Loving Hut

I have eaten at Loving Hut restaurants globally, and I must say that this branch is ome of the best. I had a delicious Wonton soup.

We were in Scottsdale for a swim meet and this was the only option for us late on a Thursday evening as we traveled up from Phoenix to Scottsdale. I think that being 'off peak' helped because we had the most excellent and friendly service! The Pho, mandarin chicken & Love of family dishes were flavorful and you can adapt 'spiciness' either by asking when you order, or by asking for hot sauce. Everything is vegan & they have cakes, cheesecake, ice cream & even vegan jerky in the store! It was a vegan oasis! We also enjoyed the summer rolls as an appetizer. The whole family ate here & loved it - which is saying something because I now have teenagers......

Vegan/vegetarian food is hard to find while on the road, so we try to visit as many of these independently owned places as possible whenever we travel.

This restaurant was a true gem! The owner was very hands-on, answered questions, and graciously accepted our gushing compliments! Very reasonably priced. Desserts were also awesome.

Average vegan Asian food. Not bad, not terribly tasty. If you like processed protein, you will love this place, because just about every dish serves tofu or veggie protein or yam protein (say wha?). You can however make requests for soy-free and gluten-free.

It's a nice quiet restaurant painted white inside with several tables set for three or four people. The servers are very lax and friendly. Also the menu is colorful with pictures.

Appetizers:

Rainbow salad - Very light dressing covering a mound of exceptionally thin sliced cabbage and veggies. It's topped with slices of veggie protein but I ate around those. Otherwise, a very good salad.

Spring Rolls - Veggie protein is chopped up and mixed in well enough so that it would take too long to pick out. They looked good, but I avoided them. Tasted the accompanying house made peanut sauce and found it to be very weak.

Dumplings - Also looked very good but the veggie protein was blended in so I avoided them. The accompanying house made sauce was very weak.

French fries - Thinly sliced, fried right, and served with basic ketchup.

Entree:

In order to avoid soy and the processed stuffs, I ordered the broccoli-mushroom dish and made special request for a plain eggplant dish. Either brown or white rice could be requested as an addition to the meal, but I opted for a side of noodles. Glad I did.

Also, glad I ordered two dishes because ended up combining them into one, just to get a full meal. The mushrooms were awfully rubbery; they went to waste. So I paired the broccoli florets with my eggplant and stirred in the noodles. That was good.

Beverage:

Orange juice with mint flavor and topped with flowers. I thought the orange was going to be fresh, but it tasted like it was straight from a carton. (That is the last time I believe a server who says the restaurant sells fresh juice.) The mint was an artificially dark green colored overly sweet syrup at the bottom of the glass. Not worth it.

Dessert:

Slice of maple cinnamon cake. A-Okay. Not too thick and not overly sweet. A trained tongue can tell that it's vegan.

Quaint and lovely place. So many vegan dishes🙈❣💕 and a fridge full of mock meats for sale ❤️

Was highly impressed had the bbq noodle and wonton soup. I have to say was the best wonton I've ever eaten. And the spring roll was delicious.

I truly have enjoyed the few times I have been to Loving Hut. My only concern is the gluten free options, there aren't that many. The vegetables are your typical greasy take out feel. I really wish that could be different. However, they know how to cook tofu and the flavors are phenomenal!

Always happy at the Loving Hut. Food is always fresh and clean tasting, prices are very affordable, the people that work there are always friendly...

The food and service were great!
They also have some of their products for sale, we bought faux shrimp and bacon.

I have been going to this restaurant for about 20 years (since it was the Vegetarian House). The owners are amazing people, and the food is outstanding. My family of 5 went last night and we ordered LOTS of food, and had plenty of leftovers. Everything was incredibly delicious, but the real star for me was "Frank's Veggie Steak & Potatoes". I believe it is a fairly new menu item, and it is not to be missed!

Went here for the second time yesterday. Food is great. I had the BBQ noodle dish. Came with an unexpected lentil soup!. I did order the ban mhai Philly to go which was solid, but to bready in my opinion. Food came very quickly and was fresh. The outside is very plain, but the dining room is nice inside. Was cracking up at the "programming" on the TV. Service was fast and friendly!

This is the best Loving Hut I've ever eaten at. It's a sit down style where I ordered from my table and not at the counter. It was a very relaxing lunch and the service was excellent.
I got the BBQ Western Burger. The onion rings that came on the burger (there were 3) were large, hot and crispy. It was yummy!! The fries were hot and crisp and also very good. Just get plenty of napkins. I'll be going to this place a lot and I'm glad I found it. Thanks Happy Cow!

Yet another update b/c this place just keeps on improving!

They introduced a new menu this summer. Not to worry though; the house favorites are still on the menu, they've simply added some things as well.

