The Unvegan

Recent Posts

10 Years of Unvegan
A Quick Bite at Burrito Express
Serendipity at Northern Waters Smokehaus
Twerks and Burritos at Casa Amigos

‘Bacon’

Not a Usual Bar at Souplantation (CLOSED)

-
An array of cold pasta.

EDIT: This Souplantation is no more, but if you’re into salad bars there are plenty others carrying on its name.

As a man who loves all-you-can-eat, I was very excited at the prospect of heading to Souplantation (also known as Sweet Tomatoes in some places). I knew that they had an 80-foot salad bar, which sounded terrible, but I had also been told they had some REAL food. When I walked in, I hadn’t totally comprehended what an 80-foot salad bar would look like, and it bothered me deeply. Tucked in the recesses of this foul bar, I found some pastas that seemed pretty decent. I decided to start with these and took them back to my table for some tasting.

Brunching at Burger Kitchen (CLOSED)

-
What the hell is on that bun?

Inspired by my own awesome burger list and having passed the new place last week, my girlfriend and I headed to Burger Kitchen on 3rd Street over the weekend. The place just opened two weeks before, so I figured it had worked out enough its kinks and was ready for a good old unvegan review. After looking over the 22 burgers (including one for $50 and another for $65!) for a bit and having a hard time deciding, the girlfriend discovered a great deal, The Champagne Brunch.

KFC Doubles Me Down

-
Sandwich or death wish?

A couple days ago I wrote about the new KFC Double Down, a sandwich full of promise for unvegans. Well, I couldn’t wait to get my mouth around one, so as soon as I could, I took a ride to KFC to see if the sandwich would live up to its potential. I ordered one for $4.99 and opened my bag of sandwiched goodness with great expectations.

What I found was something a little scary. Dear lord, those chicken breasts were huge and greatly overpowered everything else in the sandwich. Even more frightening, though, was the bacon. If you can really call it bacon. This flabby, rubbery substance resembled ham a lot more than bacon and seemed to be a little bleached to give off the bacony vibe. The sauce and the cheese looked decent, so I hoped that these would give the sandwich what it needed as I took a bite.

Swinging Low at Swinger’s

-
Damn you hidden pickle!

After a vicious night of partying, nothing makes me happier than a grilled cheese with bacon. This desire has only increased as I have gotten older, so after my most recent mess of an evening, some friends and I made a Sunday run to Swinger’s in the Mid-City area. Swinger’s is like diner, but slightly better because they have grass-fed beef and all that jazz. After waiting about 15 minutes for a table, we were finally seated. I took a long look at the menu, which was possible because of the long wait for our waitress and only found Grilled Cheese with Bacon on one of their daily specials. Unfortunately, that day was not Sunday.

Bacon Beats Sex

-
Baconfact!

While on the subject of Canada, it seems that a new report from the Great White North has some interesting insight into the power of delicious meats. According to the study, 43% of Canadians prefer bacon to sex. Is Canadian sex that bad or is bacon that good? I like to think that bacon is just that good.

Overpaying at Overland Cafe (REBRANDED)

-
Oh hello breakfast.

EDIT: Overland Cafe has become The Overland, which is basically the same, but somehow cooler.

Often packed and with a line out the door, Overland Cafe sits in the Palms neighborhood just down the street from me. One of their biggest draws, in my mind, is their champagne brunch, featuring all-you-can-drink champagne for 5 bucks until 2:00 pm on weekends. This price doesn’t include the orange juice required to make mimosas, but is still a pretty good deal. Unfortunately, that is just about the only thing that is a good deal there.

My Free Jack in the Box Sandwich

-
All this for free!

Some say the best things in life are free. But that can’t really be true, because food is one of the best things in life and it is rarely ever free. And when you really think about it, is anything really ever free? I mean, maybe it doesn’t cost you money, but it could cost you time, or effort, which are sometimes costlier than actual money. But I digress, this is not a philosophy blog (or IS IT?!), this is a food blog of the highest standards, which is why when Jack in the Box said they were giving away their new sandwiches for free yesterday I took a ride to try them out.

Memories of the Elephant Bar (CLOSED)

-
Made with real elephant. Wait. No.

EDIT: Sadly, this location is extinct, but there are still other Elephant Bars living elsewhere.

As a child of 13, I went to the Elephant Bar in Palm Desert and loved the perpetually moving straw fans on the ceiling. Of course, that was all it took for me to like a restaurant at the age of 13. Now things are a little different. Those fans still cater to my easily distracted mind, but my taste buds require something more. A quick look at the menu made me feel like the Elephant Bar was suffering from mild schizophrenia. While most of the menu was filled with American fare, for some reason a whole page was devoted to Asian stir-fry-esque meals. This threw me off and made me feel like this place wasn’t made for Asian food. I flipped back to the American comfort zone and found what I wanted.

Loading up on Dough at CPK

-
Bread!

A long time ago, I tried out the BBQ Chicken Pizza from California Pizza Kitchen (CPK). By this time, the restaurant was in Michigan everyone had been raving about it. I tasted it and was really disappointed. Using BBQ sauce instead of tomato sauce disturbed me, and the onions hidden in the cheese made it even worse. Later on, I tried many different pizzas from CPK and was pleased. Yet, since moving to California, I have had very little, if any contact with CPK. Recently, though, I had the chance for a revisit to their Beverly Hills location and decided to once again try out their BBQ Chicken Pizza. But this time, I was prepared.

A Breakfeast at the Buttermilk Truck (CLOSED)

Hungry workers.
Hungry workers.

EDIT: The truck is no more, but apparently the food can now be found at Willie Jane’s in Venice…

As I sat on my couch in the morning, waiting for my English Muffin to toast, I realized that I didn’t actually have a Newsweek to read. This was very disappointed, so I turned to my iPhone and checked Twitter. Thinking nothing new would be there at such an ungodly hour (8:30), I was just hoping to kill time. But then I saw it. The Buttermilk Truck was already on the streets and serving up breakfast in El Segundo, essentially across the street from where I work. I shot up from my couch, grabbed the English Muffin from the toaster and tossed it back into the fridge, then hit the road to get some breakfast from a truck.

cURL error: Could not resolve host: schema-pro.com