The Vegan Joint

Please, please… just don’t. We had just flown in from LAX and a lot of the vegan places we were wanting to try opened at 11:30am. We wanted a nutrition boost, so we ordered a salad. The Oriental Salad looked good on the menu… oh god, we were so wrong. We should have known when we walked in. If you are a vegan and have ever travelled in unfamiliar cities, esp the south, then you know this ambiance all too well. Like a psychotic ex kindergarten teacher suddenly decided to take on interior design. Not to mention that the places are always seemingly filth, or as people will say ‘charming’. Anyway. The lettuce/​carrot/​beet mixture was dry, like straight up astronaut food style. The dressing was the best part, and it was weird. The worst part were the warm Asian noodles that were compacted on top of the salad. You can’t even imagine the terrifying mouth feel that this gives you. Texturally, it was like finding a tarantula nest, putting salad dressing on it, and then devouring it. Visually, it looks like they emptied my mother’s bathtub drain. I had to Fear Factor the plate. Why, exactly!!?

Food ok, ambience very ordinary, too many signs on display pointing out the fact that there is a $ 10 minimum for credit cards. I think that restaurants that have to say this are demonstrating how cheap they are.
I had just purchased a new phone and need to charge it and looked everywhere for a power outlet, all of them were covered up with duct tape, so I asked if I could change my phone and was told that they are not allowed to plug in anything. Very strange I thought. Obviously they don’t want people using laptops and the like, I get really frustrated by people in business who are really cheap (the staff also look miserable), I won’t come back, too many better choices in LA.

We had omelet and tofu scramble with pancakes. We were still hungry so we got the house special fried rice. Was too greasy and not considered healthy IMHO. I had to take it home and rinse off all the oil and repurpose so as not to waste so added jackfruit and it was more healthy.

VEGAN EATERS HERE. I should trust my instincts about places with page after page of items in a small «joint», usually most of which are pre made if not frozen. After trying to get here several times today was the day. Pretty underwhelming food, service fine if a bit impatient with first timers wading through the huge menu. Not going to tear it down, it is well intentioned, just not for me. Too many other choices on the Westside and let’s face it, the bar is just so high these days.

Summer you are the best :) Thai Red Curry is ON POINT!

I honestly love everything I’ve ever had here. My favorites are the chicken wrap, yellow curry, Pad thai noodles and their chicken burger. By far they have the best vegan chicken in town!

Its a great place that is loaded w/​options thats for sure.
The parking is what make it extremely difficult.
Literally spent 45 mins trying to get parking both times i ventured here.
Then awful as it sounds, i through hazards on and parked in the alley only to return to a ticket.
Call it in. But its pretty good food in my opinion and healthy.
You definitely can cheat on your diet here, but also can be super healthy as well.

I really like this place. I usually order delivery because parking is an issue there.
Menu highlights: pad se ew, tropical pancakes, the garden salad with peanut sauce, and their smoothie is really good.

I’m gonna be honest here, I don’t want to give this place a low review.
However, the disappointment started from the beginning. Parking is a pain to find, we ended up finding a space in the alley near by, but that’s just LA so we weren’t too mad. We got inside and it was cute enough, the waitress was pretty nice. We were happy.
Then came the menu. One that reminded us a lot of Bulan… (A vegan Thai food joint). However, this food was more expensive (vegan curry was 13 $, vegan burger 11, kale was 9) and on a scale of 1 – 10 a solid 6. The food wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t worth the 40-​something dollars that we ended up paying.
Wish it was better, it’s located so close to work!

Perhaps this review is a bit premature as I’ve only eaten here twice. However, I wanted to write a quick review because I appreciate the fact that there’s a vegan place that offers delivery and that doesn’t charge high delivery costs. I order deliver all… the…time.
It’s a typical mom-​and-​pop establishment, but the food is quite good. The staff is very friendly. So far, I’ve had the tropical pancakes and grilled potatoes, both of which were really done well. Actually, the tropical pancakes alone are worth stopping in for! I’ve also had the pumpkin curry and steamed brown rice. The pumpkin curry was EXCELLENT. There were many vegetables inside of it, including what tasted like sweet potato. Many more veggies than we usually get at full Thai restaurants. The curry itself was slightly sweet and very rich. Well done. The next meal that I’m going to try (today!) is the pad see ew.
I’m giving this place four stars because, in spite of their vegan menu, they offer food that has not fallen victim to vegan flavorless. HOWEVER, this place would be SO much better if they offered organic juices — go all the way with the health food! They would definitely get that extra few dollars out of me every time I ordered a meal. :-) Thanks, Vegan Joint~~

