Leaf Organics

Wow – unbelievably poor service. Went to the counter to order, the woman at the register had a long conversation with her colleague while I was standing there (right in front of her) trying to get her attention. Then I ordered and she said: «to go, right?». When I said no, I wanted to stay, she told me they had switched to table service. She told me I could sit down and she would give my order to the server.
I sat down, and a minute later the server came out to offer me a menu. I explained I had already ordered and she said: «oh, to go?». I tried to explain, but she got very confused…
Finally I just ordered again. The emerald city hale kale salad. Large.

I’ve been here 5 times and my experiences have been worse on each new trip. But in light of the fact that I love to support vegan restaurants, I wanted to offer up some feedback that management would hopefully consider to improve the restaurant.
Pros:
* Large menu with both raw vegan and cooked vegan options
* Large drink menu includes smoothies, shakes and juice
* Vegan soft serve!
* Free wifi
Cons:
* Dining room is a mess — I was in around 2pm and there were literally 7 tables with dirty plates on them.
* Staff seems like this is their first job in the restaurant business — ambivalent people at the register, people coming back to drop off food at tables did not clear the dirty tables. I asked for the wifi pass and the answer I got was to look at the address — was I supposed to go outside to do this? I like to be in a restaurant where the staff likes to be there too.
* Food — it’s either hit or miss. I got the chili and it was watery and therefore gross. I’ve gotten the raw sampler in the past and I enjoyed it. Food came out immediately but had to wait 15 minutes for a smoothie.

I get the whole raw food movement. And I get being vegan; I respect the careful consciousness of what one eats, and the desire to do so in close accord with the environment But ethics is no excuse for lousy food.
If you don’t have the intestinal fortitude of a bovine, Leaf Organics is basically inedible. This doesn’t even speak to the lack of any flavor other than bitter, nor the difficulty in chewing, the unpleasant process of actually getting what they have the temerity to call «food» into your craw. I’m saying, once you manage to get it down, it will set your guts to churning like an up-​ended turtle on a bouncy-​castle.
I know I am not alone in this opinion, my coworkers have ordered from Leaf on several occasions, including some of them that *are* vegan and tend towards raw-​ists — and even they chuck their lunches only half «eaten». I mean, you can’t really call it eating, it’s more like… grazing.
And above all, I will never forgive Leaf for their «Philly cheesesteak» which was not steak, not cheese, and definitely not Philly. You try and serve this thing in Philly, and you will get mugged. This dish was an atrocity, and an offense against the gods and goddesses of cuisine. Not only should no one ever order it again, but seriously, we should picket this place for false advertising. By which I mean, they call what they serve «food.»

Very bad customer service. You can tell the staff is VERY stressed out and on edge. Not sure what’s going on here, but for a place that uses the words Delight and One Love on their menu, there was none of that going on in there that’s for sure. When I finally received my order, I was handed my food in a dirty to go container. No bag no utensils. If I would of had more time I would have asked for my money back. I did stop eating the food because it looked awful in the container.

Stopped in for lunch with my mom and sister with a
deal, and boy are we glad we did! The menu is super extensive and offers a great mix of raw, vegan, and gluten-​free dishes in a wide range of styles– burgers, pasta, bowls, wraps, salads and more. Not to mention some delicious looking desserts and smoothies. I’m a «meat eater» but I eat a heavily plant-​based diet and I’m lactose intolerant so vegan alternative are always appreciated!
I ordered the mushroom and avocado raw burger on mango «bread» which was more like a pressed sort of nutrition bar texture, but entirely delicious. The burger itself had a great texture and didn’t fall apart at all. It came with a delicious mixed green salad with sprouts, carrots, mung beans, and what I think was a soy ginger dressing (yum!) and kraut on the side. I was super impressed. This was A LOT of food and the price was the same as most regular restaurant burgers.
My sister got the veggie cheese burger (not raw or gluten free) which was served hot with the same sides. My mom got the vegan fusion mixed veggies and chose the sweet potato option (other options included a bowl, wrap, or quesadilla), which was served hot. I stole a couple bites and that was delicious as well.
We checked in through Unilocal and got a free chiakreme frozen yogurt type of thing and got the chocolate kind and chose a strawberry sauce topping. The taste was very similar to frozen yogurt that hasn’t been overly sweetened. I liked it a lot, but my mom and sister could take it or leave it.
Overall this experience was awesome and I would totally come back. I should mention everything was a little slow to come out since we were the only ones in there (not sure how that plays out when they’re busy) but… Great food, great prices AND it’s good for you too?! Done and done.