My favorite additions thus far:

Ocean Sandwich - a fried "fish" sandwich that is very good, especially with extra tartar sauce

Speaking of... Their tartar sauce may very well be the BEST vegan tartar sauce I have ever tasted. It's amazing!

Side of yam based protein - ask for it fried, get some tartar sauce and fries, and voila! Shrimp and chips! It is SO deliciously addictive. I keep going back for more!

They've re-vamped their french fries. They are now more golden and crispy.

I've learned that the Hawaiian burger comes with a faux chicken patty, but you may ask for a burger patty instead (which I highly recommend).

They now have a Western Burger (bbq Gardein patty, onion rings, pineapple, etc), which I have yet to try, but it looks yummy! Will update again once I've tried it!


UPDATE:

I don't know if they read their Happy Cow reviews or not, but kudos to them for the major improvements.

I have revisited several times and they have greatly improved on the fried wontons, which are now fried to a perfectly golden brown crisp. The pan-fried dumplings are cooked to perfection.

The Guru Fried Rice, Sweet & Sour Divine "chicken", Spicy Cha Cha, Sage Lemongrass, Noble Broccoli, and Philly Dream are my favorite entrees. They are all bursting with flavor.

The pan-fried dumplings and crispy wontons are my favorite appetizers.

Very filling; I always have enough food for 2-3 meals. Reasonably priced. Relaxed atmosphere. Extremely pleasant owners/workers; very friendly and always smiling.


Updated from previous review on Saturday November 03, 2012

I am very familiar with the Loving Hut chain and I know that each restaurant can differ. That being said, I was disappointed with the food the last few times that I visited this location. My wontons were over-cooked (burnt 1 night), & the Hawaiian burger is no longer a burger at all. It was a weird faux-chicken type of protein which promptly fell to pieces when attempting to eat it. The Noble broccoli was good, I just wish it came with rice. It's a little over $1 extra, which isn't bad, but sometimes I forget to ask for it.

Updated from previous review on Saturday November 03, 2012
Updated from previous review on Tuesday May 13, 2014

This place has various comfort food and meat dishes you might miss… made vegan. I had the steak and potatoes and a side of yam shrimp. I really wasn't expecting it to taste anything like the meats, but they did a very good job. I've been vegan for a year, so I honestly don't remember an accurate taste of what the real deal tastes like (and I'm kind of happy I don't remember), but this was delicious. I believe the steak was a tofu, but I am not 100% on that. However, the chef sure knows how to use and prepare that tofu, because it tasted great and had a very good consistency and texture. The yam shrimp were good as well, though a bit on the pricey side in my opinion. They also brew a variety of hot teas and then serve them over ice. I had a chocolate mint oolong that was a great refreshing, yet different ice tea; not your same old same old black sweet tea.

Even though they can be a bit slow sometimes in taking our order and it sucks that they close in the middle of the day … the food is fantastic.

This was the first and only vegan place eaten at and I really really enjoyed it. The food was delicious! Very flavorful! They give you a yummy small free soup before your meal. I tried one of their shakes which was okay. But my god, their cheesecake was amazing! Even my boyfriend, who hates vegan food, loved it. I highly recommend this place.

We have been here once, and I love that it's vegan but it feels like your typical Chinese restaurant. We got these large helpings we all ended up sharing and they served a soup appetizer that surprised us. At first we thought it was kind of expensive but we got large helpings plus the appetizer and salad. The staff is so friendly!!

They do use rehydrated "faux meats" that you can purchase there. I am not sure on why but after eating there we all had tummy aches, we think it may have been the faux meat being rehydrated… maybe? Something to keep in mind.

The chai iced tea was delicious, and the spring rolls and curry soup were very good. Although there was a self-congratulatory video playing, it highlighted Veganism and not religion. The staff was reasonably nice, especially after I started chatting them up. Definitely want to try more of their large all-vegan menu.

The biggest problem with this place is that their hours don't make any sense at all. Closed certain random days, closed in the middle of the day, (when I want to eat there the most) open late, closed early. If you do manage to get there when they are open you must try the spicy cha cha or the spicy lemongrass chicken. They are the best 2 dishes on the menu for sure. If you do want to try the worst thing on the menu maybe think about checking out the Philly sandwich, it really sucks! The portions aren't so great but since this place is right by my place I keep going back. Definitely not the most professional people around but still good. Website is down a lot. Plus, they have a small retail area where I buy vegan jerky and all kinds of vegan broth. I am allergic to garlic and onions and none of their broths have either at all which impresses me so so much since most people use it in everything vegetarian.

I was there at 3 p.m., on Sunday, October 13, 2013, and they were closed. The sign indicated that normal business hours would resume at 4 p.m. I had ridden the bus here from Tempe. There was no place for me to wait for an hour except to sit at the curb so I went back to my hotel and made other plans for a meal. Either update the restaurant website or adhere to it.

