Earlier this year I introduced you to the outstanding Homegirl Cafe, the restaurant downtown that’s run by reformed L.A. gang members. At that time they were only open for breakfast and lunch, but they’ve recently expanded their hours and their menu, and now we get to enjoy their unique take on authentic Mexican & Latin American food for dinner! Care to join me?
While Homegirl is not exclusively a vegetarian restaurant, they are very vegan friendly and have created specialty items for their menu which are clearly marked as vegan… and they’re wonderful.
The few times I’ve been there they’ve always brought over an appetizer as soon as seating me. Last time it was freshly made tortilla chips & salsa, on my recent dinner visit it was these scrumptious spicy roasted chickpeas with lime. Crunchy and warm, they totally do the trick of getting your appetite rip, roaring & ready to go.
They’ve got a number of different options from which you can pick and choose to make your meal, such as your choice between enchiladas or chiles rellenos which can be made with grilled tofu and any of their amazing salsas… vegans can get these without cheese & sour cream. You won’t be missing out, their salsas are incredible and their tofu is great… you won’t miss the gobs of dairy and you’ll be able to taste the complexities of their handmade sauces.
Check out this plate of gorgeousness: Rosa’s Vegan mole: “Hearty sauce made of dried chilies, nuts & spices. Choice of chicken or tofu. Includes sauteed zucchini with corn”.
Let me tell you, these folks really know how to make some delicious mole (psssst… it’s pronounced “moh-lay”). The flavor was really deep and rich, seemed like I could detect some very dark chocolate or maybe even coffee? I can’t say for sure, but it was earthy, richly spiced and overall, exquisite.
Paired with the relatively simple tofu and vegetables this dish came pretty gosh darn close to perfect. You could put this mole sauce on anything and it would suddenly taste like the greatest thing you’ve ever eaten. I cannot recommend it enough… I was practically licking my plate clean when all the big stuff had been gobbled up.
Along with my meal I tried their Cantaloupe Seeds Horchata which I was told is both vegan and made with oats. It had a very unique taste to it, very different from the traditional rice-based horchata that I’m used to, but it was delicious and I loved it all the same. I was slurping up seeds and strawberries from the bottom of my glass in no time and asking for a refill. Not sure how the cantaloupe seeds play into it, those are clearly pepitas (pumpkin seeds) on top, so I don’t know if the cantaloupe seeds are part of the actual liquid or if maybe they were just out that day and substituted with pepitas instead. Either way, YUM!
Homegirl Cafe really is a great restaurant to support where when you spend your money there you know you’ll not only be getting an excellent meal unlike anywhere else, but you’re also supporting a very worthy cause. And now you can do so for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
My only complaint about Homegirl Cafe is that their breakfast ends too early, at 11am… I’m never awake and ready to eat at those obscene hours. I’d love it if they kept breakfast going a little bit longer because their vegan morning options like scrambled tofu with nopales (cactus), tofu chorizo and chilaquiles all sound amazing.
HomeGirl Cafe
130 W. Bruno St. (at Alameda St.)
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(323) 526-1254 ext. 301
(Days/Hours are all over the place, check the website to make sure they’re open when you wanna eat)
i can’t believe i still haven’t made it here! :( awesome post and pics (per usual) :) thanks!
Damn, that mole looks good!
I’ve been there for breakfast with non-vegan friends and was pleasantly surprised by how vegan friendly they are :) That mole looks fantastic!