if you are a vegan in los angeles, you may already be aware of the depressing fact that doomie’s home cookin’ (one of our favorite restaurants ever) has closed its doors. they are currently looking for a new place to set up shop, but for now doomie’s is no more. you still have one last chance to eat doomie’s food though, you can head over to silver lake tomorrow and pay ten bucks for an epic all-you-can-eat vegan feast.

2 flavors of doomie's vegan mac n cheese!

doomie’s is throwing two parties this weekend, both all-you-can-eat buffets to get rid of their perishable food, and to remind the vegan community what a kick ass restaurant they were. i attended the shindig today in south gate, and it was fucking amazing. i implore you to go check them out on the eastside tomorrow, this could be your last chance to eat the genius vegan food that is doomie’s.

doomie's home cookin', squatting in the m-vision graphics warehouse in south gate.

we drove all the way from hollywood to get our doomie’s fix and arrived in south gate at around 3:30pm. by the time we got there, the place was already buzzin’ with vegan hipsters carrying patch-covered backpacks and strange old hippie types with animal rights slogans printed on their t-shirts. there was a box for payment, ten bucks a head, sitting on the table and everyone was on the honor system to kick down some cash and hopefully a donation towards the reopening fund. doomie was standing behind a long table, cooking dish after dish, adding more and more food to the buffet table as people lined up pile their plates high with vegan goodness.

the doomie crew serving it up!

hungry vegans!

everything on the table was flat-out delicious, and even as we were leaving, doomie was cooking up more recipes. i looked around the warehouse and almost everyone was holding an empty plate, patting their stuffed bellies, and still eyeing up the trays of food. people who had never tried doomie’s found a reason to be depressed like the rest of us; the food is just so fucking good, and it’s a shame it won’t be available anymore.

spicy gumbo, herbed macaroni and cheese, delicious pot roast

the husband and i tried to sample a bit of everything, and i think we left about ten pounds heavier. pictured above are the spicy seafood gumbo, a new type of herbed mac n cheese, as well as a hearty pot roast. all of it was very tasty, but the pot roast was out of this world. seriously, the fake meat was all thick and succulent, the gravy was rich and salty, and the vegetables were chunky and and soft. pot roast may sound kind of standard or boring, but this was some of the best food i’ve ever eaten. and i’ve eaten a lot of food, man!

i also finally got to try doomie’s standard mac n cheese, and OMFG i LOVED it!

mac n cheese with salad.

this was some of the best vegan mac i’ve ever had. this could take the pepsi challenge with any other vegan mac n cheese shit, any day of the fuckin’ week. what the hell does doomie put in his cheese sauce? it was so thick and creamy, and tasted like REAL cheese in a really creepy and exciting way. i could have eaten like 5 helpings…but with all that food there, i had pace myself. the salad was also damn good.

doomie's burger, piled high with bacon and slathered with cheese.

in between cooking amazing mac n cheese and quite possibly the best pot roast ever, doomie was taking special burger orders as well. the husband and i split a cheesy bacon burger and it was INSANE. they had chili burgers as well, but we skipped those because of the mess factor. regardless, our burger was awesome—from the perfectly grilled patty, to the crispy rashers of bacon, to the runny cheese sauce. i am so glad we got to try it. the crowd was super pleased as well, everyone i saw with burgers shoved in their mouths were chewing and smiling at the same time.

frito pie! fritos smothered with chili and cheese.

lastly, we helped ourselves to a serving of frito pie. it was basically chili cheese nachos with fritos instead of tortilla chips. talk about guilty pleasure. i don’t even want to think of what went into this dish…all i know is that it didn’t contain any dead animal body parts, and it tasted incredible. again, the cheese sauce was killer…it tasted just like that sketchy but tasty runny stuff that comes out of a pump and covers nachos at the movie theater or the baseball stadium. sinfully authentic vegan food. i love it.

that’s it. i tried, but i couldn’t eat anymore. as we were leaving, doomie was well into cooking some mashed potatoes and asked someone, “hey, where are the pie crusts?” we took that as our cue to run for the door. dude, too much good food! and whatever the heck involved mashed potatoes and pie crusts, well, i’m sure that was great too.

so go, go, go, GO to silver lake tomorrow and eat what doomie has to offer. who knows, this may be your last chance. i can tell you, you will definitely get your ten bucks worth and probably eat some of the best vegan food you’ve ever tried. go there, eat lots, and tip well. you and doomie both deserve it.

R.I.P. DOOMIE’S HOME COOKIN’ (at least for now). let’s hope doomie’s reopens again very soon. here’s to arguably the best restaurant ever to serve up affordable and tasty vegan food in los angeles. it’s an outright crime that they were only open for 3 short months.

for all of you who want to reminisce, click here. and here.

