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June 22, 2007
Leonor's Vegetarian Mexican -- Valley Village style
We're longtime customers of the Studio City location of Leonor's Vegetarian Mexican -- where everything is vegetarian ... and Mexican, but recently the "new" (meaning a couple of years old) Valley Village location has been our go-to spot.
There's been a controversy swirling in the vegan community over whether or not Leonor's fake-o chicken and cheese is truly vegan, and I'm pretty sure it's not -- there's casein in the cheese, and I've heard that there may be egg whites in the fake chicken (unconfirmed, but I know it's not completely kosher, in a vegan sense). I choose, in this case, to look the other way and enjoy what is some freakin' great food. I've been known to eat an egg white every once in a while, so I'm maybe 95 percent vegan, 5 percent milk/egg indulger. Sue me, if you must.
Now back to our review:
For starters, order the green salad. I prefer it with no dressing (an oil-and-vinegar combo, for those who do like it) because it's just so good without. It'll give you a newfound appreciation for raw beets, which are a sweet addition to a salad.
Warning: If your pee turns red, don't panic -- you're not dying. It's the beets. You'd think paper sales god/beet farmer Dwight K. Schrute would've warned me about it. Alas he did not. But he does agree that beets are the world's greatest root vegetable.
Anyhow, I'm also partial to Mike's Special, which is a quesadilla made with a whole wheat tortilla, soy chicken, soy cheese and guacamole. There's another special quesadilla -- Wendy's Special -- made with corn tortillas, soy cheese, fake-o bacon and broccoli (real broccoli, if you must know), but I still like the Mike's.
Ilene first learned about Leonor's from its original North Hollywood location (all three are pretty close to each other, to tell the truth), and she first ordered the Joy's Golden Nugget sandwich -- ingredients of which I can't remember.
But the best thing about Leonor's is their pizzas. Every location has a top-quality pizza oven, and the pizzas made with whole-wheat crust, soy cheese, veggies, fake-o sausage or pepperoni and other sundries really do rock. And at the Studio City location, at least, you have a fair chance of seeing stars. Donal Logue showed up a few weeks back. I didn't say BIG stars, but stars nonetheless. If they're vegetarians and live in the Valley, they probably eat at Leonor's.
Leonor's also makes a great carrot juice -- they grind it up on the spot for you -- and their flax seed ice tea, while a little too sweet, also makes for a nice beverage.
And you can't go wrong with Leonor's burrito. There are small and large sizes. And that large is freakin' huge -- I recommend it. Whole-wheat tortillas, pinto beans, cheese, "cracked wheat" rice, topped with avocado slices. It's primal. You must have it.
I'm too lazy to break out all the Web reviews of Leonor's, so here's a Google search that will do it for you.
Here are the addresses for all three Leonor's locations:
12445 Moorpark St., Suite C, Studio City
818-762-0660
11403 Victory Blvd., North Hollywood 91606
818-980-9011
5217 Laurel Canyon Blvd, Valley Village (in the shopping center/minimall at the corner of Magnolia Boulevard)
818-769-6315
Posted by Steven Rosenberg at June 22, 2007 9:58 AM
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