California Vegan

Yes it’s vegan, but after years of being vegan, I have never felt the need for soy or gluten chicken, fish & burgers. I can get better quality food for the same or less cash elsewhere in the city.

Big fan of the Tom kah kai soup — great balance of lemongrass and coconut milk.
I don’t like wraps but this was really good. Lots of shredded carrots, lettuce, and vegan peppersteak which was not as gross as you may think. The steak tasted good This coming from someone who loves her beef, chicken and pork.

This place apparently closed on January 15^th 2013 due to lease issues. This is a posthumous review.
I’m an omnivore, often bordering on a carnivore. My girlfriend is vegetarian.
We never have trouble finding decent places, but it’s not too often that we find a place that either or both of us think is ‘very good.’ Most restaurants aren’t «very good,» after all. Some spots that share the honor of being universally liked are Mozza Pizzeria (LA), Edwin’s Coffee (Roseville), and… Vik’s Chaat (Berkeley).
When we wandered into this place a few weeks ago, neither of us was expecting much.
We ordered hot and sour soup, she got the orange faux-​chicken, and I got the green curry with plain tofu, «spicy.»
The hot and sour soup was like no other soup I’ve ever had. It was far and above better than most. The broth was of home-​made vegetable stock, and it was tart, flavorful, and delicious. It was nothing like conventional hot and sour soup, but it was both hot (temp. and spice), and sour. Amazing flavour. It was full of fresh veggies and mushrooms, overall *very* good.
The entrees, both served with heaping portions of brown rice:
Deep-​fried faux chicken in a tangy orange sauce. I could eat that stuff all day. The sauce was great — I will say that I’m a fan of spice, and would have asked for it with more of a kick, but it was great as-​is. Wasn’t your typical Chinese restaurant sauce; much more flavour.
The curry… was a bright pastel green colour, the likes of which I have never before eaten. I’m fairly certain it was caused by very well-​pureed cilantro in the curry itself. Not sure; it was delicious, regardless. I usually order green curry first at a Thai place, and explore the menu later on return trips. This was a very solid green curry. And they did make it spicy, with the addition of what looked to be a very fresh, young, thinly sliced green jalapeño (definitely not a Thai chili). Great kick, and it worked well with the light sweetness of the curry. Which, by the way, was also chock-​full of fresh veggies.
They’d run of one of the desserts that sounded interesting (I forget what), so we ordered the banana spring-​rolls. They were very well constructed — a frozen banana was rolled in sugar-​coated coconut flakes, wrapped in spring-​roll wrapping, and deep fried. The rolls were served halved, face-​down on a thin bed of the same sugar-​coated coconut flakes with a cup of chocolate sauce.
The frying of the spring-​roll almost completely thawed the bananas, leaving a very cold, but not frozen center. If they had been cooked more, the banana would have been gooey. Less, and they would have been hard to eat. The result was simple and truly delicious. Very well-​executed.
I’ve never seen coconut flakes prepared in such a manner, and would like to know where to buy them. They appeared to be the standard dried slivers, but they were lightly coated in granulated sugar. Great addition to the dish.
So…I’m very sad to see this place go. We literally discovered this place two weeks before it closed, and I had to go back to NorCal in the meantime.
If the owners see this, please consider reopening somewhere else. I’ll be in LA from this coming May onwards, and you’d have at least one new, regular customer in me.
–EDIT–
There’s another one on W. Sunset?! California Vegan lives on!
I’ll be there ASAP. Perhaps tomorrow.
Glory Days!

This place has really great food and it doesn’t make you feel bloated or stuffed afterwords. The prices aren’t too bad and I enjoy the view on a clear day/​night. My favorites are the orange chicken and yellow curry. I have also had the different wraps multiple times, but I usually go back for the curry or orange chicken.
The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because the bathrooms weren’t very clean at all.

Full 2 stars.
Ordered the spicy soy chicken with mint lunch special. Received sliced soy loaf with onions and celery swimming in water. No spice and hardly any mint. Adding insult to injury, the spring roll was undercooked. I have to wonder if the people praising the food ave ever been to a real Thai restaurant. Plus one star for the attractive female clientele — that’s about the only thing going for this place.

I’m a fan of this place. It’s right around the corner from my house and I eat here at least twice a week. They prepare wonderful Thai food that is fully vegan. There are a few dishes that have been a «miss” – like the assorted or mixed vegetables dish. But, the various curries they offer more than make up for it.
Try any curry with soy-​chicken or the Tom Kah Kai also with soy-​chicken. Wonderful!

