• June 25th, 2009quarrygirlLA restaurants, swingers

    UPDATE 4/25/2011: DON’T EAT AT SWINGER’S. they put lard in “vegan” items.

    i know in los angeles we have loads of vegan-friendly restaurants, but sometimes it can still be really hard to find a vegan meal. for instance, after a late night at 2am or early in the morning at 7am…it’s sad, but none of the favorite spots are gonna be open at those hours. rest assured to know when other restaurants are closed, you can always turn to swingers—the all american diner has plenty of vegan options, is open 21.5 hours daily, and has 2 locations (one in santa monica and one near weho). they also serve booze and offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner all day long.

    recently my husband and i found ourselves stranded and hungry at 6:45am, and luckily swingers on beverly came to the rescue.

    vegan soyrizo scramble: organic tofu scrambled with soyrizo, served with black beans, salsa, and your choice of tortilla. $7.95

    vegan soyrizo scramble: organic tofu scrambled with soyrizo, served with black beans, salsa, and your choice of tortilla. $7.95

    i’m a big fan of the breakfasts at swingers, and they have loads vegan-friendly choices that are clearly marked on the menu. from tofu rancheros, to vegan nachos, to a vegan breakfast burrito there are more than enough options. on our most recent visit, i went with the veganized soyrizo scramble, with organic tofu rather than eggs.

    i must say that this scramble was exceptional. they mixed the fake meat and tofu all together thoroughly and the fried it on the bottom so it had a really “scrambled eggy” texture, but with none of the gross egg taste. the plate came with a mound of black beans, fresh chunky salsa, and a huge fluffy flour tortilla…damn good value for under $8.

    swingers-soyrizo-scramble-cu

    despite the fact that it was earlier than 7am, my husband wasn’t in the mood for breakfast, so he went with the swingers salad. on it’s own the salad is pretty simple, but for an extra $2.50, you can add some damn fine sauteed tofu. i wouldn’t call this salad amazing or anything, but it’s good, it’s vegan, and it’s available to eat at 6:30am.

    swingers salad with tofu: organic mixed baby greens, tomatoes and carrots with choice of dressing and sauteed tofu. $9

    swingers salad with tofu: organic mixed baby greens, tomatoes and carrots with choice of dressing and sauteed tofu. $9

    so there you have it. when other places aren’t open and you are craving some vegan grub, swingers will always save the day. sometimes the service can be hit or miss, but i’ve always left with a belly full of decent food.

    swingers
    8020 Beverly Boulevard
    Los Angeles, CA 90048
    (323) 653-5858
    6:30 a.m. – 4:00 a.m.

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  • April 15th, 2009quarrygirlLA restaurants, malo

    every monday, malo in silverlake serves $1 tacos all night and offers three different vegan options! i first read about the vegan-friendly taco nights on LAist about 6 months ago, and i don’t know why it took me so long to get my ass over there. i was really missing out!

    soyrizo soft tacos w/ onion and cilantro, hard shell eggplant & potato taco w/ guacamole (no sour cream) $1 each

    soyrizo soft tacos w/ onion and cilantro, hard shell eggplant & potato taco w/ guacamole (no sour cream) $1 each

    i finally hit up malo on monday and was happy to see that of the 5 $1 taco options, 2 were already vegan and 1 could be made vegan by omitting sour cream. the vegan selections included a hard shell eggplant and potato taco with guacamole (hold the sour cream), a grilled and marinated vegetable soft taco, and a soyrizo soft taco with onions and cilantro. you can check out the menu here. i skipped the vegetable taco because it came full of bell peppers (which i hate) and went for 2 soyrizos and 1 potato and eggplant. seriously, i don’t think i’ve ever eaten so well for 3 bucks!

    the hard shell potato & eggplant was beyond delicious. it came rolled up in a fried shell with squishy warm insides and a dollop of creamy guacamole (malo’s guac is AMAZING). the soyrizo tacos were a little lighter and just as awesome. spicy fake meat topped off with crispy onions and fresh cilantro. i love the way they cook up the soyrizo at malo, it was super hot and bright orange…someone definitely has some skillz back there in the kitchen. the whole plate came with a radish garnish and extremely tasty hot sauce. damn good all the way around.

    so vegans, i implore you to head to malo on a monday for $1 taco night as soon as you get a chance. don’t do what i did and wait around for 6 months. it’s a recession, people. take advantage of this shit.

