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Reply With QuoteHere is my review of Euphoria Loves Rawvolution on Yelp:
Euphoria Loves RAWvolution - Santa Monica - Santa Monica, CA
I am basically the opposite of the sort of person you might expect to go to Euphoria.
I'm a total carnivore. I eat pounds of meat (aiming for grass fed) everyday. Many animals have died for my pleasure of eating them. See, I eat paleo and stay away from vegetarian places, and usually run far away screaming when I hear of a 'vegan' place. Most vegan places peddle in soy and wheat based foods and I stay away from grains, legumes, and soy like the plague.
When I first learned of this place, I was exceedingly skeptical that there would be anything I could eat that didn't have wheat, soy, or legumes in it. I started with my usual questions - "Is there wheat and grains in this?" "Do you use soy at all?" "What about sugar?" When I heard "NO" to all that, man was I super surprised to learn how wrong I was!
I first met them at the Santa Monica Farmer's market and tried a 'breakfast' wrap. ( I recommend the red sauce spicy one) My first thoughts were - how is this going to taste good? I'm just going to be hungry in about 15 seconds after eating this. Boy was I wrong, it was super delicious, flavorful, and fresh. This brought me to go to the restaurant - they have a bunch of delicious smoothies and foods there that they do not have at the market. Oh and deserts! They are super delicious - especially the cheesecake.
So since I live close by, I challenged myself to eat there everyday and try something different each day. Some of my favorite things to eat here include:
1) anything that is breakfast like
2) the 'enchilada'
3) coconut jerky!
4) the green smoothie
5) "cheese" cakes
It's not that the food is just good, inspite of being vegan - it's good because "It's GOOD" and would choose to eat this regularly.
If they had something weak here, I'd say it might be the pizza, because it's not 'pizza' like you expect it's going to be. This is not to mean that it's not GOOD. Same goes for the 'burger'. My only gripe is that places make things like this to make it more approachable and sadly disappoints when it's not EXACTLY like a cheeseburger or piece of pizza.
I warn you that this stuff is raw. Don't be an idiot and expect to go in here and ask them to cater to your whim if you are not going to eat 'raw' food. It's not Burger King and you can't always have things "your way." Your ancestors ate raw food all the time - with dirt on it even - so can you (note: there is no dirt on the food here). If you aren't open minded or into trying new things or you need to fill your fat face with pizza, then head down the street to fill your pie hole as there is a pizza place on the same block.
The atmosphere is a little wonky, but I like that about it. If feels almost like a coffee shop and might seem a little confusing the first time you go inside. Its super friendly and 'chill' - So if you are in a super rush or something either call ahead for pickup or practice patience when you arrive. The people here are friendly and helpful - they'll answer most any question you have, and if you need to talk to someone just grab one of them - if they don't know about something someone will and will come out and tell you. I don't talk about meat in this place, this is vegan territory and want to respect the harmony of the joint - these vegans are at least eating actual 'vegetables' (well fruits and nuts too), much respect.
Raw local food isn't cheap. Sure some of the stuff might seem pricey, but have you tried making these things yourself from organic local foods? If you are - then you know the cost that goes into it. The food is also very filling - so you might not 'need' as much as you might think. Order something sans smoothie and you might be very full very quick.
I love BBQ, steaks, sashimi, chickens and other delicious animals - but this place is in my top 10 of restaurants in LA, not in spite of not having meat - but because they make great food that is also good for you.
Now if only they dubbed 'Bacon' a vegetable...
Originally Posted by lssanjose
