The Vegan Hooligans-Moved

The Vegan Hooligans
4862 Eagle Rock Blvd N
Los Angeles, CA 90041
323-257-2229

The Vegan Hooligans is a pop-up restaurant that serves vegan fare at Abby's Diner on Friday-Sunday, usually from 6pm to 9pm. I found out about Vegan Hooligans on social media. Abby's Diner just a little south of Mediterranean Triangle, it's a small diner with about four booths and two counters.

The setup is different.  You sit down, then after you order you pay!  I have never had that happen before.  The only time I heard it happen was in the 1990's when Denny's forced black customers, including black FBI or secret service agents, to pay in advance.  They did that for every customer.  They should put it on their social media.

The Carnivore-$10- Bolillo with tofu meat, sauteed green and red peppers, cheese, chili, and spicy mustard.  Almost a good sandwich.  Why almost, because the bolillo needed to be toasted about 3-4 more minutes.  Instead I got a sandwich where the bread just fell apart!  If I wanted a dish that I needed a knife and fork, I would have ordered it. But, I ordered a sandwich. 

Anyways, the meat was good.  A bit chewy, but good flavor and texture.  The grilled veggies were fresh and cooked right.  The vegan cheese didn't melt all the way.  This sandwich had bold flavors and even non vegans would like this sandwich!

Hooligan fries-$8. Crinkle cut fries with house made chili, cheese and chives.  This was a good  example of chili-cheese fries.  The chili, same tofu meat, was good.  But, the beans could have been cooked for a bit longer.  Lots of gooey cheese sauce. The fries were perfectly done.  They have fries for $3 on the menu.  They should add with cheese sauce for $4, for those who don't want the chili.

Service is good but annoying.  First of all, it's a damn diner, not a concert.  The music was just blasting.  Turn the damn volume down.  The servers are friendly, but they are practically watching over you like a hawk.  As I mentioned earlier, the practice of paying after you sit down and order is strange.  The server then asked if I needed change.  Which is a pet peeve of mine.  If a server says I'll be back with your change, I will say 'keep it' if I forget to say so when she comes to pick up the money. And if I forget to say so, and a server has to make the long, uphill walk back to my table, well the server can get another job, since this job is too hard for the server.  But, I hate it when servers ask if I need change. It just shows how lazy they are!  Just get the damn change!

I wouldn't go back to Vegan Hooligans.  They missed the mark on both dishes, basically Cooking 101 stuff.  Plus their payment policy is dumb!

Eagle Rock Italian Bakery & Deli

Eagle Rock Italian Bakery & Deli
1726 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041
323-255-8224

After going to Eagle Rock Green Dragon I noticed Eagle Rock Italian Bakery & Deli was across Colorado.  Since I've been to so many restaurants on Colorado-; Cindy's, Eagle Rock Public House, CaCao Mexicatessen, Meea's, Larkin's, Brownstone Pizza, both of them are now closed, Oinkster, Colombo's, Casa Bianca, Blue Hen- which recently closed- I figured why not add another one!! So, I decided to give them at try!

Eagle Rock Italian Bakery & Deli is really an Italian market that has a bakery and deli section.  There are no tables to sit at and eat your sandwich.  You could go across the street and eat at Tommy's.  Or do what I did- eat at the tables at Meea's!  

Large cheese sandwich-$6.75 with cheddar and pepper jack cheese, mayo, lettuce and tomato.

This could have been a very good sandwich.  It was about maybe 8 inches long.  The cheeses were good quality cheese.  The veggies were fresh.  But, what I didn't like about this sandwich was the bread.  An Italian roll that had a very hard crust.  The inside was soft and had good texture, but the hard outside just turned my off on this sandwich.

Service was friendly, but slow.  There were three people working behind the counter.  While one lady ordered a ton of stuff, the other two maybe had a handful of items.  But the workers were going in slow motion!  I mean 5 minutes to slice a pound of salami?  The girl who helped me made my sandwich pretty quickly, but they just took forever to help the people in front of me.

While the bakery part of Eagle Rock Italian Bakery & Deli looks very good, I wasn't too impressed with the deli part.  They need to improve the bread on their sandwiches.

Eagle Rock Green Dragon

Eagle Rock Green Dragon
1733 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041
323-255-8889

After going to Organix, I noticed Eagle Rock Green Dragon next door.  Chinese restaurants, at least good Chinese restaurants, are rare in northeast Los Angeles.  So, I figured I would add to the number of restaurants I've tried on Colorado Blvd. and went to Eagle Rock Green Dragon, which is number 12!  The other restaurants on Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock that I have tried; Cindy's, Eagle Rock Public House, CaCao Mexicatessen, Meea's, Larkin's, Brownstone Pizza, both of them are now closed, Oinkster, Colombo's, Casa Bianca, Blue Hen- which recently closed.