    malo-sign

    malo
    4326 W Sunset Blvd.
    Los Angeles CA 90029
    (323) 664-1011

    $1 taco night! mondays 5pm-10pm

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  • September 11th, 2008quarrygirlhugo's tacos, LA restaurants

    well, i didn’t actually order a taco, but hugo’s tacos in the valley definitely scratched my mexican food itch. god, so good and so vegan…what a great place to intersect. this creative yet wonderfully traditional mex left me wanting more. string beans, white beans and zucchini all seemed a little out of my comfort zone, but when they came rolled up with some guacamole goop on seasoned rice or in a huge, thin white tortilla, i definitely remembered i was at a taco stand. superb.

    the food withstood the car ride home and was so much tastier than it looks.

    burrito: flour tortilla with spanish rice, white beans, choice of filling, choice of salsa, onion & cilantro. $5.95

    burrito: flour tortilla with spanish rice, white beans, choice of filling, choice of salsa, onion & cilantro. $5.95

    it’s so hard to take a picture of a taco stand burrito. you don’t want to cut it in half because it should be eaten whole, but then it just looks so boring. take my word for it, the thing was huge and there was a lot of exciting stuff on the inside. at hugo’s you pick and choose your salsa & filling for every dish, and lucky for us, they have two different vegan filling options. we got this burrito stuffed with zucchini, corn and string beans along with salsa habenero.

    not bad! the vegetables were well cooked, and even though the salsa habenero wasn’t quite spicy enough, some extra hot sauce solved that. at under $6, the best thing about this burrito wasn’t the taste, but that it was such a great deal. seriously, i’m used to paying like 9 bucks for a burrito of this enormousness. the bowl was pretty good as well…

    choice of filling, choice of salsa, lettuce, spanish rice, white beans and onion & cilantro topped with a dollop of guacamole. $5.95

    choice of filling, choice of salsa, lettuce, spanish rice, white beans and onion & cilantro topped with a dollop of guacamole. $5.95

    this dish originally comes with cheese, so vegans beware! the bowl pictured came covered in salsa negra with a soyrizo, potato & zucchini filling. i was stoked to try the soyrizo, because i love the stuff at home and have never heard of it being used at a taco stand. hugo’s definitely delivered—it was well seasoned, perfectly browned and juicy. one of the bestest fake meaty things i’ve ever had.

    while i can’t really ask for much more than a soyrizo option, there are definitely some things on hugo’s menu i would change. i’m really not sold on the white beans. while it mostly tasted like traditional taco stand food, the beans kept throwing me off. some lard-free refried beans, or even black beans would be appreciated. also, the zucchini, corn & string beans filling was kind of meh. i wish they had a mushroom option or something instead. string beans really don’t belong in a burrito, they belong with gravy and mashed potatoes and other shit like sprouts. but these are pretty minor annoyances…i like to nitpick.

    overall, hugo’s was a great find. i am gonna go back and try out some of their taquitos and tacos as soon as i get a chance. they are cheap, fast, serve large portions, and offer food that you can be sure is vegan. for a mexican place especially, this is very rare. no lard, no chicken stock, and they even have bloody soyrizo on the menu!

    come on, vegans! let’s give hugo’s tacos our support!

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  • follow your heart? of course, they are the ones who make the awesome fake mayonnaise and the vegan cheese that doesn’t melt! yeah, and they have that supermarket in the valley with all neat healthy stuff. but did you know they also have a restaurant? i don’t know why it never occurred to me until recently to try their café (maybe eating in the back of a grocery store didn’t sound very appealing), but now i’m sure glad i did. the food was spectacular, and the atmosphere was just fine—i forgot that the bustling health food market on the other side of the wall even existed.


    breakfast burrito: scrambled tofu, black beans and vegetarian ‘chorizo’, wrapped in an oversized whole wheat tortilla. served with spanish rice, guacamole and vegan sour cream. $7.95


    follow your heart burger: burger pattie with vegan cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, vegenaise and thousand island dressing, on a toasted whole wheat bun. $7.95

    before i even say that the food tastes good, check out those huge portions they give you for under $8! with the economy plummeting and food prices soaring, i challenge you to find a healthy vegan meal in a sit-down restaurant at a better value. on top of that, everything tasted incredible. the burrito was stuffed with the finest of fake meat, and the sour cream & guac garnishes were delicious. the burger was also tasty and hearty—the follow your heart cheese was even melted. how on earth did they accomplish that?

    Read the rest of this entry »

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