Zen Zoo
Restaurant, Coffee/Tea/Juice
Hours
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Profile
Neighborhood
- Hollywood
Smoke-free?
- Yes
Reservations?
- Not Accepted
Wheelchair Accessible?
- Yes
Accepts
$$ - average
Dim Sum
Asian restaurant and purveyor of teas
Located right in the heart of Hollywood, just around the corner from the ArcLight and next to Borders, Zen Zoo is an asian-inspired find with thoughtful offerings for vegetarians and vegans.
Just N. of Sunset. Park in same shopping center as Borders, Bed Bath & Beyond, Baja Fresh, and all those on the northwest corner of the intersection (enter from alley off of Sunset Blvd.)
- Outdoor Seating
Added by ananimalfriendlylife.com on Sep 4 06 (updated Sep 4 06)
Reviews
I just had a fancy coffee drink. I thought it was good. It took a long time to make and was expensive for what it was. My husband loves this place for coffee. I will give it another chance.
Discovered by accident that Zen Zoo is vegan-friendly.
Not only do they offer a smattering of vegan food options, but they do not charge extra for soy milk or soy creamer for their teas and expressos, unlike most places. I've enjoyed both the Rabbit ZenFusion, and the more Boba Tea-like Monkey ZenFusion.
I've also tried the vegetable bao, which was good, and is reasonably priced at $3.51 for 3 pieces. The miso soup with spinach, shiitake & oyster mushrooms was all right. A little too crowded in the cup for me, though, and I wasn't thrilled with the ginger they add to it. The restaurant serves a Tofu Salad ("Perfect for the vegetarian or vegan diner," according to the menu), but I opted for the Tofu Delight with brown rice substituted for $ .72. That was pretty good. Nothing special, but plenty satisfying for a hard-to-find vegan meal at a real sit-down restaurant before a movie at the ArcLight. There's only so many veganized options at Baja Fresh that I'm willing to suffer through.
In addition to the items I tried, vegan options include a Mixed Organic Green Salad, Edamame, Vegetable Spring Rolls, Vegetable Dumplings, and the Miso Soup & Half Salad Combo. And it's all reasonably priced. Well, except for a dessert we decided to pass on. They had a cake-type-thing for $5.80 that looked good enough, but I couldn't see spending that much money on empty calories. I filled up on dinner instead.
The decor at Zen Zoo is nice. The outdoor seating was attractive and inviting, including a large sofa area around a coffee table on one end and a giant table on the other end for big parties. As relaxing as that environment was as the sun set, I was asked once for change by a roaming homeless-looking guy, which wasn't the most zen experience in the world. Still, he was innocuous enough and left us alone after that. I'll definitely be back.
Vegans take note- when ordering boba drinks ask for Silk soymilk instead of the soy creamer they normally use (it contains casein). Enjoy!