Minus one: bad service
Minus one: bad portions
Minus one: bad food
Minus one: waste of time and money!
When I ordered a large curry to go the girl at the front took my order. When I noticed that for $ 3 more I could get an eggroll, soup cup and salad, I added the extras. I paid $ 14 & gave a $ 1 tip in a large plastic to go bowl with a square cut out of the lid.
Bad service: She never told me they would miniaturize my entrée!
Do NOT get the dinner combo! Instead of paying $ 3 more for a little side item action and keeping the actual entrée a NORMAL sized portion, the actual entrée gets miniaturized into a tiny cup and leaves you wondering how an awful brown iceburg lettuce pile, tiny miso soup and mini eggroll are worth the extra money?
Bad portions: I got the bag and started looking for my curry bowl. It was packed in a 3 OUNCE plastic cup in a box with a spoonful of rice!!! I dont mind paying $ 14 for an ALL veggie curry meal, but don’t remove the entrée when I pay EXTRA for the extras!!!
I pulled out the tiny miso cup and iceburg junkshow and said I would prefer actual dinner portion of the entrée, not the version for children. Keep the extra $ 3, I want the regular entrée instead of the mini side show.
They took back the mini me entrée and brought out… a slightly larger cup! I pointed at the large plastic container used as a «tip» jar on the counter, saying I was under the impression that was the entrée size. NOPE! Apparently they only have the large plastic container For The Tip Jar!!! I can’t make this up!
I had to ask for the entrée rice as well as I had a tiny scoop in the box apparently also meant for children. And the kicker?
Bad food: The container was almost all liquid and the food was so bland I ended up throwing it away! I couldn’t believe I tipped that chick before the order came out!
The only grace? I chomped that eggroll while waiting for them to fix the horror show.
Word to the wise: there are a million place to go for veggie curry in the city, this isn’t one of them…

Literally just had lunch here — as in 30 minutes ago. I was at the Starbucks across the street with a friend of mine handling some bizness, when I was hit with hunger pangs. I saw the sign for California Vegan across the street, hit up Unilocal,and decided with my friend to head on over.
We walked up the stairs, and were greeted by the only server there — who was on the phone. She handed us menus, and while we were looking she continued to chat on the phone. I waited for her to be done, before I asked her about the lunch specials I saw on their website. She informed me that the lunch specials were for their Sunset location. Hmmmmm… dubious. Regardless, we decided to continue eating there because we were starving. We ordered their Tom Yum soup as well as their red curry both with Soy Chicken. The soup was really delish but the curry really lacked flavor. Plenty of veggies in each, which was good. The server seemed to disappear when we started eating, and checked in with us when we were ¾ done with our meal. Again, we were the only table in the entire restaurant. The meal definitely filled a hunger void. I wish it did more than that.

You know someone is really listening to you when the forego their own preferences and surprise you with a vegan dinner! So nice!
I was pretty hungry when I sat down to eat. The restaurant is small and there was only one other couple inside so the waitress was able to take great care of us. We were munching on our delights in under 10 minutes. Fact.
I was digging everything on the menu. It all looked delicious. We started with some of the «chicken» nuggets. They come with a very delicious sauce on the side. It was great with the sauce, okay without it. I only had one because they are clearly super fried. But my dining partner enjoyed them over the tofu he had ordered for his entrée.
For my entrée I had chow mein with tofu. It was chock full of delicious veggies. I love baby corn! And there was cabbage and carrots and I felt reasonably healthy while eating it (I only ate half). Though I’m not a huge fan of tofu this was cooked in a way that didn’t make it too blech. I very enjoyed this meal.
The price was reasonable. The food was vegan. Tons of healthy options. Tons of not so healthy options and everyone left happy.