My sister and I are regulars at this place. We’ve managed to turn my mom onto it. The venue itself is very clean. As far as take out, they are very good, I’ve only had a mistake made once and they were very nice about it and I got a free cookie :) which made the drive back worth it. On the other hand, dining in requires a time commitment, I find that for the most part, service is really slow. (maybe it’s just me being American and being in a rush)
I love their wraps, kale salad, and the rockin’ rawsagna; however, the best thing that I’ve had here is the soft serve almond ice cream.
You can taste the difference, since everything is made fresh and they even make deli foods for other local health food markets. Even if you’re not into the raw movement, vegan, or vegetarian, I believe that foodies can come and appreciate the creativity that this vegan fusion restaurant provides with their menu.

I am a meat-​eater, through and through, BUT I am also a true foodie in that I will eat anything, just as long as it’s tasty (see my review of Veggie Grill and Samosa House West).
I’ve been to this place twice and while the food is fresh (think just-​mowed-​grass fresh) and I don’t feel like I’m clogging up my poor arteries, I just can’t abide by the prices.
The «large» (it’s not large by any stretch of the imagination; it’s basically a regular plastic cup – and not even the fun red plastic cups that you’re used to seeing at keggers) juice concoction I had was barely 4 swigs and it cost a whopping $ 6.99 for cucumbers, lemon, and some other green stuff. NUTSO! And it wasn’t served cold so I felt like I was drinking wet hay.
So nope; not again, Leaf Organics. I gave you a second chance and I am not sold.

Yeesh, I hate to do this, but my last three visits have been so upsetting that I had to retract my earlier 4-​star review.
I still really like their food, but the poor service here is completely inexcusable. In an almost-​empty restaurant (2 – 4 other tables occupied), we should not have been ignored for long periods and left waiting for our meals for nearly 40 minutes.
On one visit, I asked about the soft serve, and she told me to check back when we were done with our meals. She never came back so I had to go to the register where I showed her my Unilocal check-​in offer for free soft serve. She hesitated, then told me they were out of soft serve that day.
I just get a yucky feeling from the employees here, on top of simply lazy service. Shame, too, as this used to be a go-​to for our work lunches. It’s now relegated to takeout-​only.

I’m an incredibly tolerant vegetarian/​vegan. I can eat raw kale and drink veggie juices with no apple or pineapple to sweeten like no body’s business. In fact, I find myself overly accepting of vegan food because I dig that people care about their bodies and the planet. However, I was sorely disappointed with Leaf Organics.
Like other reviewers mentioned, I found the customer service to be lacking. I called for delivery but they didn’t have a driver, so no go. Ok, I can deal. I wanted a juice that they no longer offered… ok, little more annoying, but nothing unbearable. Wound up ordering a raw mushroom avocado burger in a collard wrap. Bf wanted the Hale Kale salad and a bowl of the veggie chili.
The restaurant was completely empty when I got there, and I got the vibe they were trying to close down. I tried to order a different smoothie when I was there, but the girl told me they didn’t have cups (!!!) and that she didn’t want to go back in storage to double check. Uhhh, what? I was so flabbergasted and annoyed at this point that I just told her to forget the smoothie.
I could have looked past all of this, but I kid you not, my burger was inedible and the kale salad was literally tasteless. I don’t want to be mean, but we paid $ 40 for a subpar kale salad (my bf took 4 bites and was over it) and an inedible burger. I have to say, the veggie chili was awesome, as was the beet-​based sauerkraut on my burger and I would maybe order the chili again. But the burger was atrocious. It tasted nothing like mushroom, the texture was chewy and it was unnecessarily slathered in fake mayo. Not wanting to waste food, I pulled the patty out, added my own avocado and rice and ate it. But still…
I feel like this restaurant is hit or miss. I’m sure there are some great items, but you’ve got to sample quite a few to find the gems. Considering their poor customer service and onslaught of amazing vegan restaurants in the area (Café Gratitude, RFD, Native Foods), I think they need to re strategize their menu and hire some friendly and helpful people up front. Bummer.

