Better Life Cuisine

I love this place!!! I want to eat everything but I guess I’ll stick to one meal at a time: P
For starters, I had the curry croquette, lasagna, and pumpkin pie. Everything was good so I can’t complain but just as a caveat: the curry croquette had a lot of curry spice in it, the lasagna was spicy due to the raw onions in it, and the pumpkin pie tasted more carroty then pumpkin-​y.
Overall, it was delish! The portion size is great!!! Better than Planet Raw.
I fed the meter for parking so bring quarters. Thiis place is small and clean, and I’d say hidden to outsiders.
A true raw foodist haven :) :) :) :) :) but don’t be scared. Try it out, I dare you!!!

I had no idea it was even possible to be this creative with food. I was literally blown away by all the flavors in the food. Not only did the food taste amazing, but it was plated nicely. IT’S FREAKING CULINARY ARTWORK!
If I lived in the L.A. area I would come here every week until I tried everything on the menu. The staff is friendly, the place is unassuming, but the food is to die for and guilt free!
Clean tasty food, that’s what you’re paying for and that is what you get!

Love this place! This is a mom & pop joint. The food is excellent & quality. Great meal after a treatment next door at Petite Spa!
What you don’t see in the décor, you’ll find on the menu, taste in your mouth and feel in your belly :-)
The portions are excellent and the flavor really makes you feel like you’ve had a great savory meal… (which you have!).
Try the lasagna w/​kale salad you won’t be disappointed!

Wanted to try a new macrobiotic, vegan restaurant, not because I’m allergic to dairy or I only eat vegetarian food, but because I actually like the taste.
When I saw the outside of this restaurant, I had an urge to run away immediately. It was divey looking and I hated the curtains in the windows, but I dared to walk in and BOY was I surprised! This is not a «slick» place and in fact is very very plain but the food was the most imaginative and creative in every way possible that I was completely BLOWN AWAY by the menu.
I had the green drink made up of 5 different (green) things and it was delicious! Also, had the tuna wrap (which doesn’t have any real tuna in it btw) and it was HUGE and wrapped in this interesting wrap that almost tasted like a fruit rollup or something. I asked about the ingredients of this mysterious wrap and everything sounded legit. The kale salad was also out-​of-​this-​world. So. How can I go wrong here?
Breakdown:
DECOR: terrible, very spartan & slightly divey, but very very clean
PEOPLE: Arty, hippy-​looking
FOOD: SUPER EXCELLENT
SERVERS: Very very nice
Saw this listed on
. The owner is a mexican guy who has been working in the organic, vegan, macrobiotic world for many years now and just branched off and decided to do his own thing. I feel this place is going to get bigger and better over time. Just you wait and see.
Real Food Daily, get over yourselves already… Really??? You’re noisy and you make your customers stand around for hours.
At least @ Better Life Cuisine, you get much better tasting food, better service and PEACE, while eating.
I wish I could put this restaurant in my special vegan/​macrobiotic list, but the décor will certainly scare people off.

$ 20 for a peice of premade fridgerated lasagna and an inch of a date cinamon roll? You have got to be out of your mind. For that reason alone, I am not coming here again.
I live literally a block away from this place and have passed it on many occasions and have been wanting to try it for quite some time.
So yes, the cold vegan lasagna is quite tasty for what it is. Its cashew cheese is good and the side of guac kale was prob my fav part of the meal. Was it the best lasagna Ive ever had? Absolutely not. Go to bay cities ½ a block up people and it will change your life.
The cinamon roll was literally an inch thick and 2 inches long. It tastes like dates. It was alright but way overpriced. I cant beleive I ordered 2 things and no drink for 20 bucks! Yea I know I already said it, but thats so ridic!

I came here with my mom and my sister, so I got to sample a bunch of different things.
I started off with the beet salad (tasty and fresh!), and then had some sort of taco. It was called a taco but was more like a salad, with nut pates in lettuce cups. It was okay, but I wouldn’t order it again.
My mom got a wrap, which was huge! It was good.
My sister got this GORGEOUS, delicious, raw pizza! Now that is something that I totally recommend!
Street parking is difficult.
The inside is not cozy. The setup is odd, the lack of décor is a bit off-​putting.
So I have mixed reviews of this place but the way I feel is that even if you don’t love what you’re served, you are still getting top-​quality, organic, nutritional dishes and that’s what food is all about, right?

