Restaurant Review: SunCafe in Studio City, CA

Written by Sarah E. Jahier

Last month Mister Spooky and I were having a fun morning at Universal Studios (read all about it and their vegan options), hanging with the Universal Monsters, Beetlejuice and Norman Bates, but we finished up around lunch time and were looking for a nearby vegan place to eat. Lo and behold, just down the street (or down the hill) was a small restaurant called SunCafe, which is a mostly-raw vegan restaurant serving up organic and healthy food. We decided to check it out since it was so close.

The street parking is metered, and they don't have their own parking lot as far as I could tell. We had to park a ways down the street and walk back up, which was no biggie, but I can see parking being an issue, especially on busier days or weekends. When I walked in, the place was pretty packed (it was Friday at lunchtime, so it wasn't surprising), but we were seated quickly and the service was attentive.

We had actually eaten previously at Universal Studios, so we decided to go easy and just order appetizers and drinks. I could not resist ordering their Orange Cremesicle Shake, which is a raw drink containing just fresh orange, pineapple and agave, topped with coconut shreds and goji berries. It was delicious and tasted just like an Orange Julius (confession: I used to get those all the time at the mall as a teen in my pre-vegan days!)! This Orange Cremesicle was dreamy and definitely hit the spot!

SunCafe's Orange Cremesicle Shake

Since we were eating light, we ordered just two appetizers - we chose the Lettuce Leaf Tacos and the Sun Nachos with jicama "chips", both raw.

SunCafe's Lettuce Leaf Tacos

The Lettuce Leaf Tacos were made with "SunChorizo [housemade vegan "meat"], cashew cheese, pico de gallo, avocado, green onion, pecan pieces and basil ranch". This was all served in lettuce taco shells. Wow, I don't know how they did it, but they made something that sounds super-simple taste out of this world! These were really, really delicious and even my non-vegan boyfriend gobbled them up! These were a definite winner in my book...I just wish we had gotten two orders!

SunCafe's Sun Nachos

The Sun Nachos were described on the menu as "SunChorizo, nacho cheese, cashew cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo, olive, jalapeno, green onion with choice of raw thin-sliced jicama 'chips' or baked blue corn chips". We chose the raw version with jicama chips. These tasted similar to the Lettuce Leaf Tacos, but with an extra kick. I liked these a lot, and you get a HUGE amount! I barely made a dent in them and had to take most of them home.

SunCafe was a pleasant lunchtime stop and I would gladly stop there again next time I am up in Studio City.

You can check out the full menu and learn more at SunCafe's website!