The Brief

You may be already fantasizing about what you’re going to eat on Thanksgiving (and those tasty leftover sandwiches you’re going to make afterwards). One of the biggest stars, if we’re being honest, are the pies.

Apple, pecan, sweet potato and pumpkin — there’s something for everyone, right? Yup, unless you have specific dietary restrictions like celiac disease or gluten intolerance, or a health condition or a plant-based diet, in which case you’ll probably look at the pies longingly and say the well-rehearsed sequence of four words — “I can’t eat that.”

If you can’t eat traditional pies, or would like to make your Thanksgiving dinner more inclusive for all your guests, here’s where to find gluten-free and vegan pies this Thanksgiving. Please note some places are not 100% gluten-free, so if you have celiac try at your own discretion.

Sinners and Saints 

Gluten-free, vegan

Gluten-free vegan rustic pumpkin pie, Sinners and Saints.

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Erik Fischer Photography

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Courtesy of Sinners and Saints

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Sinners and Saints is a bakery in Venice that offers both traditional and gluten-free desserts, brought to you by the same people behind the gluten-free eatery, 401K Food and Wine. Their playful name captures that, with Sinners referring to decadent desserts and Saints referring to gluten-free delights.

Their Thanksgiving menu has an impressive array of gluten-free options and a handful of vegan options, including:

• Gluten-free pumpkin pie. 
• Gluten-free vegan rustic pumpkin pie.
• Gluten-free chocolate bourbon pecan pie.
• Gluten-free vegan old-fashioned apple pie.

If you’d like to try your hand at your own recipe, you can also purchase one of their gluten-free pie crusts and have a blank canvas to work with.

Thanksgiving order deadline: Monday, Nov. 20 by 3 p.m.

Erin McKenna’s Bakery LA

Gluten-free, vegan, kosher, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free 

Pumpkin pie, Erin McKenna's Bakery LA.

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Courtesy of Erin McKenna's Bakery LA

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Erin McKenna, the eponymous founder of Erin McKenna’s Bakery is what I’d call a pioneer and a trendsetter in the gluten-free and vegan dessert space. Starting all the way back in 2005, the first bakery opened in New York.

Earlier this year, I happened to stop by while on a trip to N.Y. and enjoyed an exquisite gluten-free donut. As someone with celiac, it’s always nice to find a fully gluten-free bakery so I don’t have to worry about the potential for cross-contamination (which I’ve definitely experienced).

The good news is you don’t have to travel to enjoy these gluten-free, vegan, kosher, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free sweets. In fact, the L.A. location on Larchmont has been around for a decade.

So if you have to eat differently due to allergies, an autoimmune disease, or a vegan diet this is the place to go. For Thanksgiving, the store is offering two classic pies:

• Pumpkin pie.
• Dutch apple pie. 

And if you need a side to go with that? You can pick up some biscuits too.

Thanksgiving order deadline: Monday, Nov. 20

Sweet Laurel 

Gluten-free, grain-free, refined sugar-free, dairy-free

Tucked away in the Pacific Palisades on Sunset Boulevard is Sweet Laurel, a bakery that is a haven for people who eat differently. The store is lauded by celebrities and offers bakery items that are all gluten-free, grain-free, refined sugar-free, and dairy-free.

So if you have celiac disease or are diabetic or paleo, you can safely enjoy the treats at Sweet Laurel. There are also many vegan and keto options as well. Most impressive is the fact that many of the items have fewer than five ingredients.

Baker Laurel Gallucci started this journey after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and had to say goodbye to traditional cake. Determined to find an alternative, her experiments led to the creation of Sweet Laurel.

Now you can reap the benefits and get pies for Thanksgiving that are a great option for a range of conditions and preferences. You can get:

• Pecan pie.
• Apple crumb pie.
• Get both with a holiday pie bundle.

Thanksgiving order deadline: Tuesday, Nov. 21 (for pick-up).

Cake Monkey

Gluten-free by request, vegan 

Butterscotch Pudding Pie, Cake Monkey

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Courtesy of Cake Monkey

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Honey Braised Pumpkin Tart, Cake Monkey

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Courtesy of Cake Monkey

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Cake Monkey was started by entertainment industry veteran Lisa J. Olin who parlayed her producing skills to create this venture. As the name suggests, the bakery’s primary focus is cakes, but this Thanksgiving you can also take advantage of their pies.

The bakery offers traditional baked goods with gluten-free options available for some items. Since the bakery has both items, on their website there’s a note that says they’re not a celiac-safe gluten-free facility. So if you want or need to eat gluten-free but don’t have celiac disease, this could be a good option for you.

