The Stand Natural Foods
$ - inexpensive
Eclectic (Varied)
Inexpensive all-Vegan fast food at its finest!
In a perfect world, The Stand Natural Foods (aka The Stand) represents the way things should be: fresh, wholesome, completely vegan, and absolutely nothing artificial (including no added salt or sugar in anything).
While The Stand is not exactly 5-star dining, it is, though, a cozy little fast-food joint (near the glorious Pacific ocean) with outdoor-seating and with more menu items than you can count. (In fact, so many it may be hard to decide what to get!) Click on the photo below for a view of the seating area.
And the food is downright fabulous. Taking only a handful of vegan ingredients, such as avocados, refried beans, hummus, salsa, brown rice, fresh veggies, and whole wheat breads and tortillas, The Stand knocks out literally hundreds of items (from sandwiches to burritos to rice bowls to tamales to lip-smacking dips, and much more!). The Stand is sure please just about any hungry patron's discriminating palate.
There's also fresh juices and smoothies.
At The Stand, Life is good. And things are just the way they should be.
From downtown Laguna Beach, travel south on PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) to and take a left on Thalia St. The restaurant is a block off PCH on the left side of the street.
- Outdoor Seating
Added by Steve Carlson on Dec 27 04 (updated Jul 11 07)
Reviews
It is so nice to have a no-to-low salt place that caters to vegans/vegetarians. The food is very fresh, bargain priced, and good for you.
A few notes: do not expect anything to be warm besides their soups, the menu is all based off of a few items (not too inventive...simple beach food), and be mindful that when salsa/dressing is on a sandwich, the bread/pita can get rather soggy rather quickly -I would recommend requesting them on the side.
Ah, and parking is a bear...
This is a great place to eat while in Laguna Beach. The town itself has a very laid-back '70s feel, and this restaurant definitely specializes in '70s-style vegetarian food, before it became all gourmet and fancy (cf Real Food Daily). The items here are simple, healthy, and very tasty.
My favorite item was the hummus sandwich. All it is is hummus, avocado, bread, lettuce, and tomato, but somehow it tastes more amazing than you'd ever expect.
The only disappointment were the waffles -- I was expecting homemade but instead was presented with something store-bought from a toaster. However, the fruit that was served on top was outstanding, some of the most flavorful fruit I have ever had.