yep! we’re still on tour with the band silver snakes, and today they’re hitting the vegan capital of america: portand, oregon. here’s what they’ve eaten so far, as texted to me by band member alex.

Sizzle Pie in Portland

Sizzle pie. Portland, OR. Special veggie slice of the day and “half” a slice of the “spinal tap” (no cheese, carmelized onion spread and nutritional yeast) the crust is amazing. Super glad we checked this place out!

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there’s an old 80’s pop song that says heaven is a place on earth—and if that’s the truth, then it must be referring to portland. the city is a sylvan paradise with more vegan restaurants than i could eat at in a lifetime, and a brewery on almost every corner.

the food options are so plentiful, they can actually be a bit overwhelming…so trust me on this one: all vegans visiting portland must eat at homegrown smoker.

the small vegan soul food cart in the university district keeps limited lunch hours, but it’s worth planning your trip around. the menu is massive (click here to peep it) with all kinds of crazy creations like a mac and cheese burrito, chili cheese fries, and smoked “loafaroni”.

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last night a large group of animal lovers gathered under the stars in coldwater canyon for a screening of bold native, the first fictional film about the ALF.

it was a fantastic evening for many reasons: friends, nature, entertainment, activism….but this is a vegan food blog, so of course i’m here to tell you mainly about how delicious dinner was, thanks to the frankenstand….

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the franken stand! 100% plant-based gourmet franks!

whatever you are doing on thursday night, you should drop it and head over to the little bar at 8pm for the LA vegan drinks halloween meetup. and since this is a spooky themed event, who better to provide the food than our favorite food cart ever, THE FRANKENSTAND!

it’s been a while since i first reviewed the frankenstand on this site, and since then the 100% plant-based hot dog cart has become a staple of the los angeles vegan scene. if you haven’t had a chance to try their gourmet steamed franks yet, than this is definitely your chance. just take a look at the vegan beauties they have to offer…

the franken: this classic sausage will make you feel alive! with a monster blend of sun dried tomatoes and basil giving it a slightly sweet taste. $5

the wolf: this is a zesty frank you'll love to wolf down. packed with a fangtastic, chipotle pepper flavor! $3

the witch: how's your hex life? let this big sausage put its spell on you! made with real tofu and micro-brewed with full sail ale! $4

and there’s not just gonna be great food at the little bar on thursday, but also plenty of beer and LA vegans. unfortunately, the bar is for ages 21 and up only…but youngsters can come get their hot dog on in the street outside with the frankenstand.

here is the official meetup.com invite:

Get excited about the first Vegan Drinks HALLOWEEN PARTY!!!

Catering provided by the FRANKENSTAND. If you haven’t tried these delectable steamed Frighteningly Delicious Vegan Hot Dogs you have not lived! Read reviews here on Quarrygirl.com or visit The Frankenstand’s Myspace page.

This is a costume party! Costumes are not required, but the first 2 dozen attendees to come in costume will get a special vegan treat!

In addition, Little Bar is timing a Fat Tire (Vegan Friendly Beer Co) promotion for our party to promote the new Hoptober Holiday Brew. With each Hoptober you order you get to keep the promotional glass.

I know Thursday is a work night, but its a great chance to get the most out of your Halloween Costume this year and mix and mingle with the best vegan crowd on the planet!

There is no charge for the event, but we request you observe a one drink minimum (alcohol or non alcohol) out of appreciation for Little Bar for hosting us and consume as many FrankenStand Vegan Hot Dogs as possible along with me to support a rock’n Vegan Business who’s presence makes it a Vegan Halloween Party to remember.

so who is coming?! this sounds like a load of fun.

P.S. if you miss thursday night, you can also catch the frankenstand at cinefamily on october 31 starting at 8pm. for more frankenstand updates, check out their myspace and twitter.

it seems like everyone is jumping on the twittering taco truck/food cart craze here in los angeles, and the border grill is the most recent restaurant to join the trend. one glance at the truck’s menu filled with things like pork, beef, fish & cheese, and there doesn’t appear to be much for us vegans to eat. however, luckily for me brittany from the vegan blog sick of lettuce got wind of some vegan offerings at the border grill truck, and invited me along to check them out.

we went to the melrose trading post, where the truck camps out every other sunday and brittany kindly paid our $2 per person admission into the flea market. as you can see, we were VERY curious about the border grill’s vegan options, enough to pay a premium just to get close to the truck. (thanks, britt).

it turned out that the only real vegan item on the menu (other than rice, beans and guacamole), was a vegetarian item that had to be modified: the avocado taco. the girl working at the truck was pretty knowledgeable and accommodating and said she could prepare the taco vegan by cooking the avocado separately and omitting the dairy from the corn relish. awesome. what we ended up with were tacos filled with avocado, quinoa, black sesame seeds, chipotle salsa, corn relish and pickled onion.

avocado tacos (VEGANIZED!): chipotle salsa, corn relish, pickled onion, quinoa and avocado.

