i have driven by grassroots in south pasadena many times barely noticing it and passing it on by. well, i’m here to confess how foolish that was! grassroots is a small market and wonderful kitchen filled with healthy, organic, and vegan options in their store as well as a prepared food section. i was so hungry i walked straight up to the line for prepared food which was about 6-7 people deep. while i waited in the line that moved quicker than i anticipated (about 5 min) i glanced around and saw vegan mock meats, vegan desserts, and kombucha galore! waiting in line also gave me the much needed time to decide what to order. they had wraps, tacos, salads, burritos and, (as QG will be happy to hear) BOWLS!

vegan beef bowl

for my meal i went with the vegan beef bowl ($9.99) and it was A-MAZING!
the food line at grassroots looks like that of a subway sandwich shop. you place your order and watch them put all the ingredients together in front of you while you confirm that they include only ingredients you like.

Read the rest of this entry »

friends and readers, i’ve found a vegan paradise in altadena and it’s very aptly named oh happy days. the tiny hole in the wall establishment acts as both a vegetarian market and an entirely vegan cafe, and offers up incredible food at unbeatable prices, not to mention friendly service. it’s a bit of a hippie hang out and the fare is super healthy (no fake cheese here!), so it may not be everybody’s cuppa tea…all i know is, it’s now one of my favorite restaurants and i can’t wait to go back.

the "yummie yam"

i was first alerted to oh happy days on twitter of all places (if you have any vegan tips, @reply me!) when i saw a tweet that called it “the best vegan restaurant in LA” and mentioned that they had soul food for $6 per plate. we wasted no time and headed over on saturday for lunch and were absolutely blown away by the awesomeness. the super small market is easy to miss if you don’t know what you’re looking for—we almost walked right by it!

Read the rest of this entry »

we have been waiting for awhile, and the day is finally here! kindkreme, LA’s dairy-free ice cream parlor, is opening a second location in pasadena this weekend!

i got a chance to scope out the new digs, and this place is even bigger and better than the original. here are some pix and things you can look forward to at the grand opening on february 5th…

Read the rest of this entry »

holy shit guys, the vegan pizza revolution is underway! the other day i was getting ready for vegan pizza day and browsing their website for pizzerias that sell vegan pie. i coudn’t believe my eyes when i clicked on the valencia tab and saw that red brick pizza (the huge chain) is now offering daiya.

please note: this is not a red brick pizza, it's a daiya publicity photo

in disbelief, i picked up the phone and called the red brick pizza on copper hill in santa clarita. sure enough the dude on the phone confirmed that they had just started carrying daiya, and that both the standard crust and sauce were vegan. i hung up and called the pasadena location. they had daiya as well. i hung up and called the long beach location. they were out of daiya, but would be getting more soon.

Read the rest of this entry »

hey everyone, it’s time for another vegan field report/guest post! this time it comes from just around the corner in pasadena, by @ifitkillsjeff! enjoy, it’s a good one:

Occasionally I enjoy revisiting the 90’s; roller blades, hammer pants, grunge music, and Forrest Gump. A time I do not enjoy revisiting the 90’s is when it comes to vegan food. I feel that vegan dining has made so much progression in the past decade that the meal should not remind me of the vegan friendly places I visited in the late 90’s. My Vegan offers rice or noodle dishes with soy chicken, soy pepper steak, soy fish, seitan, or tofu. Sound familiar? Don’t we already have enough of these places in the Los Angeles area? They also have burgers, wraps, salads, curries, pancakes, and desserts.

teriyaki chicken: grilled soy chicken or topped with house teriyaki sauce, sesame seeds andand sprinkled with a touch of scallion. served with spring roll, salad, and brown rice. $7.95

Read the rest of this entry »