I am so glad I ordered the Vegan Victory burger! It was one of the best veggie burgers I’ve had in a while. It was so meaty and the patty was bigger than the bun! Definitely a must try. I also got a side order of the hale kale salad and a blueberry cheezecake. I placed my order online. I had originally wanted their chocolate raspberry cheezecake, but when I got to the café I was told that they were out. I was debating between it and the blueberry so it worked out. The guy helping me was very friendly and I could tell he was trying hard to put the slice of cheezecake into the box carefully, but what a mess when I opened the box! Also, the kale salad is tiny! For what I got, it is too expensive. Moral of the story is, skip the side dishes as it is not worth it and just get the entrees.

I’m a 90% raw vegan. I don’t have the luxury of many lunch options as far as restaurants go. So I come here every day practically to eat lunch or dinner on my way home. I’ll start from the first big issue I have with them recently.
#1: I’ve called twice to have my birthday catered next weekend… NO CALL BACK!
#2: I ordered the California rolls and Cashew cream cheeze for delivery on March 12^th at 10:30am. I told them it was important and it had to be here by right before and no later than 1:50pm. I had special lunch meeting with my team that I’d ordered pizza for (Hence the delivery for me). My food (that takes 5 mins to prepare and put in a box did) not arrive until after 2:30 while my meeting was in progress…
#3: Yesterday I called in to place my order. I was put on hold… I held and I held. I was on hold for the duration of the time it took me to get there. You can imagine how livid I was. I got there and no one was in sight. When the girl did come out I put my cell on the counter and asked was this acceptable? TEN MINUTES i’d been on hold! I swear her reaction was… «Oh» as she picked up the phone hung it up. Then asked me what i’d like to oder. NO APOLOGY!!! I asked to speak with the manager who was too busy to step out to talk to me. In fact she rushed passed me when she came out of her office and refused to speak with me…
This is such a bummer… I’m beyond disappointed! I do enjoy the food but it appears they need to revamp their management
I didn’t even mention the dine in service experience… or should I say lack there of? :(

My husband and I visited Leaf last month. They have a fairly large dining area, which is clean and modern. The customer service was prompt and courteous.
We both ordered the raw mushroom avocado burger. I had mine with the raw mango bread, which I was very impressed with. In my experience, dehydrated «breads» on raw burgers tend to fall apart before I am half way finished eating. This mango bread stayed intact the entire time! The burger was delicious enough, the texture of the patty seemed a little on the crunchy side when I first bit into it, but by my second bite, the whole thing seemed to work together just fine.
The beet-​based sauerkraut was DIVINE. I am generally not a sauerkraut fan, but this stuff was kind of amazing.
After our burgers, we decided to share the raspberry sundae, which was super yummy.
My tummy felt a little funny after we left, but this was probably just due to poor food combining, which I knew I was doing the moment I asked for mango bread.
The restroom was colder than Alaska, but nice, clean, and private.

The last time I came here I tried a new raw item called Pizza Pizzaz hoping it would be like a raw pizza. It was the saltiest and most disappointing thing I ever had at Leaf Organics — sun-​dried tomato, olives, avocado, marinated onions, fresh marinara sauce, raw mesan cheeze, cheeze sauce and pesto sauce. Where’s the raw crust? It’s just a bunch of raw stuff slopped on the plate.
When I mentioned to the waitress I thought the dish was incredibly salty and sour, she said the kitchen forgot to add the fresh avocado slices — she was quick enough to offer to bring out some avocado, even though I had nearly finished the dish.
The Pizza Pizzaz is really ill-​conceived — in the menu, some of the things are hits and misses. When I first reviewed Leaf Organics, I gave it 4 stars in spite of some missteps by the kitchen’s execution, but after my most recent experience, I’m dropping it down to 3 stars.
I know this review sounds harsh, but there’s quite a bit of raw vegan and cooked vegetarian restaurant competition out there. I like Leaf Organics because of the concept, reasonable to moderate pricing for raw vegan food and many of the staff seem genuinely nice, but if it’s going to survive on the Westside, Leaf Organics really needs to up its game re: overall management, and especially when it comes to the food from its kitchen.

