you will thank me later.

hummus king
12422 burbank blvd
valley village, ca 91607
818-509-7999
sunday – friday 10:30am-4:00pm

click here and here for the menu.

so during my recent trip to visit my parents, my mom, being this awesome mom she is, drove me 2 hours through the glades to have dinner at sublime. i’ve told you about it. BUT i didn’t tell you about how we spent some time earlier that day in miami. i’d never been and i wanted to experience south beach, so our dinner trip turned in to a day trip.

by the time we got to south beach we were both ready do jump out the window, having chugged water the entire drive over, & south beach is CROWDED and full of confusing one-way streets. my mom wanted to see where they shot the movie “birdcage” (don’t ask) so we navigated to the art deco district and found the first available parking spot. i then used my handy-dandy VegOut app on my iphone to find the nearest vegan-friendly food joint. we’d lucked out and parked about two blocks away from juice & java, so we quickly headed over.

ok, before i talk about the food, i must say the bathrooms were absolutely gross. GROSS. the womens’ room was backed up with paper towels and there was piss all over the seat, so i went in to the mens’ room which was surprisingly cleaner. although not much.

i was a bit skeptical at this point but the food areas seemed to be more clean and i was hungry. my mom and i skimmed the menu, which was huge. my mom squealed with delight when she saw they had seaweed salad. it went like this: “OOH! OOH! BRITTANY! THEY HAVE SEEEAWEEEEED SALAD!!!!!” so we had to get that.

seaweed salad: a rich source of calcium, zinc andiron. $4.95

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yeah, yeah, yeah…so i have already raved about sandwiches from north hollywood’s hy-mart deli on a couple of occasions, but that isn’t gonna stop me from doing it again.

i still can’t choose a favorite menu item, because every sandwich/wrap/creation i order from hy-mart is absolutely wonderful. here we have the shahkloot special (be sure to specify vegan, no cheese!):

shahkloot special (no cheese!): tabouleh, greek olives, cucumber, avocado, hummus, falafel, herbs and all the veggies. $6.95

at under 7 bucks, this is the perfect cheap and satisfying meal. but don’t take my word for it…go to the valley and see for yourselves.

check out this post for hy-mart’s vegetarian menu (which is pretty much all veganizable)!

hy-mart deli
4762 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91602
(818) 506-7264
Mon-Fri. 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Sat. 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Sun. 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

PS: hy-mart may not be open today, i dunno. i heard it was a bank holiday or something.

falafel and hummus pita sandwich $5

looking for a great vegan sandwich to shove in your face? look no farther than pita bar and grill on fairfax. for five bucks you can get a pita stuffed with falafel, hummus, and fresh vegetables drenched in tahini and hot sauce.

the restaurant also has a buffet-style salad bar that’s open to all customers, where you can fill up on as many marinated vegetables as you like.

though the pita bar and grill does serve meat, there is no dairy in the restaurant at all. so if you avoid the flesh and egg-based sauces, it’s pretty easy to eat vegan there. i suggest you go try out the falafel sandwich ASAP, and be sure to get your fill from the salad bar.

pita bar and grill
519 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 653-9024

whenever i travel to london, i always look forward to eating at maoz vegetarian. the concept of the restaurant is simple: a small shop that serves open pita sandwiches with base ingredients such as falafel and hummus, with a heaping salad bar full where customers can fill up on any toppings they want. fast food without all the dead animals…what a great idea!

my default meal is a pita with hummus and falafel, generously stuffed with the delicious salad bar options. their falafel is some of the best i’ve ever had, perfectly spiced and crispy, and they don’t skimp on it either! almost everything at maoz is vegan, and i always wind up a sandwich weighing about three pounds—overflowing with broccoli, cous cous, cauliflower and hot sauce. everything at the salad bar is crisp and freshly prepared…i really wish maoz would open up in los angeles, because i would be there everyday.

