A chicken ranch sandwich, portobello burger, nachos and cheesecake have two things in common. They are all items that can be found on the menu of Westwood restaurant Native Foods Café, and they are all completely vegan.
Wait, what?
The Westwood branch, located on the corner of Gayley Avenue and Lindbrook Drive, will be reopening its doors in its grand opening today. The original Native Foods Café was founded in Palm Springs in 1994 by chef Tanya Petrovna. The restaurant expanded into chains throughout California, with locations in cities such as Newport Beach and Santa Monica, and has also found success in Chicago.
The Westwood location has been undergoing an expansion of its own. Thanks to its rising popularity, as indicated by the four-star average based on 480 reviews on its Yelp page, the restaurant underwent a remodel to accommodate its fans, moving to a bigger location right next door. Native Foods Café celebrated its new location with a pre-grand opening party that ran throughout last week, offering a free meal (complete with appetizer, entree, side dish, drink and dessert) and the first glimpse of the new site for card-holding customers.
Compared to the original space, which could only fit a handful of tables, the new location is massive, not to mention beautiful. It’s spacious, with tables spread out with plenty room to walk in between, as well as booths lining the wall. The interior is decorated with warm woods and shades of orange, channeling an earthy vibe that matches the food.
The bigger location also allows for a better exhibition of the food, such as a new display case by the cashier that allows customers to ogle the choices of vegan cupcakes, cheesecakes, brownies and parfaits that had previously been relegated to a cramped fridge by the drinks. Now you can have your vegan cake and enjoy it too.
Perhaps the best addition to the new Native Foods Café is the upstairs compartment, which allows the space not only more sitting room, but also the possibility to just hang out. No longer eating in a cramped space, the new Native Foods Café gives customers the option not only to come and eat lunch or dinner, but also to grab a side of sweet potato fries while they study for that psychology midterm. It most definitely beats trying to find a table at Starbucks during fifth week.
If the Native Foods Café pre-grand opening proved anything other than the fact that its food is still delicious, it is that the new space will also be as accommodating as ever. The cute cafe always had enough variety to make it a fun place to eat every couple of weeks or so, but the expansion has made the healthy alternative into a legitimate place to dine out or study in. The large upstairs area or big booths would be perfect for packs of college students, and yet the tranquil environment is inviting enough to stick around for awhile, whether to lounge or to work. With the bigger and better location, now everyone can get their vegan on.