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  • CLOSED: Cru
    (11)
    12

    Closed

  • White Vegan
Vegan
Organic
Raw
Western
Take-out
Fusion

Los Angeles raw food restaurant serving organic food. Small, casual chic space decorated in simple modern decor. Formerly all raw food cuisine, now serving some cooked food since Jan 08. Gluten-free. All vegan as of Mar 2012. Reported closed to HappyCow.

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11 Reviews

First Review by alyssa

Avatar MichelleOJ

MichelleOJ

Points +71

Vegan
05 Jun 2009

Yummy Raw Goodness!

Visited Cru with a couple friends for a post-workout dinner. First off, parking sucks. Had to walk a few blocks down a residential street before getting lucky. The place is small yet intimate. Filled up FAST for dinner but the waiter was really friendly and efficient and helpful.

We split the mezze appetizer which was delicious & fresh & flavorful. Each ordered the potato curry w/side of quinoa- lovely & BIG! Completed our meal w/raw cheesecake w/sliced strawberries & raw vegan whipped creme- quite decadent, sweet, & wonderful!

Delicious, friendly, lovely place. Prices are a little more than your typical vegan place but I've found Cru to be on par with most raw restaurants but with a nicer ambience. Great little place to have lunch or dinner with friends! :)

And Cru does have a small selection of cooked items on the menu and we noticed that not everything on their restaurant menu is listed on their website so you may walk in and be pleasantly surprised by the nice variety.

Pros: Great Desserts, Friendly Staff, Nice Selection

Cons: Not much parking

Avatar gutoi

gutoi

Points +1157

Vegetarian
01 Nov 2021

It was once My Fav place in L.A.

I just loved this place, I eat here almost twice a week when in town. Best food flavor of them all, vegan and otherwise. Nice place to seat and enjoy a health meal anytime. Maybe the music could be lowered a bit. Recommended every day. Thank you Margo for the great service always. August

PS. Unfortunately - it closed due to owners dispute! And a copy opened in Studio City 91604 - called SunCafe.

Updated from previous review on 2021-11-01

Avatar StacyOwens

StacyOwens

Points +273

Herbivore
21 Jun 2012

Delightful!

Great space and eats.

Pros: delicious, ambience

Avatar Chia

Chia

Points +3631

Vegetarian
02 Jan 2012

Gourmet Raw Food Dining

I had read about this place on happycow, and here's my Cru review.

Came here for lunch with my husband, I was quite pleased that I finally made it out here... I had been here a few years back when it was still Jade Cafe, an all raw food cuisine restaurant. While the space and decor is similar, it's under an entirely different ownership and staff.

The interior is small-ish but chic casual with plenty room for moving about.

I was surprised to find that besides Raw food, there is also about 8 offerings that are Cooked food. My friend and I ordered only the raw stuff because that's what we had come for.

The two of us shared the Dream Roll appetizer which were very tasty (jicama, avocado, kimchi, shitake mushroom wrapped in collard green and paired with nama shoyu sauce.

Then we had the Pesto Ravioli raw main entree which was excellent (herbed cashew cheese folded inside jicama slices accompanied by arugula salad).

Also we got the Pad Thai raw main entree which turned out to be a disappointment (kelp noodle in a spicy and salty red sauce). The spicy chili was very strong but had a nice kick which I didn't mind, but the sauce was just too salty. Neither of us could eat it. I ended up taking it home and re-creating it by adding some sliced raw zucchini, mung beans, and toasted cashew nut pieces, and that became a delicious dinner.

Overall, the raw food at CRU tasted clean, refined, and flavorful. It's certainly one of the better choices for a gourmet raw food experience in greater Los Angeles.

I would like to return to try the other raw dishes.

Avatar VeganET

VeganET

Points +79

Vegan
20 Oct 2010

Excellent Food; Pricey; bland atmosphere

The interior of the resteraunt is rather plain & boring. But the food here is some of the best vegan food I've had anywhere! Fresh and tasty. Although the plates are small, I still left feeling satisfied. The staff was friendly and took a great deal of pride in their work. Cru is also rather expensive but it's worth going her every now and then.

Avatar ShantiDass

ShantiDass

Points +24

Raw
08 Aug 2008

More vegan options as of Aug. 1st

As of Aug. 1st,they have taken honey out of most of their dressings. There's a sign posted on the front door along with a note on the menu's regarding the changes. They only use Nama Shoyu or miso in a few of their items now. The food is excellent and the waitstaff has no problem asking in the back which items contain which ingredients. The desserts are great. I love the mint chocolate chip ice cream. Yum Yum.

Pros: Great food, nice staff

Cons: Parking on street is limited, Seating is limited, prepare to wait, still using honey

Avatar Peanut4

Peanut4

Points +349

Vegan
17 Jul 2008

Not Vegan!

They use Honey in many sauces. The servers don't seem to know which dishes. Good luck!
Great Vegetarian food. Misleading to Vegans.

Avatar

Mir

18 Jul 2008

Yes, Cru is not totally vegan. I just got confirmation from another person. Her cook works there (leaving in a couple weeks) and mentioned to the owner that honey is NOT vegan - the owner (and she is not the chef) just shrugged her shoulders.

Avatar VeggiePinkoKat

VeggiePinkoKat

Points +142

Vegan
17 Dec 2007

AWESOME RAW CUISINE--FAVE IN CA

First of all, don't listen to that nay-sayer DLouise, that person apparently has some weird agenda as I noticed they posted several bad things towards Cru.
I have been to Cru a dozen times with my Mum and even invited my extended family who is as non-veg/non-raw/non-health foodist as they come and they LOVED it too!
Try the "raviolis", hummus or avocado wraps, and the raspberry-chocolate torte if it's the special for dessert.
The chef was very nice, my hat's off to her for her creative dishes, her food inspired me to go home and make my own raw "raviolis".

Pros: Excellent food, healthy cuisine, creative

Cons: no parking

Avatar ivorygate

ivorygate

Points +308

Raw
15 Nov 2007

raw delights

I have been to raw restaurants all around the world, and Cru is in my Top 3. The atmosphere has an almost rustic aura to it, classy but not too stuffy. The menu is ecelctic and pleasing to the eye, and the spicing of the food is not overdone. The desserts were worth having seconds by their own merit. When in California again, Cru will be a frequent stop for me.

Pros: ambiance, food quality, prices

Avatar lorihs

lorihs

Points +72

Vegan
23 Sep 2007

Totally Overrated

The reviews were great so I thought it would be a great resto to go for my birthday. I won't make that mistake again. The server had a too cool for school attitude and the food was not all that. I enjoy raw food very much, and I though the food was mediocre. I would not reccomend this place to anyone.

Cons: food mediocre, staff are incompetent, parking nearly impossible

Avatar alyssa

alyssa

Points +111

Vegan
20 Sep 2007

Ravin' About the Raw

What a great little place! My boyfriend and I went here for a special date and loved it. Small but romantic with nice fusion music. We loved every bite, espcially the fig pate appetizer, the ravioli cruda and the cesar salad (delicious dressing AND it came with avocados!). I would suggest making reservations because they get busy.

Pros: fabulous food, nice decor, good music

Cons: limited parking

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