As with most of the «finds» in this city, this restaurant is located in just-​another-​strip-​mall in Santa Monica, the last place an IN-​experienced foodie would think to try. Ever the adventuress, I’ve taken my chicken-​eater mum here for some not-​so-​chicken nuggets, among other things.
Their menu has everything. EVERYTHING. And it’s all vegan!!! Cue sigh-​of-​relief for not having to bombard the waitress with questions. A gloss-​over of the menu: soups, salads, stir-​fries, wraps, burgers, noodles, rice, soy fish, pancakes, desserts, and a «lentil loaf». Haven’t tried that yet, though it intrigues me. Basically, a Thai food joint with a minor in (soy) American. For first-​timers, get the burger. Any burger. They’re (not) real, and they’re SPECTACULAR. They’re also quite large. (wink)
Their service is always awesome. Adorable waitresses, always speak English, always get my customized orders right, all the goodness. Their takeout is equally spectacular, but why take out when you can eat in and gaze at that awesome electronic billboard across the way?
I have to say, the customers lean toward the hipster crowd when they’re not Asian old ladies. It’s alright though, they’re usually fairly well-​behaved. Eavesdrop on their fake-​philosophy-​laden conversation for some entertainment, whether you’re eating alone or with others.

The food was ok, nothing special.
But the next day my boyfriend and I were so bloated and awful feeling it was absolutely disgusting. We still refer to the awfulness of the place when we’re jokingly deciding where to go to dinner.
I will NEVER eat here again.

I got the crispy chicken burger and it ended up being more than $ 8. It was pretty small. I was really disappointed when I found that the «crispy chicken» was just 3 veggie chicken nuggets which kept sliding out every time I tried to take a bit. I appreciated the huge slices of avocado (extra $ 1) and fresh lettuce, but the taste was forgettable.
Everything on their menu sounds great– they even have breakfast foods like pancakes and burritos, but I guess I just picked the wrong burger to order.
I think I’d prefer The Vegan Joint in Palms, very similar menu but I have always loved everything I ordered from there.

California Vegan is one of the most delicious restaurants I have eaten at in a long time. Value for your money is an understatement — for a mere $ 8.00, the lunch specials offer a main course, side salad and spring roll to dine on.
I really enjoyed the soy chicken and pepper steak — whether it was in a salad, wrap or curry, the flavors were unbelievable, and most importantly, not fried.
I asked the restaurant if they sold the fake meats — and they let me know they purchase it from a place called VegeUSA.
I went to this place THREE times during my visit to LA and would definitely recommend it to anyone traveling out to Hollywood. It was memorable to say the least.

A good vegan restaurant in West LA. There are a LOT of choices — curries, salads, noodles, soups, burgers, and pancakes! I tried some of the appetizers — tofu satay with peanut sauce, crispy wontons, and crispy shrimp — all were excellent. I really enjoyed the crispy wontons, which were small but delicious. The main dish was a vegetable curry with pepper steak (aka fake beef). It was my first time trying vegan beef, and I found it unsettling how realistic it tasted! The flavors were great, the brown rice was cooked just right, and the service was decent. And for dessert — cheesecake! It was lighter than a «real» cheesecake, which made it even better for me.
All in all, a solid restaurant. Prepare to spend about $ 20 before you start feeling full.

I am a carnivore and California Vegan was a dreadful experience for me. Although I prefer meats over veggies, I have to say that I have had good soy-​based products in the past (in China). The food here fell way short of my expectations.
I got the spicy eggplant with pepper steak and my friend ordered pad see ew with soy chicken. I couldn’t determine which one was worse because neither soy-​meats tasted like the real thing. The texture was wrong, the flavor was gross, and they looked terrible.
What was even more disappointing than the pepper steak was the vegetable portion of the dish. I figured that even if I didn’t like the fake meat, I should still be able to eat the eggplants, carrots, onions and bell peppers. But no, they lacked flavor and let me down as well.
The entrees ended up being about $ 10 each. It may not seem like much but the regular versions with real meat probably cost $ 6-​$ 8 in a Thai or Chinese restaurant.
Aside from the nice view from the second floor window, there is nothing positive to say about this place. Even the service sucked. The waitress disappeared into the kitchen for minutes at a time and it was difficult to get anyone’s attention.
That’s it, I’m done with soy-​meat. Give me some real steak!

