Sante La Brea

On June 1^st, Santa La Brea closed its doors permanently. There are so many memories that were forged in this place, and Dean and Arthur always treated my friends and my family with real generosity. It was quite a surprise when Arthur told me that they were closing down. I was fortunate to wander in the last weekend they were open without any idea they were about to close.
I will miss the Santa Ranchero, Turkey Chili Omelet, the baked Samosas, the Blue Corn and Oatmeal Pancakes. Most of all, I will miss seeing the familiar faces and the generous service that was always provided to me and those in my company. It was my favorite place to go and detox after a weekend of debauchery. Thanks for all the memories and best of luck to you in your future endeavors.

Stopped here for a late lunch one afternoon while walking along LaBrea. We’re not vegans. We didn’t realize this place served vegan food until we saw «Chick-​Un» on the menu. The orange water was also different, as it was served warm with no ice. The falafel wrap was much bigger than expected and not bad. However, the slaw that it came with was not what I expected because it was more so pickled cabbage than a traditional cole slaw with mayo. The Southwestern salad was decent but was served warm, which was odd.
Anyway, if you want to try this place out, you better hurry. They are set to close on June 1^st and will become a German restaurant.

Vegan/​vegetarian cuisine is like a whole different world to me. I always get a kick out of things that are created to taste like other things (meat candy for example.)
So a couple years back this place was known for being on Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen nightmares. He came in, reinvented all the dishes and the rest is history. I wish I had eaten here when he was in town as I have no idea what was kept and what was changed from back then.
Came on a weekday, walked in and it was pretty empty. Sat near the window and the waiter brought me water infused with orange or some sort of fruit. Not bad.
Ordered some sort of ravioli thing, gf ordered a salad. Both were very good! For appetizers we got the Spinach quesadilla with cashew cheese, which was a bit runny but I keep forgetting to not compare vegan food with traditional cuisine, it’s all very experimental I know.
Service was decent, waiter was nice, ambience was dark but cozy.
No complaints, ill totally be back.

Sante La Brea, I heart you. My friend took me here for dinner — a place that I never would’ve picked myself because I generally don’t go to vegetarian/vegan/“healthy” restaurants.
Then food here was incredible. I had a salmon on rice with an amazing tamari-​ginger-​cream sauce. And let me tell you about the vegan chocolate cake. Absolutely delicious. Sweet dark chocolatey, gooey, moist goodness. And it’s freakin’ vegan! We couldn’t believe it.
MUST GO BACK.

A colleague, who happens to be a vegetarian, suggested this place as an option that was geographically equidistant to each of us. Sounded like a fair compromise, and I was excited to see that there was meat on the menu (quite considerate of him), so I agreed and we met up on a Friday night for dinner.
Surprisingly slow for a weekend evening — I suppose it’s more of a lunch place for local businesses. A smaller venue, decorated in a cute quaint way, with slight Mediterranean touches and a vaguely hippie feel reminiscent of little Berkeley venues. Our waitress, who was pulling double duty as a bartender, was pleasant enough and attentive… and we ordered a few dishes, a beer for me, and off she went.
Everyone seemed to like what they’d ordered. I got the nachos, since appetizers were $ 2 off and it was only a $ 6 plate. Winner… The beer was also $ 2 off of $ 2, so realistically I got a bargain basement dinner, for the cost of fast food I got real food. Happy about that.
Everyone liked it, there were lots of vegetarian and even vegan options, yet it wasn’t over-​the-​top about it… so I was happy with that too.
Cute little place, food was good if not amazing… parking wasn’t fun but at least it was easy tonight, I got lucky though.
I’d go back, but I wouldn’t rush back.

Here is the deal… I am not a vegan guy by any means. I am not someone who gets excited about vegan meals and gluten free things. Typically I see this as a sign of food not tasting at its fullest potential. Sort of like how I view non-​fat items. Do not be fooled by Santé La Brea! If you are going to eat health and don’t want to sacrifice flavor, this is the place to do it.
I ate here last night for the first time and I had a combination of the oatmeal and the yellow corn with blueberries pancakes. Hands down the best pancakes I have ever had! I was shocked! I was even more shocked to find out that besides me putting butter on the pancakes… they were vegan! We later had their orgasmic orange cake as well as the chocolate penut butter cheesecake. The orgasmic orange cake was pretty good. It is SUPER orange tasting. It was pretty good… but I recommend only getting it if you really like orange tasting things. It is really bold in it’s taste. The Penut butter cheesecake was pretty epic though… and it was gluten free! Awesome!
I guess I can’t vouch for the rest of the menu but from what I experienced… this restaurant is pretty fantastic!

