Hey, vegan fam! My sister, friend, and I decided to finally take the trip to Big Sur after YEARS of living in LA and, I must say, I’m embarrassed it took this long. But better late than never!

For those unfamiliar with Big Sur, it’s described online as a “rugged stretch on California’s central” coast, but it’s essentially a place in CA that looks like Hawaii and Ireland mixed into one beautiful, majestic place. It’s also two hours from San Fransico and featured in HBO’s Big Little Lies! Dope! Love that for them!

So in this blog post, we’re going to share what we ate in Big Sur and the neighboring towns of Carmel, Monterey, and San Louis Obispo (a good halfway point if you’re driving from LA). 

Buckle up, you vegans! You’re in for a delicious ride! (Why am I so cheesy? #help) 

We’ll start with: 

SLO DO CO in SAN LUIS OBISPO

SLO (as the cool kids call it) is a city on the central California coast that serves as a nice mid-way-ish pit stop between LA and Big Sur. Since we were doing a road trip and had a friend who lives in SLO, we decided to stop and get vegan donuts, while also dropping some off at our friend’s workplace. Kill two birds with one stone, right? JK we’re vegans. We don’t kill animals!! But you get it. 

Anyway, review of Slo Do Co – the interior of the shop is so freaking cute and smells heavenly. It’s not all vegan, but they had at least ten different vegan donut options (all cake donuts) ranging from cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar, chocolate glaze, vanilla glaze, lavender glaze, strawberry glaze, strawberry shortcakes, and a few others. We got the first 6 I listed. I LOVED the powdered donut and cinnamon sugar donuts. They were 10/10. The frosted ones weren’t that great to me. The frosting was a bit too sweet and hard. Idk, not soft and silky like most donut frosting. 

So if you’re a donut fan, definitely check it out. My only qualm with the place though is that they are NOT dog friendly at all and I’d even go to the lengths to say they are dog haters. Which is NOT. COOL. So, protect your pups from the bad vibes, and don’t bring them here. 

 

BERNARDUS LODGE AND SPA in CARMEL 

Bernardus was the EPIC hotel we stayed at during our trip. The grounds are beautiful, the amenities are fabulous, our room had its own private jacuzzi (I know – insanity), and they were super accommodating to dogs. They are very dog-friendly and each room comes with a comfy dog bed, multiple water bowls, and a little pack of dog treats! Not to mention, they have doggy poop bags all around the hotel grounds. How cute!! However, it does come at a whopping cost of $200 PER dog. Not per night, but still pretty steep if you ask me. But, at the same time, our pups felt very welcome and I would pay anything for my spoiled, furry little children. 

But back to the human food. We didn’t do room service during our stay, but I should mention they had the normal make-shift vegan options like oatmeals and cereals and salads, etc. Not too exciting. They DID, however, leave snacks in the room and a minibar full of drinks – all of which were “free” (as part of the hotel fee and not an additional charge). Luckily, the snack bowl that came with the room had a vegan cliff bar, vegan sourdough crackers, and vegan cracked pepper and sea salt chips. The little chocolate balls unfortunately were not vegan. Everything else was really yummy and useful for the long drive down the Big Sur Coast! 

Another surprise vegan treat in the room was in their epic Nespresso coffee bar set up (I’m a hoe for Nespresso, sue me), which they offered with little TCHO vegan chocolates to enjoy with the coffee!! How cute!? 

Anyway, this hotel has epic vibes and I strongly recommend a stay with your pups if it’s not out of your budget! 

 

EL CANTARO VEGAN RESTAURANT in CARMEL 

A 100% vegan traditional Mexican restaurant!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I was so excited, I could have peed my pants. And in the wise words of Billy Madison (yes, I’m aware this reference ages me), “All the cool kids pee their pants.”

In all seriousness, this place was so, so epic. The menu was so authentic and extensive, it felt like I walked into any normal Mexican restaurant and not a modified vegan one. My friend, sister, and I all got the same thing which was the “water of the day” (agua fresca I assume? I think the flavor was watermelon and something), combo plate #3 (rice and beans, a taquito, a crispy potato taco, and an enchilada), and the plantain sundae for dessert to share.

The water of the day was epic and so flavorful and refreshing. The combo plate was really solid. The rice and beans were incredible. Same with the crispy potato tacos. The other two things were take it or leave it, so if I went back, maybe I’d try something new!

THE PLANTAIN SUNDAE THO!? I swear on my life, one of the best desserts I have EVER had in my life. It tasted like a banana split on steroids, but with chocolate sauce and strawberry sauce on top giving it carnival funnel cake vibes. It also had the most delicious vanilla bean ice cream on top. This is a dessert they have PERFECTED and you would be FOOL not to try it if you were in Carmel. Fool I tell ya!

Our inner Puerto Ricans were quaking. I wish my grandma was there to try it. 

