A Travel Guide To Eating Vegan In Los Angeles
As always this isn’t a sponsored post. It’s just our honest opinions about our two true loves, food and travel coming together to help you plan your next vacation getaway.
* V stands for entirely Vegan
* VF stands for Vegan-friendly: businesses that have vegan-friendly options for vegan guests to enjoy.
* G/GF stands for entirely Gluten-free and Gluten-free-friendly respectively: businesses that have gluten-free-friendly options for gluten-free guests to enjoy.
We always do a lot of research before we travel to make sure we have access to great vegan foods that are good and affordable. We also aim for hopefully uncovering new to us vegan products. Sit back and enjoy some drool worthy food that we really enjoyed and think you will too.
We’ve been to San Francisco tons, exploring their vegan food scene, but we've heard so much about the vegan restaurants and dining in Los Angeles, so we wanted to check it out. The City of Angels is known to host a plethora of diverse, tasty and innovative vegan restaurants, vegan food trucks, cafes, vegan grocery stores and bakeries.
Jump to:
Where We Ate:
Coffee Shops
1. Coffee and Plants (VF) - 62 W. Union Street, Pasadena, CA 91103
The best of two worlds caffeine and lots of plants.
Must-eat dish and beverages: Blue Lavender latte and Just Egg breakfast tartine
2. Cha Cha Matcha (VF/GF) - 2 locations in Los Angeles: Venice and Weho - They also have locations in New York city which we wrote about in our vegan New York guide.
They offer cold and hot Matcha green tea beverages with a wide variety of non-dairy milk options: coconut, almond, hemp, macadamia and oat milk.
Must-drink beverages: Iced Matcha latte & Pink Drink - Hibiscus, rose hips, bee pollen and maca.
Breakfast
3. Sugarbloom Bakery (VF/GF) - No-contact delivery or pick-up in Glassell Park. Classically French trained chef Sharon Wang bakery offer a good variety of pastries that includes vegan and gluten-free options.
Must-eat dish: Vegan Sesame Pretzel croissant
4. Nic’s on Beverly (V/GF) - 8265 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90048
Fully Plant-based menu on plant canopied patio or in their modern dining room.
Dine in & Delivery
Must-eat dish: Southern Style Fried Oyster Mushroom & Waffles and Just Egg omelet.
5. Crossroad Kitchen (V/GF) - 3 locations, 2 in California and one in Las Vegas.
A high-end vegan restaurant serving weekend brunch, lunch and dinner
Dine in, Takeout & Delivery.
Must-eat dish: Stuffed French Toast and a Khachapuri with almond ricotta and yellow tomato egg yolk.
6. Just What I Kneaded (V/GF) - 2029 Blake Avenue, #104, Los Angeles, CA 90039
They offer a delicious rotating selection of all vegan goodies at this bakery and cafe. Serving breakfast all day and delicious bakery treats.
Dine in & Delivery.
Must-eat dish: Great pastries
Lunch/Dinner
7. Hart House (V) - 4 locations in Los Angeles, CA.
A great all vegan modern fast casual burger restaurant. Serving lunch and dinner.
Dine in & Takeout
Must-eat dish: Vegan Vanilla Milkshake.
8. McCharlie’s (V/GF) - 612 N. LaBrea Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036
A veganized McDonalds experience minus the milkshake's.
Serving lunch and dinner.
Takeout & a few small tables in front of the restaurant.
9. Nic’s On Beverly (V/GF) - 8265 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90048.
Fully Plant-based menu on plant canopied patio or in their modern dining room.
Dine in & Delivery
Must-eat dish: Avocado Crispy Rice with sliced grapefruit in a ponzu sauce. The flavors in this starter were incredible, reminiscent of a deconstructed piece of sushi.
10. Gokoku Ramen Shop (V/GF) - 4147 Lankershim Blvd, Studio City, CA 91602
Offers lunch & dinner. A Japanese eatery with build your own meat-free ramen bowls and vegan sushi.
Dine in, Takeout & Delivery
Must-eat dish: Sushi.
Honorable Mentions
These two were on our list but unfortunately we ran out of town; but next time.
