CLOSED: Mani's Bakery Cafe

Do not be misled - normally when they say a place is "vegan friendly", or has "vegan options", that means it is mostly meat, with a few things to choose around the edges. Mani's is the reverse. It's mostly vegan with a few non-vegan options. Almost every dish is vegan or can be made vegan, and I found it a real treat. I would easily give it five cows if Happy Cow didn't have their rule about the max of four cows for non-veg restos (which is silly). This place was phenomenal. Loved the baking! Try the double dip chocolate chip cookie, which was orgasmic. I also enjoyed my wonderful seitan sandwich, and my wife's Mayan wrap was delish too. Great sides. The hardest part here was choosing what to eat. Oh... it is pricey compared to other LA options, but if you orderly cleverly, it's not that bad. They often have BOGO (buy one get one) options, and we scored two huge cookies for $3, which was quite the deal.

I have eaten here a few times with my vegan kids and omnivore husband. We all find great choices. My kids love the breakfast where you can choose two from turnover, scrambled tofu, toast, vegan sausage etc. All the things we have tried have been tasty - black bean/plantain quesadilla, veggie burger, BBQ chopped salad. The breakfast potatoes are not the best, but the fries are good. And they have a great selection of vegan desserts. Last time we tried red velvet cake, chocolate cupcakes and chocolate peanut butter bites. All were great. The wait staff were friendly and helpful. A very good choice when dining with omnivores but they really have plenty of choices for vegans too. All the vegan menu items are clearly marked as well as gluten free and vegetarian items.

Mani's is in need of our help right now, having stated that it's not certain whether the restaurant will be able to withstand the current economic crisis. While the food is a bit pricey, it's completely worth it and completely reasonable for the neighborhood. Try the vegan black bean, cheese, and plantain quesadilla, but with so many vegan dishes on the menu, it's hard to choose!

This is my very favorite place to eat. I am vegan but my girlfriend eats meat and this is perfect for us. I normally get a fruit salad but its the bakery that keeps us going back. We love all of their desserts- the heart cookies are the best, along with their cupcakes. Some of the desserts i can't eat anymore because they arent vegan, but anything you get will be delish. the staff is horrible,, we never get waited on, always have to continually ask for help, so its best to order from the bakery to go. delish!!!!!

I will NEVER eat at Mani's again. I'm a vegan, and seek out places that accomodate my diet with enthusiasm and excitement. However, the first time I ate at Mani's they served me "veggie bacon" which my server promised me was vegan (I asked three times). At the end of the meal I was still suspicious enough to ask if I could see the packaging of the bacon product, as it just tasted too "good" to be vegan. Turned out it had both egg AND dairy in the ingredients, and I was sick for two days. Wanting to be fair, I decided to give them another chance, and ordered a takeout lunch today. My assistant had to go back there THREE times because they got my order - a simple salad with black beans and soy cheese - wrong three times! First it had chicken on it, then it had no ingredients except for lettuce and tomato. I'm through with this place. I will NEVER go back.

We pulled a Uturn after having a dinner at another restaurant to grab a vegan dessert at Mani's. We've had tofu scrambles there before, but remembered there vast vegan desserts. They've got a whole parking lot in back! Be warned that their Chocolate is powerful! I fell for the two cookies with the Chocolate frosting in the middle and was over chocolated in one bite! The cool thing is that menu is totally vegan friendly now! Its a great place with sidewalk seating, too.

Was here in September 2008. My husband and I drove up from the street and found metered parking in front of the cafe. we had actually known about this cafe for many years but just hadn't had a chance to come by.

Upon entering the cafe, we were excited to see the baked goods/desserts case filled with all sorts of attractive treats, including several vegan ones, labeled as such.

The interior of the cafe is small with poor ventilation, so we opted to sit outside. We shared a fresh carrot juice ($4), a "classic" sandwich with seitan/tempeh bacon with side choice of french fries($11), a black bean and plantain quesadilla and soy cheese served with salsa ($9). For dessert, we took away a fruit turnover, an almond roca, and a carrot cupcake ($4 each). Every we ordered was VEGAN.

The desserts were excellent, especially the almond roca (wow). The meal food was just average. The breaded seitan in the classic sandwich was greasy and overly salty, which made it difficult to eat, actually. The quesadilla was interesting and tasted okay.

I would definitely return again to try the other items on the menu.