Real Food Daily

So incredibly sad that RFD in Samo is gone! Can’t wait for them to reopen! Until then I’m not sure what we’re going to do for Sunday brunch! *BOOOO*

This place was incredible. I was so sad to see it was closed for good today. It’s hard to find purely vegan restaurants that are beloved by vegans and non-​vegans alike, as this place was. The good news is a new location is supposed to reopen somewhere else in Santa Monica.
From the Website:
To our loyal customers:
We are planning to re-​open in a new Santa Monica location next year so stay subscribed to our email list.
In the meantime, we look forward to serving you Real Food Daily in West Hollywood, Pasadena and LAX.
Thank you for your support and patronage these past 24 wonderful years. It has been an extraordinary journey.

So sorry to hear about RFD’s closing at this Santa Monica location. I have heard that they will be reopening at a new location in Santa Monica in the future. In the meantime, I do recommend RFD in Pasadena. I will write a separate review soon for the Pasadena location.

I’m sad to hear that RFD has closed it’s SM location. I know of one in WeHo. Hopefully they will open another location in Santa Monica!

The food here is always great. I don’t like change so I always order the same as my meal but this time we started with the potatoes (³⁄₅) and the cornbread (⁵⁄₅). Potatoes were nothing special, but the corn bread was really yummy!!! It rivals what I remember regular corn bread tasting like. For my meal I got my regular club sandwich (⁵⁄₅) which I love. It’s so yummy, definitely recommend just getting that and the corn bread!

The Weekender (breakfast plate: pancakes, hashbrowns, tofu scramble, coconut bacon) = 4 stars
Fauxstress cupcake = 4 stars
Oatmeal cookie = 4 stars
Chai latte = 4 stars
Service = 5 stars (kind, genuine, prompt, and friendly)

This place has excellent fresh vegan offerings, and they did a great job. The highlight for me was the homemade iced lime mate. Amazing. For food, I enjoyed a Mediterranean bowl and it was great. Fresh, tasty and huge. I couldn’t finish the thing. The space itself is relaxing, featuring warm woods and light colors. It is a nice place to bring a date or have conversations. There is a bakery at the front counter for to-​go options. Top notch, all the way.

Real Food Daily is one of those restaurants that people return to over and over again because they consistently serve good food. This all-​vegan mostly organic restaurant has three locations and I think this may have been my first visit to the Santa Monica location.
The Santa Monica restaurant features light wood and soft lighting for a relaxed feel. We started with a couple glasses of wine as we perused the menu. I am familiar with many of their dishes, but there are still many items that I have not tried. To keep it fresh, we ordered off the seasonal specials menu.
First up was the Three Amigos — crunchy cauliflower fritters with romesco sauce and jalapeño aioli. The texture was delightful and the flavors perfect.
For our entrée, we split the Caribbean Quesadillas. They were made with spinach, caramelized onions, coconut lentil purée, and pepperjack Daiya cheese in a whole wheat tortilla. The coconut lentil purée and coconut cilantro cashew cream really made the meal. On the side were some fantastic grilled plantains and a mango salsa.
After all that, we still wanted to try some dessert. The Brownie Bowl is to die for. The rich thick brownie is topped with chocolate sauce and coconut ice cream. It was incredibly decadent and my non-​vegan friend remarked that it was as good if not better than any other brownie bowl he’d ever had.
Although the service was a bit spotty, all in all we had a great experience. The appetizer was $ 13 and the quesadillas were $ 17, but for mostly organic high-​quality cuisine, I thought it was appropriately priced. Real Food Daily will continue to be one of my staples in the LA-​area.

Reasons To GO Here: SUPERRRRR Delicious Food, It fills you the ‘F’ up. QUICK. Gotdam, and it’s organic!!! ORDER THE CLUB WRAP!!! With The Smoothie! Yes.
Reasons Not To-​Go: I’ve been comin here since I was 19 (5 years). I’m No longer a Liberal, found that I am conservative (as fuck). I’m pretty sure the male waiters tuck their balls between their legs during break time. I feel that Masculinity in this place is generally frowned upon (especially from the male waiters). I’m convinced that this place is run by Feminists that deliver punishing sex to their husbands via strap-​ons. I had to gain my «man points» back by chugging a Budweiser after eating here. GOOD FOOD THOUGH! Next time I come here I’m bringing a stripper to spoon feed me! Too many Liberals here. Some Rock Music or some Gangsta Rap would be a start.

