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Food

Vegan Carne Asada, Crispy Chicken & More: The Veggie Grill Opens New Hollywood Location

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If a vegan restaurant can open in Orange County and not only survive, but expand within the same city (Irvine), then it must be doing something right. And that's why the Veggie Grill, which opens in Hollywood today at 11 a.m. at the Sunset Plaza, is welcomed with praise.

The burgeoning chain is vegan gone mainstream. But walk in, order some food and you will hardly notice it's vegan or even see those words flashed about too much. The word is too stigmatized to attract customers in droves, but that doesn't mean a successful business model can be developed around the concept of delicious faux and fresh fast-casual foods.

From Chipotle BBQ to Chickin' Caesar Wraps and Carne Asada to Crispy Chickin', the Veggie Grill has perfected the happy medium between for herbivores and carnivores. VegNews, the best vegetarian magazine out there, even named it Restaurant of the Year in 2008. Over at Yelp, many meat eaters agree.

And as fries go in Los Angeles, you must try their sweet potato fries, which nicely balances the freshness of the vegetable with crispy and salty delectableness.

Special thanks to GreenLAGirl for the heads up and foodie blogger Rick Poon for two of his photos.

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