i’m really glad i went and checked this place out, because the tacos were uniquely delicious. i don’t think i’ve ever had a quinoa stuffed taco before, and certainly not topped off with pickled onion. you can tell a lot of thought went into making this taco different, and combining unusual flavors. it all worked really well together. i also got a side of rice, black beans and guacamole (yeah, we checked all of it was vegan) to round out the experience, and everything tasted great.

so if you happen to be around town and see the border grill truck, stop by and get a vegan avocado taco. just be sure to specify you want the taco to be made vegan, because under normal circumstances, it’s just vegetarian. and another heads up, avoid the cumin fries at this place, they are cooked in the same fryer as the fish. ew.

follow the border grill truck on twitter for more info.
and you can check out brittany’s review of the tacos here.

stop eating animals…and start eating vegan sausages!

franken’s, the only vegan food cart in los angeles, will be out in full force this weekend selling vegan hot dogs on saturday at the apartment 3 vintage yard sale in hollywood. drop whatever you are doing and get out there between 1 and 6pm—there will be shopping, djs, beer and most importantly, 100% plant-based franks from the frankenstand! whooooooooosh! don’t miss it!

if you’ve never tried franken’s before, you are in for a real treat. we are big fans of the frankenstand here at quarrygirl.com, and we just can’t get enough of of their gourmet franks! show up hungry, that way you can try both the witch and the franken!

yo yo yo los angeles vegans, if you are in town tonight, be sure to hit up the frankenstand! the all-vegan hot dog cart is one of our favorite places to eat, and they will be out in full force this evening from 5:30pm for vegan drinks at the little bar!

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let’s just set the record straight on what us vegans can eat at the kogi truck…because the information presently available is confusing to say the least. here goes!

if you live in los angeles, i’m sure you’ve heard of the latest food craze to sweep the city…the kogi bbq truck. kogi serves up korean/mexican fusion food on the cheap with a menu full of tacos, burritos, and daily specials. the little truck has gotten so popular in just a few months, that it has been known to draw crowds of hundreds and even run out of food. i have been wanting to try their tofu tacos since forever…so imagine my excitement when i saw on vegguide.org that they were in fact vegan.

kogi truck roja!

i ate the tacos and pretty much raved about them in a review i posted this morning. my party was ruined, however, when a very informed commenter named louise left the following in reply to my post:

Sorry to break it to you, but you just ate a mouthful of pork fat. The tortillas Kogi uses have manteca (lard) in them. That’s one reason why the BF (vegan) never eats their regular tacos. The only vegan one they have is the one wrapped in shiso leaf.

um…so the tofu tacos aren’t even vegetarian? that can’t be right. i messaged the kogi truck (who knew about my blog post) via twitter telling them i found out that there was in fact lard in the tortillas. they immediately replied, “U are mistaken. Im the roja manager steve. Come take a look anytime. We use canola oil” and i was like, “are you sure there’s no lard in them?” and he said, “yes.”

to follow up on the matter, we emailed the chef and told him we’d been hearing conflicting stories about the lard, and that the truck manager was saying the tacos were vegan friendly. it’s then that we got the sad, sad news from the kogi’s very own chef roy:

our tortilla itself contains hints of Manteca although we use canola oil…but we have a vegan taco with sesame leaf as the “tortilla”

alright dude, thanks for being honest. but that’s fucking so nasty that i ate something containing “hints of lard”. almost immediately after i received that email, the kogi twitter account deleted its tweets saying that the tortillas contained no lard, and sent me a direct message via twitter:

aLL the homemade corn tortiLLas are made with a touch of Manteca. The fLour tortiLLas aren’t. Hey! You can order an eggLess burrito! ^__^ (and cheeseless)

so that settles it. what a shame. those delicious fluffy tofu tacos topped with sesame-chili salsa, romaine lettuce and cabbage tossed in korean chilli-soy vinaigrette, and cilantro-green onion-lime relish were wrapped in a tortilla contaminated with piggy fatz. as louise put it in an email to me, “It’s kind of stupid that they don’t make it a point to tell you. I don’t see the point of a tofu taco if it’s wrapped in lard. The tofu taco would have been a great option for vegetarians, but now it’s just, ‘Haha, just kidding guys. No tacos for you.'”

sad tacos. they taste so good and vegan in the middle, but are wrapped in lard. 🙁 🙁 🙁

so to take something good from this situation, at least we now know kogi does have some stuff that is vegan-friendly. i will definitely return to check out their lettuce-wrapped tofu taco, as well as their tofu burrito…minus eggs, cheese, and anything else unvegan.

for those of you vegans who aren’t phased and want to give this inventive cuisine a try…but don’t feel like queuing up and want to drink alcohol while you eat your korean/mex, kogi has taken over the kitchen at the alibi room in culver city monday-saturday from 6pm to midnite. their vegan stuff is available there as well, and if you call in advance, they say they can whip you up some extra vegan specialties.

