The Unvegan

Recent Posts

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10 Years of Unvegan
A Quick Bite at Burrito Express
Serendipity at Northern Waters Smokehaus

‘Los Angeles’

Not a Usual Bar at Souplantation (CLOSED)

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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.

A Big Slice at Big Mama’s & Papa’s

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Notice the paperclip to demonstrate the size.

Big Mama’s & Papa’s Pizzeria sells pizza by the slice. But it’s not just any pizza by the slice. It’s Big Mama’s Slice and it is massive. Signs outside the place say that their slices are the size of three regular pizza slices. Unfortunately, the picture of the slice on the sign didn’t give give any scale and only showed the price, at $3.99. So for all I knew, as I ordered the slice, it could have been the size of three tiny pizza slices.

Getting Huevos at the Omelette Parlor (CLOSED)

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A pile of goodness.

With some family in town, I headed to Santa Monica to eat breakfast at the Omelette Parlor. When we arrived, the line was out the door, but we were told there was only a 20-minute wait. Since it was so nice out, we took a walk up Main Street and came back just in time to be seated.

Now the usual thought would be that if you go to a place with omelette in the name, you order an omelette, but on this day, I was glad I didn’t follow that rule. Instead, I decided to order their Huevos Rancheros because they looked so good. It was a delicious mix of rice, beans, egg, cheese, tortilla and sauce. There wasn’t any meat involved, but there also weren’t any vegetables there to ruin the party.

A Subtle Difference at El Baron

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What is this thing?

In a stretch of Culver City on Washington, there is an interesting little building that always seems to be busy. It is both a nightclub and a Salvadoran restaurant and it is called El Baron. One night we decided to pick up some dinner from that odd little place to see what they had to offer. The menu has an interesting mix of Mexican and Salvadoran fare, but I feel like I can get good Mexican food all over LA and decided to go the Salvadoran route.

Surprised by Spumoni

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Meat and potatoes.

We headed over to Santa Monica to grab some pizza. Unfortunately, once we had parked and filled the meter, we realized that the pizza place we wanted no longer existed. Unwilling to let a few quarters go to waste, we decided to take a little walk and see if any other restaurant might be able to tickle our fancy. What we found was Spumoni. Though not a pizza place, at least it was Italian.

A Little Local at Casita Taco al Carbon

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What’s the deal with this lettuce?

Well I needed something in walking distance and I wanted something good. Not knowing what I would find, I took a walk down Magnolia Boulevard and stopped at the first Mexican place I found. It was called Casita Taco al Carbon and had the look of something awesome. I took a while deciding what to order, as I often do when visiting a Mexican place for the first time. I never know what’s going to be the best, whether it be a burrito, taco or something more interesting. Since the name of the place had “taco” in it, I figured that would be a good place to start.

Big Wangs, Not Big Wings

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No wings here.

To expand my ever-growing knowledge of what kind of food the valley has to offer, I set off for Big Wangs one night after work. For a long time I thought that the place was actually called Big Wings, since everyone seemed to talk about their wings. Then when I was corrected, I assumed the place was called Big Wang’s, presumably under the assumption that it was owned by a large or tall Chinese man named Wang. Again, I was wrong and learned that it was actually called Big Wangs. No possession here, just plural, so I was a bit apprehensive before entering what I now expected to be a large sausage fest. Well, luckily it wasn’t one of those. Instead it was a semi-divey bar and restaurant that still managed to specialize in wings, which I’m sure continues to promote the general misunderstanding of the name of the place.

Folding Over at Pitfire Pizza

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Pit Firing Away

Although I work like literally right next door to the Pitfire Pizza in North Hollywood, I was somehow compelled to pay a visit to the newer Culver City location. The set up of the place is actually pretty cool and somewhat industrial-looking. Orders are taken at a counter that has a nice blackboard behind it showing off the current specials. None of these looked too interesting to me, so I took a look at the regular menu and found something interesting.

Brunching at Burger Kitchen (CLOSED)

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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

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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.

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