Bahhh I LURV IT HERE!!!
Best place for vegans, vegetarians, and meat eaters to eat together in harmony!!! The curry is always a must order, and you can choose proteins like temeph, tofu, fake chicken, real chicken etc etc etc. Its just the best. Also their Macro Lover Plate is fabooooosh, so satifying and filling and HEALTHY! I have been less impressed with the falafel plate and tofu steak dinner, and disliked the edamame.
THEIR RAW CAROB DESERT IS AMAMAMAMAMAMAMAZING. I am obsessed with eating raw and the fact that they have a raw food option in their desert menu is already a huge win. I can’t wait to try their Peanut Butter Vegan Gluten Free cheesecake next time :)

My new favorite restaurant!
So excited to have discovered this hidden gem on Unilocal.A FANTASTIC choice if you are dining with anyone who has food allergies or other diet restrictions. You can find here vegan, gluten free, nut free, and the best part is there is still actual fish and meat products for your non-​veg friends.
The green juice is AMAZING, as is the free flow lemonade. I’ve only managed to try the Tempeh BLT so far, and it’s the first time in 10 years of being vegetarian that I liked tempeh. So much, in fact, that I cam back the very next day to get it again.
Also a very nice atmosphere. You can sit outside at the long picnic tables and feel like you’re in some resort, or sit inside at the little café tables.
Service was awesome, one of the nicest, most on-​the-​ball staff I’ve ever encountered in Los Angeles. Clearly knowledgable and enthusiastic about the food.
Cannot wait to try the rest of the menu. Will be back often!

Just spent almost $ 200 on a work lunch, and the food was pretty blah.
Really disappointing for a vegan who orders a «patty melt» from a place that prides itself in vegan/​veggie options, and it’s nothing but a boca burger on some soggy bread with mustard. Got charged for vegan cheese, but definitely no cheese. Unless that WAS the cheese, but it was more like mustard. With so many places in Hollywood that offer amazing vegetarian options, it’s going to be a long time before I give this place another shot. I remember a long time ago, they had really great baked tofu, but it’s not on the menu anymore. Try the waffle if you’re looking for something with both veg options and meat options.
The verdict is out for the rest of the staff, some people enjoyed their lunch, others said it was bad. Comments from the staff were: «The pasta dish had way too much garlic, nearly inedible», «The burger was really dry», and the «Curry wrap was good.»

If I could give negative stars, I would.
I had a terrible experience ordering food from Sante La Brea. Now, I’ve never been to the restaurant — so the experience may be completely different when you’re actually there in person. But, ordering food for delivery was a nightmare. Out of 12 lunches ordered only one person had their order correct, felt the food was as described, and liked it. The other 11 either had issues like ‘There’s no steak in my sizzling steak fajitas’ or things like ‘this ahi tuna is overcooked (and it was, cooked solidly through so there was no pink at all, not seared as expected), and smells like cat food’.
They also took an hour and a half to deliver. This wouldn’t be so bad if they had simply said so– but they estimated the time as 45 – 60 minutes. Look, at least give me some options– just tell me that it’s going to take 90 minutes so I can plan accordingly, or choose to order from somewhere else.
The verdict on set: NEVER ORDER FROM THEM AGAIN!!!
I really wanted it to be good, as we have vegetarian, vegan and gluten allergic folks here, and I love to offer them good, healthy options when we order food in. But, Sante La Brea utterly failed to deliver– at least via delivery.

Had a pleasantly lonely little lunch here the other day and it seems they have stepped it up with the food and timely service.
my vegan BLT (w complimentary A) was maybe the best i’ve ever had next to my own. i wanted soup too and lucky me, they have a half sandwich/​cup of soup lunch combo… but i also wanted just a little salad for some crunchy and my waiter brought me a wee bit of their «seven wonders» lemon vinaigrette slaw for free!!! thanks, man.
so i got a delicious soup/​sandwich combo, a little slaw, and an iced tea for $ 10…and was in and out of there in under 30 minutes. this place made it back into my happy places :)

Very, very good! The Awesome Asparagus is a great entrée. It is such a good portion that you can easily take half home with you. They have a really extensive menu with options to make everything vegan, vegetarian or standard, so even the pickiest eaters of all types can come as a group. The service was great and the ambiance is calming and welcoming.
Only cons — parking is slightly difficult and that part of La Brea has heavy traffic at dinner time. Also, the bathroom is not so luxurious and located outside. You need a special key to open it.

