On June 1st, Santa La Brea closed its doors permanently. There are so many memories that were forged in this place, and Dean and Arthur always treated my friends and my family with real generosity. It was quite a surprise when Arthur told me that they were closing down. I was fortunate to wander in the last weekend they were open without any idea they were about to close. I will miss the Santa Ranchero, Turkey Chili Omelet, the baked Samosas, the Blue Corn and Oatmeal Pancakes. Most of all, I will miss seeing the familiar faces and the generous service that was always provided to me and those in my company. It was my favorite place to go and detox after a weekend of debauchery. Thanks for all the memories and best of luck to you in your future endeavors.

A colleague, who happens to be a vegetarian, suggested this place as an option that was geographically equidistant to each of us. Sounded like a fair compromise, and I was excited to see that there was meat on the menu (quite considerate of him), so I agreed and we met up on a Friday night for dinner. Surprisingly slow for a weekend evening - I suppose it's more of a lunch place for local businesses. A smaller venue, decorated in a cute quaint way, with slight Mediterranean touches and a vaguely hippie feel reminiscent of little Berkeley venues. Our waitress, who was pulling double duty as a bartender, was pleasant enough and attentive... and we ordered a few dishes, a beer for me, and off she went. Everyone seemed to like what they'd ordered. I got the nachos, since appetizers were $2 off and it was only a $6 plate. Winner... The beer was also $2 off of $2, so realistically I got a bargain basement dinner, for the cost of fast food I got real food. Happy about that. Everyone liked it, there were lots of vegetarian and even vegan options, yet it wasn't over-the-top about it... so I was happy with that too. Cute little place, food was good if not amazing... parking wasn't fun but at least it was easy tonight, I got lucky though. I'd go back, but I wouldn't rush back.

Food is excellent. Prices are even better. It is not very busy which I liked. The atmosphere is very calming and not pretentious like most LA Hot Spots. It's a Diamond in the Rough. It has character and food to back it up. Spinach quesadillas yumm. Sante Green Aid is Chlorophyll, lime juice and alkaline water sweetened with agave nectar which is phenomenal!!! You know how you leave certain restaurants and just feel weighed down. At Sante, this is not the case. My tummy was satisfied and I look forward to going again.

HA! With this review I have 77 reviews AND 77 friends - I am just a bit OCD and I have a thing about symmetry. You can call me Monk.... So this joint is down the street from my crib and I swear I haven't been in years. In the past they've always had a B rating and y'all know I don't go nowhere that has a B rating. A while ago they hung a giant poster indicating that they were on Kitchen Nightmares and that Chef Gordon Ramsey completely reworked the restaurant and the menu. I've been meaning to get over there since they hung the sign to see the changes first hand. I was pleasantly surprised - looks like the place has been remodeled and they even have a super cute outside patio area. They also seem to have added a few new items to menu. Most importantly, they had an A rating from the LA County Health Department. I ordered breakfast - the Trainer's Special Breakfast made VEGAN. So instead of eggs, they gave me scrambled tofu, instead of sausage they gave me tempeh bacon and they made me some lovely yellow cornmeal VEGAN pancakes with blueberries. All was delicious! They still have a few operational kinks to work out. For example, there was one person both waiting tables and handling take out orders - not a good idea. In addition, in my to go bag they put a fork only (no knife to cut my pancakes) - and my pancakes were a little darker than I normally like them. Not too much to complain about, but at the mid-level price range - they need to step up their service a bit. In all, I will be back.

I dragged a group of known-carnivores, nearly kicking and screaming, to Santé La Brea on a late Sunday afternoon to detox from a daylong meat-centric barbecue -- it's not my fault that the last time I saw veggies on my plate was on a chicken sandwich from the day before! So I was definitely looking forward to finally ingesting some greenery. The menu has a great selection of casual dining like burgers, sandwiches and wraps, specialty spirit and non-spirit drinks to the more upscale menu items risotto, and rustic pizzas made from whole wheat crust. Staff recommendations included the chicken curry served with quinoa brown rice (available as an entree or a wrap with real chicken or "un-chicken" made of soy), the rosemary (available as a risotto or wrap), and several other dishes. I'm a fan of the un-chicken curry entree, plus I had the chance to sample of bit of everyone else's food: BBQ chicken pizza, roasted beet salad with a citrus vinaigrette, vegetable chili with soy beef, and pizzadillas. There was a little too much BBQ sauce on the pizza, but I enjoyed everything else. The other reviewers were pretty spot on -- the portions are fairly generous, and the ambiance of the outdoor seating was great. I'd give it another go the next time I'm in LA, and maybe do brunch to check out the omelettes and vegan desserts.

