It is becoming delightfully common to happen upon vegan staff at very non-vegan restaurants. Through the kindness of my server, Emily, I found my way through the menu modifications at The Blind Burro.
… The Blind Burro (San Diego, CA)
Category: Mexican
Pokez (San Diego, CA)
One thing I know to be true about San Diego vegans: You are either a Rancho’s person or a Pokez person (plus a few Liticker’s punks). Me, I give all my marbles to Pokez. One of the few quantifiable reasons I can understand people preferring Rancho’s is their vegan cheese. But a dusting of unmelted Daiya isn’t going to sway my heart—especially when I can bask in the warmth of Pokez’s Potato Flautas ($8.79).
… Pokez (San Diego, CA)
Project Taco (Los Angeles, CA) [CLOSED]
Enthralled by an article on Beyond Meat ‘s CEO Ethan Brown, Project Taco founder Nick Fontova mentally earmarked the company for future collaboration. The very next day, Brown walked into the Hermosa Beach taco shop. The two quickly hit it off, both passionate about innovation and health, and entered into a conversation giving rise to a exceptionally vegan-friendly taco menu.
… Project Taco (Los Angeles, CA) [CLOSED]
Tomatomania at Loteria Grill (Los Angeles, CA)
For most of my life I’ve hated tomatoes. I would eat tomatoes only in their most cooked down and pureed state—aka pizza sauce. It wasn’t until the summer of 2012 when I visited Central California for the Bianco Di Napoli tomato harvest that I dared to eat an unadulterated raw tomato. Standing there in organic fields of Cliff Fong’s Farm, with the summer sun still pulsating through the red flesh, I became a tomato fan.
… Tomatomania at Loteria Grill (Los Angeles, CA)
Mario’s La Fiesta (Berkeley, CA)
In 1999, I moved from Los Angeles to the Bay Area, where I discovered the world of Mission-style burritos. At first I was dazzled by the baby blanket-sized tortillas stuffed with whole beans, rice, cheese, lettuce, pico, crema, guacamole… so big, so filling! But it wasn’t long before I grew weary of these overpriced behemoths pouring out of every taqueria in San Francisco (for a time, you could find me at Taqueria el Buen Sabor every weekend). That’s when I met Mario’s. … Mario’s La Fiesta (Berkeley, CA)
Loading Dock (Brooklyn, NY)
Although I detest these New York winters, nuzzling up in a fur-lined chair (let’s not debate over that, ok) next to the wood burning hearth at the Loading Dock is one of my few snowbound pleasures. This food cart, parked in an actual loading dock of a downtown live-work industrial loft, is flush with all the pomp of the hipster allusion (complete with an art gallery), but none of the dickery.
My sensible friends let me select our downtown brunch location before embarking on the totally rad Atlantic Tunnel Tour. A perfect chance to show off my “what’s hot now” knowledge, I mean, what’s the point of obsessing over all those food blogs if I don’t get to dazzle people by dragging them to obscure industrial corners of our dismal downtown, secure in my promise of awesome Mexican breakfast!
The Veg Foodie 