Very good food!!! But terrible, I mean TERRIBLE service…
I’ve been here three times because again the food is very good for vegan food! The soy thai ice tea is BOMB! lol
Every time I’ve come I’ve had a bad CUSTOMER experience. I prefer not to go heavy into details, simply because Fool me once, shame on you!!! Fool me twice, shame on me, so shameful being three times :(
I might check out another one of there locations though… lol

The soy fish is so good! I had it with the spring rolls and had a bit of crispness in the roll. They use a fresh rice noodle sheet instead of the thin ones that comes in packages which is a plus (extra carbs but we went for a run beforehand), I basically inhaled it after I let me friend have one of the halves on the plate.
I had a craving for pad woon sen so my craving was satiated that night. I had it was the soy chicken and the serving was ample. Not the best pad woon sen but good.
We were the last table that walked in before closing so they were getting a bit antsy but it was at the end of the night, I’ll give them that.
I’ve heard about their veggie bacon and I’ve been intrigued. I’ll have to back for that and more soy fish spring rolls.

Their curries are so yummy! I love that they give you the option to add whatever type of «meat» you want or to add tofu. As a vegan, it’s so refreshing to go into a restaurant and know that you can order ANYTHING on the menu. And they have a super extensive menu.
The name actually threw me off the first time I went. Just FYI, it’s primarily a Thai food place, but they also have burgers and other non-​Thai foods.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t terribly crazy about their pad thai, which really bummed me out because it’s one of my favorite Thai dishes (it was a little bland, not peanutty enough for my tastes). But as I said already, the curry is so delish. I can’t wait to go back and try it again!

yummy vegan Thai… plus some random other stuff (pancakes???) on the menu. orange chicken was GREAT. Tom Kha soup was OK. my kid liked the Pad Thai (it had a lot of sauce!), but I thought it needed more veggies.
easy parking.

I swear the Ice Queen works here. Like Akkara S., I found the service at California Vegan to be god awful. My waitress looked like she didn’t know how to smile and she definitely didn’t know how to say «Thank you» or «You’re welcome.» I’m a big tipper and today, I wanted to hit the total right on the dot (but I didn’t, but I should have).
I frequently like to put on sweatpants, a hat, and look like anything but a single guy with some disposable income to burn just to see how I’ll get treated in restaurants. My experience today at Vegan Glory was an epic fail. While the menu (and the pictures online) are nearly identical to the far superior Vegan Glory on Beverly Blvd. (go there if you live in the Westside, not to this poo palace), I wanted to go to CV because their menu said they had orange chicken.
I’ve been vegetarian for a couple months now and one of the things that I miss the most is orange chicken from Panda Express. Not filet mignon, a juicy burger, or even fried clams stemming from my East Coast roots, I miss freakin’ orange chicken and I miss it bad. When I saw CV had Orange «Chicken,» I had to give it a go.
After I came in and was seated at a table, it literally took 15 minutes for me to have my waitress (the same person who brought me to my table) come over and ask if I wanted something to drink. Considering the restaurant is about twice the size of my room, that’s embarrassing. I was being really nice, as I normally am on these caricature dress-​up days, and the waitress was truly just Cruella DeVille, something straight out of Devil Wears Prada. Guest after guest would say «thank you!» after she took their order and she’d walk away with a stone cold expression, no smile, ready to bite the heads off some kittah’s in the back, no «MMM HMM!!» :), ICE QUEEN.
Please take my food review with a grain of salt because I think the Ice Queen made my food not taste as good. I thought that the lunch special salad looked like it was made of some very sad vegetables with the weirdest ginger dressing. The spring roll had a faint gasoline flavor, as I find vegan spring rolls tend to do depending on how they’re cooked or maybe it was the Ice Queen’s doing. I think she drinks gasoline for breakfast. And the Orange Chicken? It tasted like vegetarian chicken fingers that I would have bought from Trader Joe’s and dumped maple syrup all over them.
Vegan nuggets and Aunt Jemima, that is their «Orange Chicken.» I will begin selling it out of my apartment soon, look out for reviews on Unilocal for «Vegetarian Dave’s Maple Nuggets.»
If you go to California Vegan, pray that you get the nicer, younger waitress and not the Ice Queen. Don’t look into her eyes or the snakes doubling as a throwback bob hairstyle. She’ll turn your veggies into cafeteria taco meat with some pasta bolognese for dessert before she mercilessly rips the heads off plush Veggie Tales characters. Have a lot of fun while she stands over your shoulder while you contemplate whether or not you should tip for having someone make you feel like you’re invisible for 30 minutes.
Save yourself some time and self esteem and go to Vegan Glory, where you don’t feel like your servers want to kill you. I know it’s in my head, but now I feel like I have to go doodoo and after reading these food poisoning stories, I’m nervous that it will be a long night.
California Vegan FTL :(