…that’s right! the vegan tofu caprese potato pancake sandwich is comin’ back for the holidays!

the special will make its 2011 hugo’s debut wednesday 11/2 at the studio city location, thursday 11/3 in weho, and wednesday november 16th in agoura hills. we’ve blogged about this sandwich before, and it’s ridiculously good. it’s a double decker stacked with firm tofu, heirloom tomatoes, and fresh basil all sandwiched between thick fried potato pancakes. this time around, hugo’s is also adding the option of gluten-free flatbread. i think i’ll stick with the fried potato. anyways, go check it out…and be sure to specify you want it vegan.

check out hugo’s website for hours and locations.

hell to the yes. starting this weekend tony’s darts away, our favorite vegan friendly pub is open early on weekends, and they’ve got a brand new brunch menu…not to mention a new outdoor patio!

hours on saturday and sunday now start at 10am. see you guys there for some scrambles and brews? vegan menu after the jump…

Read the rest of this entry »

don’t miss this! for a limited time, madeleine bistro is selling coupons to get $20 worth of food for ten bucks! the restaurant is now open on saturday and sunday evenings as well as sunday for brunch…and if you haven’t tried it yet, now’s your chance! we’re approaching the holiday season, which means they’re starting to roll out thanksgiving menu specials!

get your coupon here, and if you ever see the thanksgiving sandwich on the menu (herbed seitan, cranberry mayo, caramelized onions, gravy), ORDER IT!

breaking news! tony’s darts away, LA’s vegan-friendly craft beer bar, launched a new menu today of signature sausages. the old deal was, customers would pick a sausage with up to 4 toppings and order at the counter. that’s still an option, but now TDA has introduced 6 custom combinations to help you out and make ordering easier. the new menu isn’t posted on their site yet, but we’ve got a snap of it. you’re welcome. check it out…

Read the rest of this entry »

dudes, TDA has been rockin’ the vegan specials lately…and it’s our mission to try them ALL! they seem to have a new one every few days (sometimes even more often than that)—way to keep us vegans on our toes. my all time favorite tony’s special remains the seitan french dip, but here are the latest two offerings…

this week tony’s has been offering a vegan buffalo po boy made with a field roast country style sunflower cutlet and frank’s red hot sauce. our correspondent brittany ate it the other day, and sent us this photo along with a thumbs up.

last week was the vegan philly cheesesteak, a bun stacked with celebration roast, daiya mozzarella, peppers, and grilled onions…

Read the rest of this entry »

as you probably know, the opening hours of madeleine bistro (what i consider to be the finest vegan restaurant on earth), have been pretty irregular. over the past year, they’ve shut down their weekday operation, gone on hiatus, switched around their weekend schedule, and everything in between. thankfully for us, it now appears as though they’ve settled into a normal routine of being open on saturday and sunday evenings for dinner, as well as brunch time on sunday from 10am – 3pm.

we checked them out for brunch last sunday at around 11am, and had a meal of epic proportions. i am constantly amazed by the insane food this restaurant is able to create—it’s truly next level vegan stuff like i’ve never tasted. the first thing i noticed when i opened the menu was the addition of a tempeh reuben. being obsessed with the sandwich (you may remember the reuben wars of ’09!), of course i had to order it.

tempeh reuben with choice of side. $12

phenomenal. madeleine bistro’s reuben is much more dainty and delicate than the giant reubens full of fake meat that i’m used to, and even more delicious. thin pieces of tempeh topped with homemade cheese, sauerkraut, and thousand island, served between two slices of grilled bread. it came with a choice of side, and i opted for the potato salad…

the best potato salad ever

hands down, best potato salad i’ve ever eaten. it consisted of red potatoes, chives, and celery in a light creamy sauce. my only complaint is that i wanted more.

chocolate covered donut. $2

i finished it all off with some vegan creme brulee (pictured at the top–OMG!) and a chocolate covered donut, another new (to me) addition to the menu. i have been a fan of madeleine bistro’s normal sugar coated donuts for years (they even made our bucket list!), and i think i liked this one even more. the cake was hot, fresh, and surprisingly light…while the chocolate was rich and melty.

we grabbed some photos of other madeleine dishes (all stuff we’ve blogged about before), but check them out anyway…

Read the rest of this entry »

it’s my life’s mission to make it through all the rotating vegan specials at tony’s darts away, and i’m doing a damn good job. i was among the first angelenos to feast on the wheatloaf sliders when they came out in 2010, i’ve sampled the fleeting pickle chips, and i’m no stranger to the marinara “meatball” sub. after all that though, i can say with confidence that the “not so french dip” is my favorite special yet, and surely one of the most delicious vegan sandwiches in all of LA.

not so french dip: thinly sliced seitan on a bun with creamy sauce and vegan au jus.

Read the rest of this entry »

while mohawk bend is definitely my new favorite place to eat and drink in LA, we can’t forget about my old favorite place to eat and drink in LA: tony’s darts away. the casual burbank bar has a giant tap list of california beers and the best vegan pub grub i’ve ever tasted.

i hit up tony’s last night with a couple of hungry omnivores, and we all chowed down on a massive amount of vegan snacks. in addition to an impressive menu of sausages, salads and fried foods, tony’s is known for its rotating specials. crazy stuff like vegan mozzarella sticks, wheatloaf sliders, and sunflower po boys never stick around for very long. yesterday tony’s had fried pickle chips on the menu and we just had to split an order.

cornmeal crusted pickle chips with vegan aioli $5

Read the rest of this entry »

hey everyone! time for another field report from rachel of power cut jewelry (check out her etsy site for awesome vegan and beatles-related items!). today she blogs about LA’s newest all vegan bakery, no udder desserts in woodland hills. check it out.