 

EARTHBOUND FARM in CARMEL

Earthbound Farm in Carmel is the CUTEST farm ever. It’s a legitimate farm. However, not only do they have a restaurant with plenty of vegan options, but the restaurant is connected to a mini grocery store with tons of fresh, in-season produce, as well as vegan snacks and pantry items. If you’re renting an Airbnb or your hotel has a kitchen, this would be a great place to stop and get some essentials. 

In terms of fruit, we ended up getting a bunch of donut peaches (the fucking best peaches on the planet. I’ll fight you if you disagree), nectarines (insanely good), and some other fruit my friend wanted that I forget the name of, which she really enjoyed. Since there aren’t that many vegan options in Big Sur (a roughly 30/40 min drive away), we decided to pack up some fruit and grab some waters to enjoy on the beach! Turns out, the beaches are still cold this time of year, but it’s the thought that counts LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They also had a variety of coffees with dairy-free milk (soy and almond, I believe?) and their mocha was vegan so I got that! It was solid. More earthy (no pun intended) than I would like, since I prefer my drinks very sweet, but if you don’t like sweet coffee, you might actually prefer it!

In terms of breakfast, I got the avocado toast and Bella got the tofu scramble, which came with breakfast potatoes. Bella RAVED about the tofu scramble. She said it was the best tofu scramble she’s ever had in her life. I was skeptical because I usually hate tofu scramble, but I tried it and my mind was also blown. It was so savory and delicious. It should be the poster child for tofu scrambles anywhere and everywhere. THEY REALLY DID THAT. 

As for the avocado toast, the freshly baked sourdough bread was insanely good and fluffy. It almost tasted like a donut – which is weird to say, but just roll with it. But the avocado toast as a whole was kinda mid. Nothing special. I suggest getting the tofu scramble and maybe a side of sourdough toast with jam. Ooooh, that sounds so yummy now that I’m thinking about it. 

They ALSO had a vegan breakfast muffin, which looked yummy but were in a savory kinda mood, ya know? So we skipped out on this one. Also, what is it with bakeries making all their vegan pastries include nuts and dried fruit and, like, bran and oats? Like, yes, vegans are healthy, but if we’re getting dessert, we’re trying to get dessert, you know? (Am I a choosy begger now? #help) 

 

ALVARADO ST BREWERY in CARMEL

After a whole day in Big Sur (which spoiler alert: doesn’t really have many vegan options), we were super hungry and needed to find a place to eat asap. Two of the restaurants we wanted to check out were closed because Carmel, Big Sur, and Monterey each have weird ass hours of operation. There was a restaurant in Big Sur called Coast that was randomly closed Tuesday-Wednesday. Then another restaurant in Carmel randomly closed on a Monday. Idk, y’all. Just call ahead. 

Alvarado Brewery was one of the only restaurants open and, on Happy Cow, listed that it has a vegan burger. We were super hungry and thought, yolo. The restaurant ended up being super cute and has a back patio with bar service (so no waiters, which is fine, just thought I’d mention it) and heat lamps overhead the picnic tables for cloudy days. It was also nice because it allowed us to have the option to dine with our pups!

To start, we got the tortilla chips and guacamole. The guac was FIRE. It had corn in it and was super, super tasty. Same with the chips. The vegan burger, though?? OUT OF THIS WORLD. A truly fire vegan burger for a restaurant that doesn’t specialize in vegan food. The bun was gourmet, the patty (Beyond Meat maybe?) was meaty and cooked to perfection, the cheese was delicious, the caramelized onions were heavenly, and the vegan aioli was perfection. If you’re a burger fan, you def gotta stop and maybe enjoy a beer if you’re into that too>> Is beer vegan? IDK, I don’t drink it lol. 

EAST VILLAGE COFFEE in MONTEREY

East Village Coffee was this SUPER cute, vibey, and vegan-friendly coffee shop in Monterey. They had a ton of vegan options, but the ones I took note of were the vegan burritos, the vegan breakfast sandwiches, and the veggie samosas. 

My sister and I got the warmed-up vegan breakfast sandwiches and they were EPIC. My stomach just grumbled thinking of it just now. They were made with a delicious English muffin, vegan cheese, a vegan “egg which was surprisingly amazing, and an Impossible vegan meat patty with the most delicious vegan sauce that kind of tasted like hollandaise mixed with Big Mac sauce. It was UNREAL. 10/10. 

Not to mention, it was bloody hard to find matcha anywhere in Big Sur/Carmel/Monterey. Not only did East Village have matcha, but they also served them in GIANT mason jars and you could add syrups to them if you want. The matcha was so creamy and delicious and sweet. 1000/10 recommend. 

If you’re a ho for breakfast food (me), you can’t miss out on this place. 

Anyway, those are all of our eats on our road trip. I know I tricked you with the title of this blog post, but the truth is, Big Sur has a lot of traditional coastal restaurants with VERY limited vegan options. I’m talking French fries and modified salads. So, if you’re going to Big Sur/staying in Big Sur, I recommend you make food ahead or just venture into the neighboring towns of Carmel and Monterrey to try some of the amazing options they have to offer. 

OR DONT and just survive off of French fries and mixed greens with balsamic. Whatever ho. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.