Spiritland Bistro

im very honest with these reviews– look at my other ones. i’m not going to make excuses for places but im also not going to forget to appreciate the little things… and this was one of the best vegan meals i have ever had… EVER had… they are not even entirely vegan which is the shocker– as most non vegan places believe a plate full of vegetables is what us vegans eat. this place was truly imaginative, and provided me with a perfect four course meal. yes, i, Shirley, said perfect… a rare thing indeed.
i really wanted to have this place cater my wedding, the second i realized every bite i had was magical, i was truly obsessed with the idea of them catering my wedding– and now that i’m planning it… they’re gone. so sad.
wish places like this stayed open… this and pure luck in silverlake… COME BACK PLEASE!

I called to make reservations for new years eve– this place is closed until further notice FYI. Not sure when they are planning to re-​open.

I try to support any place that is vegetarian or vegan friendly but unfortunately Spiritland did not meet expectations for us and we won’t be going back.
Our server was gorgeous and had a great personality and did her best to make us feel comfortable. The place is tiny and packed and fortunately we heeded the reviews here and made reservations.
What we really care about is the food. The food took forevvvvver. The bread seemed like very commercial bland store bought bread. I think we waited at least 45 minutes before getting our appetizers. I had potstickers and thought they were lousy. If they are home-​made they didnt taste very good or have a very good texture. The dumplings at PF Changs taste fresher.
Our salads and entrees were also very disappointing. We had heard good things about the food here but unfortunately we didnt have one dish that we really thought was very good. We wanted to like Spiritland and wish them well but the food didnt measure up for us, especially for the prices they charged.

We are suckers for organic food and we were really happy to find this place on our vacation. The food is a little pricey but it is well worth it. The service staff is a little slow but extremely curteous. The food and presentation are excellent.
I wish we had such a place in San Diego, great food, good service well worth the price.

We took 4 friends here for a special dinner and had a horrible meal. The only good thing were the salads and the sauces. Three of us ordered fish and it came out overcooked and dry — and at over $ 25 an entrée (for the fish) that was unacceptable. We sent them back and had new entrees sent out. Again the fish was overcooked — not quite as badly, but still not what you’d expect at a restaurant charging that much for it. The other vegetarian entrees were adequate, but nothing special. The server was great, yet even though one person was celebrating a 90^th birthday and we’d had such trouble with the entrees, there wasn’t even a thought to offer a dessert without charge as an apology.
We actually researched the contact info for the owner and wrote her a couple emails — courteous but frank. Her response? No apology, defensive, no offer of remedy — totally unacceptable and unsatisfying.
This restaurant is SO off our grid now.

I’ve been wanting to try this place for awhile, what time better than when I’m helping my sis move.
I love how though they are a restaurant with vegan and vegetarian options they don’t try to shove it down your throat by only offering those options. They also have meat options for you carnivores out there! But given that I was at a vegan restaurant, I was down to try the vegan and the carnivorous options.
Bread. With Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar Dip. The bread was nommy. I liked how they had two different choices of bread, one white and one with poppy seeds and sesame seeds. The bread was fluffy, light and nommy. I liked how green the olive oil was too, what I learned in Italy, green EVOO is legit and bomb!
Raw Spinach Mushroom Lasagna. Chilled Zucchini Noodles with Marinated Mushrooms, Red Bell Peppers, Spinach, Raw Nut Ricotta, served with Raw Marinara, topped with Fresh Sprouts. This was soooo nommy!!! THE best vegan dish I’ve ever had! The veggies were really fresh and it was delish! This is coming from a major carnivore too. It was so good! I loved the taste of all the ingredients and the textures of everything definitely made it a lasagna.
Herb-​Crusted Rack of Lamb. With Grenache-​Pomegranate Sauce, Wild Mushroom Mélange and Potato-​Spinach Croquette. This was well grilled and pretty damn good. And if ya know me, ya know I can make decent lamb chops. If it’s good enough to impress me, it’s pretty damn good! The flavors of the herbs on the lamb were delicious and it was grilled to medium-​well perfection. I do normally prefer my lamb chops more on the rare or medium-​rare side but they tasted so nommy I forgive the chef.
Tuscan Fusilli Brown Rice Pasta. With Zucchini, Squash, Leeks, Mushrooms, Cherry Tomatoes, Chicken, Parmesan Cheese served with Marinara Sauce. This was bomb! I don’t usually eat rice, but I think this brown rice fusili might just be changing how I feel about rice. This was oh so very nommy! The marinara was delicious and all the other ingredients were fresh and yummy. You can order it with tofu instead of chicken and vegan mozzarella instead of parmesan to make it vegan.
French Lentil Walnut and Wild Mushroom Pâté. Sautéed Mushrooms in Herbs and White Wine, puréed with Lentils and Walnuts, topped with Sprouts, drizzled with Balsamic Reduction, and served with Rice Crackers. This was so good! We actually got this on the house because all of our entrees came except for my sister’s fusili pasta so our server let us choose any appetizer on the house and we got this one. This was a lot better than what I was expecting, it was really flavorful and delicious. You could definitely taste the flavor of the herbs and wine in the pâté. I’ve never had such a yummy vegan dip before!
The service was surprisingly formal for a more casual establishment as this, but I enjoyed their service a lot. Our server was really nice and made sure we were taken care of. It was extremely nice of him to offer us the appetizer on the house because shortly after we put in the order for the appetizer the fusili came out.
Note: We came on a Sunday night and it might be a good idea to make reservations because we saw people get turned away. We only made them because we were making a long drive from the Bay and I’m so glad we did.
This was THE best vegan restaurant I’ve eaten at to date and I’d gladly come back next time I’m in town. Can’t wait to try more of their menu!

