Hugo’s Tacos, soyrizo and me.
Hugo’s Tacos in Studio City is a wonderful little oasis of taco stand goodness right in the middle of the valley, smack dab between a gas station and the 101 freeway, with a number of satisfying vegan options. You’ll find them across the street from Whole Foods Market and catty-corner to the Hugo’s main restaurant (yup, same owners).
Hugo’s Tacos offers a number of basic and classic Mexican dishes such as tacos of course, as well as burritos, taquitos, tostadas, tortas, salads and bowls… most of which also involve rice and beans in some form or another. You get your choice of filling which would be either one of the meat options or one of the two vegan options, which are either the soy chorizo/potato/zucchini mix, or the grilled veggie combo of corn, zucchini and string beans. Or if you wanna be extra piggy, get both (this works particularly well on the salad or in a bowl). You also get your choice of salsa, all of which they make there and are genuinely fantastic.
On a recent visit I got the Salad: “Romaine lettuce, green beans, corn, zucchini, pico de gallo, cotija cheese and vegan spicy caesar dressing.” I had them leave off the cheese and bring on the soy chorizo, which is vegan and made from Soyrizo. This stuff is so good… if crack were made from soy, this would be it. It’s very rich and meaty tasting, so if you don’t like mock meats I’d stay away from it. However if you do still enjoy all the flavor and feel of the stuff without the guilt, dig in. Their vegan caesar salad dressing is excellent too. As you can see the salad is huge and could easily feed two people.
On another occasion of particularly reckless abandon, I opted to try the taquitos in all of their deep fried, vegan glory. These also involved the soy chorizo & potato filling and they come served with delicious (and you guessed it, vegan) organic white beans, lettuce, guacamole, pico de gallo, tomatillo sauce and cotija cheese (which you’ll want to remember to ask them to leave off for full veganization optimization). These taquitos are perfectly crispy and frighteningly good… well worth the occasional naughty indulgence of greasy goodness. Just do it and don’t look back.
Last but not least, yet another way to enjoy Hugo’s yummy soy chorizo… stuffed inside of a burrito. Flour tortilla with organic spanish rice, organic white beans, choice of filling (soyrizo please!), choice of salsa, onion & cilantro. Ok, so I asked for them to leave off the onions and give me the honey chipotle salsa and it’s like heaven has suddenly exploded in my mouth. If you no longer consume honey, obviously the honey chipotle isn’t for you, but if that is an ingredient you do still allow… oh mama, it’s to die for… sweet & spicy in all the right places. But as mentioned above, all of their salsa rock.
From their website: “Our Jalapeno Tomatillo salsa, for instance, is a descendant of a salsa served at a small taco stand in Tijuana. The Salsa Negra traces its lineage to Michoacan where dark red guajillo chilies are given a special roasting on open fires.”
Sounds good, right? What’s cool about Hugo’s Tacos too is that it’s another great spot to have in your arsenal for when you’re eating with folks who aren’t vegetarians… because all of the food here is delicious, so everyone in your group will leave very pleased… and very full.
And check out what I just learned: their rice pudding is vegan too! I’ve never ordered it because I always thought it was made with cows milk, but I just found this on their website: “Organic basmati rice, saigon cinnamon, tahitian vanilla, organic cane sugar, organic rice and soy milks. A sweet vegan option.” Fancy that!
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Holy crap, this place looks good.
Next time we’re in the valley, I hope to try this place.
It’s not to often you come across a place that serves vegan Mexican food.
You are so lucky to live near all these wonderful places.
Comment by Vegan Tickles — April 8, 2008 @ 9:16 pm
Comment by FoodEater — April 8, 2008 @ 9:47 pm
Nice photos!!!! I love Hugo’s
Comment by Zach Behrens — April 8, 2008 @ 9:54 pm
We live in ojai and fossil fuel it over to hugos when the craving hits bad. (luckily my sister lives near by for a good excuse) your pictures are of everything we order. you’re not helping. stomach growling.
Comment by wildflowermama — April 8, 2008 @ 10:09 pm
Comment by FoodEater — April 8, 2008 @ 10:59 pm
Dang! I need to come to LA, pronto!
Comment by Melisser — April 9, 2008 @ 1:45 am
Wow, St. Louis has a lot of catching up to do regarding vegan dining options! I love your photos - they give me ideas for making my own soyrizo creations at home!
Comment by Lisa (Show Me Vegan) — April 9, 2008 @ 4:17 am
I always love your descriptions of the restaurants that you venture to!! :0)
I’ve never had soyrizo before - looks enticing though!
Comment by VeggieGirl — April 9, 2008 @ 4:37 am
OMG, you made my day. thanks !
Comment by Joan — April 9, 2008 @ 8:14 am
Cool that you found somewhere that caters for vegans.
Comment by Cookiemouse — April 9, 2008 @ 8:47 am
I love the idea of a vegan-friendly taco stand, and nice burrito shot - it is hard to get an appetizing photo of a burrito.
Comment by Trina — April 9, 2008 @ 11:41 am
maybe i’ll give them another shot. it just annoys me that i have to sit and inspect my food for the rogue chunks of pork or chicken that just happen to fall into my food. those taquitos look awesome!
Comment by scott — April 9, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
Comment by FoodEater — April 9, 2008 @ 3:43 pm
Comment by FoodEater — April 9, 2008 @ 3:44 pm
Comment by FoodEater — April 9, 2008 @ 3:45 pm
The kitchen is really small and they’re working in some pretty tight quarters, so I can see how mistakes happen. Considering too that it’s not an exclusively vegetarian place I guess it’s a risk… but for something this tasty, it’s a risk I’m willing to take! I think the taquitos are pre-made, so at least with those you can be reasonable assured that nothing extra made it in.
Comment by FoodEater — April 9, 2008 @ 3:51 pm
Comment by FoodEater — April 9, 2008 @ 3:53 pm
i also love the honey chipotle salsa… i swear i could drink the damn stuff!
Comment by julie — April 9, 2008 @ 3:54 pm
Comment by FoodEater — April 9, 2008 @ 4:00 pm
Yes! The other day my friends and I were driving from the beach back to Griffith Park for a kickball game (not a bad weekend at all) and stopped here because we were starrrving. I think I’m subconsciously remembering all your restaurant reviews and managing to convince my friends that we have to try all these places. It was so good.
Comment by Allison — April 17, 2008 @ 11:59 am
Comment by FoodEater — April 22, 2008 @ 11:47 am
That salad is unreal!
I love it when restaurants (or in this case taco stands!) provide great vegan options.
Very cool - thanks for sharing!
Comment by jd — May 8, 2008 @ 12:33 pm