18 April 2010

The Spot - Hermosa Beach - Oldest Veg Restaurant in Los Angeles

Going to The Spot gives you the highest amount of Veg restaurant "street-cred" in Los Angeles.  (at least in my book)  Its the oldest and best veg place around.  Established in 1977 makes it older than most Vegans that I know!  Reason enough alone to dine in a restaurant that's been veg longer than you have!

  What makes The Spot stand out to Healthy Vegans beyond its lineage is the low fat pledge on its menu & website.


"We are a natural food restaurant. Most of our menu is available fat free and non-dairy. We always serve organic whole grains, and legumes. We use seasonal organic produce when available. We serve and cook with purified water. Our homemade bread, cornbread and desserts are sweetened with raw agave. Our fat free soups never contain any oils or dairy products!"

Kristin and I actually happened upon The Spot by accident.  I was headed to Redondo Beach to another Veg restaurant to add to my growing body of reviews.  As usual, Kristin was navigating and we ended up at The Spot.  As this is a regular occurrence when going anywhere with Kristin navigating I tend to go for the certainty of what's in front of me vs giving her another shot of getting us anywhere.  I loaded The Spot's website and read the above bit and decided to overlook K's blunder.  Hey even a broken clock is right twice a day.

The Spot happens to be one of the few places in Los Angeles where you can get a baked potato.  It should come as no surprise that the healthiest and most perfect food on the planet is absent from the culinary scene in Los Angeles.   We go straight for the Savory Spud and replace the Savory Sauce (which is what you're paying 11.95$ for) with one of their fat free sauces like the Mushroom Gravy or Red Sauce.  The portion is huge and I advise splitting it between two people who also went for a cup of one of the soups (which are not to be missed).  Ask for a tiny side of Savory Sauce to dip your fork in so you get a taste (and not a bath) of another mainstay of The Spot.

The Spud with Red Sauce



The Spud with Mushroom Gravy

The Open Burrito

Those are just a few of our favorites.  In a time when Vegan restaurants are serving unhealthy disease promoting fatty equivalents of the garbage non vegans are eating its wonderful to discover a restaurant that cares about the health of it's customers.  I use to turn my nose at Vegan 1.0, but I now relish it over all other vegan food and turn my nose at Daiya covered Soy Protein Isolate which was so amazing a short year ago.  The Spot is so aptly named and I'm humbled to discover what has been an institution for nearly as long as I've been on this planet.  Please make your pilgrimage to The Spot as soon as possible and pay homage to great tasting healthy vegan food that was done right the first time and I'm so glad I've gained the knowledge & palette required to appreciate it to its fullest.

The Spot
110 Second Street
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
310-376-2355
10am-10pm daily
http://www.worldfamousspot.com/

4 comments:

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

I finally ate at The Spot on Meatout Saturday this year. The food was so good (I did have the Savory Sauce because it was my first time there) and I got to speak with the owner for quite a while. She is so lovely and passionate about good vegetarian food. I'll definitely return and I'll try the mushroom gravy next time!

I'm with you in that my favorite foods are simple, healthful vegan fare like grains, dark and colorful veggies, legumes, and fruits. There's nothing better!

Lex said...

Agreed! Wait until you see the spread our mutual friend G threw for us tonight!!! Kristin is working on the post!

quarrygirl said...

oooh i love the spot! i am so happy to see this review. i didn't even know they had baked potatoes, which are like the best food ever. :)

i am addicted to daiya though. HALP.

Anonymous said...

I live in the South Bay and had a, non-vegan, co-worker who used to rave about the food. But for some reason I can't ever get myself over there. I guess because it seems like such a dated hippie joint.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...