Vegan restaurants may not be easy to come by depending on your location. As a vegan family, we enjoy scouting out and trying new places and there are many options like the victoria restaurants you can find online. Our latest journey took us to California where the selections were plentiful. Here are some of our favorite places to dine in the Sunshine State.
Vegan Restaurants in California to Add to Your List
Crossroads Kitchen located at the corner of Melrose and Sweetzer in Los Angeles offers an upscale dining experience featuring mouthwatering dishes to satisfy every pallet. It was the first stop on our way to our hotel from the airport. But since we didn’t have reservations, we ordered takeout.
The calamari fritti, stuffed zucchini blossoms, supreme sicilian and truffle mushroom bianca pizza were such a hit that we made reservations for a later date during our stay and ordered the exact same things from the menu. We did order brownie sundae the second time around which was yummy. The only problem is that it had more ice cream than brownie. You can order extra brownies, but it will cost you an extra three bucks.
We visited their Culver City and Los Angeles locations and had a pleasant experience both times. This vegan restaurant is committed to farming principles and practices that increase biodiversity, enriches soil, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services. Any restaurant that’s dedicated to protecting our planet is a big win in my book.
If you ever visit either of their locations, I highly recommend their famous appetizer, and the buffalo cauliflower wings. Fried artichokes are great too. My husband loved the eggplant ‘barbacoa’ tacos. It includes spicy eggplant ‘barbacoa’ topped with cilantro and onion, a side of pico de gallo and spicy salsa verde. Anastasia and O’Shea ordered the kids burrito with brown rice, black beans, and Daiya ‘cheese’ and a side of fries.
Even thought they enjoyed their meal, they preferred the Cali avocado pesto tempeh burger with avocado, tomato, onion, arugula, garlic aioli and pesto on a whole wheat bun.
As for me, I ordered the BBQ Pulled ‘Pork’ Jackfruit with an avocado lime dressing coleslaw and garlic aioli on a whole wheat baguette.
For my second visit, I chose the Street Tacos which included Chili seasoned organic jackfruit ‘carnitas’, onion, cilantro, pico de gallo, lime, garlic aioli, tomatillo sauce and spicy pickled cabbage.
But, Asian Kelp Noodle Salad was my favorite. It included marinated tofu, almond butter ginger dressing, edamame, cucumber, carrot, avocado, orange, cabbage and romaine topped with roasted almonds, sesame seeds and crispy onions served with lime wedges.
True Seasons Kitchen in Anaheim Hills features locally sourced and organic ingredients. What makes this Asian fusion restaurant so unique is their self-cook and self-serve hot pot options. You can choose a broth or water base and a protein. All selections include house dipping sauces, rice, noodles and veggie plate with organic, sustainably-grown, local farm-fresh vegetables. Once your pot boils, cook your protein piece by piece, along with the veggies and spices of your choosing, dip it and enjoy!
We decided to forgo that option, and went for the Crispy Vegan Spring Rolls, pad Thai noodles and Curry Vegan with Organic vegetables in red curry sauce on a bed of rice. The portion is ridiculous. There were plenty of leftovers to enjoy the following day.
Vegan Pizza in Garden Grove is perfect if you’re looking for something quick and inexpensive. After spending a long day at Disneyland, we didn’t have much energy left and we didn’t want to venture too far from our hotel. An extra large veggie pie was more than enough to feed our family of four.
Au Lac in Fountain Valley and Downtown Los Angeles takes on a holistic approach to vegan diet. The traditional Vietnamese dishes include elaborate noodle soups, grilled dishes and specialty sauces, using only plant-based and health-conscious ingredients. If you’re ever in these neighborhoods, I recommend the egg rolls. The eggless wrap has mushroom, carrot, jicama, clear rice noodles, taro and almond filling. They’re served with lettuce, mint and vegan fish sauce.
Kung Pao Chicken or beef pan-seared chili, peanuts, bell pepper, carrots, onion and soy chicken or beef is a widely popular dish served with black rice.
It’s one thing when going out to eat as a family. But it’s a completely different story when meeting people who don’t share the same dietary lifestyle. It adds another layer of complication when trying to settle on the perfect place. That’s way restaurants like Urth Caffe is ideal because it has a little bit of everything. Similar to the other restaurants mentioned, Urth Caffe’s practice is based on local, sustainable, and organic ingredients that’s free of artificial ingredients or GMO’s.
We were meeting Anastasia’s manager for an early dinner and she highly recommended this spot. There was convenient outdoor seating had a very New York suburb type of feel. Even though the menu had mostly traditional dishes, there were quite a few vegan options with plenty of room for substitutions, if need be.
Dolce Gelato Laguna Beach
With all the sun and fun at Laguna Beach, we decided to take a walk around the beautiful town and stumbled upon this ice cream shop. They have ten Dairy Free Vegan Selections Including four Almond Milk Flavors. Their new Apple Crisp Cobbler is Vegan too. It was the perfect treat to cool us off.
I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of vegan options in California. In addition to searching for local vegan restaurants in the area, the Happy Cow app was also a huge help in finding different places close by. Whether you’re a vegan or thinking of making the switch to a more plant based lifestyle, I would definitely suggest giving these eateries a try the next time you visit California.
