Vegan
American
Fast food
Take-out

Peanut butter and jelly stand at downtown Grand Central Market since 2017. Offers a variety of nut butters and has vegan cheese. Reported closed May 2023.


Venue map for PBJ.LA
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27 Reviews

First Review by Kplant

RayB

Points +791

Vegan
19 Dec 2019

They don’t skimp on the PB or J

Located inside the central market, this place sells PB and J sandwiches as well as variations of these. We got the original PBJ, one toasted, one fresh, and I liked the fresh one better.

LorraineGadsden

Points +6453

Vegan
28 Mar 2023

Meh.

PBJ.LA was a “meh” experience. We ordered the Indian and Elvis. I could not decide if I liked the Indian or not. It was a fine flavor, but I think the texture and cold center with warm bread was odd for me. My boyfriend and I liked the Elvis. However, for relatively overpriced nut butter sandwiches, the person working was pretty rude. I understand everyone has off days, and normally, service doesn’t bother me, but between the iffy service, (sorry, but mediocre) sandwiches that you could make at home, and the price… I was unimpressed. I try to support all veg restaurants, and if you love nut butter, this may interest you. Otherwise, it may be worth exploring other options in the market.

RisBurton

28 Mar 2023

onthe_GoVegan

Points +323

Vegan
24 Mar 2023

Don’t DismissThis as “Just PB&J”

This place is amazing. It’s so much more than peanut butter and jelly. The Indian sandwich was one of the best sandwiches I’ve been had. The flavors were incredible. Try the Red Eye and the Old School with Fluff, too. The banana jam in the Elvis was spectacular and so much better than PB& banana. Amazing.

Pros: So many sweet and savory options, Great flavors, Fun concept, reasonably priced

Cons: None.

peachenthusiast

Points +140

Vegan
13 Apr 2022

Yum

Yes, it’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Yes, it is worth it. I’ve gone here every time I visit Grand Central even though they have stiff competition in the vegan department from Ramen Hood. The Indian sandwich is my favorite.

Pros: All vegan , Fast

jflower5

Points +90

Vegan
14 Mar 2022

Cool treats!

This place is cool and creative with a simple childhood snack. Tried the pb& j and it’s was yummy!! Good for picnic at the beach.

Banangela97

Points +2496

Vegan
06 Mar 2022

Pretty good

I was starving and the toasted Italian sandwich hit the spot I love that it's all vegan so I could pick anything. So many surrounding places to get extra snacks if you want.

Pros: Fully vegan

Cons: Small serving

RobbieG

Points +358

Vegan
21 Nov 2021

Novel sandwiches.

I went for it and had the Italian. The pinenut butter and sun-dried tomato jam were great. Honestly, they could make them on a lot bigger bread slices and not have to put more ingredients in. The sandwiches were a bit goopy. Other than that I thought it was really good.

Pros: Savory sandwiches, Novel ingredients, House made drinks are great

Cons: Kinda small

dan&mia

Points +759

Vegetarian
31 Oct 2021

Great sandwich

The nut butter and jam sandwich was great. We would have been happy to eat the crusts too, which probably went to waste.

eravens1

Points +497

Vegan
18 Jul 2021

It's pb&j

I love the concept and compared to many other places in LA, it's inexpensive, but it's also just pb and j sandwiches that you could make yourself for 1/4 of the price (maybe it's more appropriate to say you could make 4x the amount of sandwiches considering you'd have to buy some niche ingredients in larger sizes).

It was worth trying once, but other than the novelty, I didn't feel particularly strongly one way or another. I tried the Ol' Fashioned and the Red Eye and they were alright. I'm glad I tried them because they were novel, but they weren't that exciting in my opinion.

And for extra experience, I tried the vanilla lavender almond milk and that was pretty good, but I don't mind spending $1-$2 less for 5x as much regular almond milk at the store.

Worth a visit but not a place I'd feel compelled to return to.

Pros: Novel ideas for sandwiches

Cons: Low value

AnnaBananna

Points +248

Vegan
22 May 2021

Pricey PB&J

If you want it toasted, you need to ask!! I thought they all came toasted as a default. Nope, request for them to toast it.

Since mine was cold (I ordered the superfood sandwich), I basically thought it tasted like every other PB&J I’ve ever had. There was a LOT of jelly and peanut butter. It was too much, personally. The chips were too oily for my taste & the cinnamon sugar bites were basically croutons with cinnamon sugar.

I also ordered a vanilla lavender almond milk. Would NOT recommend. It was super tiny and it tasted off. My two friends also tried it and thought it might’ve expired, even though the expiration was in a few days.

It was okay, but there are many other options for vegan food in the area I would prefer. If I were to go here again (if I were not here on vacation, I probably would give it a second chance) I would order either the Indian or Italian sandwich so I get a different flavor profile and something a little elevated above a basic tasting PB&J.

Updated from previous review on 2021-05-22

Pros: Vegan only (no chance of eating animals!)

bdog

Points +61

Vegan
25 Mar 2021

Good, but pricy

We tried the Italian and the old school. Both were good, but we liked the old school a little more. Italian was very unique though. Small portions. I'd say just share one of the unusual ones for the novelty.