In Febuary, will mark their 5th anniversary.  They take up two spaces in this complex.  When you enter it's the lobby and the kitchen.  To the right is the large dining room.

Vegetable lo mein-$8.95- soft noodles with Chinese broccoli, carrots and soy sauce.  This was a good dish with the noodles perfectly cooked and seasoned.  This was a good dish and a good sized portion.

Szechuan shrimp-$13.95, with a lot of jicama, a brown sauce that reminded me of hot and sour soup minus the sour, some green veggies, and about a dozen small-medium sized shrimp. The sauce was highlight!  Maybe a mild spiciness, but good flavor.  There were a ton of jicama and to my surprise it worked really well with this dish!  The shrimp were well cooked but I thought there could have been more shrimp.  Maybe a bit pricey for the portion size, but quality was right there!

Service is good.  The lady who helped me was nice and friendly.

Overall Eagle Rock Green Dragon is good.  Is it better than Chinese restaurants in Arcadia and San Gabriel?  No, but with so few Chinese options in Northeast LA, unless you go to Chinatown, you won't go wrong going to Green Dragon!

Organix-Closed

Organix
1731 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041
323-254-0284

I have reviewed many restaurants on Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock; Cindy's, Eagle Rock Public House, CaCao Mexicatessen, Meea's, Larkin's, Brownstone Pizza, both of them are now closed, Oinkster, Colombo's, Casa Bianca, Blue Hen- which recently closed. When I heard that Organix had the Mac Daddy, a vegan Big Mac, just like Doomies Home Cookin, I decided to make a trip to Eagle Rock.

Organix is located across the street from Meea's and a couple doors east of, the now closed, Blue Hen, in a strip mall next to a Chinese restaurant restaurant. It's really a vegan grocery store, that has been opened for six years.  With Sprouts opening up about a mile away, I wonder how long the grocery store will stay open.  But, Organix has a good sized vegan menu.  There are vegan burgers, chicken, even fish, on the menu.  There menu also says no substitutions or modifications.  WTF is this?  The vegan version of that jerk Sang Yoon and his overrated Father's Office?

Mac Daddy, $11, a la carte, bean pattie, special sauce, lettuce, vegan cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun!  This was a very dry burger.  The patties were mushy, and just the wrong texture.  They have whole pieces of kidney beans in the patty.  Why they left whole kidney beans, instead of mixing them up, I have no idea.  While there was some vegan thousand island dressing, there wasn't enough.  While this burger is huge, the taste and quality of the burger isn't there.

Fries, $3, I'm guessing frozen fries, but good portion and taste.

Service was ok.  The guy at register just goes through the motions.  He's not friendly or personable.  He was on his phone most of the time I was there, only stopping to take my order and get my food.  

Cindy’s Eagle Rock

Cindy’s Eagle Rock
1500 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041
323-257-7375

Cindy's has been in Eagle Rock forever under many owners!  Just a few blocks east of CaCao Mexicatessen, and across the street from the now closed Larkin's, the current owners really revamped the restaurant.  They set up a Go Fund Me account to pay for the renovation of their iconic sign!

It's a fairly small restaurant with booths along the windows and a good sized counter.  They were packed the day I went and customers just kept coming in!

Veggie burger- $9.50- chicken fried portobello burger with sweet corn relish, goat cheese, and red pepper sauce with mixed green salad.

They have seven different veggie burgers, how often they veggie burger changes depends on how quickly the batch of veggie burgers are gone.  I was intrigued by the chicken fried portobello burger and ordered it.  It was very good.  The portobello mushroom was moist and tender.  The batter was very good, crispy and held up to the conidments/  The goat cheese fresh and the red pepper sauce was too tangy.  But, otherwise a great burger.  Yes, it's not the most healthiest veggie burger, but it's different and I would order this again!

Service was pretty good.  We sat at the counter, so our server came by often.  Though she didn't refill my drink that often.  But, she was friendly and helpful.

I always heard Cindy's was overpriced for mediocre food.  I found the prices to be fair, especially for the area and the food to be very good.  I would go back!

Eagle Rock Public House-Closed

Eagle Rock Public House
1627 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041
323-739-0081

Across the street from CaCao Mexicatessen is Eagle Rock Public House.  Owned by the Eagle Rock Brewery people, whose actual brew house is in Glassell Park.  But, a nice addition to the dining scene on Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock; which recently lost the Blue Hen restaurant!  

