Top 12 Bakeries and Vegetarian-Friendly Restaurants in LA

Foodie.com has asked me to curate even more "collections" of my favorite places in LA, and I decided to create 4 more lists! Here are two of them:

I have a sweet tooth so I asked if I can create one with bakeries! Here are my 12 favorite bakeries in the Los Angeles area, from where to get cakes to baguettes to cream puffs.


I'm not a vegetarian but I do like to eat healthy sometimes, especially after a week of indulgent meals. Here are my top 12 vegetarian-friendly restaurants - some of which are vegetarian or vegan, some of which are not but simply serve amazing vegetarian dishes.

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Healthy Vegan Cuisine at Dr. J's Vibrant Cafe (Downtown LA)

Being a food blogger is hazardous, so a healthy, vegan dinner is a welcome change once in a while. Recently this came to me with a preview dinner at the new Dr J's Vibrant Cafe in downtown LA.

The owner of Dr J's is the young man in the picture who opened this cafe to honor his mother and her cooking. His mother is the cute little woman next to him. Story was that he got really sick after attending college and was supposed to go on life long medication, but his mother, Dr. J, told him to try eating her pure, clean eating lifestyle before going on the medication. As you can guess, he got better and no longer needed his medication. Now he wants to spread this lifestyle by opening the cafe.

What I liked about Dr. J's Vibrant Cafe is that the food is not only vegan but actually healthy - as in low sodium, low sugar etc. Some vegan or vegetarian places around didn't actually seem that healthy to me because they tend to be overly salty to make up for the lack of meat or dairy. The food here, like the kale salad, quinoa spring salad, or brown rice medley, tasted healthy but still has enough flavor (the rice noodle one was still a bit bland to me)

Of the ones I tried, I really liked the brown rice medley (with peas, onions, carrots, and tofu) and the Curried Potatoes with carrots, green beans, and peas.

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LA Vegan Beer Fest Returns May 12 (+ Last Year's Recap)

The LA Vegan Beer Fest, hosted by The Quarry Girl, Tony's Darts Away, and The Roxy, is returning for its third year on May 12. As usual, the festival will be held in the lot next to The Roxy on Sunset, and there will be plenty of vegan beers to cool you down from the heat.

For the $45 ticket, you get unlimited craft beers while listening to local bands from 1-5pm. The $55 VIP ticket gets you in earlier at noon. Proceeds from the tickets will be donated to the CA Wildlife Center and you can buy them here.

A couple of years ago, my reaction was "huh, beers aren't vegan?" But no, apparently not all beers are vegan since some use animal products like gelatin or fish bladder to clarify their beers! Lucky for the vegans, there are plenty of vegan beers. I went to last year's festival and most of the local breweries seemed to have been represented from Eagle Rock Brewery to Ballast Point to Lost Abbey. From hemp ales to pilsners to IPAs, there are plenty for everyone's tastes. They haven't release this year's list yet but more than 50 beers are promised.

There will also be vendors with food for sale should you want to soak up the beer.

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Pam Mac D's: New Gluten-Free Market Opens in Burbank

A couple of years ago, I knew nothing about celiacs and gluten intolerance. I've heard about gluten free diet as a fad back in college, and didn't get why people would want to cut out gluten.

Then upon meeting a friend's best friend, I was told that he had celiac disease and could not eat gluten. Now, my roommate is also gluten intolerant. As I started paying attention to it, I realized that it's a pretty hard lifestyle. I thought my roommate would be fine at an Asian restaurant since she can eat rice, but soy sauce is also a no-no!

Well, for these people, life just became easier with the opening of Pam Mac D's in Burbank, an entirely gluten-free market.

From gluten free beer made with Sorghum (which was actually pretty good, light beer) to almond flour, it carries pretty much everything. They also have packed vegan meals from Rahel Ethiopian Restaurant.

Even if you're not on a gluten free diet, doesn't mean you won't enjoy some of the things here.

I absolutely loved the ThinKrisps. I mean, they're cheese crisps!! Crunchy, crispy, cheddary goodness that are so addictive. I can eat a whole container in 5 minutes.

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Brü Haus: Brentwood's Gastro Pub, Now Open

Brü Haus has opened its doors right next to Cabo Cantina with around twenty draft beers and about the same number in bottles. Brü Haus is possibly Brentwood's first gastropub; at least I can't think of another.

The main fare at Brü Haus is the sausages with interesting selections (including a Berliner currywurst) and vegan options, burgers, and pretzels. They have about 20 beers on tap and an equal number in bottles.

Make sure you get some of their housemade sauces (sambal aioli, jalapeno ranch) to go with either your sausages, burger, or fries (or sweet potato tater tots). My favorite was the bright pink beetchup. Yes, that's beet ketchup. Sounds weird but I was hooked.

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Fast and Cheap at Bawarchi Indian Kitchen (Culver City)

I don't think most people run into this problem but somehow we find ourselves spending $50-70 for two when we go eat Indian food. He likes variety, he says, so we order 4-5 dishes, plus rice and mango lassi. Well, I've found a solution at Bawarchi Indian Kitchen.

For $9, you get your choice of plain or garlic naan or tawa roti (wheat), saffron basmati rice or pilau rice, and three dishes. It also comes with salad and raita/yogurt.

The only drawback for me is that this place is vegan, but for the most part I don't really miss the meat when having an Indian meal (with the occasional tandoori cravings).

The vegetable dishes change daily and are displayed in the buffet containers so you can point and choose. The guy with the turban behind the counter (Chef Sabharwal's son, apparently) will guide you through it all.

With this setup, two people can taste six dishes, two different types of naan or roti and rice!
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Vegan Feasting and Boozing at Shojin

I am never one who'd decide to go vegetarian one day, but I've heard many great things about Shojin, the organic/vegan/macrobiotic Japanese restaurant in Little Tokyo from fellow bloggers (mainly LA-OC Foodie and inomthings).

Seitan Steak Marinade

I've been meaning to try it for a while and an invitation to a blogger dinner provided the last push and I finally made it there!

Shojin's dining room was much nicer than I had expected, especially for being in that neglected mall in Little Tokyo. White tablecloth, chandelier, and all.

Shojin also recently started serving alcohol and we tried their "Mojito" made with unprocessed cane sugar, mint, apple juice, cranberry juice, vegan sake (Ichigo)

We started with a tasting of the three most popular appetizers:
Spicy rock shiitake tempura, spicy wasaby mayonnaise
Yuzu ponzu Seitan (pan fried sliced seitan with grated daikon and yuzu citrus sauce)
Spicy fried tofu (fried marinated tofu, spicy soy sauce)

The shiitake tempura was chewy and meaty. I loved the tofu which had a light yet crispy breading. Apparently the batter was made with whole wheat and arrow roots which makes it stay crispy for a long time. The seitan was unremarkable compared to the other two.

Shojin also makes sure to serve vegan wine and sake. Wine isn't always vegan? Nope, apparently most wines are filtered using egg whites or egg shells. The appetizers were paired with some Nottage Hill Chardonnay from Australia.

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