I found this place on
and decided to try it out for our visit to Santa Barbara. I have to say it was AMAZING!!! It is expensive but great vegan food. We made reservations and were able to sit down as soon as we arrived.
We ordered:
the soup of the day which was a creamy vegan asparagus
French lentil walnut and wild mushroom pâté
Grilled avocado and tomato salad
Greek Moussaka
Thai coconut curry
Vegan chocolate cake
Fishtail IPA
Half bottle of a Pinot Noir
The whole check came out to $ 110 plus $ 20 tip
I thought it was absolutely worth it. We have never had vegan food this fancy and great. I would highly recommend the pâté. It was super amazing. Moussaka was heavy but delicious. I know this may seem like a lot of food but we ate it all and didn’t leave feeling heavy and gross. It was a nice light meal eaten over 2 hours.
The place is tiny so reservations is a MUST! The atmosphere was nice and relaxing. I really had a great time at this place. So if you’re having a special occasion I would suggest spending the money and eating at this fabulous bistro!

WOAH. Best tempeh, ever! My friend and I came here for lunch a few days ago, because we heard their bento boxes are actually college-​budget friendly (just under $ 10). I am an avid vegan/​vegetarian foodie and have had my fair share of tempeh, but the succulent stir-​fried fermented soybean-​wheat patties I got here were the best I have EVER had. Tempeh + Juicy? Whaaattt??? Their marinated tofu and tahini sauce were super delicious as well.
The portions are moderately sized (maybe half a burrito), but they are satisfying.
My only fear for this restaurant is that when we came in at around 1:00 (their lunch hours end at 2:00), we were the only ones there and it seemed like nobody had come in all morning. This place is GOOD. Natural Café and Sojourner’s do not compare! It may be a little pricey, but I say it’s worth it. (Check them out for lunch sometime!)

We have heard about this place from a lot of friends, so decided to check it out for lunch. Oops. Lunch is not the same as dinner here. It’s almost like it’s a different restaurant. No table service (you order and pay at the bar), hardly any menus to go around? Limited selections and I have to say not amazing at all — I’ve read the other reviews and THATS the restaurant I thought we were going to. We will give this place a chance for dinner as that seems to be what people are raving about. Lunch next time: Natural Café.

WOW. I cannot say enough good things about this restaurant. I came across this place on Unilocal,searching for vegan places in Santa Monica. Needless to say, being vegan, and allergic to dairy, eggs, sesame, nuts, and bananas, it’s hard to find nicer restaurants to eat at. Luckily, this was no problem here. We came for an early dinner around 5:30. My dad and I got the greek moussaka and my mom got a tofu stir fry. All of our food was simply wonderful. The greek moussaka was honestly one of the best dishes that I have ever eaten. The presentation was fantastic and the flavors blended so incredibly. However, the dish was extremely rich… I definitely could not eat it every day. To top off dinner, I ordered the vegan chocolate espresso cake. The dessert was to die for and everything was perfectly proportioned too. Vegan cake is often too dense/​dry, but this was perfect.
As if the food wasn’t amazing enough, our waitress, Julianna, was the best waitress I’ve ever had at any restaurant. She was extremely knowledgeable about the food and ingredients, and just great at conversation. She even provided suggestions about restaurants to eat at in San Francisco. Fantastic service!
I would seriously semi-​consider moving to Santa Barbara just for this restaurant. I HIGHLY recommend this place for people with dietary restrictions or for anyone who appreciates food period. I don’t see how anyone could have anything bad to say about this restaurant.