I was pleasantly surprised by this place. I love meat and animal products, but my friend recently turned vegan and wanted me to try out this place with him. I’ve had vegan food before and it wasn’t so bad per se, and I’m always willing to try out new places, so it was off to Better Life Cuisine we went.
Upon Unilocal’s recommendation, we both got the «lasagna» with guacamole & kale salad as my side and «chili» as his. My friend was definitely not a fan of the chili. The spices were spot on, but it was ice cold, and they wouldn’t warm it up on his request, which we thought was weird.
However, the lasagna was actually really great. I love lasagna, and had low expectations for the vegan raw version (zucchini — I hate zucchini, vegan mozzarella «cheese» AKA cashews, tomato sauce, and tofu — I’m highly suspicious of Westernized tofu) but it was delicious. We were both scraping our plates at the end. It reminded me of lasagna, but the best part was I didn’t feel heavy after finishing the whole thing. I also really liked the guacamole and kale salad. Not sure I would recommend getting a soup here as they all seem to be cold, and I think things like gazpacho and veloute are best left to the specialists.
The water here was also really great, with a hint of strawberry and mint. The best part was probably how good I felt about myself afterward. 4 stars for great, healthy, tasty food, minus 1 star for how damn expensive it was — $ 15 per person for an entrée.
I’ll be back when I’m feeling extra guilty!

So good! Best salad bar options and totally affordable. Their durian smoothie is like ice-​cream got reincarnated into something good for you!

Decided to try Better Life Cuisine after having been enticed to purchase an «eat something» deal on groupon.
After having made the 3-​block trek from my office, I was bit parched. Upon entering BLC, naturally I ordered a glass of water. As I brought the glass towards my lips, I was taken aback by the strawberry-​mint aroma that filled my nose. The water was Dee-​Vine!!! And ohhhh sooo refreshing!
Having successfully quenched my thirst, I ordered a 2-​salad plate to-​go and grabbed a bag of kale chips. The «Egg» salad and Kale n avocado. Loaded with celery, the loaded flavor of BLC’s «egg» salad was shockingly similar to what I remember real egg salad tasting like. And the kale chips? The best I’ve ever had.
I will definitely be back to try more dishes– can’t wait!

Let me start by saying that I am not a raw vegan. I work in this area, and felt like something light since I ate so bad this past weekend. (Story of my life.) Anyways, I passed by this spot multiple times and convinced my sister to check it out with me. First, there were 2 employees present and I believe one was new. Even though there were only 2 others in the restaurant with us, ordering was not quick and easy. We ordered:
curry wrap — my sister’s was wrapped in collard green. i should have done this because the «tortilla» wrap couldn’t hold its shape very well, and it tasted awful.
onion «bread» with guac — guac was good, onion «bread» was interesting.
chili — good
The wrap is huge, we only ate half, and I barely finished that. But here I am, hours later, and I still feel like hurling. It was probably one of the worst meals I have ever had. But I think this is just because I am not a raw vegan, and therefore not used to it. As my stomach is digesting the half wrap, I’m eying the cinnamon roll and chocolate roll cake. I couldn’t stomach that chocolate roll cake. It looked worse than it tasted, but it was no consolation b/​c I could not finish it. I had a few bites of the cinnamon roll and called it quits. I don’t think I will ever go back, and I think after my second attempt at giving raw vegan cuisine a try, I realized that it just does not match up with my palate. I can eat at vegan restaurants okay, but raw vegan is just too extreme for someone like me. It is also very pricey! I paid $ 25 for a cup of soup, wrap and a strawberry lemonade.

This place is bad if you’re indecisive because everything on the menu looks so friggin’ yummy!
Not the best raw food in town but it’s still really good and the service is WAY better than Raw Planet down the street.

