It is already difficult to open a restaurant in the best of times. However, co-owners Joana and Seleste successfully opened the vegan cafe, Little Barn Coffee House, right in the middle of the COVID-19 Pandemic. This adorable shop is nestled next to a quiet residential neighborhood.
Above: Co-owner Joana
The biscuit they make for the Vegan Sausage Breakfast Sandwich is worth coming back for alone! Buttery, soft, scrumptiousness!
My favorite thing we ordered on this visit was the Vegan Chicken Sandwich with green pesto. The artisanal bread was hardy, but not too heavy. This sandwich has the perfect amount of kale for a nice crunch and vegan cheese to enhance the flavor. It is definitely the best vegan sandwich I’ve ever had!I’m looking forward to going back and trying more of their selection.
They are very friendly and have great customer service.For PRIDE month and throughout the year, support this lady Latinx/2SLGBTQ+ owned business!
In honor of Juneteenth 2024, we decided to highlight an African American owned business in Los Angeles. When I say we were not prepared for such a great find – I mean it!
Wow! That’s what we have to say about the vegan cheeseburger at Vurger Guyz. It is amazing! The soft bun, carmalized onions, melted vegan cheese, pickles, and nicely chard patty all mix so well together. You can add yummy seasoned fries or sweet potato fries on the side. I usually get their lemonade soda pop for a refreshment with the scrumptious meal. Yes – I have already gone back TWICE! They also have a great cream soda option.
Above photo of Vurger Guyz owner – Mr. V
Mr. V, the owner, is super friendly. He has brought the positive small community energy of Brooklyn right to the streets of L.A.
Everyone I’ve seen leaves the truck full and satisfied!
Parking tip for their regular location next to Whole Foods:
For one free hour of parking, park in the parking garage under Whole Foods – get something small at Whole Foods for parking validation and walk to their back balcony. You can see and walk to the Vurger Guyz Food Truck from the back balcony.
Juneteenth Celebration
Vurger Guyz will be at the Leimert Park Juneteenth Celebration (Wednesday, June 19, 2024).
Event Location: 4317 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008.
Festivities are from 11am to 8pm.
Vurger Guyz
ADDRESS:
788 S Grand Ave., Los Angeles (Downtown), CA 90014
I had the chance to visit the diner style vegan restaurant BeeWali’s this weekend!
One side is facing the main road – Eagle Rock Blvd. – and the other side is tucked on a corner just off of the quiet residential street Addison Way.
This family owned restaurant started with a father who loves to cook, worked as an electrician, and decided to become vegan. His wife, Bee, teasingly called him “Wali” when they were dating because it’s the beginning of his unique last name. Bee was working full time as a hotel manager and she eventually chose to become vegan as well. They were surprised at the variety of good food they were enjoying.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, they decided to go even further with their new way of eating and start a vegan restaurant: BeeWali’s! A fun mixture of their first and last names. They recruited their teenage son as a server and hired an additional staff member who also has become like family.
While at BeeWali’s I got the Meddi Bowl Falafel (that is the half sized Falafel plate – they have a full sized falafel plate also). They give good portions. The Meddi Bowl Falafel comes with hummus, pita bread, rice topped with veggies, three large falafel balls, and a side of the house sauce. I also want to try their plant-based chicken Kabob Wrap and fries – next time I guess! They have Mediterranean and Indian options!
If you go and can only get one thing, get their pita bread and hummus – yum, yum!
After you eat at BeeWali’s, let us know in the comments what you got!
ADDRESS
4862 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90041
PHONE: (323) 289-2660
PARKING
– Free 2-hour parking on their cross street Addison Way
– There is also untimed free parking a little further up the street on Addison Way in the residential area
We visited “Stuff I Eat” – one of our favorite lady-owned vegan restaurants – and found great new items on the menu! The restaurant is co-owned by Chef Babett.
Chef Babett – Source: StuffIEat.com
The portions were always good, but this time they were great! So – Much – Food!
Vegan Enchilada Pie
I know Stuff I Eat normally advertises its Soul Food Plate, but I’m there for the vegan Enchilada Pie – best thing ever! However, we saw the special was Vegan Lasagna … and Vegan Nachos are on the menu now too. Sooooo *drum roll please* we got them all. Yeah, 3 meals for two people was WAY too much food – especially considering the super large portions – we had to take a bunch of it home.
Vegan Lasagna
I’ve always thought the Enchilada Pie was super good, so I was surprised how much I equally liked the Nachos and Lasagna too! *Nom Nom*
To top it off I got the Vegan Cranberry Cheesecake. I didn’t think I could be any more satisfied and I was wrong! This vegan cheesecake is the perfect mix of sweet and tart deliciousness!
Another completely satisfying visit at Stuff I Eat – let us know your favorite meals there below and/or at our YouTube page: https://youtube.com/shorts/DtYvRI14c5A?feature=share
ADDRESS:
Stuff I Eat, 114 N. Market St., Inglewood, CA 90301-1710
Did you know one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s favorite foods were greens? Did you know his wife, Coretta, and son were both vegan? So he was most likely no stranger to yummy vegan food! In honor of African American History Month, we’re partnering with Angela Marie Homestead with Me to give you this FREE offer of our favorite greens recipe and our e-Newsletter. Just email the word “GREENS” to VEGANavigate@gmail.com for the VEGANavigate e-Newsletter and access code to a free cooking video tutorial that will help you make the best vegan greens ever!