It's a huge place with plenty of tables and a bar in the middle.  They have a garage door that is great when there is a nice breeze, but better be closed in hot weather!

Fried cod sandwich-$15. Manifesto batter, slaw, malt vinegar aioli.  I went to Eagle Rock Public House a couple years ago, forgot to do a review.  But, if I did; it would have been a bad one.  I found it to be an overpriced mediocre small plates place. Their menu still has a lot of small plate items, but this is a substantial sandwich!

But, I looked at their menu and saw this fried cod sandwich, which I don't think was on the menu the last time I went.  But, what a great sandwich!!  A huge piece of cod perfectly fried with a great light crispy batter!! The slaw had cabbage, red onions, and pickled jalapenos added a great flavor to the sandwich.  The slaw would be a great side item to!  This sandwich was well worth the price!  I would order this again!

Service was good.

I'm glad I went back to Eagle Rock Public House!  I won't wait two years to return!

CaCao Mexicatessen

CaCao Mexicatessen
1576 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041
323-478-2791

CaCao Mexicatessen has been on my bucketlist of places to try for about three years.  Even though I frequently go by the area, I still haven't stopped in.  That changed on a raining day in Los Angeles!  CaCao is a casual restaurant, with counter service.  It's fairly small with limited seating on one side of the restaurant, with a large bar and booth seating on the other side of the restaurant.  There is very limited parking, street parking that is usually taken by shoppers of the Trader's Joe next door. It's not far from the now closed Larkin's, an overpriced soul food restaurant!

Fish taco- fried and pan seared red snapper, crema, red cabbage, pico de gallo, and salsa on a corn tortilla! $3.95 each.

The fried version has a Alesmith Nut Brown beer-batter.  This was very crispy and flaky!  Everything was fresh and full of flavor.

The pan seared is also very fresh and full of flavor.

Service- you order at the counter and they bring the food to your table.  Nice, friendly and helpful.

The Capri-Updated Review

The Capri
4604 Eagle Rock Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041
323-257-3225

The Capri was featured on the TV show Kitchen Nightmares.  A friend who watched that show wanted to to give The Capri a try.  I didn't search for the episode on You Tube until after I went and tried Capri.  The story goes twin brothers loved eating at The Capri, which opened in 1963, that they bough the restaurant about 20 years ago.  About six years ago, they were struggling and turned to Kitchen Nightmares for help.  They must be doing something right, because they are still in business six years after their episode aired.

The Capri has a lot of competition in Eagle Rock, the 800lb gorilla- Casa Bianca, the now closed Brownstone, and the made famous by Ellen, Big Mama and Papa's are all within two miles of The Capri and that's just in Eagle Rock.  A nice, narrow restaurant with wood accents, and concrete floor, but it was a bit dirty.  This place needed a good cleaning, from the condiment containers to the tablecloth  to the chairs and benches.

Tomato and basil spaghetti $9. The sauce was fine, good flavor, fresh ingredients, but the pasta was undercooked!  A few more minutes in the boiling water would have done wonders.  Not an outstanding dish, even if the pasta was cooked perfectly, but not bad and a good price.

Service is friendly but slow! You walk in and don't know if it is counter service or table service.  We walked to the counter and one of the twins told us to sit anywhere, even he saw us walking in!  Later during dinner, a couple walked in and he told them to sit anywhere!  Not a major deal, but come on, be consistent!  After we got seated it must have been five minutes before he came to our table and there were only four other people in the restaurant. The food came out quickly, but refills were slow.  The twins were really friendly and would talk about the restaurant.  But one of the twins was sitting down at a computer and surfing the net.  The other was always talking to customers, which is nice, but other customers need attention too.  He talked to us for about five minutes.  He thought it was slow because of the Thanksgiving weekend.  But, when we drove by Casa Bianca, there were ten people waiting outside!  There were about ten people in The Capri, including my friend and I, the entire time we were there!! 

After eating at The Capri, I found their episode of Kitchen Nightmares on You Tube.  In the show the twins are portrayed as lazy, that's true evidenced by the dirty, dingy restaurant, even after the show, and lacked cooking skills.  I can't compare how the food tasted before the episode, but the food was ok, except for the undercooked pasta, which happens but really shouldn't at an Italian restaurant.

Update November 16, 2016

Large cheese pizza.


I went back to Capri to try their happy hour pizza.  Menu price is $8 and while there is nothing on the menu that says the happy hour price is for dine in only, you can only get the price if you dine in!

