Crossroads

EVERYTHING IS VEGAN!!! E V E R Y T H I N G IS VEGAN! Can I scream it from the roof tops? I was SHOCKED when the waitress told me. I had no idea. The cheese tasted like real cheese, which I've never experienced before with vegan food. It was unreal.

Also I still think about those zucchini blossoms. Everything was delicious, and light. The staff was so sweet, and the atmosphere was everything we could have asked for!

Show me your papers...

When did this restaurant turn into Gestapo. Never going here again.

"Show me your papers?"

This place is not vegan, they're discriminatory.

Overpriced and hyped.

Shame shame shame.

Since I became a vegan recently, my friend FS suggested going here since it's a 100% vegan restaurant that she's always wanted to try. Located on the southeast corner of Melrose and Sweetzer, they offer valet parking or you can try to find street parking nearby. Just be careful because the residential streets are permit parking only I think. We had a reservation and were seated right away in their outdoor patio area.

The one bad thing about vegan restaurants is that they tend to use nut-based cheeses/cream sauces. It's very frustrating for me since I am allergic to all nuts. Thankfully Crossroads has a nut-free menu available so that made ordering a bit easier.

I got the following:
-- IMPOSSIBLE CIGARS, hot sauce: I have zero spice tolerance so I didn't try it with the hot sauce but the Impossible cigars, which are like tiny flautas, were pretty yummy. The pastry was very crispy.
-- TAGLIATELLE BOLOGNESE: I love pasta so I loved this. I don't know what the fake meat was made out of but it tasted good!
-- WARM PEACH COBBLER, candied ginger ice cream: Mmmm delicious! Paired well with the candied ginger ice cream.

The staff here were all nice and friendly, and FS and I both enjoyed our dinner here.

Had a surprisingly delicious meal here! I am not vegan in any way, but I wanted to support my best friend who's been on her Vegan journey for a few months now. This place really hones in on Italian fine dining. The zucchini blossoms were delicious and the vegan ricotta take was spot on! Super creamy, flavorful, and rich. The batter was a tempura fry; so a nice perfect light bite, with the marina dipping sauce the dish was truly fantastic. The second appetizer was the Artichoke Oysters mushrooms with vegan caviar. It was delicious and interesting. A unique bite.

For the main course my best friend got the Truffle Porcini Bianca pizza (not pictured) it was incredible! I loved it so much. I got the spicy rigatoni; it was okay. It was pretty spicy and a little salty, but I don't think it's usually this spicy in my opinion. Might have just been a heavy hand I'm not sure. I will definitely get the pizza next time though.

For desserts we had the banana chocolate cannoli and the brownie sundae; both were good. The sundae was incredible though. For a vegan desert I was truly impressed.

I have mixed feelings about Crossroads. I would rank them a 3.5/5. I do a lot of dining around LA but the service here has never been anything special. If anything, I felt looked down upon for not having a nose job and fake eyelashes.

The chicken and waffles are really good but the chicken portion is so small that I feel like you dont get to enjoy it.

What I recommend is the Khachapuri. The almond ricotta is soo delicious and the bread is the right amount of warmth and fluffiness.

The stuffed zucchini blossoms are also really good but I feel like I need to order two just for myself because of how small they are! (Bare in mind I am only 100lbs and don't need to eat as much as someone taller)

I never thought I'd update my review and give a lower rating, but the time has come. I've been coming since 2017 and have been here over 50 times based on my number of check-ins. My overall experience isn't as good as it used to be.

First, for the brunch menu, the restaurant recently introduced the idea of "plates" where the a la carte items were paired with 2 sides. As a result, they charged more for the plate than the individual item as a way to bring in more money. I understand the reasoning to do this and the sides were pretty good so I was ok with it. However, I noticed that the side of potatoes that came with it was significantly reduced. Also, when this change happened, a waiter told us that they would allow you to order a la carte still if you ordered at least one plate. Seems reasonable. However, now they won't do that anymore. I can no longer get all my favorite things in one visit because I have to pay for all of these sides which is just too much food.

Second, the staff isn't as friendly as before. Today, we got our side of fruit for one of our plates and there was mold on one of the raspberries. The waiter didn't apologize. He just took it and said "no problem" and brought us a new plate. The manager came to our table and tried to spin it off as some of the cheese that had gotten onto the fruit plate, but my guest and I were almost certain it was mold.

While this restaurant is still one of my favorites, it isn't as good as it used to. I still think you should go though. I will still be going. I am just writing this to get the restaurant's attention so that they can improve, and I will happily update my review if things do.

Vibe: Beautiful restaurant, has an upscale finish inside and the seating is comfortable and well placed.

Service: We have been to this establishment a handful of times and they have never lacked in service and attentiveness to the table.

Food presentation: Very well presented and the plates look appealing.

Food portions: Small portions that you can finish with a couple of spoonfuls. Only Michelin awarded restaurants serve a portion of that size and some of them may be bigger than what is served at Crossroads.

Food consistency: Quality of ingredients is very good, but there is a lot of inconsistency in regards to food taste. Some plates taste really great and some are similar to cafeteria standards. For example when we ordered the spanakopita , it was as if they pulled it out of the freezer and warmed it up in the microwave. A few other plates were a bit mediocre as well (mind you our visits there consist of ordering several plates per visit).

Pricing: Expect to pay mainly for the scene since the overall food quality and portions are simply okay.

Great concept though!

Divine. Food for your soul & your cells.
1. Inventive items like the sublime "oyster" bites to comfort favorites like the Carbonara, Truffle Pasta special & Scallopini Parmesean
2. Best pizza ever - and i only recently gave up non plant pizza. Everyone in my party including meat cheese eaters loved it and said it is by far one of the best.
3. Tal Ronnen is my HERO.
4. Thank you to Kathy Freston for putting Crossroads on my radar. Forever in your debt and also for any of you readers out there...leaning in...highly recommend her books: Veganish and 72 Reasons to be Vegan.  Discovering so many good plant based vegan people...love to hear your favorites.
5. Drove from Santa Barbara just to dine. My plant based daughter bday choice...i wish i could come every week!
6. Staff and service is always excellent.
7. Make Reservations.
8. Seriously i would write poetry to Tal and Crossroads if i could...they deserve an Ode as only a giant like Pablo Neruda could have composed.
In Gratitude Crossroads!

Oh...I'm completely awe of the chef, Tal Ronnen,  how he makes the food taste so good, so flavorful.
We had truffle potatoes, calamari, cheese plate as appetizers. Holy moly, this is jar-dropping good. Truffle potatoes or truffle fries has always been my favorite food. The potatoes are so soft and buttery. Not too salty so you can actually taste the sweetness of the potatoes. The calamari is made out of oyster mushroom but the texture, the flavor really tastes like calamari, without killing any squids. The cheese plate. The cheese plate. Oh man. If you are here just to have some wine and appetizer, GET THE CHEESE PLATE! It is insane! Words fail me. I can't even describe how great the blue cheese taste like. Unlike any other grocery bought vegan cheese, this is soft, moisture, and it melts in your mouth. When you combine the cheese with the bread and apricot jam or dried grapes, it brings the cheese game to another level.
For the entree, I got the Carbonara just because it's my favorite spaghetti dish. Surprisingly, they made an vegan yolk that actually like a soft boiled egg. My brain was exploded. How did they make it? Genius. The special menu was spicy sausage, cherry tomatoes with rigatoni. Yum. Sundae was absolutely delicious and perfect ending for a date night. I LOVE crossroad kitchen.