Pros: All vegan , Creative options , All from scratch

Cons: Expensive , Small sandwich

teabell

Points +249

Vegan
24 Mar 2021

Best PB&J I’ve ever had!!

This place is amazing! Go for the experience: a PB & J lovers wet dream!!!

Pros: Healthy superfood options for your PB&J, Fun, Great experience

losangela

Points +242

Vegan
19 Dec 2020

good but overpriced

They make good grilled pb-j and pb-j-similar sandwiches, but the portions are so small for what you pay for a pb-j.

YohanⓋ

Points +5809

Vegan
30 Jul 2020

Not amazing, but pretty good.

I visited last year and had the old school. It was not bad, but fairly plain and simple.

Pros: Not bad tasting.

Cons: Quite plain and simple , A little over priced for what it is. , Was a little hard to locate.

mharris06

Points +644

Vegan
19 May 2020

HUNKA HUNKA BURNIN’ LOVE

Okay so first off... pb&j sandwiches are THE BEST. So going to a plant based restaurant with JUST that... rocked my vegan world. I got The Elvis and ugh incredibly decadent. Loved every bite:)

ZuzanaC

Points +580

Vegan
03 Feb 2020

Warming PBJ

If you are in the mood for freshly made and still warm PBJ with homemade peanut butter and marmalade, this is the place you seek. The service was quick. The area where it is situated is open space/market with other food spots around, but there is enough space to sit, if you are like me and do not like to eat while walking. We had sandwich called Elvis, which was peanut butter/ banana marmalade and fresh-made yuzu matcha for drink, which for price was little bit small, but very delicious and refreshing.

JoshFoti

Points +514

Vegan
03 Aug 2019

Friendly service :)

They offered many options

KrishnaCurry

Points +114

Vegan
20 Jul 2019

Amazing!

Sandwiches for grown ass adults. Hella good, conveniently portable, and nostalgic

Ameisherry

Points +9269

Raw
11 Jul 2019

Love this raw style, surrounding by all the crap food, its the only human food h

Love the raw vegan style here love the almond butter and curry flavor mix with the nut flavor , what a brilliant idea !

FrancheskadelPilar

Points +596

Vegan
09 Jul 2019

Decent place!

Pretty simple concept and technically easy to make at home, but it’s nice that they have vegan options. I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way just to come here, but stop by after going to Ramen Hood for a classic PB&J or a chocolate jam sandwich if you’re craving something sweet!

Pros: Decent options, Good location

VeganCheesehead

Points +119

Vegan
27 Mar 2019

Incredibly simple and delicious.

Brilliant idea. Very resourceful and non-wasteful business plan. Delicious sandwiches, and in house production of ingredients makes the prices worth it. Seasonal items and specials rotate, so stay on top of new items. I can’t wait to see what they do next. 👍

Vegan_Van_Girl

Points +629

Vegan
19 Feb 2019

Yummy!

Amazing toasted sandwiches! I had the Chocolate Haze! Yum!

mariahgz14

Points +39

Mostly Veg
08 Jan 2019

Satisfied my sweet tooth

Yes we are all capable of making our own peanut butter and jelly sandwichs but this place makes the nut butters, jelly, and bread in house from scratch and the taste is amazing. I got the chocolate haze and I was in heaven the entire time while eating it.

facewizard

Points +78

Vegetarian
27 Nov 2018

Okay!!

The sandwiches are tasty and the flavors are weird, which is cool. However, they're very small, and every sandwich is made in a presser which cuts off the crust. I have no idea what they do with all these crusts!!

I've liked what I've eaten here but by golly, that's gotta be a lot of food waste. I also usually prefer to get something a little more substantial when I come to GCM to eat.

mprogano

Points +22

Vegan
24 Oct 2018

Not worth it

Just do it yourself, or anywhere else

Pros: Weird flavors, They make it for you?

Cons: Bad sandwich, Boring bread, REALLY sweet jam

H2OAddict

Points +686

Vegan
14 Oct 2018

Awesome PB&Js!

The staff was smiling and friendly, and after sharing a sandwich with my fiancé, I know why! We had a toasted Hazelnut butter and jelly sandwich and an Horchata Almond milk and it was a really phenomenal experience! It was sweet but not too sweet, savory but not too savory, and the almond milk really washed it all down nicely! If you’re visiting or live in the area, it’s a great treat!

Pros: Yummy, Atmosphere, Friendly

Cons: Parking is minimal, Loud on the weekends

Kplant

Points +4025

Vegan
14 Mar 2018

PB&J with a twist

On the west side of Grand Central Station in the middle. I walked back and forth asked 4 people and finally found it near the stairs. The twist is the cut the crust off. I love crust so if you do ask for it. As of now they only have white bread though soon I'm told more choices. Great support staff. Loved my PBandJ.

Pros: You can't go wrong. it's what ever kid wants.

Cons: it's five bucks. Then again your in grand central




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