Ordered pick-​up through Eat 24. Really impressed how they have a lot of Asian dishes in addition to the regular salads and sandwiches.
I got the shiitake mushroom and tofu curry and added soy chicken for extra $ 3. A bit pricey but the soy chicken was really good. I’m always curious what the «meat» would taste like since I don’t eat at vegan restaurants too often. Although it didn’t really taste like chicken, it didn’t make me miss the meat at all. The curry itself had tons of flavor. Came with brown rice.
My friend got the pad see ew, mild. It came with fried tofu but he didn’t add any meat. A bit bland; he kept mixing in Sriracha to it. The veggies were cooked well though.
Not much parking so I had to drop my friend off while I drove around the block. They do deliver too so definitely a good option for next time!

Visited this place with my meat-​eating family. My father and sister both love vegan food: my mother… not so much. It was pretty chilly that day so I opted for the Mushroom Soup. I’ve tried many Thai and Thai influenced soups before this was a bit too milky for my preference. The color of the soup was too white and I think the coconut milk to veggie broth ratio was the cause of this. It’s too milky, but the temperature of the soup was what made it tolerable.
My father, a big Filipino meat eater, got the Paradise Pancakes. My sister ordered the same. The entrée comes with two fat pancakes with bananas and blueberries cooked in it. On the side, it has tofu scramble with a thick slice of vegan cheese on top with some vegan bacon bits. I understand that most vegan cheeses do not melt like regular cheese, but I think this plate could benefit from something that does. If not, the plate could just live without that cheese completely. Anyways my sister and father both finished the whole plate. I suggest eating half now and half later, as they got super sleepy and sluggish right after.
My mother ordered a Tofu Scramble, which is customizable as you can pick and choose the veggies and vegan meats that go in it! I’ve taken her to other vegan restaurants and she’s never been a fan of any of them. It might just be that she likes vegan breakfasts, but I think this restaurant left a good impression on cruelty free food.
There’s a farmer’s market on Sunday on this street. The market ends at 2pm, but the vendors started packing up around noon.
Parking was pretty easy, despite the crowd of the market. We got street parking, which is free.
The only negative thing about this place is that our waitress was pretty grumpy. Could just be her personality or the 10-​party group she was serving to.

Food… amazing
Servers were friendly
Although they don’t have their own parking lot, parking around Culver City isn’t too bad.
My meat eating family and I had lunch here for my bday. I was kind of nervous they wouldn’t like the food but they ended up loving it. Everyone bring your non-​vegan friends/​family here! The décor inside was so cute, too. I had the pad thai, and even got to try some of my sisters blackbean burger. This may be my favorite vegan restaurant.
The food was so good, I forgot to look at the drinks. hehe

I love the pumpkin curry here. It has a great flavor, lots of veggies, and the pumpkin is delicious. That’s the only thing I want when I come here, so I can’t comment on their other offerings. They do have a sizable menu, so maybe I’ll try something else someday. Parking in the area is difficult. I recently ordered takeout and after circling a few times I was lucky to find a meter two blocks away. They do offer delivery, so you could choose that and avoid the parking situation altogether.

Low prices.
Great setting.
Excellent service.
Incredibly fast.
I could rattle off 10 or 11 more two word descriptors for the Culver branch of Vegan Joint, but instead I’ll just regale you with my experience.
I live about a block from this spot. By and large, the only meat I eat is seafood. I was excited, while hunting for parking, to see this spot.
I wandered in to what by all rights looks like a cheery diner… with a few more living plants scattered around.
I sat down and a glass of water with lemon appeared. So far so good.
A moment later, a woman appeared and asked if I was ready. I was. Spicy noodle soup sounded good… and what the heck, I love fresh spring rolls. Time to live a little!
I whipped out phone to check in to Unilocal.Before I could complete, here she is with my vegan spring rolls. Yikes!
I set them aside, and look down at phone again. Pic of spring roll. Check in. Oh… here is my soup.
I think: great. That quick… really? I must have gotten somebody’s leftovers or something.
I tuck in.
Wow. Not only was the soup undoubtedly fresh, but it came with a faux-​fish filet that was pretty excellent.
The spring roll was fresh, herby, and complimented by a salty tofu or tempeh that really set it off.
I enjoyed, and had to take half of my soup home. The portions are very large.

