raw food restaraunts in los angeles area which ones are the best?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Charles on October 2, 2009 at 1:18am

Go to Cru. Cru is right in LA, and it would be ideal for taking your boyfriend since it's only half raw. Then get on the 5 and check out Au Lac and 118 Degrees.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Amanda on October 2, 2009 at 1:35am

I've been to Juliano's and personally I can't say anything wonderful, except that in some way he is strangely attractive. Rawvolution I think was really good, chill vibe, good food, and nice prices.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by John on October 2, 2009 at 1:41am

Taste of the Goddess in Hollywood has been closed for years.
Nwenna Kai, one of the co-owners, now has a blog: http://theguidetorawfoods.blogspot.com
She recently spent time at Sheridan Hammond’s yoga and surf school retreat that has a mostly raw café in Australia: http://www.samudra.com.au

The other owner of Taste of the Goddess, Jennie, opened 118 degrees in Costa Mesa.

Annie Jubb is going to open a restaurant, very soon, in Hollywood, near Amoeba Music. It won’t be all raw, or all vegan. Her menu items include dishes with goat milk. She will also have whole grain breads.

The following is my L.A. raw restaurant list.

If you want the largest, most comfortable place, where you can hang out and that has a big variety of raw, and not cooked, try out ELR in Santa Monica (Euphoria Loves Rawvolution). If you haven’t been to ELR in a while, it has changed. It always changes. For the better.

John
http://www.sufoodliving.com

Au Lac, 16563 Brookhurst St., Fountain Valley, CA 92708 (Orange County); 714-418-0658; http://www.AuLac.com. Vegan restaurant with half raw menu. Some consider this to be the best raw restaurant. It is absolutely one of the tops in the world. Chef Ito is a graduate of the Living Light Culinary Arts Institute in Fort Bragg, California.

Better Life Cuisine, 717 Broadway Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90401. Opened in summer 2009. Raw food café with full menu, salads, wraps, pizza, crackers, deserts, smoothies, juices. Indoor table seating. Connected to yoga studio. Free Wifi.

Cru 1521 Griffith Park Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026; 323-667-1551; http://www.CruSilverlake.com. Half a block from Sunset Blvd. in this funky part of town. This is truly a gourmet restaurant. Cosmopolitan feel and popular. Closed between lunch and dinner. Call first for times and reservations.

Earthsong Living Cuisine, 509 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach, CA (inside Planet Earth Eco Café); http://www.chefraw.com. Chef Lawrence Todd opened this cafe August 11, 2009. Open Tuesday – Sunday. Closed Mondays. Todd was a chef at the former Terrabella raw restaurant in Hermosa Beach that is now Leaf Cuisine. He has also been a private jet chef. Very much a hands-on chef working to put out quality product.

Elf Café, 2135 W. Sunset Blvd., Echo Park, CA 90026 (Los Angeles); 213-484-6829. Some raw foods. Also, catering. Contact: Astara. ElfCafe (at) gmail.com.

ELR (Euphoria Loves Rawvolution), 2301 Main St., Santa Monica, CA 90405; 310-392-9501; http://www.EuphoriaLovesRawvolution.com. Matt and Janabai Amsden own this and are hands-on doing a great thing for the community. Matt is the author of the Rawvolution recipe book. This cafe keeps getting better and better. Often has live music nights. A real mom and pop place with an eclectic Bohemian feel. Rotating art on the walls from various artists is also for sale. Variety of seating, from sofas, tables and chairs, to a WiFi bar with stools and plugs, and outside tables along sidewalk with potted plants. They are a “green” cafe: recycle, compost, and use recycled paper products, compostable plastics, and nontoxic cleaners. Free WiFi. Grab some food-to-go and head to the beach, where you can rent a bike.

Leaf Cuisine, 11938 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90066; http://www.LeafCuisine.com. Raw café that is bright green outside. Counter service with plenty of seating at the country and at tables, and some tables along sidewalk out front. Full menu. Popular for large salads, wraps, berry smoothies, and freshly-made juices. Wide variety of foods. Also offers classes taught by owner Rod Rotundi. This café could benefit by hanging a large soft wall sculpture to absorb some of the noise from the kitchen and customers. Packaged Leaf Cuisine salads, wraps, deserts, and crackers are available at many natural foods stores in California.