I haven’t had a burrito in a while, being that I am a vegetarian and come from a Mexican family I just always felt like burritos needed to be stuffed with loads of meat. Therefore I just wasn’t sure about how this one would compare to my idea of what a burrito is. But oh my, even in my meat eating days I think I would’ve chosen this burrito over any other.
Seitan Bacon
Tofu sour cream
Cashew milk cheese
Beans, rice, Avocado
wrapped in a Whole Wheat flour tortilla
And pico to top it off
I got the wet burrito sauce on the side and just added it as I pleased
Came with a side salad
It WAS SOOOOOO GOOD and I mean GOOD as in amazing! If you want to try good vegan food you need to come here! I would bring any of my family members here without telling them it is vegan and I don’t think they would complain after trying this burrito.

I firmly believe the secret to a long, healthy life is to consume a plant based diet. I am very thankful to see more vegan restaurants opening in low angeles. Some of us could definitely use them. Anywho, I had the not-​chos which seem to be popular here. I swear anyone who likes traditional nachos containing animal products would loooove this. It’s extremely filling yet doesn’t feel like a brick has sunk to the bottom of your stomach. I also had a bite of my friends scramble (tofu) which seemed to be a small portion for the price, but nevertheless delicious. Although a little expensive for my taste, it definitely has enough potential to bring me back once again ;)

Emily C. is one of the best waiters I’ve had! I love her friendly personality, attention to our needs, and her smile! Thank you for a great service!
I tried the Real Food Daily burger and it was good. Not my favorite! Love the lemonade ginger! And the Russian Tea Cakes… Oh lordie, lord, that was delicious.

I can only speak for a couple of products here. The Russian tea cookie was delicious– soft, slightly crumbly, and buttery-​tasting.
The gluten, soy, and nut-​free chocolate chip cookie was average. I liked that it wasn’t too sweet, but the texture was a little spongy for my liking when I was looking for a crisp yet doughy cookie.

This is how it went:
First they sat us in that tiny balcony upstairs, it feels flimsy, like they paid someone under the table to construct a hotter than hell (temperature wise) tiny upstairs, if you go there be prepared to sweat bullets while you eat, it was like a hot sauna temp.
Then, we got the waitress from vegan hell.
We ordered Caesar salad to accompany our vegan sandwiches, the salad we got hardly had any dressing in it, I mean you could not see it and you could not taste it either.
I know this place is vegan but you don’t get to call a salad Caesar just because Cesar is the guy who made it in the kitchen!
This salad tasted nothing like Caesar perhaps because it was lettuce and some dark croutons made of who knows what and a few capers.
Throw some Vegenaise on it at least for the love of beans!
Me: Hi, this salad does not taste anything like Caesar
Waitress: That is so funny! Because to me it tastes exactly like Caesar!
I was a bartender, if anybody ever told me there was not enough gin or vodka etc. in a drink I would poor some more instantly or tried to make it better and then ask, «how is that now, better, do you like it?»
I never when into a soliloquy of how that drink tastes exactly the way it should taste to ME.
What is funny is that she thinks WE care what she thinks about the salad she is not eating or paying for.
Me: Caesar dressing is usually white and there is supposed to be plenty, I see lettuce and nothing else
Waitress: blah blah blah and blah
(something like I know so much better than you two because I work in a fancy vegan restaurant in Santa Monica)
Me: OK, cool, nice, still there is no dressing to be seen in this salad
Waitress: I can get you extra dressing
Me: that would help
Waitress: comes back and plops the dressing on the table, «here try this»
So we got extra tasteless, colorless «Caesar salad dressing» by extra I mean an ounce more, she pulled out the lilliputian wear out of the drawer and gave us the smallest container ever.
Did not make it better or tasted any closer to any Caesar salad I have ever tasted
My friend is a Chef by the way and I was in the food industry for many years too
So we both know how Caesar salad should taste and something even more important we know,
the customer is always right!
something this anemic looking waitress has not yet learned,
maybe is the heat they have her working in, that hot sauna balcony, that might be affecting her mood and the way she treats the paying customers.
I had to ask her to bring us a couple of napkins too, she brought them and again, plop them on the table away from my side, if there are two people you give each one.
She left, never came back to check with us until she showed to ask if we were done and took the plates away. Half of my plate was full with the salad I did not eat because I wanted Caesar salad not lettuce and capers and some clear liquid but do you think she asked if everything was OK? I would’ve been happy, with a «can I get you a different salad» but nothing…
She needs someone to teach her waitress 101 before you send her on the floor again
She worked the dinner shift, today Sunday.
This kind of waitress gets a zero in my book and makes me never want to come back here.
For a place that charges the amounts this place charges for a common vegan sandwich the help they hire should be way nicer, they really leave no incentive to come here at all since parking is almost impossible too.
The only good thing is that I think I lost 2 lb eating in that sweat lodge.
If you want to spend your hard earn money to get bad service and tasteless lettuce instead of Caesar you have found the right place.
My friend left a tip, because she is a really, really nice person.
I would had put three fingers up and asked the waitress to read between the lines.