in fact, lex over at vegan-la has talked to the chef and even arranged a “vegan drinks” session with alcohol and loads of kogi food at the alibi on march 28th. for more info on that, check out the vegan drinks site.

the way kogi seasoned their tofu tacos was nothing short of incredible…they truly blend flavors to create a really unique and delicious taste. i’m willing to bury the hatchet and try something that i know is vegan for sure, from the chef’s mouth.

for up to date times and locations of the kogi trucks, and for just some all around entertainment, follow kogibbq on twitter. also check out their website for more info.

hit up kogi when you can, and get there early to avoid the lines! i know i will be back. just don’t eat any fucking corn tortillas!! YUCK. oh, and don’t believe everything you read on vegguide or on twitter.

even with all the awesome vegan food options in los angeles, i think it’s safe to say none of it is quite as fun or interesting as the stuff from franken’s, a 100% vegan spooky-themed hot dog stand that travels around the city feeding hungry people outside venues like the smell and pehrspace.

the franken stand! 100% plant-based gourmet franks!

i started following franken’s on myspace, and i can’t tell you how stoked i was when i read their description of the franken stand:

We Heard Your Cries For Tasty Food At Those Late Night Shows! Franken’s Offers Gourmet Franks Fresh Off Our Franken-Stand! They Are 100% Plant-Based And Frightening Delicious! Dress Them With Your Choice Of Trimmings. We Carry Vegenaise, Hot Sauce, BBQ, Mustards, Ketchup, Kraut, Relish, Peppers, Onions, And More… Wash It All Down With A Selection From Our Wide-Variety Of Healthy & Savory Sodas!

in a city full of hipsters chasing taco trucks and rogue hot dog vendors, it’s nice to see a vegan stand has sprung up and thrown itself into the mix. i friended franken’s on myspace to track their location, and was so excited to see they were scheduled to set up in echo park right outside pehrspace for a dance party called hungry beat last sunday night. we hauled ass all the way from hollywood to the east side at 9pm just to get a taste of the delicious franks.

we arrived early (at least for this crowd, it was early!) at around 9:30pm and navigated our way down the dark glendale boulevard, looking for the franken stand. we heard some music bumping from the glen village shopping center, and wandered in to find a hidden oasis of veganism. the franken stand was set up proudly, affixed with flashing LED lights and colorful drawings of monsters. two very friendly people stood behind it, a man and a woman; the man neatly dressed in an old-school conductor hat and stripey shirt. they welcomed us to the stand and explained that everything was plant-based—no meat, no dairy, no eggs—and that we could choose our flavor of hot dog, then pile on as many toppings and sauces as we desired. on the counter there was an impeccably clean tray of chopped fresh vegetables, from pickles to jalapenos to onions, and a carousel of neatly labeled sauces, from mustard and ketchup to vegenaise and cilantro cream. i knew we’d found something really special.

we ordered two hot dogs, the witch and the franken (all the franks have fun, spooky names and descriptions), and piled them high with toppings and sauces from the cart. we found a nearby newspaper stand under a streetlamp on glendale boulevard and tore into our franks like hungry vultures. as you can see, one hot dog didn’t even survive without a bite long enough to be photographed.

the witch and the franken.

the witch tofu dog with full sail ale was definitely my favorite. it had a distinct microw-brew taste and a really thick texture. piled high with fresh onions and slathered in hot sauce and cilantro cream, it was in-fucking-credible.

the witch: how's your hex life? let this big sausage put its spell on you! made with real tofu and micro-brewed with full sail ale! $4

the franken was also awesome. it was thicker than the witch, and stuffed with tons of sun dried tomatoes, giving it a distinctively sweet taste. covered in hot sauce, mustard, onion, and fresh jalapeno…this sweet frank was suddenly transformed into being really spicy as well!

the franken: this classic sausage will make you feel, ALIVE! with monster blend of sun dried tomatoes and basil giving it a slightly sweet taste. frighteningly delicious! $4

both dogs were flawless and scrumptious beyond belief. franken’s ain’t lying when they brag that they offer “gourmet franks”, it’s true! i don’t know where they get them from, but the franks were so tasty and well-crafted…plus, i can’t even stress how fine and fresh all the toppings were. the franken stand is doing it right—offering high-quality, cheap, vegan food to hungry late-night party-ers.

i am so impressed with franken’s in fact, i have decided to be a hot dog rat and chase the franken stand from venue to venue, eating it whenever i can. as of now, their next appearance will be in canoga park at the threat fest on february 20th. hopefully i will see you there, and be sure to follow franken’s on myspace for all their upcoming dates. as soon as you can, i highly suggest you make the drive out to eat franken’s, and come very hungry so you can try as many different franks as possible!

UPDATE! franken’s now has a twitter account! follow them for their location at twitter.com/TheFrankenStand! thanks to commenter foodeater for pointing this out.

find franken's and EAT IT UP. you won't be sorry!