On principle, I have a problem with giving a restaurant four stars if that fourth star is earned solely by the ambiance, but I'm willing to make an exception for Santé La Brea. This past weekend my boyfriend and I tried this place out before heading on to the Griffith Observatory (see upcoming review). It's main selling points were its heavily vegan menu that still offered options for my omnivorous sweetie (who, incidentally, ordered vegan anyway. I guess you just can't predict these things). The look of this place is fantastic. It's something of a mix between an earthy zen spa and a Mediterranean cafe. The spa atmosphere is accentuated by the meditation music playing in the background, the trickling water sounds emanating from the fountains, candles flickering around the tables, and the tasty cucumber water they serve. A great date location if you're looking for a quieter evening out, as we were nearly the only people there at 7pm on a Friday night. Edamame to start (one vote for overcooked, another for "just fine"). I ordered the Baja in tostada form with grilled faux-chicken strips. The chicken strips were probably the most outstanding part of this tostada as they were nicely grilled and with a lovely charbroiled taste. Aside from the ones I make at home, this was the best vegan tostada I've ever had. Nothing missing from this flavorful dish! Who would have thought tahini sauce and quinoa would taste so good in a tostada? My boyfriend had the macro which he enjoyed but he wasn't exactly licking the plate clean. I was disappointed that they only offered two choices for beer, one being some lame domestic and Corona. At a place like this, I would expect something a little tastier and classier (don't get me wrong, though, given the right time and place, a Corona makes my heart sing). Also, I hate to be *this* kind of reviewer, but the prices here are really the deal-breaker. I enjoyed my meal but I'm not sure how likely I am to return for an $11 (albeit delicious) tostada.

Any restaurant in which I can eat as much as I did and not feel like puking is pretty damn cool in my book. A mostly vegan restaurant with meat options, Sante La Brea is great to take your meat-eating friends to; there's something for everyone. There is interesting artwork on the walls, and the upstairs loft is full of very intriguing things that I think might be there solely for conversation-starters. More art, a bizarre pink light, and, hey-- is that a karaoke machine? Sante La Brea doesn't deep fry-- the samosas are a hearty potato-and-veg filling wrapped inside whole grain tortillas, and the felafel is-- what? Baked? I'm not sure, but it works. They make a point of not adding fat to their dishes, but somehow everything is very rich and definitely filling. I had the macro plate. My 5 (very carnivorous) friends all ordered different dishes-- ma po tofu, a felafel plate, the South of the Border plate, and some other dishes I don't remember. We got blue corn nachos and samosas. Everything looked yummy, and everyone really liked their food. At least I assume so, due to the amount of face-stuffing that was going on. After dinner, our waiter surprised us with a free plateful of Mystery Cookies. I'm not sure why we got to have them, but who am I to pass up a free cookie? But then I figured out why they were free-- I believe the mystery flavours were sponge with essence of banana. Maybe a hint of rubber cement. My friend actually tried to mop up a spill with a piece of her cookie. It worked. Scary. But hell, they were free cookies, so I really can't complain. In any case, spongy cookies aside, Sante La Brea is a great place to fill up-- and I do mean fill up, as I'm still full from last night-- on extremely healthy food for a fairly decent price (with a good tip, we all rolled ourselves out of there for $20/pp). I will definitely be back. **Note: Doggies happily allowed outside. Sweetie-approved.**

Tasty, healthful stuff that doesn't cost a lot, or take too much time. Before catching a flick at the New Beverly Cinema, my pal and I finally got a chance to check Sante La Brea out. A nice option in an area that has much to choose from. We had a perfectly fine server, not the one guy/owner thing mentioned. She was all by herself on the floor, but managed to cover the tables inside and on the patio without breaking a sweat. Went with the Mediterranean Platter, which totally satisified. Fun al fresco, low key, good.