My husband and I stopped here on our way up to visit family in San Luis Obispo. Neither of us are vegetarian, but we are very particular as to the food and mean we will eat. It is important to us that the meat be sustainable and hormone and antibiotic free, so as a result we do eat a fair amount of vegetarian meals. This place was fantastic! The options were great. The menu would satisfy anyone from a raw foodist to a carnivore.
We had the lentil soup, blood orange and fennel salad, and the polenta w/​bllue cheese for statrters… all were wonderful.
My husband’s snapper was delicious and my Raw Lasagna was very tasy!
Service was great and wine list was also very good! I would highly recommend this off the beaten path gem of a place!

Dinner and a concert. A wonderful combination. Unless you eat and drink like it’s Thanksgiving and then fall asleep during the overture and miss the whole dang thing. It happens. And I didn’t want it to happen to me during the Peter Gabriel concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl so I wanted to eat healthy. Eat healthy AND avoid my food sensitivities. Eating healthy usually mean eating at home or some leafy dreck from Whole Foods but the Spiritland Bistro is a REAL RESTAURANT and we loved it.
The menu was a more limited selection because it was Graduation Weekend, but it was still plenty of selection.
VIBE: We sat «outside.» It was a tiny two top on the sidewalk. But it’s not a busy street so it was perfectly adorable. Inside there is only about 12 tables. It’s extremely cozy and homey feeling.
SERVICE: We strolled up about an hour before they opened. They did their best to get us in on a very busy night and just told us that they could do it if we came right at 5:30 and left before 7:15. We appreciated their effort and showed up right on time. Our server Nitzi was a fairy princess, a magical creature that really went over everything with us. Even told us about this bio-​dynamic Pinot that turned out to be fantastic. She was a delightful and effective server, noticing that my salad lacked it’s grilled asparagus and assuring me that it would be out shortly. (I didn’t notice the lack of asparagus but was happy she did.)
FOOD: «It’s pronounced say-​TAN.» Nitzi told us. Thank god somebody finally cleared that up for us, AND it was delicious. Being new to alternative proteins, but actively trying them all, this is the best seitan I’ve had. Tasted nutty and meaty, textured like chicken nuggets, it hit home with me. I had this added to my Spiritland Salad which was gorgeous. «The kitchen was empty this morning and they did all the shopping at the local farmer’s market today.» She wasn’t kidding. Perfectly ripe cherokee purples, cucumber, luscious greens with a tasty tahini dressing. That salad was a meal.
Earl had the snapper that was perfectly cooked on quinoa with roasted veggies.
POLENTA CAKES! with gorgonzola (it would be good even without the cheese) and a balsamic reduction. Totally decadent tasting.
And we got the dal, which I ended up taking to go because it was so much good food, we couldn’t finish it.
The menu meticulously indicates which foods are DF (Dairy Free), GF (Gluten Free), SF (Soy Free) etc, vegetarian or vegan and they even had a raw phad thai special. So awesome. Some days, I just want to treat my body right AND have a real sit down dinner with the dude, you know?
Two glasses of the aforementioned bio-​dynamic Pinot and our check came to $ 82 before tip.
Spiritland Bistro was romantic, magical, and put together with love and walking distance to the Bowl. Perfect.