Leaf Cuisine, 14318 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423; http://www.LeafCuisine.com. This is the second location.

Leaf Cuisine, Pacific Coast Hwy., Redondo Beach, CA; http://www.LeafCuisine.com. This is the third location, and was the former location of Terrabella.

Mary’s Secret Garden restaurant, 100 S. Fir St., Ventura, CA 93001; 805-641-FOOD; http://www.MarysSecretGarden.net. Vegan restaurant with many raw items on menu. Check website to for potentially newer, larger location. Ventura County. Mary is a real Earth mother who is happy to make the food she serves. Get a hug.

Nice Cream, 3710 Cahuenga Blvd., Studio City, CA 91604; http://www.rawnicecream.com. Mollie Angelheart’s raw, vegan ice cream parlor. Her parents own the Café Gratitude restaurant chain in San Francisco. This is next to Rawsheed’s Sunpower Natural Café at 3711 Cahuenga Blvd.

118 Degrees, 2981 Bristol St., B5, Costa Mesa, CA 92626; http://www.Shop118Degrees.com. A full-service raw restaurant that also serves wine. Jennie formerly was co-owner of Taste of the Goddess cafe in Hollywood. This is in Orange County.

Planet Raw, 6th & Broadway, Santa Monica, CA 90401. Raw restaurant started by chef and author Jimmy Juliano Brotman. A few blocks from the 3rd Street Promenade, which is center of commercial nightlife with restaurants, stores, and movie theatres, and a variey of street performers.

Sunpower Natural Cafe, 3711 W. Cuehuenga Blvd., Studio City, CA 91604; 818-308-7420; http://www.sunpowernatural.com. Rawsheed is a chef and talented singer and musician. Sells supplies and premade items. Mostly a grab-n-go location. Next to the politically active KPFK 90.7 radio station. Two doors down will be Mollie Angelheart’s raw, vegan ice cream parlor. Her parents, Matthew and Terces Engelhart, own the Café Gratitude restaurant chain with 6 restaurants serving mostly raw food in and around San Francisco.

Zephyr Vegetarian Café,́ 340 E. Fourth St., Long Beach, CA; 562-435-7113. Mostly organic, vegetarian restaurant with some raw food items on menu. Long Beach is the southernmost beach city in Los Angeles County. The city has a large aquarium popular with tourists.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by John on October 2, 2009 at 1:42am

woops, I meant, http://www.sunfoodliving.com
: )

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bryan Au on October 2, 2009 at 2:14am

I highly recommend RAWvolution! Their menu, prices, portions, vibe, super friendly service and staff, owner, all are SUPER RAWesome, I recommend their new Super Nachos a really great deal!

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by svelte_in_la on October 2, 2009 at 4:20am

AGREED!

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Circle on October 2, 2009 at 1:25pm

rawvolution? what are the best dishes there ?

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Charles on October 2, 2009 at 1:40pm

Get the jalapeno poppers.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Sun Light on October 2, 2009 at 1:36pm

http://www.giveittomeraw.com/group/laraw/forum/topics/la-raw-restau...

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by John on October 2, 2009 at 2:39pm

At ELR (Euphoria Loves Rawvolution):

For someone who isn't used to vegan or raw food, yes, the nachos.

But also:

The non-tuna salad with crackers, cucumber salad, and hemp tabouli.
Some people order a side of mustard with the crackers and non-tuna.

If you like chocolate, get the chocolate turtle truffle that is crunchy like "Rice Crispy" chocolate because it has buckwheat in it instead of rice.

If they have the carrot cake, try that.

If you are lucky, they will have the mango flan.

There is a Yoga Works studio half a block away. And there is a massage place in the same building as ELR.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by John on October 3, 2009 at 2:18pm

Sorry, I had put "net" instead of "com" at the end of her web addy.
The correct contact information for Mary's Secret Garden in Ventura is:

Mary’s Secret Garden restaurant, 100 S. Fir St., Ventura, CA 93001; 805-641-FOOD; http://www.MarysSecretGarden.com. Vegan restaurant with many raw items on menu. Check website for potentially newer, larger location. Ventura County. Mary is a real Earth mother who is happy to make the food she serves. Get a hug.

▶ Reply to This