If I had a million dollars, I’d invest some to make it last and use much of the rest to travel and eat – likely with the help of Leaf to keep it healthy now and then. Prices are a bit steep considering the portions and ambiance (you don’t leave full and you don’t come here for swanky service or comfortable, cozy seating), but the dish I got rocked my socks off considering what it was. As recommended by others, «One Love» was truly wonderful (4 stars). What a mix of otherwise seemingly tastelessly healthy ingredients coming to life!
What they don’t do well at are the smoothies. WAY overpriced and totally gross unless you’re accustomed to that stuff and never touch anything with fat or sugar or salt in it anymore. Pass!
Bottom line: Find a coupon (e.g.,
) and try out… the food that is.

Came here after an awesome Bikram class in Marina Del Rey and was starved! Ordered
a large Chick’in Ceasar Salad. For $ 12.99, you will certainly get your $ worth! Holy crap, I can make 2 meals out of this order. Ceasar dressing tastes sort of different than what I’m used to. It was salty, spicy, and not creamy, but I grew accustomed to it and really enjoyed every bite, especially the raw croutons! Nutty in flavor but not crunchy like normal croutons which held up really well in texture against wet ingredients. The tomatoes and lettuce are fresh fresh fresh, I almost ate the whole thing. Highly reccommended.
Ordered coconut water to drink, but it tasted altered. I grew up in Thailand, so I’ve been drinking this since I was a kid, and trust me, it’s tasted unnatural. But I still would love to come back to try other things.

This place is so cute. Located right on the cornor.
Parking is not an issue to get, streets are free and there is a small drive way that fits a few cars.
Inside is decorated nice and is very clean, cute outside patio as well. that i knew of someone did a small wedding there once!
Food is all vegan organic and is so tasty, I’m not a vegan but was vegetarian for a long time and the food has lots of flavor and is not bland and color less like most places.
They offer a wide variety of choices and even have dessert from ice cream to cake.
Sorry i was not more descriptive on the menu… im not to familiar with all the vegan choices but I can tell you the place is nice and the servers were friendly :)
Give it a try!

I went there with 3 friends. We were the last customers at night. It took us an eternity to be noticed then served by the waitress. Even desserts — made in advance — took time to get to our table.
I had a kale salad and I was lucky: big portion, nice taste.
A friend ordered a veggie burger: nice portion too, but nothing fancy.
Our 2 other friends tried more elaborated things. Nice taste — though surprising, sometimes in a bad way — but really tiny portions. Terrible to wait so long for so little. 3 hours later, all of us decided to have another meal, though it was night time, because we were starving.
Their cheesecakes are not good at all. Coconut basis: yuk. I had just a spoon and left it. We should have driven to the Cheesecake Factory to end our meal !
We usually are adventurous people, ready to be surprised. We lived abroad in different countries and are vegetarians. But kale is the worse restaurant I’ve ever been to in LA by far !