Thai-​owned Spiritland Bistro is a great restaurant for healthy eaters. This place reminds me of Mary’s Secret Garden in Ventura or Shojin in LA (they are vegan restaurants though). It’s little but cozy — a relaxing restaurant. Fresh cute flowers delight you at a each table.
We came here for lunch and had the Soba Good Bento ($ 8.95) and the California Dreamin’ ($ 10.95). Since it was said «Bento Lunchbox», I thought it came in Japanese Bento Box. However, it was not Japanese at all coming on a big white plate. Actually, I prefer this style — like a French, which is more beautiful than a cheap Bento Box. What I was amazed by was seasonal veggies which was garnished for the sea bass. They were sooo fresh and seasoned perfectly. Ginger cream sauce was also great although it needed a little more salt.
Here are some negative points.
The fish was over cooked and dry. The sauce for Soba tasted weird and didn’t match buckwheat. The most weird thing was that we had to finish payment and give them tips before we receive food and any service. This place shouldn’t be a cheap self-​service place.
Overall — 3.7 stars.

If given the chance, I’d eat here every day. And, I almost did when I was recently in Santa Barbara.
I have to be on a strict gluten-​free diet, and a friend who was with me is vegan. So, Spiritland Bistro was the best bet for both of us. I had dinner here twice and lunch once. Each experience was lovely: the food was fresh, delicious, and abundant, and the service was top-​notch.
Between me, my husband, and our vegan friend, we tried almost everything on the menu. It was all good — none of us had any complaints. Spiritland also offers some great dessert choices for those with dietary restrictions — so be sure to save room!

Tucked into a quiet residential neighborhood, I didn’t even see this place until my friend pointed out that it was on the corner. The restaurant itself is nearly as invisible as it’s name!
We came here for lunch on Sunday, which is a correction to the current Unilocal posting. It was bright and airy. Besides the actor/​actress couple, we were the only patrons there. There was a calm, serene, peaceful vibe I picked up on here. With Indian or world music on in the background. If I lived in the neighborhood, this would be a great place to dine after a yoga class.
My friend surprised me with this pick of a restaurant. He was more surprised to see a couple from inside the restaurant, emerge to their limousine awaiting them. The actor looked familiar, which movie, I couldn’t tell you.
I had the curry bento lunch which came with mashed yams, tempeh, vegetables and a Thai curry sauce. I asked about the spicy factor on the curry sauce. They could make it mild, medium or hot. I asked for medium and it was true to request.
The portions were just right, not too little or too much. We didn’t have leftovers, which was fine, since this was a day trip.
The vegetables tasted fresh, like vegetables are suppose to taste, not overcooked. I dunked the vegetables and tempeh into the curry sauce. The sauce, by the way, was on the watery side. I would have preferred it thicker, to allow it to adhere to the tasty vegetables and crunchy seasoned tempeh. I liked that the tempeh was just to my liking, not too salty.
A vegetable delivery truck rolled up which my friend noticed said delivery is 365 days a year. So guaranteed fresh and tasty vegetables.
The mashed yams were saved for last. Sweet, filling and fluffy. The service was just as sweet as the yams. My water glass was kept refilled and the waitress made us feel right at home, even though we were far away from home.
My friend bravely ordered the macrobiotic bento lunch. It came with a tahini sauce, which he thought it was edible. I thought not! I was glad I ordered the curry sauce and quickly offered him my sauce, which he preferred. He didn’t say much about the tofu, though secretly I was ecstatic. This was the first time I saw him eat tofu!
When we departed he got an oatmeal cookie. It was a jawbreaker, very hard and crunchy. I prefer my cookies chewy. Guess I’ll be making some oatmeal cookies soon in appreciation of him finding this secret healthy hideaway, perfect for those with food allergies.