To Our Health — And Our Happy
Santé! Life! à votre santé in French means «to life or to your health!» The creators of Santé La Brea most assuredly had our health in mind when they crafted their wonderful happy hour menu.
Santé La Brea has much to brag about, starting with the generous portion sizes and delightfully eclectic selection on their happy hour. We were enraptured by the Top Notchos! A basic nacho appetizer but with fiesta corn chips topped with black beans & black bean sauce, melted cheddar-​jack cheese, fresh cilantro, scallions, and pico de gallo.
Now the real genius to their menu is that anyone can sub real cheese for vegan cheese as well as add chicken, turkey, salmon, ahi, tofu, tempuh, and chick-​un on almost every dish on the menu making this restaurant Mecca for husbands like Dr. Drinks who still enjoy meat while wife, the Veggie Vixen, is a true pescatarian! Vegan foodies should flock to this establishment for happy hour and for dinner.
Another dish we thoroughly enjoyed, and just to be clear we devoured everything we ate, was the Baked Samosa at $ 7 regularly, but on happy hour it was only $ 5. It comes with two samosa’s (cut into four pieces), and is made with grilled whole wheat chapatti stuffed with potatoes, red peppers, peas & cheddar-​jack cheese. Topped with their vegan curry cream sauce and big enough to fill us full and feel especially healthy.
The drinks are standard happy hour fare with a decent wine and beer selection. Be sure to ask what organic beer doesn’t appear on the menu. Dr. Drinks enjoyed a wonderful wheat beer infused with Acai Berry. The cocktails aren’t much to write home about, but at least they have the option. Similar to our review of The Studio Café in Studio City, Santé La Brea doesn’t have a full liquor license, so they make their «cocktails» with Soju which lacks the punch of a good strong Bombay Martini. Real cocktail aficionados will want to start their happy hour crawl at Luna Park down La Brea where Wilshire crosses for a few cocktails then migrate north to Santé La Brea for some of the best happy hour food this happy hour crew has had the pleasure to enjoy.
Here’s to your life! May it include a stop into Santé La Brea. For pictures and more happy hour goodness go here:

Mediocre is a word that comes to mind.
I’ve been here twice so far and the first time was pretty good. I ordered the cheapest thing which was the $ 5 vegan chilli. It was great! Just took a little while to make (which was kind of important to me because I was on my lunch break).
The second time I decided, god knows why, to splurge on something decadent and expensive and ordered the salmon over cous cous (it was a daily special). I was a little anxious for paying $ 12 for that, which is usually way to much for me for lunch, but excited.
First of all, the food took a pretty long time to get to my table (it was a suuper hot day and I was just writhing in my seat from sweatiness and boredom). The only plus side to this situation was that the whole time I was trying to covertly stare at some people next to me cuz i thought they were famous… and then later I went online and found out they were pretty famous actors… heheh…ok back to my review, celebrities go here I guess!
So the salmon: Was oook at most. Not dry but not great flavour. The cous cous was terrible! Completely bland. I was just stuffing it in my face cuz I paid for it. The plate also came with steamed broccoli and some green beans. The beans had a garlic sauce and were pretty good, but the broccoli was completely flavorless and dry… and this is coming from some one who LOVES BROCCOLI… nuff said
I took the rest of that crappy meal with me and promptly forgot in the office fridge… oh well, i dont miss it.

I came here after watching Kitchen Nightmares. Hoping I’d see the family team that ran the place. It seems that they’ve changed owners. The décor is still the same from the show though. The menus however are not, this place has a huge menu and was distracting to sort through all of it.
I’m not a Vegetarian, but the Baja Tostada was really good and did not make me miss meat at all. I also ordered the Sante Curry, but didn’t think much of this. I thought the food would’ve had some Ramsey magic, but it didn’t. Very kind service and clean décor.
If I could I would give it a 3.5

This is the place we go to when we’re entertaining people who don’t like vegetarian/​vegan food. As people have been saying here, they have enough of a menu to make anyone satisfied.
The service is warm. The menu items are made fresh and the one breakfast I love to order — The Sante Ranchero — takes a long time to make, so order some coffee and chlorophyll water and enjoy conversation with your friends while waiting for high-​end, creative food to come.

HA!
With this review I have 77 reviews AND 77 friends — I am just a bit OCD and I have a thing about symmetry. You can call me Monk…
So this joint is down the street from my crib and I swear I haven’t been in years. In the past they’ve always had a B rating and y’all know I don’t go nowhere that has a B rating.
A while ago they hung a giant poster indicating that they were on Kitchen Nightmares and that Chef Gordon Ramsey completely reworked the restaurant and the menu. I’ve been meaning to get over there since they hung the sign to see the changes first hand.
I was pleasantly surprised — looks like the place has been remodeled and they even have a super cute outside patio area. They also seem to have added a few new items to menu. Most importantly, they had an A rating from the LA County Health Department.
I ordered breakfast — the Trainer’s Special Breakfast made VEGAN. So instead of eggs, they gave me scrambled tofu, instead of sausage they gave me tempeh bacon and they made me some lovely yellow cornmeal VEGAN pancakes with blueberries. All was delicious!
They still have a few operational kinks to work out. For example, there was one person both waiting tables and handling take out orders — not a good idea. In addition, in my to go bag they put a fork only (no knife to cut my pancakes) — and my pancakes were a little darker than I normally like them. Not too much to complain about, but at the mid-​level price range — they need to step up their service a bit.
In all, I will be back.