This Thanksgiving, the store is offering the gluten-free version (by request) of three pies and one vegan pie including:

• Honey braised pumpkin tart (GF version). 
• Butterscotch pudding pie (GF version). 
• Chocolate cake pudding pie (GF version).
• Vegan pumpkin caramel pie. 

Their main storefront is located in Mid City, but there is a North Hollywood location that is pick-up only.

Thanksgiving order deadline: Monday, Nov. 20 by noon.

Winston Pies

Gluten-free, vegan 

Southern pecan pie, Winston Pies.

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Courtesy of Winston Pies

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Founder Brianna Abrams is a former attorney turned baker who started Winston Pies, with a name that is an homage to her hometown of Winston-Salem, NC. Her passion for pies comes from a deep reverence for the women in her family, who for generations baked together. What started as a small home kitchen operation blew up, and now the bakery has four locations in Brentwood, West Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Marina Del Rey.

For Thanksgiving, Winston Pies has some classic options for those who are gluten-free, vegan, or both including:

• Mixed berry crumble (gluten-free and vegan). 
• Southern pecan pie (gluten-free). 
• Harvest apple pie (gluten-free and vegan versions available). 
• Fall pumpkin (gluten-free version available with 24-hour notice). 

You can also pick up a gluten-free, vegan version of the Harvest Apple with a Bake at Home pie at the Brentwood or Marina Del Rey location.

Thanksgiving order deadline: Friday, Nov. 17 by noon

Top Tier Treats 

Vegan

Pumpkin pie, Top Tier Treats.

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Courtesy of Top Tier Treats

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Jamaica Crist, the founder of Top Tier Treats, held a number of restaurant positions growing up before she eventually found her true love with desserts. She took baking classes in college and later met her future husband, James. They opened the bakery in 2005 and have continued to grow since. Now the couple works as a team, with James heading the business side and Jamaica as the baker and visionary behind the sweet treats.

Top Tier Treats has a range of Thanksgiving vegan pies available by request including:

• Pumpkin pie. 
• Pecan pie. 
• Apple pie.
• Mixed berry.

Those are the more traditional Thanksgiving options, but other vegan options include chocolate cream, coconut cream, banana cream, and peanut butter cream pies. You must place a special order to get the vegan option. Also, it’s important to note that there are no gluten-free or sugar-free options available.

Thanksgiving order deadline: Friday, Nov. 17 (though there will be some ready-to-go pies available a few days before the holiday)

The Los Angeles World Cup host committee has quietly posted its guidance on human rights after months of speculation over where the plan was and when it would be published.

Advocates had pushed the committee, an arm of the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission, to produce its plan. But now that it's out, they're not satisfied with what they're seeing.

The human rights guidance is required by FIFA and outlined on the host committee's website. It includes a list of online resources including where to file complaints with various local and state level agencies and a summary of local, state and federal laws protecting human and civil rights. The committee is also touting a partnership with L.A. County in which people can call 211 to report a concern during the tournament.

"Los Angeles is weeks away from hosting one of the largest sporting events in the world, and yet what has been posted is not a plan,” Stephanie Richard, director of the Sunita Jain Anti‑Trafficking Initiative at Loyola Law School, said in a statement. “It is a list of laws and hotline numbers."

The human rights document also skirts fears around ICE and its potential presence at the tournament and surrounding celebrations. Todd Lyons, the agency's head, said earlier this year that ICE's investigatory branch will play a key role in security for the tournament.

But ICE and immigration enforcement aren't mentioned on the host committee's web page on human rights or in its outline of its approach to human rights. "Immigration status" only gets a mention in the list of existing anti-discrimination laws.

"It certainly could have been much stronger," Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles, said of the plan. She added that her organization participated in a roundtable on the plan, and she was disappointed ICE and recent immigration sweeps weren't mentioned in the resulting document.

"In order for all of this to happen, immigrant workers are part of it," she said of the World Cup. "Your hotel workers, your service workers, stadium workers, drivers." 

LAist reached out to spokespeople for the host committee for comment via email, phone and text, but did not hear back in time for publication. FIFA's press team also did not respond to an email from LAist.

According to the host committee's website, the human rights plan is the result of coordination with the city and county of Los Angeles, the city of Inglewood, and 14 roundtable discussions held in the fall of 2025.

"As a non-profit organization, the Host Committee’s role is primarily and necessarily focused on aligning and collaborating with governmental and non-governmental organizations," the document sums up the committee's approach.