This place is pricey! My nachos were a whopping $ 15 – 16. I got the option with «meat» because I was starving! But it was soooo good. The cheese tasted like something else, some kind of nutty sauce but it was really good. Must try! HUGE portion, so it would be good to split it with a friend (also a good option for ur wallet) :]

Ugh those not-​chos haunt my dream… They just chant «come back Hayley, eat us, we miss you and want in your belly»
But the server was sneaky about up charging so BEWARE! I think they should make them inform people when they ask if they’d like it with the «meat» or not that it will be an extra cost. Because how she worded it we wouldn’t have known. Luckily my sister caught it on the menu just as we were about to say yes.
The soup was ok. Not my favorite but not bad. The Mediterranean salad was THE BOMBBB though which made up for the BLT that I didn’t like at all.
And I didn’t like the burrito. At all. And then I wondered if it was an upsale to make it «wet». But since I didn’t pay I didn’t get to see.
So two BIG yeses and three not so muches. And I didn’t like how sneaky our waitress was about prices, so make that four. We already were spending a ton for lunch so it made me not like her as much. And wayy overpriced vegan cupcakes?! Those better have unicorn magic in them, but I’ll never know cause the price was ridiculous.

I have been in a Paris for three months, so I can’t even express to you how refreshing it was to get some well cooked vegan food!
The Not-​chos was one of my favorite dishes I’ve ever had at a vegetarian/​vegan restaurant. I would even rank it above most non-​vegan nachos I’ve tried. The Mediterranean Salad and Supreme Burrito (get the burrito «wet») were also incredible, but we’re big enough portions that each could be split! Also, delicious side Caesar salad!
Given how good the above items were, I would skip the Spicy BLT. It was average in flavor, and the «bacon» was definitely over cooked.
Overall…Delicious, Amazing, NEEDED!

A friend and I went for brunch on a Sunday morning and we were seated quickly.
For a starter, I ordered the SEA CAKE, which I was hesitant to get because I thought it may taste like a crab cake, and even pre-​vegan I couldn’t stand that taste. But the waiter assured me that it would taste nothing like a crab cake, and he was right. What an excellent dish! The flavor of the Sea Cake was not at all fishy; it was highly delectable. It was accompanied by a spicy aioli sauce, which was amazing, and it sat atop a bed of arugula with pesto. It’s the type of dish that you’d lick the bowl if you weren’t in public.
As a main course, I ordered the Weekender, which included pancakes (I upgraded to blueberry pancakes for $ 1.50 extra), scrambled tofu, hash browns, and tempeh bacon.
BLUEBERRY PANCAKES: They were large, fluffy, buttery, and simply delicious. I would have never guessed that they were gluten-​free. (They are made with almond flour.)
TOFU SCRAMBLE was very tasty. It was seasoned very well (it had a curry-​ish flavor) and had bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes, but I’d request no tomatoes for my dish next time. The Tofu Scramble also comes with a cashew cheese, which I omitted.
HASH BROWNS were extremely disappointing. Like, seriously… How can you mess up hash browns? They were too hard (and I like crispy papas) and they were flavorless. Salt n’ pepper were definitely not here or in effect. Next time I’ll ask the chef to push the flavor button, and push it «real good.»
TEMPEH BACON had a great smoky flavor but was too hard.
The dessert case housed a massive array of vegan sweeties, but I was too full this time to try any of them. Next time, I’ll be all over that case!
RFD is a lovely restaurant with elegant décor. There was an upstairs dining area; I’m not sure who you have to be to get seated up there. It’s possible that it’s for larger groups since the downstairs area seated parties of 2 – 3.
It was a tad stuffy inside the dining room area until another patron complained, after which time they opened the door to air it out. This worked, but it also welcomed unwanted company of the winged persuasion.
The staff was competent and attentive, although I thought I was going to have issues with my waiter, who initially insulted my vegan intelligence. However, after his excellent Sea Cake recommendation, we were good.
The food is hit or miss, but there are many other things that I want to try, and I would definitely return for more Sea Cakes!