I dragged a group of known-​carnivores, nearly kicking and screaming, to Santé La Brea on a late Sunday afternoon to detox from a daylong meat-​centric barbecue — it’s not my fault that the last time I saw veggies on my plate was on a chicken sandwich from the day before! So I was definitely looking forward to finally ingesting some greenery.
The menu has a great selection of casual dining like burgers, sandwiches and wraps, specialty spirit and non-​spirit drinks to the more upscale menu items risotto, and rustic pizzas made from whole wheat crust. Staff recommendations included the chicken curry served with quinoa brown rice (available as an entrée or a wrap with real chicken or «un-​chicken» made of soy), the rosemary (available as a risotto or wrap), and several other dishes. I’m a fan of the un-​chicken curry entrée, plus I had the chance to sample of bit of everyone else’s food: BBQ chicken pizza, roasted beet salad with a citrus vinaigrette, vegetable chili with soy beef, and pizzadillas. There was a little too much BBQ sauce on the pizza, but I enjoyed everything else.
The other reviewers were pretty spot on – the portions are fairly generous, and the ambiance of the outdoor seating was great. I’d give it another go the next time I’m in LA, and maybe do brunch to check out the omelettes and vegan desserts.

Bernie S. and I decided that it was finally time to catch up, since I’m a terrible friend who will flake on you to throw puppies down the stairwell. Being the snooty health foodie, I allowed him to pick our venue as long as the general Unilocal consensus provided at least 4 stars.
Sante La Brea is a modern tree-hugger’s dream, with stylish décor and handmade wooden tables that seemed wobbly for a purpose I haven’t figured out. It was a very relaxed environment, especially with our waitress, who, though friendly, took her merry ass time taking the correct order. As Cartman would say, «fucking hippies!»
Although they have a very vegan friendly menu, I am far from a salad shooter, thus ordered a chicken spinach zucchini wrap with a side of slaw. The wrap was decent, though way heavy on the spinach… I’m not Popeye. The Bernster was quite excited about the Macro plate, and so it was a done deal… except that his food looked like different colors of raw poop (which I think is pretty normal for many Macro meals). I don’t think it was terrible tasting but we agreed it could have been better. Moreover, I’d comment on the hummus appetizer we ordered, but the waitress was too busy making out with a tree to pay sufficient attention.
The one shining star was their passionfruit iced tea. Being a regular unsweetened iced tea drinker, it was by far the BEST ICED TEA I’ve ever had. Unfortunately, although they portray the lax vibe, I doubt they’d be very happy if I reserved one of their popular rickety tables to enjoy a mere glass of $ 2 iced tea. I mean, hippies gotta make money too, right?

I dunno what happened!
I have been to Sante La Brea several times in the past and it’s always been good– flavorful, interesting, etc.
But I took my pal Barry M. there the other night and I hate to say it, his review here on Unilocal is spot-​on:
The pâté was pretty flavorless and the texture was odd (it’s mushroom and walnuts– why would they grind it into a homogeneous spread, instead of keeping some of the nubbyness of the mushrooms and gentle crunch of the walnuts?).
The stir-​fry was fine (a large portion and generous with the chicken breast, which I liked), but also very light on the flavor– super bland. I added a ton of salt and pepper to try to spice it up. The chef must have been asleep on that one.
But the capper was the BIZARRE oily, spongey «oatmeal chocolate chip» cookie. I was going to get an order and the waitress offered to bring one out for us to try– did she know they were weird? The cookie had no oatmeal that I could detect, just a ton of chocolate chips and this bizarre sponge-​like texture… plus it left a huge oil slick on my fingertips after eating it… SO weird. It reminded me of those early creepy franken-​foods made with Olestra (remember that, the fake fat?) that were oily and odd.
(There was also a whole thing where our server explained that sometimes she makes the cookies, and sometimes the other guy makes the cookies– he had made this spongey batch– and that when she makes them, they’re better and crunchy. Ok, so why exactly are there two totally different recipes for the same dish? And why is one of those recipes SO crappy as to produce food that is simply inedible?!!)
Anyhow. The meal was a total 1-​star; the service was good and I’ve had good meals in the past at Sante La Brea but this time the food was the pits. Barry will never go there again (which sucks, since now I’m the guy who introduced him to the crappy restaurant) and I’m not sure what it would take me to get there again.
What happened?! :-(Sante, are you out there? Feel free to email me and make it all better… I really want to like you again…