The plan also promises more actions, including "Know Your Rights" training for L.A. residents and visitors and "Know Your Responsibilities" training for businesses and vendors. The committee also says it will develop a "rapid response" strategy to respond to potential problems at the tournament.

Available details on those plans were scant. And with the tournament just 30 days away, labor unions and community groups are continuing to voice concerns about potential ICE presence at SoFi Stadium and other potential consequences of the tournament coming to town.

The mayor of Arcadia has agreed to plead guilty to a charge she acted as an agent for China, federal prosecutors announced Monday. She has resigned from her position with the city.

Eileen Wang, 58, faces one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The charge carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison.

What we know about the criminal case

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Wang and Yaoning “Mike” Sun of Chino Hills worked at the direction of the Chinese government and with individuals based in the U.S. to promote pro-People’s Republic of China propaganda in the United States. Those actions occurred between 2020 and 2022, prosecutors said.

According to federal prosecutors, Wang and Sun operated a website — known as U.S. News Center — billed as a news source for the local Chinese American community in Los Angeles County. They posted content on the site, described as "pre-written articles," based on directives from Chinese government officials.

Sun, 65, pleaded guilty in October 2025 in federal court to acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. He is serving a four-year federal prison sentence.

Prosecutors also said Wang communicated with John Chen, whom they described as “a high-level member of the [Chinese government] intelligence apparatus,” in November 2021, and asked him to post an article from her website.

In a group chat, Wang referenced the article and wrote: “This is what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to send,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Chen pleaded guilty in New York to acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China and conspiracy to bribe a public official. In 2024, he was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison.

What's next

Wang, who was elected to the City Council in November 2022, was expected to make her first appearance in U.S. District Court Monday afternoon.

Citing a plea agreement, prosecutors said she's expected to enter the guilty plea within the next few weeks.

Arcadia's mayor is selected from the elected council members. A post on the city's website announced that Wang had resigned her position as of Monday and that a new mayor would be picked from the remaining council members at the next meeting.

The Supreme Court on Monday gave itself more time to consider a national ban on telemedicine access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

Justice Samuel Alito extended an earlier order he issued by three more days, so rules for prescribing mifepristone online or through the mail remain in effect through Thursday at a minimum.

The case at issue

The tumult over the future of telemedicine access to mifipristone started on May 1 with a ruling from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. That ruling re-instituted prescribing rules from before the pandemic that required patients to receive mifepristone in person in a doctor's office or clinic.

The Food and Drug Administration determined that the rule was medically unnecessary in 2021. The state of Louisiana sued last fall, arguing that telemedicine access undermines the state's abortion ban.

What is telemedicine abortion?

The telemedicine abortion process starts with a patient connecting with a healthcare provider on the phone or online. If the patient is eligible, that provider can prescribe two medications — mifepristone and another pill called misoprostol. Patients can pick up the medicine at a local pharmacy, or providers can mail the drugs to a patient's home.

That access is a big part of the reason why the number of abortions nationally has actually increased since the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in 2022. Now, most abortions in the U.S. use this combination of medications, and one quarter happen via telemedicine.

After the 5th Circuit ruling, some providers said they would continue offering telemedicine access to abortion medication using a different protocol that involves higher doses of misoprostol and no mifepristone.

Researchers say that method is just as safe and effective, but tends to cause more pain for patients and more side effects, like nausea and diarrhea. Misoprostol has other medical uses, such as treating gastric ulcers and hemorrhage, and has been on the market longer than mifepristone. It is likely to remain fully accessible, even if mifepristone is restricted.

Since the FDA's prescribing rules for medications apply to the whole country, a change to the rules about how mifepristone can be accessed has national impact. That means it affects states with constitutionally-protected access to abortion, states with criminal bans, like Louisiana, and all states in between.

States' rights

Nearly two dozen Democratic-led states submitted an amicus brief in this case, writing that the appeals court decision put the policy choices of states with bans above the choices of states "that have made the different but equally sovereign determinations to promote access to abortion care."

There are also stakes related to the power of FDA and other expert agencies to set rules. While the Trump administration's FDA did not respond to the Supreme Court's request for briefs, a group of former leaders of the agency, who served under mainly Democratic and some Republican presidents, wrote about this in an amicus brief.

They defended the FDA's process in approving the medication and modifying the rules for prescribing it, and say the appeals court decision "would upend FDA's gold-standard, science-based drug approval system."

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