This is the same as any other Loving Hut, with one exception- they sell their "beef chips" (for lack of a better term) by the gallon zip lock bag for $10. They are easy to rehydrate at home and are very tasty.

Our food was good, our server was friendly, the place was clean.

One of the best vegan restaurants in Arizona (Madras Ananda Bhavan is an awesome vegan restaurant also).
Clay pot sensation, curry soup, summer rolls, heaven rice rolls, philly dream, bbq noodles and Hawaiian burger are all excellent.
We go to both locations (Glendale and Phoenix) regularly since both have slightly different menu options (Glendale has delicious Pho and their Carrot Cake is incredible).
Loving Hut serves amazing food! We have been to locations in San Diego and Orlando and all are DELICIOUS.

I spent a week w/ a non vegan friend and she took me to Loving Hut. She is now open to vegan foods, wow, and will be going back. I myself loved the lentil soup. Basic decor, friendly staff. The place was over half full so the staff was a bit stretched. As a vegan it is nice to know you can easily order off the menu and for that I am thankful. Lots of parking.

The food was great!! The best thing about the food is all the different types of mock meats. Definitely the best I've had at any restaurant. The restaurant itself was clean, very quiet though.

We tried Loving Hut before a play last week; we were very impressed! The hostess seated us right away, and promptly took our order. We started with the summer rolls which were excellent, as were our Thai teas. I had the Chow fun (mixed veggies and tofu) and hubby had the Claypot sensation (bean curd w/yummy spicy sauces) and both were great. The dining room was quiet and clean, decent ambiance but it would have been nice to have some music playing rather than a religious video (some refer to it as 'propaganda'). Overall a good experience with tasty food, we'll definitely be back.

his is, hands-down, the most uncomfortably stark, awkward,1980's hospital-esque diner I've ever stumbled upon in my life.

The food was tasty and the menu is more varied than any other vegan restaurant in town... but somehow, that doesn't cut it. I thought I knew what I was going to try next time, but in retrospect, I'd rather not subject myself to that atmosphere much more than I'd like to try the soy protein fish.. which is somewhat disappointing, because I really did want to try that fish.

Veggie House has been a Phoenix staple for many years. Their old location on 7th Ave burned several years ago; they then moved to the current location on Indian School. We owe them a lot; for years they were the only 100% vegetarian restaurant in Phoenix.

Their food is a mixture of various Asian cuisines, and they have made attempts to "Americanize" some of the dishes so that they are adjusted to our taste. This is not true of all of them though, so be prepared - some of the food tastes like the genuine article from Hanoi or Singapore or Guangzhou. The atmosphere is also truer to Asia than to American romantic notions of Asia. I enjoy the veggie eel as an appetizer and ginger duck as an entree, though other items have been good too. Being more authentic the dishes are flavored by sauces rather than drowned in them. I much prefer this, as it allows the foods to be tasted (rather than just the sauce) and of course the food is healthier.

This restaurant is the outreach program of a religion called Ching Hai (it is not Buddhist; the description is incorrect). I believe it is a method of meditation. I've never seen an attempt made to "convert" anybody; this is a restaurant not an airport. They just have a TV running in the bar area that shows their channel, usually with the sound turned off; you're free to watch if you want. The staff have always been peaceful and friendly so I was surprised to see other reviews mentioning unfriendly staff; we have never experienced this. Several of the staff have been there for years; that is extremely rare in a restaurant.

We visit Veggie House several times a year and enjoy it. I would recommend Veggie House to any vegetarian who would appreciate such a unique experience. See you there!

It's got a little bit of a culty-vibe going on, but the staff was really friendly. I thought the food tasted good, aside from being pretty dry. I ordered vegetable tempura and a chicken dish. We got it to go, so we didn't really have to deal with the awkwardness.

Its a bare bones establishment, but go for the Lemon Grass Faux Chicken and you'll be happy you did!

The first time I tried this restaurant I had great food. The lobster was delicious--but tasted like steak (I'm fairly new to vegetarianism). The lemongrass chicken was also amazing, I would compare it to fried chicken, with more flavor. The second time I went, we hit some misses; sweet and sour pork, I forget exactly what, but it was a chicken with peanuts, and beef and broccoli. These were all very bland. We went during lunch and our favorites were apparently not available, however... I heard someone a table over order the lemongrass chicken even though it was not on there. Anyway, good to know for next time. The lunch soup, I believe it was lentil was also pretty darn good. So, I may experiment a bit more, but the top three so far are: Lemongrass Chicken, Lobster, and Lentil Soup (I believe, it's whatever is served with lunch.)

Oh and this place has a very awkward, culty feel, but don't let it bother you. Also, they are very nice, but service can take a while.