the only down side of maoz in london is, it can get pretty packed and hard to find a seat—and you don’t wanna be huddled under a roof in the rain, juggling an overflowing sandwich. luckily though, the line moves fast and the tables turn over pretty quickly, so my advice if the place is crowded would be to wait until a seat frees up. we’ve posted on maoz in london before, and since then they’ve re-arranged the shop a bit to make it more classy and fit in more seating. the falafel is still exactly the same though, so tasty that it haunts my dreams when i’m back home in los angeles.

luckily, london isn’t the only place you can enjoy maoz vegetarian. they have locations in paris, spain, amsterdam and nyc as well. and soon they will be opening a shop in san francisco! if you are reading this maoz, please open up in LA ASAP.

maoz
43, Old Compton St
London, UK, London W1D 6HG
020-78511586

“We don’t need to go looking for trouble, it comes looking for us…” – Oscar Wilde

Don’t you just hate it when you see something you like ripped off, and hard working people’s livelihoods threatened?

Back in 1991 two Israeli emgres, Nachman and Sima Milo, opened their very first Maoz restaurant in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. With a menu designed to be healthy, vegetarian, environmentally friendly, inexpensive and very tasty, the Milos quickly had a hit on their hands.

Now, Maoz has 22 restaurants globally. The outlets in London and Paris have a long line outside the door most days, and the Union Square outlet in Manhattan is often so crowded that it feels more like the subway station underneath than it does a modern eatery!

As we reported on Wednesday, we were delighted with the apparent opening of a Maoz franchise location here in LA called “Muma Vegetarian“. The similarity of menu, corporate branding, restaurant ambience and artwork implied to us that this was a Maoz location, only named differently because of its close proximity to Mao’s Kitchen, a popular (vegan-friendly) Chinese restaurant half a block away. Have a look for yourself and compare Muma’s menu with the menu from Maoz. Nearly identical.

Determined to see if there was a connection, we visited Muma again this weekend, posing as regular customers, and began to ask some questions. The conversation went something like this:

QG: “This place is great! Are you part of Maoz?”

Manager: “That’s the third time I’ve heard that today. Look, there are places like this on every corner in Israel, OK?”

QG: “We were wondering because this place is identical to Maoz, except for the name. Who owns the restaurant?”

Manager: “Err… it’s three people who own this restaurant.”

QG: “Would you be kind enough to give us contact details, we’d like to know if you’re part of Maoz and have plans for more openings?”

Manager: “I don’t know about Maoz, and what’s in it for me if I give you the ‘phone number of the owners?”

QG: “Well, there’s nothing in it for you personally, but I’m sure they’d like to talk to us about their future plans.”

Manager: “Why would I do that? Are you trying to sell me something?”

At that point the manager was getting very defensive and a little loud (he even stepped out from behind the counter and led us to a table where he sat down so that the conversation could not be heard by others in the restaurant). Fearing that he might ask us to leave, we said “OK, no problem – was just wondering if you were part of Maoz. That’s all.”.

Shortly after, we noticed the manager in the back room. He was glaring at us through a window in the door while engaged in an animated ‘phone call – we guessed it was with one of the three owners. Just as we were finishing up our meal he came from around the back of the counter and gave us a portion of pumpkin hummus and warm pita bread. He said: “Please accept this on the house. We make it here and call it Smashing Pumpkins.”. We wolfed down a few bites and left the restaurant right away.

As soon as we got home, we posted THIS COMMENT on the original post, and sent an email to Maoz corporate in NYC to enquire about the legitimacy of this outlet. Our comment sparked a few more in the same vain, and then this morning, we received the following response from the COO of Maoz USA:

“Thank you for your email. We have nothing to do with this restaurant. I was shocked to read your review and to find out that someone took advantage and copied the Maoz Vegetarian concept. By leveraging our brand values and look and feel they are creating confusion with our chain.”

We were, frankly shocked as well. Muma appears to be shamelessly copying Maoz in great detail.

Almost identical menus at Maoz Vegetarian & Muma Vegetarian

From the look and feel of the food down to near-pixel perfect copies of their menu items, artwork and corporate identity.

Menu artwork is almost identical at Muma Vegetarian & Maoz Vegetarian

While we were originally impressed with the food, we wonder why anybody would want to eat at a restaurant owned by people with such a lack of integrity that they would brazenly steal another company’s entire identity. If they are that shameless, we’re sure the quality of the food is also suspect.

