Vegan Dining in LA is easy, delicious and cravable. Plus the coastal backdrop of fresh sea breeze air and crisp sunny blue skies only adds to the dining ambiance. Lavender Lemonade and a zesty Twister Wrap tastes so much better wearing flip-flops and sunblock.
First check out part one of my LA post: my DOLE California Cook-Off wrap up, then dive into all the delicious details of my weekend. Check out all my highlights and a few low lights of my vegan eating (and site seeing) adventures in Los Angeles – lots of pics…
Arrival. We arrived Friday morning and hopped in our rental car. I was so excited to cruise the streets of my old neighborhood in Westwood and peruse the LA sites with my husband who was an LA newbie! Oh and I was most-excited about…eating vegan yummies at my fave spots! Check out my list of LA Faves here.
First stop, Native foods in Westwood. We were famished! Thank goodness for Native.
Native Foods in Westwood:
A giant counter case of Native Foods chocolate and vanilla vegan cupcakes. Who could resist?!
Not us…check out that frosting! My husband took a big bite before our main entrees even arrived. He’s weak..for chocolate:
My Twister Wrap (organic greens, fresh avo/cucumber, chipotle sauce, grilled Native ‘chicken’):
So good. A must try folks…
My husband got the Chicken Run Ranch Burger – nice and crispy. He loved it.
..we also sipped (well, chugged) some very refreshing Lavender Lemonade and Native Iced Tea.
I was a very happy Kathy after this meal!… 
Next up, Andaz Hotel on Sunset Blvd. Here is the lobby. It was packed with people all weekend from the BET awards, a DJ convention and a few weddings:
I was happy to see free raw nuts and fruit/nut snacks in the room:
The Room Service menu even had a little “vegan” symbol – however the prices were typical prices (way too high!)
Side Note: Weird, but true – the french fries that were served with the vegan Portobello Burger were fried in duck fat! (Good thing my husband asked..but I’ll get to that later..)
Our room view of the Hollywood Hills:
Later that night we grabbed a drink at the bar. This strawberry-basil bevie was delightful:
Then of course I had my DOLE Cook-Off event on Saturday. That evening we wanted something light – we tried to dine at an awesome restaurant on the Sunset strip – but it was so packed that we couldn’t stand the 1-2 hour wait.
…So I’m ashamed to say, yes, we went back to the hotel to order Room Service. Bad idea….my $25+ vegan portobello burger was pretty bland and unfortunate. Not to mention almost being served the duck fat fries! Yikes. However, the vegetable vegan soup wasn’t half bad. And I loved the hot mug of soy milk I ordered. Cozy bedtime sip. Kinda sad to watch my hubby slurp hot not-vegan cocoa, but at least they had soy milk.
Room service was the most expensive meal of our trip – and also the worst! We should’ve had a solid back-up plan. Oh well. Anyways – Back to the good LA eats…
Before we left, I had to dine at my favorite spot in LA Real Food Daily. We went to the West Hollywood location for Sunday lunch..
Sweet Green Juice and fresh OJ (added ginger for both):
Sea Cake Appetizer:
My Spicy BLT Wrap, tempeh bacon, fresh greens, side of Jalapeno Cashew Cheese, all vegan:
Dessert was the Strawberry Shortcake – the strawberry sauce was delish!
So Real Food Daily and Native Foods were my highlights, not surprisingly. I still need to get to a few new spots though! Like Veggie Grill, M Cafe and a handful of other spots that were on my must-try list.
More of My Adventure: Working Up an Appetite. If you are craving more pics from my LA adventures here ya go. A few beach adventures, Rodeo Drive and other fun classic LA pics (and FYI – my camera battery died for MANY of my shots) …
Beverly Hills (what a thrill!):
Rodeo Drive Sites:
Malibu, Pacific Coast Highway Beach side:
Native Foods
Real Food Daily
Andaz Hotel
But really..my fave eats come from…ME 😉 ..
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