almost any los angeles vegan knows that a taste of life is the best place to get vegan soul food. delicious, quick, rich junk food on the cheap has given the tiny 100% vegan restaurant an incredible reputation amongst herbivores and omnivores alike. it’s a place where we can get shit like macaroni and cheese, black eyed peas, greasy kale…all with that home cooked taste…all without animal products.

a taste of life has a farmers market stand set up every sunday in hollywood, as well as a newish store front on fountain and vermont. i’ve eaten there several times and can say that the food is all fucking fabulous.

the last few times i’ve gone, a taste of life has had this menu out on the counter, but after talking to the dude who works there, i found out they offer tons of stuff that wasn’t even printed on the menu. 4 different kinds of burgers, pot roast, breaded pot roast, gyro meat and so much more. since then, a taste of life has revamped its website and added some of the secret items, but they still aren’t all on there. i suggest you call and ask what about their options. there is so much stuff i am dying to try.

a tasted of life lentil burger $5

we tried out the lentil burger and it was awesome. it stands right up there with all the best vegan burgers in town, and makes for a great option if you want some greasy tasting junk food.

we also tried the pot roast, which isn’t on the menu, and it was some of the best wheat meat i’ve ever had.

a taste of life pot roast. incredible!

when i raved about the pot roast to the guy working there, he told me they also do a fried breaded version of it, and he gave me a free sample. this was so ridiculously good, although eating an entire portion of it would probably kill me.

a taste of life fried pot roast. mmmm.

they can also make you a side of gyro meat, which is similar to the pot roast but not quite the same. i suggest you try both and decide what you like best…they are both tasty as can be.

a taste of life gyro meat

for those of you who don’t like fake meat, a taste of life has several options to please you. grab a dinner combination with mac n cheese, black-eyed peas, kale and bbq tofu. the mac n cheese is known to be the best vegan mac in los angeles, i mean even whole foods stocks it…it’s that damn good.

mac n cheese, black-eyed peas, kale and bbq tofu

they’ve also got like a million soups, and even some of those aren’t on the menu! on my last visit i got some chicken noodle and loved it.

a taste of life chicken noodle soup.

there is seriously so much to choose from at a taste of life, and so many secret menu items, i doubt i could ever try all the food they have to offer. plus the dishes are all so decadent and ridiculously delicious…now when i go there i have a really hard time trying new stuff, because the old stuff is all so good! oh, why do you do this to me, a taste of life?! …and i haven’t even tried their shakes or raw items yet!

if you haven’t been to a taste of life, you sure are missing out.

a taste of life
4718 fountain avenue #D (upstairs)
los angeles ca 90029
323-669-0784

closed monday
9am-10pm tues-thurs
9am-2am fri-sun

if you are a vegan in los angeles, you may already be aware of the depressing fact that doomie’s home cookin’ (one of our favorite restaurants ever) has closed its doors. they are currently looking for a new place to set up shop, but for now doomie’s is no more. you still have one last chance to eat doomie’s food though, you can head over to silver lake tomorrow and pay ten bucks for an epic all-you-can-eat vegan feast.

2 flavors of doomie's vegan mac n cheese!

doomie’s is throwing two parties this weekend, both all-you-can-eat buffets to get rid of their perishable food, and to remind the vegan community what a kick ass restaurant they were. i attended the shindig today in south gate, and it was fucking amazing. i implore you to go check them out on the eastside tomorrow, this could be your last chance to eat the genius vegan food that is doomie’s.

doomie's home cookin', squatting in the m-vision graphics warehouse in south gate.

we drove all the way from hollywood to get our doomie’s fix and arrived in south gate at around 3:30pm. by the time we got there, the place was already buzzin’ with vegan hipsters carrying patch-covered backpacks and strange old hippie types with animal rights slogans printed on their t-shirts. there was a box for payment, ten bucks a head, sitting on the table and everyone was on the honor system to kick down some cash and hopefully a donation towards the reopening fund. doomie was standing behind a long table, cooking dish after dish, adding more and more food to the buffet table as people lined up pile their plates high with vegan goodness.

the doomie crew serving it up!

hungry vegans!

everything on the table was flat-out delicious, and even as we were leaving, doomie was cooking up more recipes. i looked around the warehouse and almost everyone was holding an empty plate, patting their stuffed bellies, and still eyeing up the trays of food. people who had never tried doomie’s found a reason to be depressed like the rest of us; the food is just so fucking good, and it’s a shame it won’t be available anymore.

spicy gumbo, herbed macaroni and cheese, delicious pot roast

the husband and i tried to sample a bit of everything, and i think we left about ten pounds heavier. pictured above are the spicy seafood gumbo, a new type of herbed mac n cheese, as well as a hearty pot roast. all of it was very tasty, but the pot roast was out of this world. seriously, the fake meat was all thick and succulent, the gravy was rich and salty, and the vegetables were chunky and and soft. pot roast may sound kind of standard or boring, but this was some of the best food i’ve ever eaten. and i’ve eaten a lot of food, man!

i also finally got to try doomie’s standard mac n cheese, and OMFG i LOVED it!

mac n cheese with salad.

this was some of the best vegan mac i’ve ever had. this could take the pepsi challenge with any other vegan mac n cheese shit, any day of the fuckin’ week. what the hell does doomie put in his cheese sauce? it was so thick and creamy, and tasted like REAL cheese in a really creepy and exciting way. i could have eaten like 5 helpings…but with all that food there, i had pace myself. the salad was also damn good.

doomie's burger, piled high with bacon and slathered with cheese.

in between cooking amazing mac n cheese and quite possibly the best pot roast ever, doomie was taking special burger orders as well. the husband and i split a cheesy bacon burger and it was INSANE. they had chili burgers as well, but we skipped those because of the mess factor. regardless, our burger was awesome—from the perfectly grilled patty, to the crispy rashers of bacon, to the runny cheese sauce. i am so glad we got to try it. the crowd was super pleased as well, everyone i saw with burgers shoved in their mouths were chewing and smiling at the same time.

frito pie! fritos smothered with chili and cheese.

lastly, we helped ourselves to a serving of frito pie. it was basically chili cheese nachos with fritos instead of tortilla chips. talk about guilty pleasure. i don’t even want to think of what went into this dish…all i know is that it didn’t contain any dead animal body parts, and it tasted incredible. again, the cheese sauce was killer…it tasted just like that sketchy but tasty runny stuff that comes out of a pump and covers nachos at the movie theater or the baseball stadium. sinfully authentic vegan food. i love it.

that’s it. i tried, but i couldn’t eat anymore. as we were leaving, doomie was well into cooking some mashed potatoes and asked someone, “hey, where are the pie crusts?” we took that as our cue to run for the door. dude, too much good food! and whatever the heck involved mashed potatoes and pie crusts, well, i’m sure that was great too.

so go, go, go, GO to silver lake tomorrow and eat what doomie has to offer. who knows, this may be your last chance. i can tell you, you will definitely get your ten bucks worth and probably eat some of the best vegan food you’ve ever tried. go there, eat lots, and tip well. you and doomie both deserve it.

R.I.P. DOOMIE’S HOME COOKIN’ (at least for now). let’s hope doomie’s reopens again very soon. here’s to arguably the best restaurant ever to serve up affordable and tasty vegan food in los angeles. it’s an outright crime that they were only open for 3 short months.

for all of you who want to reminisce, click here. and here.