This is the best restaurant in town for diners with any multitude of dietary restrictions. But that does not mean the menu is drab and limited. And that does not mean you must have a multitude of dietary restrictions in order to eat here happily.
The menu identifies which items are vegetarian, vegan, egg free, gluten free, soy free, dairy free, or raw. I have enough ovo-​lacto, celiac, raw-​cleansing pescadarian friends that having a restaurant like this in town is a blessing. Also, the interior is clean and lovely.
I did not feel any air of über-​healthy pretension that exists in hippie enclaves in other cities, i.e. no menu items called «I Am Manifesting Abundance» when it’s really a caesar salad.
That said, I am here to talk about the seasonal lunch special they recently rolled out. It sure did manifest my abundance, and it *wasn’t* a caesar salad!
The lunches are bento boxes, each containing a healthy starch (like buckwheat soba, roasted yams, brown and wild rice, or quinoa), protein (tofu, tempeh, seitan, chicken or salmon), and sauce. Plus seasonal vegetables.
They are designed to be compact, and are prepared in a jiffy. You can start ordering ahead by phone at 11 am, for pickup.
The set boxes are $ 9 each. You can swap around the protein, with a $ 1 supplement for chicken and a $ 2 supplement for the wild salmon, but the supplement only applies where they weren’t originally offered in the bento. You get the salmon for the standard $ 9 in one of the set boxes.
I had the curry bento, which was tempeh, coconut curry sauce and roasted yams. The seasonal vegetables included crisp-​tender «dragon beans» from the local farmers market, which I’d had before from the market and loved them.
Others at the table got assorted rice, tofu, yams, and salmon.
One person also ordered a side bowl of butternut squash chili ($ 3 for 8 oz) and everyone got to try it. Delicious!
I had a cup of raw vegetable juice, ($ 2 for 4 oz) containing juiced carrots, tomatoes, apples, leafy greens (kale, chard, or beet greens, depending on the season), beets, lemon juice, ginger, garlic, a touch of cayenne pepper, & olive oil. Wow, a little garlic and ginger goes a long way, and the olive oil was new to me for being in a juice. It’s certainly not a mainstream corporate chain smoothie, but it felt good to drink it. Also, that’s an outstanding price.
Regardless whether you eat in, or order takeaway, the bentos come in biodegradable boxes, and compostable birch eating utensils. It may seem a little awkward to be eating out of these lunch boxes while sitting at their dining tables, but I imagine the focus is more on providing a very healthy meal to someone on the go, and we all need this!
So, honestly, the birch utensils don’t provide all the sturdiness necessary to stab the vegetables or slice up the tempeh, but I didn’t have much issue with this, for two reasons.
1. I like eating with my fingers. :)
2. I keep my own reusable plates, forks and knives at work, so if I’d taken my lunch to go, I would have declined the disposable utensils altogether. Remember: reuse is better than recycle!
Final notes: the vibrant colors of the food! None of these pale yellow starches of mass produced buns and fries. And… AND!.. no food coma.

I LOVE that the first thing out of their mouth is making sure you don’t have any food allergies, dietary concerns or even dislikes. I always feel like a pain being a vegasaurus and they make you feel really comfortable. The place has raw options and is all veggie.
This place is really small and you must make reservations if you want a booth seat (instead of a dinky 2 person table). The place is super pretentious, but it’s okay because they’re really nice and the food was unique and good.
I don’t even remember what we had because it was pretty dark (you can see in my pic) and I had a pretty good beverage that impaired my Unilocaling abilities to recall all the details, so bear with me.
This place is well worth the money and wait. The waitress was chatty and friendly, she was attentive and gave us good service even though it was packed on V-​day. I think I had the tofu steak with roasted vegetables and my boyfriend got the eggplant. We both enjoyed ourselves but it wasn’t the best meal ever either.
I would give this place a 4 star and a meh star for being too fancy for a 10 foot wide restaurant. But visit anyway!

On my first visit I had a bowl of squash soup and their Italian Grilled Avocado & Tomato salad. The soup had a nice, smooth mouthfeel and the salad was well dressed — flavorful, but not too much dressing.
The servers were nice and attentive, but in my opinion, unnecessarily formal. I understand that they take pride in what they serve, but given the menu here, the formality seems inappropriate.
I’ll also note that they were out of both of the items I originally ordered — and not because it was a busy night. It was the middle of the week and empty, save me and a couple at one of the booths, so having to settle for second choices on two dishes was a bit disappointing.
For me, the jury is still out on Spiritland Bistro, but since I can see it from my front door, I’m sure I’ll spend some more time working through the menu.

Love the concept — local, organic etc etc. But the execution wasn’t all there. The service was mediocre and the food was only decent, which for the prices equals a fail.
The first time we went it was awesome, but hey, that’s the honeymoon, The second time we went, it was still pretty good, lets say 2 year anniversary. The third time we went, we understood it for what it was. Let’s go our separate ways Spiritland Bistro.
Not that this affected my rating of this place, but «Spiritland Bistro» pay some professional marketing people and not some marketing students to come up with your name.

This is my favorite restaurant.
It holds a supremely special place in my heart.
«This is an environmentally sustainable alternative restaurant choice, offering vegan and vegetarian, as well as Audubon-​recommended seafood, organic free range chicken, and raw-​live food specialties.»