Soul food is the new black. Just a few years ago, for most of us the concept of vegetarian and vegan soul food was unheard of. Today I know of at least three mostly vegan soul food restaurants in Los Angeles, and for all I know there might even be more.

Vegisoul Vegetarian Take-Out has been serving tasty vegan soul food in the West Adams area of South Central since 2004. Located very close to USC in an area that both suffers from a bad reputation and is lacking in healthy & vegetarian options, this is one of the last places you’d expect to find BBQ fake chicken, vegan ribs, assorted veggie burgers, seasoned seitan, blackened tofu and stuffed yams (their most popular item). And yet, there it is, beckoning to you from behind it’s welcoming yellow signs.

There’s so much good stuff to choose from at Vegisoul so it took me a while to decide what to order. I finally settled on the BBQ Combo: “Fibbs” (fake ribs) & chik’un, red beans, brown rice and choice of greens, spinach or cucumber salad. I really liked the fluffy brown rice and tasty beans. The cucumber salad was only lightly dressed but it was both fresh and refreshing. I hate onions but at least they were in big chunks that were easily dispensed with.

Now for the “meat”. You can’t see the BBQ chicken because it’s under the ribs, but it was very tasty. I don’t know if it was a soy or gluten based product… the texture was slightly dry and chewy, but in a way that I liked, reminiscent of well-done shredded chicken. The ribs were absolutely fantastic, the sauce is sweet and smoky and delicious. The thing is, I have no doubt that these were Gardenburger Riblets right out of the box. If you’ve had the Riblets before than you’ll know that the look, flavor and texture is unmistakable. So while it didn’t bother me to be served the Gardenburger Riblets (because I love them), I would have of course preferred to taste something that they cooked themselves rather than something I can purchase at the market. I don’t know if their chicken is homemade or purchased, but like I said, it was darn good. From what I can tell from the other stuff they serve on the menu, it seems like many of the other dishes are items prepared on site.

I was also very excited to try their Vegan Macaroni & Cheese, a big favorite and apparently hotly contested delicacy amongst Los Angeles eaters, both vegans and non-vegans alike. I must admit that I didn’t love their mac & cheese. It was ok but not what I expected. The elbow macaroni didn’t seem to have much of a cheese of any sort on it, but the flavor was kind of salty and I want to say… brothy? As if maybe the noodles had been cooked in a salty broth. It’s topped with some kind of brown, gravy-like sauce and as you can see it’s made with bell peppers (so dear Miss Anthrope of Quarrygirl.com, enemy of all things bell pepper related, would hate this). It wasn’t terrible but definitely not what I thought it would be. Maybe if it would have been served to me as a “macaroni salad” or “pasta salad” I would have liked it better, but I was expecting a more traditional mac & cheese flavor, and this just didn’t seem like it.

All that said, I really enjoyed my meal at Vegisoul. I liked the vibe of the place, from the nice DJ/MC/herbal urban shaman I ended up sharing lunch with, to the friendly and polite guys working behind the counter… the place really does have soul. And along with soul, they’ve also got tons of other great sounding items on their menu that don’t really fall into the soul food category, from all kinds of veggie burgers (including spicy habanero & jalapeno pineapple), tofu and seitan dishes, a plethora of BBQ’d items, and even tacos and vegan nachos. They’ve also got amazing looking desserts which I was too full to try, like vegan carrot cake, chocolate cake and soy ice cream.

There’s a wide range of ratings for Vegisoul on Yelp from a full 5 stars down to 1 star. I’d recommend reading those if you’re planning to make a trip out there to familiarize yourself with a bit more of what you can expect. That way you won’t be able to blame me for anything you might not agree with ;) Some reviewers there mention very long wait times, though I was served my food almost immediately. Their hours and days open seem to be another point of contention on Yelp, so be smart and always call ahead to make sure they are open before you go. But go you should: your soul could use some veggies… and some sweet, sticky, delicious BBQ sauce too!
www.vegisoul.com