gracias madre west hollywood

what wouldveganmexican cuisine taste? no meat is easy to imagine as you can end up with cheese enchiladas or mushroom tacos, but how do you make an entire menu without cheese?veganversus vegetarian can be so different. with itsveganmenu, crafted by chef chandra gilbert, gracias madre succeeded to offer a delicious meal and when a carnivore like me is excited by the experience, it probably tells you something.

good mexicanveganfood and you won't miss the meat. its a very beautiful place usually full with celebrities. the trend of healthy and delicious. i really enjoy this place either lunch or dinner and it has full bar.

our server made it a great experience because he explained all the dishes and got us to share plates.  the hostess was horrible, they were empty and took forever to find us a table and wanted to stick us back in a corner.  notveganbut love doing aveganday.  everything was interesting and some dishes were better than others.  fave was the corn and some of the tacos.  fun interesting  lunch.

we visited gracias madre to celebrate my sister's birthday. walked in at around 9 pm. the place was totally packed, which is why they initially seated us at the bar. in about 15-20 mins, we had a nice table for 4, somewhere in the middle.
the place has a very different vibe going on. modern yet a little classic rustic, indoor but outdoor - that kind of feel. the few tall plants scattered about the huge place gave it that connection to nature. loved it!
gracias madre is avegan+ veggie only restaurant. they serve organic food and specialise in mexican cuisine. it felt like a perfect pick for a bunch of vegetarians. we had already decided our order at the bar, so in no time we had ordered:

gorditas - potato mash cakes
guacamole con tortillas
coliflor frito
tamal - squash sauteed
sopes con mango - potato masa cakes with mango salsa

boozy popsicle

gorditas were essentially 2 big potato mash patties topped with a cream sauce, lettuce, corriander and all that other good stuff. they were absolutely delicious - a crunchy outer covering with a soft, buttery potato mash inside. a very enjoyable dish.
guac and tortillas is a no brainer when choosing mexican food. as always, loved it.
coliflor frito was an all cauliflower dish with pieces sauteed in a yummy sauce. it's hard to find cauliflower that tastes so good.
for mains we called for dishes that were slightly offbeat as per us - squash and mango based. tamal, which was a sauteed squash dish came wrapped up in plant leaves (indians will be able to relate it to panki) with black bean sauce and veggies at the side. i was very unsure about this dish, but to my surprise i rather enjoyed it. i didn't love it, but it wasn't bad at all. others really liked it.
sopes con mango - i was completely against ordering this, cuz mango in food? a no no for me. but this dish was the hero of the night. it was so delicious and it looked super tempting on the plate too. this place had us taste mexican food like never before and we loved it.

the only cocktail drink we ordered was boozy popsicle and i ordered it more for the name than anything else. it was a fantastic looking drink, so playful. a fruit (mostly pineapple) based popsicle lolly drowned in a glass of liquor. can't remember if it was tequila or vodka, but i do remember that the drink was super strong, almost too strong for my liking. however when the popsicle was dipped in the drink and bitten into, it gave us the best of both worlds. we finished the lolly, but a lot of the drink remained unfinished. i was just very happy we had this!

food - 4/5
drinks - 3.5/5
service - 4.5/5
ambiance - 4.5/5
value for money - 3.5/5

gracias madre was overall a great dining experience for us - very authentic yet very modern and lux. loved it. something i was more delighted about was how packed with people, a veggie restaurant could be! turns out that it's just great food that draws customers out, not the fact that it is vegetarian or non vegetarian. and this place was just that.
definitely recommended :)

one of my favorite places in la!! if you areveganthis place is heaven everything is so tasty. the ambiance is so cool. love the cocktails, guac and everything.

on the expensive side, but greatveganfood. the burger is amazing, as is the ambience. i've also had the bowl, and the empanadas. both were quite good.

literally the cutestveganplace i've been too, service is great! food delicious! i come here almost every weekend bc it's just that good. you must try their all began horchata!

went for brunch. it was tasty forveganfood. huge portions.
con: didn't have regular milk for coffee.
service was excellent. beautiful space.

i would go for dinner next time.

this restaurant has the power to turn me vegan, period.(for my sf readers, although i haven’t been to the mission location i know it is owned by the same people – hopefully it’s just as good).

