Vegetarian Restaurants in Los Angeles, California

Shelly was born and raised in Los Angeles. I lived there for 24 years. We lived on the westside and in the San Fernando Valley. On our most recent trip, we stayed in Ojai, a lovely town halfway to Santa Barbara, so we'll include more from that end of Southern California. Also check out the website of Vegetarians in Paradise.

Thanks for additional information to: Christy, Steve Sprinkel, Sean Nowicki, Kim Dingle and Jill Weinreich.

-- Richard Gillmann

Vegetarian Restaurants

• seed, 1604 Pacific Ave, Venice (at Windward), open 10am-9pm, tel# 310-396-1604
  Eric Lechasseur and Sanae Suzuki have opened their new vegan, macrobiotic, organic restaurant called "seed"! Vegan, Organic, Macrobiotic, Japanese, American, Fusion, Take-out. Venice organic vegan restaurant located just steps from the Venice Beach boardwalk. Varied menu featuring sandwiches and paninis, hot bowls, salads, pastries, Japanese teas, and more. (C)
• Native Foods, 1110 1/2 Gayley Avenue, Westwood, open 11am to 10pm daily, tel# (310) 209-1055
  This is a must for vegetarians! It's all vegan, it's cozy, the staff is really friendly and they offer reasonable prices as it is so close to UCLA. My favorite is the Ru-Bruin sandwich. It's blackened seitan with native foods "cheese" (which I think is some sort of delicious cashew concoction) served with cole-slaw. (SN)
• Real Food Daily, 242 S Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, tel# 310-858-0880
  Vegan
• Fattys & Co., 1627 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock, open until 8 or 10pm except on Tuesdays, tel# 323 254 8804
  We want you to know about Fatty's fine dining restaurant, which is 100% vegetarian cuisine. (KD)
• Dr. J's Healthy and Tasty Vegetarian Restaurant, 1303 Westwood Blvd, open Monday through Saturday, 11am to 8pm, tel #310/477-2721
  This is an all natural wheat-free, sugar-free, and other items-free casual restaurant owned by a very sweet woman who loves to talk about her food philosophy with the customers. Asian influence cuisine. (JW)
• Real Food Daily, 514 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, 310/451-7544
  In case you're in Los Angeles (really a fine town, despite the bad reputation), the best vegetarian restaurant here is Real Food Daily with locations in West Hollywood and Santa Monica. It's a vegan restaurant that even my meat-eating family members enjoy. The food is flavorful, healthy and organic, and there is a wide variety of types of food. (JW)
• The Farmer and The Cook, 339 West El Roblar Drive, Ojai
  An all-organic, all vegetarian restaurant, open since 2001. "We make an effort to have vegan options. We make a vegan veggie burger while preparing the regular vegetarian recipe. The salad bar is 75% vegan and all the eggs and cheese are seperate so that incidental spillage is reduced. We never cook meat. The store is all organic. The store has been operating for seven years. The proprietors grow 14 acres of fruits and vegetables organically on sites that are virtually free of neighboring contamination. We do not use manure, we use flax seed meal as our main fertilizer. We scratch-cook all our soups and main meals." (SS)

Restaurants with Vegetarian Entrees

• Rainbow Market, Ojai, behind the main arcade in the center of town
  This is a natural foods market. Good food to go, many choices, with a usable dining area.
• Good Earth, 12345 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, 818/506-7400
  While not entirely vegetarian, this chain of restaurants has many veggie and healthy choices. We usually visit the one in Studio City - there are others in Pasadena, Encino and Northridge. There's one in Palo Alto, too, and probably others I don't know about. They have a spiced tea that is excellent and that is sold in many grocery stores. A good place to take a mixed party of vegetarians and non-vegetarians. (RG)