“The San Fernando Valley…it’s not the hippest place in the world, but it’ll do. It’s so unhip that it’s probably hip.” -Tom Petty

I suffered through the LVUSD school system and I’ve been engulfed by a bubble called “the valley” my whole life. Besides Tom Petty songs that make me happy to be a valley citizen, I have a strong dislike of the place. It’s too hot, the people are conceited, rude and terrible drivers lurk everywhere. One of my favorite restaurants, Madeleine Bistro, is hardly open and most recently the only somewhat decent vegan Thai place began serving meat. Although I complain, the most important thing about the valley is that my dog loves it here.

About two months ago, I randomly read about No Udder Desserts opening a storefront in Woodland Hills. Started by Trisha Lobefaro a few years ago, No Udder Desserts has been sold at various places in the L.A. area and can now be found at a quaint little bakery smack dab in the valley.

The umbrella is hiding the word "vegan", but it IS there!

The shop is nestled in a little outdoor mall near a Target and Payless Shoes, it might be hard to find if you’re unfamiliar with the area, but luckily a sign reading “Vegan Bakery” adorns the main window. Inside is very small, with two tables and one outside the doors; although I didn’t eat inside, I can imagine sitting there with friends over some coffee and sweets would be quite nice.

I first went here about a month ago and was pleased to see that many of the cake offerings were petit fours. They’re the perfect size for when you want to indulge, yet not overdo it. I left No Udder Desserts with a pecan bar which was delicious. I immediately told Quarrygirl that I wanted to do a field report on this place!

I finally made it back to No Udder Desserts earlier this week, and got myself more than just one thing to try. Various bite-sized cakes that caught my eye were carrot, coconut, and chocolate. I also tried a lemon bar, pumpkin “cheezecake”, whoopie pie, chocolate chip cookie and I couldn’t leave without another pecan bar.

Carrot cake, chocolate cake, lemon bar, coconut cake, and a pecan bar in the middle

Read the rest of this entry »

free. vegan. pizza. aren’t they the best words in the english language? well tonight is the night that all 3 of them come together, as the original pizza cookery in woodland hills will be giving out complimentary samples of their new vegan menu!

we already love pizza cookery to bits….after all, we did include them on both our top restaurant list AND our vegan bucket list of 2010. my advice: get your ass over there and eat for free this evening. the vegan pizza at this place is truly special. (and be sure to try the vegan-cheese-filled garlic rolls, OMG!)

here are the details:

Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE: this contest is closed. we have two winners! huge congrats to lolahippie and wendy samson!

huge news, dudes! we have TWO $20 GIFT CARDS to give away from juicy ladies in woodland hills! saturday june 18th is the restaurant’s 2 year anniversary, and they are throwing a massive party from 10am-4pm with samples, massages, face painting, live music and tarot readings. but first, they’re getting warmed up with some awesome generosity towards QG readers. read on for your chance to win some free grub.

this vegan restaurant is rockin’, with great burgers, sandwiches, salads, bowls, breakfast items, and specialty smoothies. you could do a lot of things with 20 bucks at juicy ladies; may i recommend the juicy special burger (pictured above) paired with a rich chocolate almond shake?! here’s what you gotta do to win:

Read the rest of this entry »

great news, peeps! staring this weekend tony’s darts away, LA’s very own vegan-friendly pub, will offer specialty burgers on sundays on a bi-weekly basis.

vegan burger and beer: you complete me.

photo by kat nguyen

that means every other sunday, they’ll have a different vegan burger available to wash down with one of their many tasty california craft brews. this week’s burger sounds awesome. it’s only tuesday, and i’m already jonesing for it…

Read the rest of this entry »

there’s never a dull moment in the madeleine bistro saga!

last week we were mourning the closure of LA’s high brow vegan restaurant, and now just days later it appears as though they’re already planning an “encore weekend”.

Read the rest of this entry »

saturday was a big day. it was not only the mr.’s birthday, but it was supposed to be the day of the rapture (what a jip that turned out to be!), and most importantly it was the day before the closing of our favorite restaurant…madeleine bistro. of course we made it a point to eat there. after all, it may have been our last meal on the planet (what a way to go!), plus madeleine offered the kind of fancy food befitting of a birthday celebration, and we wanted to dine there one last time. now it’s all gone, and it pains me to write this post!

naturally we went nuts with appetizers, sides, entrees, and a double serving of dessert. i couldn’t move after the meal, but man, the deliciousness was so worth the pain of over-eating. though the restaurant is now closed, i thought i’d torture you with photos of our incredible last supper. everything was beyond epic, so i’ll just let the pictures do the talking…

Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE 5/16/11: although the waffle cones are vegan at the moment, be sure to check before you eat them because hugo’s may switch brands. thanks to amy for the info!

YES, IT’S TRUE!!! hugo’s tacos in studio city now has vegan soft serve…and….wait for it…VEGAN WAFFLE CONES. excuse me while i drool on my keyboard.

Read the rest of this entry »