the i-like-to-be-wrapped-up-in-all-the-details version:
i was really skeptical about gracias madre because, let’s be honest, it’sveganmexican food.does that even make sense to you? all i think about when i think mexican food is beef, chicken, sour cream, cheese – and, i would know, i’m half mexican.veganmexican food goes against everything i know. this can’t be right and isn’t for me (mental thoughts). enter gracias madre. i was curious about it and had heard great things about their cocktails, which, by the way, are alsoveganand organic. so i decided to go earlier this month when i was with dennis in la.

this is where the cool westside ladies like to lunch. they sit outside on the beautiful patio sipping rose' wine or a margarita while nibbling on chips with guacamole before digging into a organic grains with vegetables bowl.

it's 100% organic, plant-basedveganmexican cuisine. some dishes may have a little honey, so tell your server if you are strict vegan.

speaking of server, max is the best. raised in napa, he moved down to so cal and loves it! he's got a great smile and is eager to please.

i ordered a chef's tasting lunch for $20. unlike aveganrestaurant over the hill in studio city, not everyone has to order a tasting menu to enjoy this multi-course meal. others at the table can order a la carte.

my starter was a potato-masa gordita - its a fried cake with a warm onion salsa verde, half an avocado, a lot of cilantro and cashew cream.

my next course, i got to select two entree items ranging from an escabeche tostada, tamale, flaunts de camote or two of three taco options. i ordered the flauta rolled with sweet potato and fried (like a taquito). it was too dense and hard to cut with a fork and knife, so i picked it up after dipping it in guacamole and the cashew nacho cheese. again a lot of cilantro on this dish.

my second entree selection was a grilled squash with salsa verde. it was good, however i probably should have ordered the flash-fried cauliflower taco or mushrooms with mole.

dessert was a petite, yet satisfying mexican wedding cookie dusted with powder sugar and a bowl of chocolate coconut ice cream with chocolate sauce and toasted pecans. it was ideal to share and had the flavors of mexican hot chocolate with an essence of cinnamon.

my daughter ordered one of the three bowls. the ladies next to us ordered the uno bowl as if they do this at least once a week. my daughter ordered the dos bowl with braised lentils, peanut sauce, spinach, coconut rice, poco de gallo, pineapple salsa and pumpkin seeds. it was overwhelming with different flavor profiles.

ladies across from us ordered grilled peach salads, ensalada de caesar and a btla wrap with coconut bacon. they sipped boozy strawberry purée popsicles served in a clear glass with tequila blanco.

there are lot's of cocktails, snowcones, slurpees, micheladas and build you own old fashioned the way you want it.

park on the street, in a nearby public lot or valet.

great outdoor space / mediocre food. gracias madre is aveganrestaurant (disclaimer: i am not vegan) in a cool old warehouse with beautiful outdoor seating. the tacos were messy but tasty (mushroom, cauliflower and zucchini). the black beans were pureed and tasty. the entire meal left me wanting meat! it's a good restaurant, just not my style. i do highly recommend the spicy "purista" margarita! great atmosphere and good food, if you're in a veggie mood.

beautiful restaurant with great atmosphere and tasty food. i went for brunch and wanted to try some of everything. 2 of us split the avocado toast to start (a must!), followed by the tofu scramble and the french toast. the french toast is the best i've ever had. i loved the almond milk lattes as well. the cashew butter on the toast was so creamy, and i loved trying all the of the gluten free andvegandishes. i would love to go back and try lunch and dinner and drinks!

best mexican food ...ever!!!!. the first time i went to this restaurant to try it out, i was little skeptical. i meanveganmexican food? what could they possibly server. but i must say all my doubts were cleared when i had my first bite of the food i ordered. amazing, simple amazing. since then i have gone back 3 times to this place. the mexican food is soo good. you dont usually feel stuffed like usually eating greasy, cheesey mexican food. this place is amazing, if you are in the area, you must try it out.

it's the food that counts.veganand organic mexican food. the settings are amazing, the whole place looks and feels great. the service is excellent and friendly. the prices are decent. the reason it gets a thumb down is the food. don't get me wrong, it's not bad but certainly does not match the settings and service. had the tacos with sweet potato, the ceviche, guacamole and chips and lemonade. the ceviche and lemonade had way too much lemon, the chips were too salty (and i like salt), the tacos were ok but lacked that mexican taste you would expect from tacos. the sweet potato was kind of soft and mushy inside.

comparing to other mexican food restaurants, this one is the fancy version of aveganmexican restaurant with its beautiful and modern interior design. the food we ordered tasted all right, not surprisingly good or bad, but the drink was fantastic. their service was a bit slow but i guessed it always happens when the re