I recently became a raw vegan instantly after watching «Forks Over Knives», which is still playing on Saturday mornings at the Lammle’s Monica Four-​plex cinema on 2^nd street in Santa Monica.
Today was the first time I walked into Better Life Cuisine, which I’ve passed by in my car many times.
I stared at their menu for a long time, because everything seemed so good.
I told Andre behind the counter that I was here for the first time, and asked him what was most popular. He suggested the Lasagna, which was one of my favorite food before I became a vegetarian and then recently raw vegan after «Forks Over Knives». I happily said: «Ok! I’ll try that.»
Andrew asked me whether I wanted Thai soup or salad with my Lasagna. I thought, raw vegan Thai soup? You gotta be kidding! I have got to try that, so soup it is.
«You want anything to drink?» He asked me. Well, I am not big on smoothies, and I couldn’t help but notice how enticing the big container of cool water on top of the counter, with whole mint leaves and fresh strawberries and sliced green apples and… So I pointed to it and replied «Just water.»
I was in a great mood, so the refrigerated cinnamon bun displayed under the counter just begged me to order it, so I did. :-)
I sat down at a table next to the wall in their spacious dinning area, and looked around the restaurant.
It felt very comfortable and casual, not sloppy casual, but very clean and relaxed and very well lit by natural light from outside kind of casual.
When the Thai soup came, it was served with a couple kale crackers that were made with loads of walnuts and all kinds of other nuts and seeds. With the spoon, I took a taste of the Thai soup, and… A bright stream of light appeared in the space above me and I heard majestic music… Ok, not really, but that’s how amazing it was, it was incredibly delicious. It is 120% uncompromising Thai soup with all the flavors, nothing is missing, but only extra fresh, incredibly delicious, even though it is a cold soup. It was so good I later asked Andrew about how it is made. He didn’t tell me, but just said it is not easy to make.
Then the lasagna came, it was visually beautiful and colorful, the rim of the plate was decorated with small pieces of dried kale leaves and golden color of some kind of nutritional yeast and ground nuts mix.
The lasagna is so amazing too, it had fresh zucchini slices, mozzarella cheese (vegan), and tomato sauce. The pasta was replaced by what appeared to be some tofu-​like stuff that is just so yummy. I remember keep thinking, this is so much more yummier than any lasagna I’ve ever had in my life, without question, not just the flavor, but the texture and the feel of it as you eat it, and the aroma of freshness, no conventional lasagna can ever beat this!
And the water, I took a whiff, and you can smell the mint, the strawberry, and the very nice scent of apples. I am going to try and make the same water at home, because this is just the best water I’ve ever had.
After finishing my entrée, the cinnamon bun was served. It was so chewy and super sweet and very delicious. It was so sweet that I had to take a sip of water after each bite, but it’s a good kind of «very sweet», I loved it.
After I finished, I went and chatted with Andrew, told him how incredibly delicious everything was.
When leaving, I thought, I’m definitely coming back here often to try their other items, and savor that amazing water again.

I love it when my raw food friend comes home to visit and I get to go to these neat places with her. I would probably not go if not for her, but I’m always impressed and surprised. It is slightly on the high priced end, but you do get a lot of food and it is so fresh and friendly that you can’t go wrong. We got the durian shake which I thought would be all crazy smelly and probably not so good, but it was amazingly smooth and sweet! I’ll go back just for this! And that KALE salad, it was so flavorful and crispy like cole slaw which is my favorite.
The fiesta platter is good with a sample of «salmon», «tuna» and… one more… they were good, but if it weren’t for the texture of the crunchy kale salad on the side, I wouldn’t have been able to eat it all… The bread/​crackers were really good, it was fun building little tostadas… really flavorful food. I’ll be back! Thanks Better Life!

Oddly enough, my first introduction to this restaurant, came by way of Rainbow Acres on Washington Blvd. in Culver City. In the refrigerated aisle, I picked up a small container of this kale salad to go, ate it for lunch and was impressed. It’s got more of a savory flavor. Better than Whole Foods!
To tell you the truth, I was a bit hesitant. A relative newcomer to raw cuisine, their food really tastes good.
On the job, I noticed an improvement in my concentration. So I figured this restaurant deserved an in person visit.
Today, I walked in with the intention of getting just the kale salad to go. The man behind the counter said choose what size, 1, 2, 3 or 4 salads. He held up different sized containers to go and I picked the 2 salad size, which was definitely with tax, less than $ 10.
Wondering what my second salad was going to be, I asked for a taste of the Thai noodle salad. I was blown away. Made of crispy, crunchy bean sprouts, it had an out of this world dressing. Whatever type of hot spicy dressing they used, it set my palate on fire. Ring a ding ding. Almost called the fire engines to put out the fire in my mouth.
I actually liked the Thai noodle salad better than the kale salad. Surprise, surprise, surprise! Those 2 salads, enough for 2 meals. Will have to try the eggless salad next time around. Uh-​oh, then I am in for 3 salads!
They had a green pie, called the spirulina pie. It made me curious, maybe I’ll get up the courage to try it on Halloween.
No more boring vegetables here, they do have a better life, a more spicy, upbeat life. It made me feel sorry for all the steamed lifeless vegetables around town. They stay open till 10 p.m. — very cool. With healthy, fast, creative cuisine, I am bound to stop in more frequently.

For me: the Vampire – Carrots, beets, apples, & celery. For Casey: Gil’s Green Smoothie – orange juice, kale, mango, Spirulina, & pineapple. Both delicious!
I can’t speak for the dishes they offer. My juice fast prohibited sampling of whole food. But everything looked gourmet and flavorful. I’ll have to visit again for a full assessment of their menu.
The employees were happy and helpful. The atmosphere was fine but it was a little lonely in there; no other patrons. However, a hand full of peaceful looking folks filed in for a Tai Chi class offered in the rear of the restaurant.
Thanks for the juice, Better Life Cuisine! My digestive tract thanks you, too. See you soon!