The Maoz Falafel vs The Muma Falafel

Until Maoz deal with Muma (and we’re sure that there are plenty of intellectual property issues here that I’m sure lawyers would love to get their hands on), we’d advise potential customers to stay away. After all, we can’t support such acts now, can we?

muma vegetarian
7275 melrose avenue
los angeles, ca 90046
323-936-7697

what’s better than a happy hour with $3 beers and $5 martinis? a happy hour with all that, plus a vegan menu, that’s what! desert rose, the upscale bar/restaurant in los feliz has introduced a separate animal-free menu with everything from bar snacks to pasta & sandwiches…and even cruzer pizzas with daiya cheese. they’ve even veganized the drinks at the bar, adding organic martinis and cocktails sweetened with agave.

finally a bar in los angeles with a full separate vegan menu, i can’t tell you how excited i am. check out the new menu and all the food they are offering here. i am making it my mission to try it all, and so far i’m doing pretty well. these are the things i’ve tasted so far…

Garlic “Cheese” Fries $7

the vegan garlic cheese fries at desert rose are absolutely phenomenal. perfectly cooked, they come topped with melted daiya cheese. these fries make for a great bar snack, and taste just like the cheesy garlic fries i remember eating as a vegetarian.

i can also highly recommend the portabello and cheese panini, epic sandwich success!

Portobello Mushroom & “Cheese” Panini with choice of French Fries, Sweet Potato Fries, Mixed Green Salad or Fresh Fruit $14

it also comes with melted daiya cheese and a thick fresh slab of tasty marinated portobello. the bread they serve it on is exceptional, crispy on the outside, soft in the middle, and packed with flavor. i had to double check that it was vegan, it tasted so damn good.

they also whip up a mean house made hummus that comes topped with a kalamata olive and drizzled with olive oil. i know hummus sounds pretty standard, but desert rose does it right. thick, just the right amount of oil, and a really rich flavor.

Housemade Hummus with Pita Bread $5

the sweet potato fries are also top notch and the serving portion is pretty huge. for you vegans who love sweet potato fries, i can tell you that these are some of the best in town.

Sweet Potato Fries $5

they have salads as well, including a garbanzo and edamame salad topped with crispy tofu. i only had a few bites of this thing because it was full of bell peppers (which i hate), and other than the red demons it was pretty damn good…especially the fried tofu on top.

Garbanzo & Edamame Salad with Mixed Greens, Tomatoes & Crispy Tofu with a Sherry-Walnut Vinaigrette $6/$9

while the portobello panini is definitely my favorite at desert rose, the falafel sandwich is awesome as well. huge, soft green falafel balls all rolled up in soft pita with with fresh vegetables and creamylicious tahini.

Falafel Sandwich with choice of French Fries, Sweet Potato Fries, Mixed Green Salad or Fresh Fruit $7

when i was at desert rose, the chef offered to make me a sandwich that wasn’t on the menu, a mediterranean vegetable wrap with melted daiya cheese. oh my, it was delicious. i think you could add melted daiya to anything and it would drastically improve it, because it took this vegetable wrap from damn good to fucking incredible. even though it’s not on the menu, i’m sure if you ask for it, they would be happy to whip this up for you.

Vegetable Wrap with Daiya Cheese

and in addition to all the mouth-watering food pictured above, desert rose also offers 7 different vegan pizzas topped with daiya cheese from cruzer next door. now you can enjoy a delicious cruzer pie with a bottle of wine in a scenic setting.

if you haven’t been to desert rose already, you should get over there stat. it’s a great bar in its own right, and now they have added a bunch of vegan options that are available all day (not just during happy hour). there’s really nowhere like it in los angeles. this is definitely my new spot for drinking and eating good food.

desert rose
1700 Hillhurst Ave
Los Feliz, CA 90027
(323) 666-1166

oh, and one more thing: desert rose’s vegan menu is all thanks to farm sanctuary’s vegan outreach program. i could not be more grateful.