I use to live down the street from this place, which initially was the reason why I tried it.
My diet is mostly plant based now so this is the perfect place to enjoy some delicious vegan food.
I’ve tried a few items from the menu. By far, the Green Curry is my absolute favorite. It has the perfect amount of spiciness to it and it comes with brown rice. I’ve ordered this for dine-​in, pickup and delivery and always tastes great! I highly recommend trying this. Perfect to share with someone or have some tasty leftovers.
My brother is a meat lover and I had him try this place. I forgot which burger he had, but was surprisingly happy with the taste and filling
I plan on trying their breakfast soon since I hear it is great. I did notice that the prices went up several dollars. I use to get my green curry for less than $ 10 and now its around $ 12. Parking is terrible. There are some meters right in front of the place or if you get lucky you might find something in the surrounding apartment neighborhood.

Ah, yet another restaurant I went to previously and apparently forgot to review. Typical me.
This place was good. We came in for lunch and sat outside. It was during the farmers market or a festival, and so we had a lot to look at. It was nice.
The food was good as well. We shared the wonton soup and I enjoyed the pad see ew. The wontons were delicious. I always get really excited when I get to have wonton soup, as it doesn’t seem to come around often for vegans. The pad see ew was just what I expected it to be and it was good.
Knowing my husband (luckily), I’m pretty sure he ordered the fried rice. I don’t remember exactly what he thought, but I know he didn’t dislike it.
I love that this place is all vegan. Makes ordering a piece of pie. :)

Pumpkin curry = plate-​licking deliciousness.
Bell peppers, tofu, zucchini, mint, and chunks of kabocha (Japanese pumpkin)…the veggies were so delicious, I didn’t even miss the meat! :) The curry was perfect, with a light and sweet taste. The Thai iced tea was also on point (not sickeningly sweet nor neon orange :).
Fast, friendly service with take-​out/​delivery options. Yum, happy October to me!

I came here today for lunch.
Not my favorite vegan restaurant, but still pretty good.
We ordered the hot wings to start. I don’t know how they do it, but pretty damn delish!!! The sauce was a little mild for my taste but the dipping sauce was fantastic! I got the spicy noodle soup as a recommendation from the waitress. It was yummy but it wasn’t anything special. My husband got the black bean burger with a side of garlic fries. He also added avocado for $ 1. I Definitely suggest doing that! It was really good! Only down side is the patty is literally made of only smashed black beans so the burger fell apart after a bite and he had to finish it with a fork. Garlic fries were crispy, but they didn’t taste as garlicky as I like.
Service was SUPER prompt and friendly.
We had to go fairly out of the way to get here so I won’t be back too often but on Sunday mornings/​early afternoons, its right next to the farmers market, so good people watching when seated outside and a nice thing to go walk afterwards.

The Vegan Joint serves an eclectic mix of vegan fare ranging from Thai curry and noodles to American breakfast staples like pancakes. The restaurant itself is homey and cozy, but it’s never been too busy when I’ve come on weekday evenings. The staff is friendly and accommodating, frequently checking to make sure that the food is all right and your water glass is filled. We usually park in the neighborhood since the restaurant doesn’t have its own dedicated lot, so be prepared to walk a little.
I’ve been to The Vegan Joint multiple times, and I will continue coming back to try their varied items. While the food is affordable and satisfactory, it isn’t anything spectacular. In many ways, the Vegan Joint reminds me of a casual neighborhood place serving home-​cooked meals. Here is what I’ve had so far:
SPICY MINT NOODLES
The spicy mint noodles are equivalent to pad kee mao. The dish itself is fairly standard, but instead of any conventional protein, there are bits of tofu scattered throughout. I wouldn’t say this was an earth-​shattering dish, but if you’re craving spicy noodles, then this definitely hits the spot. I don’t feel full after eating noodles, and this dish didn’t fill me up entirely, perhaps because it was vegan.
PINEAPPLE CURRY
While I wasn’t particularly pleased with the use of canned pineapple in the pineapple curry, it did complete the dish in a satisfactory way: slight sweetness to contrast the spiciness/​richness of the curry. But, for the cheap price ($ 8.95) of the dish, I guess it would be too much to expect fresh pineapple. The sauce contains green and red bell peppers, tomatoes, and tofu, and the dish comes with a scoop of brown rice, so you don’t have to worry about paying extra for rice. Score! The curry itself is similar to the pumpkin curry, and I would imagine that the veggies are interchangeable. I’d recommend the pumpkin curry over the pineapple curry hands down.
Overall, i would highly recommend The Vegan Joint if you’re looking for cheap vegan fare in a casual atmosphere. The range of items on the menu is sure to please most in your party, but this may not be the best introduction to vegan food if there are unenlightened carnivores in your party.