The blueberry gluten free pancakes were delicious!
Made with almond flour.
The hashbrowns were dry, chewy and flavorless. The scrambled tofu could have had more flavor as well, but the cashew cheese helped.
The tempeh bacon was not tasty, had a smoky hint to it and also very dry.
The pancakes are a win!

No, I’m not vegan. No, I didn’t make a mistake by walking in to Real Food Daily. My boyfriend, who is also a fellow carnivore, raved about this place so I decided to bring him to have lunch here on his birthday.
I’ve had vegan dishes that are fairly tasty before so I wasn’t adversed to vegan food. I also love tempeh for some crazy reason and prefer it to bacon so the BLT here is right up my alley.
We found street parking and fed the meter a few blocks down. It was about 1:30pm and there was no wait. We were seated upstairs, which was cool because I could see the food being prepared in the kitchen downstairs directly below us.
I enjoyed my BLT sandwich although I couldn’t really taste the spicy aioli that was supposed to come with it. The caesar salad that came with my dish though was excellent. The loved the dressing and the capers.
The star of our lunch though was their Supreme Burrito. My bf added taco meat for an additional $ 3, which brought the total for the burrito to a whopping $ 17. The burrito was so good though. It was creamy and flavorful and I didn’t miss the meat at all. The dish was big enough for 2 meals unless you’re extremely hungry.
Our server is nice and our food came out really quickly. One thing I didn’t care for is the lime mate (I don’t know why they don’t spell it limade) but it didn’t taste sour and more bitter than usual. I would skip it then time.
They have vegan baked goods at the front counter downstairs. I was handed a sample of their faux nut (donut) with maple glaze. It tasted more like a dense cake than a donut but it was really good.

la cuisine que dont on a envie, chez des gens accueillants.
bon, sain, équilibré, original, varié.

Für Vegetarier und Veganer sollte das Real Food Daily ein absoluter Pflichtbesuch sein, denn hier kommt wirklich voll auf seine Kosten.
Kreativ und vor allem richtig gut schmeckte das, was RFD uns da vorsetzte.
Da ich außer Tofu die meisten Fachbegriffe auf der Karte nicht erkannte war ich entsprechend skeptisch, aber nicht nur der Veganerklassiker Seitan war ein Traum, Real Food hat mich mit durchweg frischen Zutaten erfreut, die batürlich allesamt aus biologischem Anbau stammen.
Ich hatte einen großzügig portionierten Burger mit tempeh bacon und cashew cheese. Auf ersten Blick sieht das überhaupt nicht nach nem bacon+cheese burger aus. Aber macht man die Augen zu es war beängstigend authentisch.
Es war sehr voll im Restaurant, aber die Bedienung hatte trotzdem alle freundlich und zügig im Griff. Einziger Wermutstropfen: das Tiramisu hat mich enttäuscht. Als Lactoseunverträglicher und Veganer mag man sich drüber freuen, aber wenn das letzte gute Tiramisu nicht gerade 10 Jahre her ist, dann überzeugt dies hier nicht.
Das RFD hat auch ein Kochbuch mit seinen Kunstwerken rausgebracht, das im Restaurant den schwärmenden Gästen zum Kauf angeboten wird. Allerdings sollte man sich hier zügeln und einfach ein paar Schritte weiter zum nächsten Buchladen laufen, dort gibts das Buch billiger.