Rahel Ethiopian Vegan Cuisine (V/GF) - 1047 S Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90019
Plant-based Ethiopian cuisine.
Must-eat dish: Specializing in dishes like tender mushroom tibs. Combo platter with legume and veggies with Ethiopian injera bread.
Worldwide Taco (VF) - 1047 S Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90019
Desserts
11. Erin McKenna’s Bakery (V/G) - 2029 Blake Avenue, #104, Los Angeles, CA 90039
A vegan and gluten-free bakery. All baked goods are free from wheat, gluten, dairy, egg and soy.
Must-eat dish: Madeleines dipped in chocolate, perfection. Moist, tender, yummy.
12. Magpie’s Softserve (VF/GF) - 3 locations in Los Angeles, CA.
Takeout
Serving vegan and dairy soft-serve ice cream cones and slices of ice cream pie.
Must-eat dish: Ice cream pie.
Bonus Tip
We always like to know the closest grocery stores to pack snacks and find new products that may not be sold in our area.
Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods Market and honorable mention to Erewhon Market a Los Angeles gourmet grocery store frequented by celebrities - lots of locations across Los Angeles.
Must haves: cheap bottles of water, snacks and if you just what to spend some time in your hotel room chilling or are just exhausted; prepackaged lunch/dinner is always an option. Check out our list of vegan gluten-free options available at Trader Joe’s.
Vegan Grocery Stores
Besties Vegan Paradise - (V/GF) - 4882 Fountain Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90029
An entirely vegan grocery store.
Besties is a self-funded completely vegan grocery store that open in 2019. The only vegan store that only sells products by all-vegan companies. All products and brands in their store are 100% vegan, ethical (no animal testing), women, LGBT, and/or minority owned and primarily local, California based.
Specialty items like vegan chocolates, vegan meats, seafoods and cheeses. They also offer delicious dairy-free soft-serve ice cream. And the great news is they can ship many of the items they stock.
Follow Your Heart Market & Cafe (SOS free) (VF/GF) - 21825 Sherman Way Canoga Park, 91303.
Yes, the folks that make our vegan cheese have an entire store. A wonderful market and cafe built in the 70’s. With a huge selection of dried herbs, spices, peppers. An amazing variety of sweets, grains and flours, sugars and treats.
Where We Stayed
Location - Hawthorne, California (a 30 minute drive from Downtown Los Angeles and ten minutes from the airport.)
Hotel prices are pretty steep for a week’s stay in LA so we opted for an Airbnb. We rented a small private bungalow with full bathroom and kitchen.
Our criteria for selecting a rental was as follows.
We look for superhosts (people who Airbnb have identified as providing outstanding hospitality with at least a 4.8 rating), are labeled Airbnb Plus (a curated collection of Airbnbs that have been chosen for their exceptional design and great hospitality). There is also Airbnb Luxe which is similar but instead focuses on the most luxury Airbnb offerings. And lastly they have over 200 reviews (reading the reviews can give you a good idea of the quality and feel of a place).
In our mind that means they have been vetted and shouldn’t be a fluke in quality, service and safety.
Should You Rent A Car
Absolutely, you should rent a car. Driving is the best option for getting around LA. There is public transit and of course Uber and Lyft, but Los Angeles is very spread out and without a car you would spend a lot of time in transit.
Things To Do
Disneyland
Disneyland in Anaheim, California not to be confused with Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
A one day pass cost $83.00 and should be bought well in advance of your arrival. They have great vegan options in the park.
Hollywood Sign
You can see the 100 year old sign without hiking to see it. The three easiest locations to see the sign without a hike are:
- At the Hollywood Sign Vista Point (Lake Hollywood) park.
- W. 4th St & S. Windsor Blvd where you can frame the Hollywood Sign between two rows of palm trees.
- And at Griffith Observatory.
Find even more locations to see the sign at www.shershegoes.com
Comment down below if there is anything we missed or should’ve included and tag us on Instagram #thevgnway and share your favorite vegan Los Angeles restaurants or what city guide you would like next.
More Vegan City Guides
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