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Keven Tran has no customers, just friends. And for over six years, he's had hundreds of friends who visit him everyday at his restaurant and tofu factory in Reseda called Vinh Loi Tofu. "I'm a tofu lover," he explained of the restaurant's beginnings. "One day my wife came up with an idea, 'honey, let's open a tofu factory, we can eat tofu everyday.'" And so they did. In 2002, they opened a the factory only for a year later to turn part of it into a restaurant, which is now one of Los Angeles' best vegan restaurants (the staff of Los Angeles Magazine are huge fans and Discovery Channel visited the restaurant to show people how Tofu is made, that video is below).
"I'm not working--to me this is vacation," says the jovial Tran, who works "only seven days a week" and always with a smile. Customers come in and out everyday, whether it be for a meal or to stock up their own fridge. He sells about 300 pounds of tofu, 60-70 gallons of soy milk and a few hundred containers of faux meat daily. His menu consists of over 100 items and if a customer wants to think one up, he'll make it for them (fried tofu on french bread? sure!).
Tran's next move is to open a restaurant in Silver Lake, where a lot of his customers live and graciously make the trip to the West Valley for his food. It's way worth it, though, the dishes are so good, leftovers don't even make it past a midnight.
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Nice. I'm there.
And I'm going back...
This is one of the few places that makes me like living in the valley. Not only is this place amazingly good, it is cheap! Which is something you can't say about a lot of purely vegan places.
I am super excited to try this place! Thanks for the great find!!
dude, this is easily on of the best vegan places in LA. i had never heard of it before until a little over two years ago when it started getting coverage from foodeater on toliveandeatinla.com.
it still took me awhile to get ALL THE WAY over there, but that blog kept covering so many amazing things on the menu...i had to give it a shot. now i go there often 'cause it's so damn good.
check out her amazing coverage:
http://www.toliveandeatinla.com/category/vegetarian-restaurants/vinh-
loi-tofu/
Wow, their sandwiches are less than $5. How come I haven't been there?
This place *rocks*. There was a piece on it the LA Times back in 2006; I finally got there last summer. Since then, I've been hooked. I live in Pasadena so it's a bit of a haul, but well worth a trip to the valley. The udon noodles are awesome, as are the 'salad rolls' with 'ham', 'chicken', and 'shrimp'. My vegan fiancee asked "Are you sure this isn't meat?"
By all means, go here. Thanks Mr Tran!
I have been a vegan for several months, and spent the last 2 years or so paring down my diet and lifestyle to get to this wonderful stage in my life. Through a simple internet search I found Vin Loi Tofu.
It has been just over one month since I initially came across this vegan valley option, and , sincerely, it is quite difficult to stay away long enough to keep money in my wallet.
The owner/chef Kevin has created something quite unique. I believe as Ghandi so wisely noted, that the true seat of taste rests not with the tongue but with the mind. However, Kevin has done the exceptional; he has managed to satisfy both palate and mind, blending great taste with good health.
You will become a regular. Enjoy!