When German Rivera first went vegan 15 years ago, there were surprisingly few restaurants in L.A. where someone could eat a hearty plant-based meal. The animal lover and graphic designer, who came from a food-obsessed family in Mexico, got excited over simple discoveries: the new Native Foods in Westwood, a secretly all-vegan Thai restaurant in […]
Long Beach Lunch
Loaded Cafe Is the Mexican-Owned Greasy Spoon the Future Needs
The greasy spoon diner is an icon of mid-century American culture, but it’s most prolific form is really a slice of Southern California. With home-style meals, cozy-booth settings and snappy service, freestanding kitchens slinging pancakes and burgers become important community spaces – where working-class folk from across the community could sit side by side at […]
Blue Bird Cafe Brings More Than Just Vegan Sushi Back to Alamitos Beach
Happy Elephant was Long Beach’s only sushi restaurant that didn’t bother stocking any fish. It was also the only vegan place around that served a full menu of reimagined and deconstructed Vietnamese and Thai dishes, a la Au Lac. The restaurant’s location next to Spicy Sugar in the middle of the Thai Town Gayborhood […]