This pizza was one of the most disgusting pizza I have ever had.  Give me pizza from a national chain anytime over this garbage!  This pizza is basically flat bread crust, some nasty tasting sauce and a good amount of cheese.  This pizza was bland, no flavor and just disgusting!

Service was lazy but friendly.  One of the twins was there and most of the time he was sitting at his table and surfing the net!  This guy is so damn lazy that after giving me the bill, he just stood there about 2 feet from my table and waited until I paid.  He couldn't walk back to his computer, about 5 feet away and come back!

While I say I would never go back to a restaurant because the food was mediocre or bad, I am willing to give them another try.  Usually I regret it and that holds true for Capri.  No way I'm going back to this terrible restaurant again!  

Meea's-Closed

Meea's
1734 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles
323-285-4850

After going to Monte 52, based on the review in the Eastsider LA, I read more reviews on Valentina Silva's blog, Eastside Food Bites and found her review of Meea's, a hot dog place in Eagle Rock.  It's across the street from the Blue Hen, a Vietnamese vegetarian restaurant, that I reviewed in 2006, and is still open.

So I went to Meea's, after having the hot dog at Schreiner's Fine Sausage, and being underwhelmed.  If you blink you'll miss Meea's when driving on Colorado Blvd.  Look for the Taco Bell and next door is Meea's.  A small area with only outdoor patio seating, Meea's has been open for about a year.

If you're looking for authentic hot dogs from other cities like Chicago or New York.  No Vienna beef  or Sabrett's hot dogs on the menu.  Meea's has their own all beef hot dog and that hot dog is in every hot dog on the menu.  They do have a veggie and turkey hot dog too.

Hot dog with yellow mustard and raw onions, $3.22. The hot dog was grilled, had good flavor, spices and juicy.  It was very good.  But, the bun overwhelmed the hot dog.  While the bun was nice and soft, with good texture,  it was just too big for the hot dog. 

Service was good.  The guy who too my order, who I believe is the owner, was nice and friendly.

If you're looking for an authentic Chicago hot dog, this isn't the place.  But, if you're looking for a good quality hot dog, you should give Meea's a try.  

Larkin's-Closed

Larkin's
1496 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles
323-254-0934

Larkin's has long been on my list of places to try. But they are closed Monday and Tuesday, which happen to be two days I'm near Eagle Rock. But, luckily I was near Eagle Rock on Sunday and dropped in.

Larkin's is known for their upscale soul food offerings. It's a small restaurant, so expect a wait when they are busy, but gives such a nice homey feeling. Parking is a bit tough, mostly street parking on Colrado Blvd or in the neighborhood behind Larkin's.

I didn't realize until I called, that Larkin's closes fairly early, 8pm on Sunday's with last orders going in at 7:30pm. So I got my order to go.


I really wanted the fried chicken, $15, but when I placed my order I was told it's dark meat only. So I passed and got the BBQ baby back ribs, $19 with two sides-red beans and rice and garlic mashed potatoes.

I got four baby back ribs that had no smoke flavor at all. I'm pretty sure the ribs were boiled before, then cooked in an oven. They were then drowned in BBQ sauce that had way too much vinegar. The ribs were meaty, but come on, don't pass off these ribs as BBQ, when they are nothing but oven cooked ribs with BBQ sauce.

But, $19 for 4 bones?? Give me a break. This didn't come close to being worth the price.


I picked red beans and rice as one of my two sides. The beans were undercooked, they needed to be cooked for another 10-15 minutes, they were hard and just bland and flavorless. The rice was ordinary.


Garlic mashed potatoes were my second side. I didn't get much garlic flavor and they were a bit too big and chunky for my liking. They needed to be cut up a bit more, to be mashed potatoes.


Mac and cheese, $5. The mac and cheese was the most bland mac and cheese I've ever had. They needed to add salt, because the entire dish was void of salt. The cheese and macaroni were blended well and the macaroni was cooked perfectly. But, it was just too bland to enjoy.

Service was both good and bad.

I was greeted by a lady at the cash register and she wasn't that friendly or welcoming. She was just a matter of fact, going through the motions. I told her I had a to go order and she said "I didn't take your order, but the other person will be right with you." Hmm is it so hard to figure out where my order maybe? Why couldn't she get my order and allow me to pay?

Anyways, the woman who took my order came back from waiting on tables and she was friendly and helpful, just as she was on the phone.

One other thing, if you noticed, there is no sign in front of Larkin's.

I was very disappointed in Larkin's. The food was below average, the prices way too high, and the portions small for the price. I really wanted to like Larkin's but I'm not going back.