10/11/09

Excellent fake meat dishes that taste like real meat!

by hef71

When I became vegetarian, I really missed some meat dishes, like salisbury steak. I was thrilled when I found Real Food Daily, because they make a lot of the dishes I really missed, but they use gluten patties instead of meat. The RFD dishes often taste like the real meat dishes, but are supposed to be healthier and of course cruelty-free. The only con I know of is that all my favorite RFD dishes are made of gluten patties, so if you're intolerant to gluten, you might not like this place as much as I do. They have gluten-free food, but my favorite dishes by far are gluten-loaded.

• Pros: Excellent fake meat dishes
• Cons: Maybe not a great place if you have gluten intolerance

07/17/09

Horrible Service and Food Takes FOREVER!

by toyboy97

I placed an order for delivery at 11:30 and was told it would take me an hour to get my delivery (even though I am right down the street at Sunset and Larrabee. After waiting and 1hour and 15 minutes, I called and the woman who answered the phone was so rude and told me that had NO IDEA when I would get my delivery. Instead of trying to listen to me she just transferred me to a supervisor named Christopher who was very nice, but by that point it was too late. Not only will I never order from this place again, but I will make sure that none of the people at my office do either. A little courtesy would have gone a long way in the situation. This place is horrible!

• Pros: None
• Cons: Too Expensive, Horrible Service and Takes Forever!

05/19/09

Worst. Food. Ever.

by tripletriplejj

This is the kind of place that makes you hate all vegans. If you like stale, smelly food served by stale, smelly people, then by all means this is your sort of place.

• Pros: Nothing is good
• Cons: Everything tastes like socks

01/31/09

impeccable!

by jamesjam

I get RFD delivered now and the person that takes the delivery order is awesome. They catered to all my needs.

01/29/09

I CAN EAT ANYTHING ON THE MENU!

by todi4

I first heard of this restaurant on the news one morning, a couple of years ago. I live in Pasadena and rarely, if ever go to the West side of town. However, I am vegan and always kept this restaurant in the back of my mind. Well my son and I finally went this past Sunday (1/25/09) to the La Cienega location. They sat us right away, the host was very friendly and polite. After reading all the reviews, I must say our order did take a while to get to us. Especially when we ordered desert. That took a long time, and my son commented, "are they baking it or something? Don't they have it already made??" Thankfully, we weren't in a hurry, and I was enjoying my evening. BUT...the food is fabulous! Its been many years since I've looked at a menu and didn't have to figure out what I was going to eat. To be able to eat anything on that menu was liberating! The serving portions are large, and very tasty. I was quite happy with the quality of the food. Our order did take a while, but it was worth it. Our waitress was pleasant. Not rude like the others have commented. The creativity of the food, the taste and quality will definitely bring me back for more. And I'm bringing friends next time!

P.S. RFD, if you read these, maybe you should really consider training your staff on customer service. This is what will ultimately keep your customers coming back, not the food.

• Pros: The food is wonderful! Full of flavor and texture.
• Cons: A little slow on the service.

08/12/08

My home away from home!

by Stargatefix

I love this place!... It truly is my home away from home considering I eat here almost EVERY DAY!. The food is amazing and so are the staff. Is it sad when you go eat at the same place so much that they know you by name?

Anyways If you are vegan or just enjoy GREAT food this is the place for you! Try the Salisbury Seitan! it is sooo good! I eat it almost every time I go. R.F.D also has one of the best vegan dessert menus ever! so if you have a sweet tooth ask them what they have for that day.

• Pros: great food and staff.
• Cons: sometimes can get a little cramped with all the tables so close together.

08/04/08

Attitude, attitude, attitude

by vegbiatch

The food is really good, so I guess cheers to the cooks because they really know how to do their thing, but the service is terrible. It seems like they just randomly picked high school drop-outs off the street with no customer service skills and told them to act snooty.

• Pros: good food
• Cons: service

05/28/08

Awful service

by AlwaysHungy

The good news is that the food is consistently delish. The bad news the service is consistently awful. I've been going here for a few years and have never been let down by the quality of food served. Usually I can overlook the staff's demeanor, but it's finally come to the point that it's surpassed just being annoying.***To be fair, my waiter, David, was great. Unfortunately his coworkers were the opposite.

When my food came up in the window (I was sitting directly in front of it at the bar), it sat there for a good 5-6 minutes. Might not sound like a long time but there is nothing keeping the food hot. At least two waiters walked past the food and either didn't notice the two huge plates sitting in the window, or they had other things to do....? Finally, I butted into an intense conversation three servers were having at the cash register (last weekend's social activities).

I got a plate of hummus to start and the burger for my main. If I wasn't eating alone it wouldn't have been a big deal if it came together. I ate my hummus and let the burger sit there. For 10 minutes. At least SIX staff members walked by, barely glanced at me, and went back to their thrilling conversations. So then I move on to the burger (which is always fantastic---when it's hot). I decided to just take it home. I asked the manager why nobody bothered to ask me how my meal was, if there was something wrong w/the burger and that's why it sat untouched so long, etc. I also told her the employees were more concerned with their own agendas than taking care of customers. "Well, we've been slow all night." The dining room was full...I told her it would be good if they at least showed an interest in the customers they DID have and she said, 'I'll comp your meal." Um...ok. That's great, but I rather pay the $ and be treated as a paying customer than get a free meal and be ignored.

So long RFD, it was fun while it lasted.

• Pros: Great food
• Cons: Waiters and management

04/15/08

You can still eat like a beast at L.A.'s premier organic vegan spot that says "no" to all animal products.

by Contributor

The Scene
Chef Ann Gentry spreads her vegan roots from the original Santa Monica location to West Hollywood, where the hip hang with yoga masters, microbiotic dieters valet their SUVs and trendsetters mix with torchbearers. The swoopy Seuss-meets-Ikea interior would make the Lorax relax after a hard day speaking for the trees.

The Food
The juice bar slings mostly carrot-based drinks mixed with apples, refreshing cucumbers or beets. Teazers are sippable, juice-infused tea sensations served straight up, martini-style. Though Real Food Daily offers plump, textbook legume burgers and veggie burritos, it also breaks new ground with innovative daily specials that go according to season (think mini pumpkins stuffed with couscous and squash in the fall). But the Buddha Belly and Bermuda Triangles sort of fail at gourmet tempeh--one cloyingly sweet, the second cotton-mouth inducing with its cornmeal crust. Stick with the classics: You can't go wrong with the salads and anything seitan soars--the spongy "wheat meat" is served in both gravy-drenched Salisbury and spicy fajitas. The lemon tofu cheesecake and chocolate-colored carob pudding earn a rich place among vegan sweets.

10/09/07

other people loved it, and so did I, until.....

by cariemhunter

i loved the one in westood.

enjoyed my meal even when confronted by waitress asscrack.

went to the one on La Cienega with confidence...

made the mistake of ordering the lasagna, which was cold and not lasagna at all.... and which made me flee for the restroom and forgo the rest of my evening.

And i'm used to raw foods.

oh well, stick to the bowls and you should be fine.

to make up for it, if I ever get the courage to return, they have veeeeeeeeeeeegan caaaaaaaaaarrrot caaaaaaake...

• Pros: selection, vegan options
• Cons: don't order anything you don't recognize!