Hello you guys~~~! Welcome back to da blog. If you follow me on any of my other social medias, you'll know I just got back from a 4 day stay in LA. I love LA sooooo much. Not just because my best friend lives there, but because there is so much to do, see, and importantly, eat. I'm such a foodie so scouting out places to eat is my forte. My friend Evelyn and I are vegetarians, so I kept that in mind while I searched. So the places I'm going to share with you have vegetarian/vegan options as well as not! And FYI, my non-veg friends found these places just as yummy as we did! ;)
Café Gratitude
Café Gratitude is one that I've heard a lot about through some of my favorite YouTubers, and I can see why! This places is seriously Instagram worthy. We got our food served to us on a marble table with plates that asked "What are you grateful for?" The restaurant is so beautifully decorated with a lot of windows to let in all the natural light. I ordered the southern soul food, also called "Resolved" on the menu. It consisted of red beans & dirty rice, jerk tempeh, mashed maple yams, spiced collard greens, coleslaw, and a jalapeño cheddar biscuit. For my drink I chose the matcha green tea latte, also named "Vibrant." Let me tell you, that's one of the best damn meals I've ever eaten. Literally everything about it was delicious. I've never had traditional soul food, but if it tastes anything like this vegan version I'm all for it. One thing I especially loved about this place is that whenever you order one of their specialty drinks, i.e my latte, the bar tender will call out the order like this: "[insert waiters name] is Vibrant!" "[insert waiters name] is Blooming and Luxurious!" It's just a very encouraging and positive place to eat, I highly reccommend it. :)
Address: 639 N Larchmont Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90004
Eko Eats
One of my favorite kinds of food to eat is Korean food. I got my first taste of kbbq in Dallas last year and for KCON 2016 I found an amaaaaazing place in Koreatown LA called Kang Ho-Dong Baekjeon. But November of last year is when I decided to go vegetarian so eating there again wasn't going to happen (sad face). So with LA being as big and diverse as it is I thought to myself, "There HAS to be vegan/vegetarian Korean food SOMEWHERE." And that's where I found Eko Eats. Eko offers chef-designed, Korean inspired meals that can be veganized and are all made with organic ingredients from local suppliers! What I got was the bibimbap (a Korean rice bowl) with roasted tofu and it was super super good. You can add chicken and/or an egg to it if you're not vegetarian. Also it's located in downtown LA, so if you sit by the window you can people watch like we did. :)
Address: 630 W 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90017
The Hive
On one of our mornings out in California we decided to spend the day out on the beach. After a very long subway ride we hopped off in Santa Monica looking for any place that sold acai bowls. Evelyn and I are no stranger to acai bowls but our friend Lauren was a newbie, so I found us a nice little spot called The Hive. I got the Hive classic acai bowl. It has a base of blended acai, almond milk, bananas, and vanilla. They topped it off with strawberries, more bananas, hemp granola, shredded coconut, bee pollen, and honey. Now for any vegans out there you can cut out the bee pollen and honey, but honestly after the research I've done on bees/how honey is made I think everyone should cut it out. Save the bees! They have agave, coconut nectar, and maple syrup as alternatives. :) One cool thing about this spot is that you can build your own bowl from the base up, so you have complete control over what ingredients go in it. And this isn't only an acai place! You can get sandwiches, salads, burgers, burritos, etc. And they go organic whenever possible!
Address: 606 Broadway #102, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Urth Caffé
I feel like everyone has heard of this before. It's a bougie LA brunch staple. I mean, even Kylie Jenner has eaten there. They pride themselves on their heirloom coffee and natural, non-toxic products. They have breakfast, all-day brunch, and then a lunch menu. I can't say anything about their breakfast menu because I went for lunch, but for lunch they have a pretty wide selection of food. Anything from sandwiches to salad, pizza, salmon, lasagna, etc. Urth even has their own take on Mexican dishes like quesadillas, tostadas, and tamales. Now a lot of these dishes already come vegetarian but you can vegetarianize others like I did. I got the Urth Quesadilla with grilled veggies instead of meat and soy-cheese (because I'm lactose intolerant). They also offer a variety of sweets and sooo many different drinks! I ordered the green tea for just myself not knowing it would come in a big o' french press, haha. Which, I mean, it worked out just fine because I got two full cups of tea out of it. But if you only want the one cup just....watch what you're doing when you're ordering...don't be like me hahaha. All in all, I really liked Urth. It's very instagrammable as well. We sat outside though and the table was really small for 4 people. Also it was super packed and busy when we went which I heard is the norm.
Address: 8565 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90069
Ramen of York
For you night owls out there I have another yummy place to share. After a long day of doing god knows what we found that it was already 10pm and we had forgotten to eat dinner. I mentioned going down to Little Tokyo to see what they had to offer but it was a bit of a drive from where we were. So we googled a ramen place near by and ended up in Silverlake at a place called Ramen of York. They have most of your ramen bar staples like pork buns, tonkotsu, and a variety of rice bowls. You're probably thinking, "Doesn't sound to vegan friendly to me." But hold up! They have some options (not many) but a few! Which I appreciate! I got the vegetable ramen bowl which had bean sprouts, corn, mushrooms, tofu, broccoli, baby greens, eggplant, and chili oil in a veggie/miso broth and it was bomb dot com. They also have a vegetarian mabo tofu rice bowl which sounds just as amazing. It's a small bar type place so seating is kinda minimal just keep that in mind if you want to come with a large party. I came with 4 people and we all had to sit side by side up against the wall, lol.
Address: 5051 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90042
Well there you guys go! Those were some of the bomb ass food places I ate at when I went to LA. :) Like I said, I'm such a foodie and one of the first things I look at when planning a trip to somewhere new is the food options! Can't wait to go back to LA and try even more great food. And of course, I'll tell you all about it!
