Venice Ale House.

It's a little late in the year to call a hot weekend a touch of Indian Summer, but I know us Angelenos love to brag about a hot day when the rest of the country is fighting the bitter cold. We were blessed with such a day last weekend, so my favorite vegan girlfriend and I adventured to the west side of town to enjoy it properly -- at the beach. I forgot to put on sunscreen (hello, it was almost December!) and needed a break from the rays, so we decided to stop for some vegan treats and drinks at the Venice Ale House that sits right smack in the middle of the boardwalk.

We started out with a pitcher of sangria. For some reason, sangria is this thing that so many people serve now, but probably shouldn't. Sangria is an art form, and everyone has jumped on the bandwagon without taking the time to perfect it. While VAH's sangria definitely offered up quite a buzz, we found it to be somewhat lacking in flavor. Perhaps if they put more fruit in it and let it marinade longer it would have been better.

 

Next we ordered their "unfried" potatoes. These were delish!! They were perfectly crispy on the outside, nice and cooked to perfection on the inside, and well seasoned for just about any palette. 

For the main course, my compadre had the vegan scramble and I had the chopped salad. I was a bit concerned that my salad might have too much quinoa on it, but it turned out to have a perfect amount. My salad was light and fresh with roasted red peppers, cucumbers, beets, carrots, and garbanzo beans. The lemon "vinagrette" that they make in-house was decent, but nothing to rave about. While I felt super healthy and proud of my smart meal choice, I ended up trading plates with my friend when I got a bite of her scramble. 

VAH really has something good going on with the vegan scramble. It its full of tempeh, potatoes, veggies galore, and more of those wonderful potatoes. Not to mention it comes with a very tasty house made hot sauce. 

Overall, I would say that any vegan person should try this place out. They have a notable beer and wine list, and tons of vegan options that are far better than most vegan foods that I have tried. I would definitely go here again and try some other menu options. Not to mention, they sit on the boardwalk with a great view of all the passers by and our treasured Pacific ocean.