Pura Vita

TLDR: 4.5/5 - Vegan where?! Beautiful place, fresh and creative takes on non vegan foods, amazing hospitality, and for Christ Sake get the Broccolini.

I can't even remember where I heard this place from, maybe The Infatuation which is a great way to put how I felt about this experience.

We came in around 9P on a Saturday night and were told to wait for a minute after saying we did not have a reservation. My guess is that it is better to have one but they were able to see us (2) relatively quickly!

Ordered:

Broccolini: 6/5 - You know when people have a hard time believing at their big age that a vegetable can't taste good? Yeah give them this. I saw one review that said it was good and I did want some prominent veggie in my meal so we got that on a whim. The person I'm with is so expressive and I've never seen them so transformed or in awe about anything since I've known them than this broccolini. It was one of those things that I wish I could experience eating again for the first time. We're talking about broccolini here. It made the bar too high.

Lasagna: 4/5
The flavor was good! I did feel like I inhaled it and structurally wasn't as sound as typical pasta but I do think it was very tasty.

Calzone: 4/5
This was massive!! I thought it really had the flavor of Italian sausage, pepperoni, etc. I think the textures of all those alt meats kind of blended together though? It made it hard to discern what was what. We also wanted more cheese, it felt a little lost.

Again I think the bar was just too high after some broccolini

Service: 5/5
Great service and hospitality! Everyone was so lovely.

Ambiance: 5/5
It was giving a new york vibe which I stan. Definitely would be a cute date spot.

Parking: 2/5
Its on Santa Monica so you gotta take what you can get but depending on the hour you might be okay!

Definitely want to go back!

Service was five stars and the food was delicious for being all vegan. We had their caesar salad, black magic lasagna, and pizza, and some wine, BUT, and this is a big but, my husband and I both got very ill after dinner here. Not stomach pains ill, but nauseating and vomiting. It's odd that we experienced the same kind of illness. I also got a migraine, usually triggered by certain types of cheeses and MSG which is really odd considering there's no cheese at this restaurant and I wouldn't think this place uses MSG. Not sure if it's because we were just not adapted to a vegan diet...

I hate to write a bad review but thought it was worth sharing in case others had similar reactions.

I was craving Italian after an event and I loved the cozy vibes of the restaurant! I wanted to check it out because their dishes looked so good on Yelp lol.

I was quickly seated and served and the waiter kept checking in to make sure everything was okay! The food was so good! Pasta was flavorful and creamy! Their drink was pretty good too!

Thank you Kevin the manager for such a great experience and the incredible bartender, our drinks were perfect!

The wonderful servers and staff also gave us such a wonderful experience!

We loved the music and the vibe and ambiance was so much fun!

We wanted to try as many vegan dishes that caught our eye and we tried the following:
GL Bellini
Baked Ricotta
Grilled Broccolini
Chocolate Fudge Cake
Black Magic Pizza
Prickly Pear Margarita
Arancini
Carbonara
Cacio e Pepe

Everything was so delicious and flavorful! I can't believe it's all Vegan and incredible!

From the sauces to the pizza dough the food experience was stellar.

I'm a Non-vegan who loves trying vegan spots. A close friend is vegan so every time we go out I try to find something that's got an expanded menu so she's not left with just a veggie burger.

The potato croquettes were nuts...sooooo crispy with an amazingly creamy sauce. The carbonara is a must get. Not identical to real cream version but it's different and delicious in its own way.

The Diavolina pizza on the hand lost almost nothing from a non-vegan version. Only drawback is it's really oily but the ricotta is worth it!

Also fantastic service by everyone. Super attentive and kind with answering questions. Must try in WeHo.

Atmosphere - Clean, New York style decor. No wait on a Saturday afternoon. They accept reservations. Street parking only.

Customer service - Attentive, friendly, knowledgeable about the menu and they made great recommendations.

Taste - Linguine de mare, Tagliatelle au Funghi and Capricciosa Pizza were delicious and flavorful. Pizza crust was crispy and doughy. More like a New York thin crust pizza. The middle wasn't as crispy because of all the toppings and tomato sauce. Pasta noodles were freshly made and pasta sauce was creamy and full of flavor. Spice level was perfect.

Price - Above average but worth it

Cool vegan, Italian restaurant in WeHo.

The San Gennaro pizza was solid. Got the Strawberry Mint Limonata drink, which was really sugary. The restaurant does not serve hard alcohol, so they used a weaker, Soju tequila.

Service was great. Waitstaff was pleasant.

The main dining room is in a small room that fits around 10 tables. It can get really loud just because the room is so small. I'd probably only go later in the evening when there's less people just because of how loud it was.

Parking - This restaurant is on Santa Monica Blvd in WeHo, so no parking. We came late at night, so just risked it and parked in the residential neighborhood behind the restaurant.

Love love love

This is my bestie's favorite spot since it meets her dietary needs.

We walked over since we both live just a few blocks away. It was a great way to work up an appetite and just the right amount of time to finish a j.

We got a bunch of stuff to share which honestly got a little overwhelming. Our table ran out of space. You woulda thought there were more people coming seeing as we got the following
Polpettine
Arancini
Garlic Knots
Buffalo Cauliflower
Cesare
Black Magic Pizza
A pasta I forgot the name of

Everything was so good. I completely forgot that I wasn't consuming any dairy whatsoever.

Edith took such great care of us.
I'm already looking forward to coming back.

The food was amazing we did not have anything that was bad here. Delicious! The waiter was very knowledgeable and was able to answer any allergy questions we had, they even had an allergy menu. We got seated right away, the restaurant was not too loud, it was a very chill atmosphere .

In preparation for a night of purported debauchery and/or revelry in the heart of WeHo, Jamie W. and I ventured on Santa Monica Blvd east of La Cienega to try this popular vegan Italian spot because we were reading it was really good. We were so in the mood for classic Italian and figured taking the meat, cheese, and dairy out might be a smart move for a change.

So did that mean the flavor was expunged, too? I'm happy to report it did not. We started with the $13 Polpettine, a trio of hearty mushroom lentil "meatballs" in marinara sauce and topped with macadamia parmigiano (photo: https://yelp.to/0LDNVLhoWK). We also had the $17 Caprese Salad with cashew mozzarella, heirloom tomato slices, basil, and a drizzle of a balsamic reduction (photo: https://yelp.to/3Wqi6Us5Dn).

Honestly, both appetizers were pretty close to the real thing with the "meatballs" not overly mealy and the faux-cheese surprisingly satisfying. Jamie was thrilled they offered the $25 Puttanesca since it didn't require any alteration - just spaghetti with tomato, onions, capers, chili peppers, and parsley (photo: https://yelp.to/eSNDf4MZ9L). The saltiness of olives and capers lent a welcome depth of flavor.

I went for the $27 Carbonara which featured surprisingly tasty ingredients like shiitake bacon, macadamia romano cream, and avocado egg (photo: https://yelp.to/tWbe1ds48o). There were two separate spaces - one devoted to a long bar counter and the other the more traditional dining room where they were handling a lot of pizza takeout orders. I'm sure the pizza's good, but we had an evening of debauchery ahead of us.

FOOD - 4 stars...vegan executions of pasta favorites well executed
AMBIANCE - 3.5 stars...a bit crowded with pizza boxes speeding by us
SERVICE - 4.5 stars...quite attentive for El Lay
TOTAL - 4 stars...vegan satisfaction can be achieved

RELATED - Exploring WeHo? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://bit.ly/3TBgdOP