This offer is in collaboration with Angela Marie Homestead with Me.
As we celebrate Native American Heritage Month and continue with the holiday season getting gifts for friends and family – lets shop at stores owned by the people from the First Nations of this land!
Thank you for choosing to get stuff via VEGANavigate. Some of the companies we advertise have partnered with us. This means they give us a commission if you purchase an item/items from them due to our website. Thanks again for your support!
Heart Berry
New Day Socks
These cute socks are a must-have! Woven by artists of the Ojibwe nation. We also love the “thank you” noted at the bottom of their product page – reminding us of the importance of purchasing from indigenous communities – not products by large corporate companies designed to look as though they are designed by people from First Nations.
(Note: This item is advertised with a non-plant-based blanket on their website.)
Not to be confused with the vegan “Beyond” brand. Beyond Buckskin does accept non-vegan products from indigenous designers. However, there are still plenty of beautiful vegan products made by First Nations artists on their site.
The founder of this company is Jenn Harper from the Anishinaabe Nation. “Keeping in line with her Anishinaabe roots” she is proud her products are sustainable, vegan, and cruelty free!
Happy Halloween! Are you ready for a great list of vegan candy?! We even found candy with compostable packaging. These – and candy with plastic-free packaging – are located at the top of our list.
After you take a look and pick your favorite vegan candies, don’t forget to sign the petition below asking Ferrara Candy Company to package their mini box candy (i.e. nerds, lemon heads, etc.) in a box instead of a plastic bag. One of their vegan candy competitors is already doing this (see Junior Mint mini boxes packaged in a box instead of a plastic bag here). It appears Ferrara themselves even has Nerds candy mini boxes in a box (instead of a plastic bag) when purchased online (see boxed Nerds candies here).
We are asking Ferrara Candy Company to go plastic-free and provide this eco-friendly box option in the grocery store as well.
Thank you for choosing to get stuff via VEGANavigate. Some of the companies we advertise have partnered with us. This means they give us a commission if you purchase an item/items from them due to our website. Thanks again for your support!
Vegan Candy with Paper Packaging:
Fun Dip
(photo by Target and USA Candy Factory)
Single pouches of fun dip are in the Halloween box version at Amazon.
The items featured in the above photo – and many others at their website – currently (as of October 2023) have compostable packaging and are printed with vegetable ink. Not all items at Loving Earth Chocolates have compostable packaging. However, they make it simple to check, by providing a “packaging” link under each item on their website for info on how it’s packaged.
Vegan candies with less plastic packaging than most:
Charm’s Blow Pops Cry Baby (in a box) Dots Dum Dums Hubba Bubba Mamba Mary Jane Now & Later Pixie Sticks Smarties Super Bubble Bubble Gum
Other vegan candies:
Airheads Brach’s Cinnamon Imperials Brach’s Lemon Drops Brach’s Star Brites Peppermint Candy Chick-O-Sticks Fire Ball Go-Max-Go Candy Bars Hubba Bubba Bubble Tape Laffy Taffy (mini version – NOT the regular size. The regular size has egg albumen) Jolly Rancher No Whey Pez Red Vines Ring Pops Skittles Smarties Sour Patch Kids Surf Sweets Organic Cinnamon Bears Swedish Fish Sweet Tarts Twizzlers YumEarth (Lolli Pops) Zackary Cinnamon Bears Zotz
As you can see, there are a lot of vegan candy options to choose from. It’s super exciting that some are plastic-free and some even use compostable packaging! Let us know in the comments section which vegan candy you decided to get and which ones are your favorites!
We have had a blast celebrating Latinx Heritage Month! Admittedly, it consisted a lot of eating great Latinx food. Maybe next year we’ll learn Latinx dances to burn these extra calories off – but that’s next year! Right now we want to share some videos on how you can make great Latinx meals right at home. We found instructions on dishes from Mexico, Columbia, Peru and more! Enjoy!
Thank you for choosing to get stuff via VEGANavigate. Some of the companies we advertise have partnered with us. This means they give us a commission if you purchase an item/items from them due to our website. Thanks again for your support!
It is almost Independence Day! That is, until there is finally an Independence Day for the indigenous nations of Abya Yala (aka: America).
Enjoy exploring these businesses owned by African Abya Yalans (aka: Americans)!
Thank you for choosing to get stuff via VEGANavigate. Some of the companies we advertise have partnered with us. This means they give us a commission if you purchase an item/items from them due to our website. Thanks again for your support!
Here are some vegan LGBTQ+ owned companies to support immediately!
Thank you for choosing to get stuff via VEGANavigate. Some of the companies we advertise have partnered with us. This means they give us a commission if you purchase an item/items from them due to our website. Thanks again for your support!
This LGBTQ+ team is helping save the planet! They collect good quality ugly tomatoes that are normally thrown away by large food factories to make delicious vegan sauces and spreads!
This is a pop-up eatery that provides a safe space for trans-identifying people of color. Formerly located solely in Oakland, CA, they have closed their store to travel the nation with their unique combination of Asian and Latinx comfort foods. Let’s hope you get a chance to try ’em out!