Very pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed my dining experience at Leaf Organics! After scouring Unilocal for recommendations before walking over with a Groupon, I set my expectations accordingly per the mixed reviews. 2 hours later, Leaf won me over and I’m sure I’ll be back soon!
Given the quips about the slow service, I meandered over with a book hoping to spend a little time reading with my meal. Admittedly my food took a little while to come to the table, but since I wasn’t in a hurry, it didn’t bother me. However, I can imagine it being an issue if I was simply here for a quick lunch. I opted for the One Love Wrap ($ 10.99) — Ethiopian collard greens, split pea, raw cashew cream cheeze, caraway sauerkraut, pico de gallo, sour kreme, greens and sprouts. It was absolutely delicious! Very fresh flavors with a nice tanginess on the palate.
Tip: you can also order this wrap and the Shanti wrap as quesadillas for $ 9.99. The quesadillas come with a small side salad, while the wraps do not.
For a drink, I decided to try the Druids Detox ($ 6.50) — burdock root, lemon, apple, ginger, agave, and cayenne. Another fantastic choice! I grew up with burdock root because my father made a phenomenal soup with it whenever my brother and I were sick (apparently he got the memo that it’s a detox root as well) so I really appreciated the light, but earthy flavors in this drink. And the cayenne gave it a wonderful kick!
Lastly, the vegan soft serve is as good as everyone says it is. GET IT. If you don’t want to pay $ 9.99 for a 12 oz, make sure to specify that you want the 4 oz scoop for $ 3.99. You can ask for a sample of chocolate and vanilla if it’s your first time. Personally, vanilla blew chocolate out of the water for me. As I devoured my soft serve, I realized my affinity was due to the fact that it tasted like a perfectly chilled vanilla latte (for you coffee lovers, it had that robust earthy note you find in genuinely good coffee).
One final note in response to the general carping about price: comparatively, it is not THAT expensive. I spend just as much, if not more, for a meal at Urth Caffe, Santouka Ramen, Father’s Office, etc. Around $ 15/​meal is pretty standard nowadays in my opinion for many establishments. My money is well spent at Leaf Organics!

Well the Wood was closed on Monday, so I was forced to check out this place (which I wondered about for awhile now).
I liked what I had … Spinach garlic soup which took some getting used to …
The south of the border salad was Muy Bueno !
I did think it was a little pricey for what it was. .. i guess raw=expensive
Service. .. not bad
id say MOR

Ok, so Leaf isn’t entirely raw anymore. Big deal, neither am I. As long as the occasional cooked entrée is vegan, yummy, and doesn’t make me sick, then it gets the Harmonious Seal of Approval!
Lately I’ve been diggin on their Philly Cheesesteak Lavash, One Love Wrap, Shanti Wrap, and their Veggie Chili Quesadillas. The friendliness of their staff has improved a bit too… much happier, chattier, helpful people working there now.
The Kreme of Mushroom Soup is kinda boring but their Creamy Spinach & Garlic Soup is yummy. I’m still a fan of the Creamy Corn Chowder.
Desserts aren’t the greatest compared to other raw restaurants around LA but they are edible. The Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake or the Chocolate Mousse is my go-to’s if I need to satisfy my sweet tooth.
If you’re picky about what is raw and what is cooked, the menu clearly distincts what category each item falls under so you can confidently eat raw if you wanted to.

I’ve been wanting to try this place for a while. I must have read the menu 5 times before realizing it was a raw eatery. Everything was vegan. Very healthy. To play it safe I ordered the side ‘Hale Kale Salad w/​avocado, sprouted wild rice and mung beans’ so as not to overdue it on my tummy. The amount was just enough and filling.
I told my girlfriend that I’ve done this once and my tummy was upset with me for two days so taking it slow would be my choice. I also ordered the ‘Got Greens — celery, spinach, kale, and cucumber’ drink. It was tasty but I need it colder so I brought it back to the office and put in the fridge for a bit.
I do agree that the menu was a bit pricey. My side salad was $ 7.50 and my drink was $ 7.99! I heard lots of grinding back there and thought some cooked potatoes would compliment my salad. After a while my appetite was wishing for a side of kidney beans. I need my protein!
The place could use some polishing up. Such nice presentation in a dive-​kinda-​looking place. The exterior is cute but the inside might as well been the inside of Tito’s Tacos. Sorry, but it’s the truth.
I said I was going to try vegan for a week and see how that goes. I might be pushing my system and my sugar levels to operate on another level where I’ve never been. I may end roasting some road kill on the side of the road if I don’t keep nuts and a vegan protein bar close by. I need my protein!
I don’t get enough greens as I should so I would once a week here would be good. My son would probably not like it, he’s a meat eater, I’d probably have to stop off at the taco truck so he could get some carne asada afterwards.