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according to their myspace blog, doomie’s home cookin’ has officially closed for business in its current location. we reported on their temporary closure yesterday, and today it’s looking a lot more permanent.

on a hopeful note, they state that doomie’s is planning to open again in a new location by the end of the year.

unfortunately, on the first day of february, the end of the year is a long, long way away.

i don’t know what to say, i am completely and utterly shocked and saddened by this news. they were one of my favorite spots in los angeles, no doubt. 

as the blog says, DOOMIE’S IS STILL AVAILABLE FOR CATERING. if anyone is interested in pitching in ten bucks and having an awesome, vegan mac ‘n cheese throw down, please contact me. let’s give doomie’s some catering business whenever we can.

vegan los angeles is definitely changed now that doomie’s has closed its doors; i will miss the awesome food, great service, and all around unhealthy-tasting and delicious home-cookin’.

philly cheesesteak: strips of beef smothered in cheese piled with grilled onions and mushrooms. $8.75

i hope doomie’s comes back. i mean, WTF…they had the best vegan junk food i’ve ever tasted. not fair i tell ya, fucking not fair.

to keep track of doomie’s and what they are up to, friend them on myspace. they deserve all the support they can get from our vegan community!

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i got some sad news today when i logged onto myspace. it looks like one of our favorite los angeles vegan restaurants, doomie’s home cookin’, is closed until further notice. they alerted us via their myspace blog, and i for one am very upset about this.

let’s hope this closure is due to something really trivial, and doomie’s will be up and running again in no time. until then, i will just keep craving their tap beer and vegan BLT.

b.l.t.: vegan bacon, lettuce and tomato with vegan mayo on toasted white or sourdough. $6.95

seriously doomie, come back soon, really fucking soon. the vegan community needs ya.

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UPDATE: since this post, doomie’s has closed for business. this is very sad news, and we hope they will be back up and running again soon. for old times’ sake, the original post on doomie’s follows. but please note, the restaurant is CLOSED.

It was late on a Friday afternoon, and I found myself wandering Skid Row on foot in Downtown LA. Don’t ask how I got there, what I was doing there or even why I’m writing this post (some things are best left unasked), but I was very glad that it happened to be my wedding anniversary and my wife, coincidentally, was with me.

We were tired, a little inebriated and more than a little hungry when we trekked through the ghetto to Chinatown towards Doomie’s. As always, finding the place is challenging, not least because it’s elevated off the street, has no visible signage (other than a windswept cloth banner) and the entrance is a foreboding set of steps surrounding a disused elevator that bring you to a patio above street level where you will wander into a dark, disused nightclub that looks like (and is about as welcoming as) back-stage when a band has finished playing.

Once the staff notice you’re there, you begin to realize that the book which is Doomie’s should not be judged by the cover of its approach. You will be welcomed by a knowledgeable server (in this case the daughter of one of the owners) who will stop at nothing to make sure you’re seated right and served so well.

Although there were only two of us, we were sat at a nice large table which had a great view of Chinatown and the Hollywood Hills, replete with our own heat lamp to ward off the dim December gloom.

From the extensive menu we chose some dishes that looked to be filling and tasty – and we were not disappointed.

country fried steak: this beefy, breaded bad boy comes smothered in our homemade country gravy! your choice of roasted reds or garlic rosemary mashed potatoes. $9.95

I plumped for the Country Fried Steak with mashed potatoes and gravy. Now, I’ve never had a real fried steak, but this concoction of seitan and crispy batter was so damn good I wolfed it down in a jiffy along with the perfectly creamy mashed potatoes.

The wife opted for the absolutely humongous “Meatball Samich” which is a gooey tomato sauce fest of firm meatballs, soft bread and tangy marinara. Oh, and the welcome side of onion rings were to die for.

meatball samich: our homemade meatballs smothered in marinara sauce and melted cheese! real cheese or make it vegan. $8.95

We cleaned our plates, and relaxed back full but not stuffed while we watched the shenanigans of Chinatown down below. At all times our server was there for us, and was cheerful and informative.

You see, the experience at Doomie’s is anything but Fine Dining. If you want that, go to Real Food Daily, stand in line for ages and pay $20 for an entree. If you are more focussed on tasty good value food and friendly service then Doomie’s will go the extra mile to ensure you’re satisfied.

Doomie’s has all the traits of a family business staffed by people who really care that you have a good experience. On the evening we were there we ran into Doomie himself, two generations of the owners and Doomie’s girlfriend. How often does that happen when you go out to eat?

Doomie’s again delivered wonderful service and (just like they say) “Home Cookin’” that is the perfect intersection of professionally produced restaurant food and the stuff that mom used to make. Only you don’t need your mom no more, as Doomie is there to cook for you, and it’s highly unlikely he’ll ask you to go tidy your room before he serves the food.

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