According to Reddit, El Cocinero is the best vegan food in Los Angeles. Like if you were going to plan the perfect vegan day in Los Angeles County, El Cocinero would be the main food thing. I was skeptical. I mean, Van Nuys isn’t exactly known for its vegan food. But the valley is where they keep the good vegan pupusas, so you never know.
The internet said to get something with chipotle mayo on it. I went for the horchata and two tacos, one asada and one al pastor. (The al pastor at the cashier’s recommendation.) I started with the asada and knew immediately I should have gotten three tacos. But then the al pastor … it was savory, it was peppery, it was pineapple-y. I’m not sure I knew you could combine those flavors in such perfect proportions. I spent yesterday and today thinking of excuses to go back. (I mean, LA Metro has a $5 daily fare cap now, which is about a third of what it would cost to do the 80-mile roundtrip in the car.)
El Cocinero opened shortly after the pandemic started, and apparently they’ve been thriving ever since. When I got there the tables were full and people were leaning on the walls along the sides of the restaurant waiting for to-go orders. The atmosphere was delightful, quintessentially Southern Californian in a way that doesn’t usually exist for vegans. Never in my decades as a Southern California resident have I been able to walk the length of a strip mall parking lot in 95-degree heat past a “Sepulveda Plaza” pylon sign that lists “VEGAN MEXICAN FOOD” in big red letters. The mix of nostalgic childhood and vegan lifestyle was nice. I also like that El Cocinero is unapologetically vegan. They start their Instagram posts with “ALWAYS VEGAN … “

By