After a few days on my raw food cleanse, I was low energy and dying for some great and satisfying raw food. I found Better Life Cuisine through Unilocal and got to the restaurant about 30 minutes before closing. The girl behind the counter didn’t mind at all that I was taking forever to make up my mind and even offered me samples of some of the food since I had no idea where to start. I ordered the lasagna and picked the kale for the side dish. The lasagna and kale were both incredible; I couldn’t believe a raw meal could be so tasty!
I went to Euphoria Loves Rawvolution a few days later and was so extremely disappointed. I paid twice as much for mediocre and bland food.
Better Life Cuisine is THE place for raw food!

When you walk in, check out the shelves on the left hand side. It’s stocked with bagged goodies. All the different types of crackers are tasty. Way tastier than most raw vegan crackers sold at grocery stores. Better quality too. And look out for the dehydrated Kale Chips they have bagged on the shelf too. It’s SUPER YUMMY and also very messy/​crumby so make sure you dust the kale flakes off your shirt when you’re done snacking on these good eats!
When you’re done browsing the shelves, head over to the counter and look at the side salads on display. There usually is a Kale Salad. Kale seems to be a major staple in raw vegan cuisine so I have had my abundant share of kale dishes and Better Life’s Kale Salad is one of my fav’s. Simple, yet filling… and flavorful. Other side salads are rotated in that display and most of them are good. Ask for a taste before you decide.
As you’re eye balling the side salads, I know that your eyes stray over to the sweets. YESSSSS, sweets! Omg, Cinnamon Roll! Get the Cinnamon Roll! It is SO GOOD and so filling and tasty and flavorful and great texture and only around the $ 5 range and it’s awesome and it makes me do my «I just ate something yummy» dance! Cinnamon Roll! Mmm!!! And while you’re at it, ask the friendly staff about the different flavor cheesecakes and pies that are on display. Because for a raw vegan dessert, they give you a nice-​sized slice for a really low price. All of the ones I’ve tasted have been excellent! Ask them to squirt extra chocolate sauce on those desserts for you :)
Finally, look up at the menu. Ask what the soup of the day is. Ask for a sample. Every soup I’ve had has been tasty. Get the soup.
Now, entrées!
— Manicotti Rolls, yum!
— Lasagna, YUM!
— Pizza, …it’s pretty much the Lasagna with those crackers that they sell.
(what I like to do is order the Lasagna and buy a bag of crackers.)
While you wait for your food, get a glass of that water they have in that dispenser. All kinds of fruity and minty goodness is floating around in that water. Fruity/​minty-​infused water for your hydrating needs!
As you can tell, I’m a fan! Mostly because for a raw vegan place their prices are way less than the other places. But I wouldn’t recommend eating here too much… not enough variety of flavors to keep one’s interest so you could get tired really fast.

RAW organic vegan food is typically pricey anywhere you go — but this place is an anomaly. They serve very large portions, truly giving you the most bang for buck. And they actually soak their nuts! My favorite dish so far is the LASAGNA — so delicious!
Gil and the rest of the team are very humble, kind and such a blessing. Even if you aren’t a RAW foodist/​vegan — check this place out. It’s Love.

DISCLAIMER: i am not vegan, THAT BEING SAID. i still like trying vegan foods and have liked it at other places, BUT. if you have teeth and tastebuds OR are looking to be healthy, i would NOT recommend this place.
this restaurant is unique from other vegan restaurants in that all of its dishes are RAW (no baking/​cooking, just straight up ingredients!) & they have yoga classes onsite
i went with the fiesta platter while my roomie Sophia V. went with the pizza plate. let me just say Better Life should be ashamed to even call some of the things on my dish «salmon» and «tuna»… usually i’ll give vegan places props for getting close to the real taste but Better Life was FAR FROM IT!.. every mound of mush on my plate reminded me of baby food .
PORTIONS were way too large to finish, you’ll definitely have left overs, but by the end of the meal i was feeling sick to my stomach & plagued with a headache. probably from eating so much nut oil since nuts basically make up every dish EVEN THE DESSERT CHOCOLATE PIE.
my favorite parts were the guacamole, pico de gallo, and kale salad. (ANYTHING without nuts!) and their citrus infused water. i didnt like their «egg salad» but the pizza had nice flavors as did the cinnamon roll which was made of dates!
at a vegan joint i actually felt really UNhealthy contrary to belief! and i think they scarred my ability to eat nuts for QUITE a while. the leftovers are sitting in my fridge and i’m afraid to look at ‘em.
NOTE: take advantage of the
coupon. IF you end up going here!.. this place is kind of pricey for what you get

Not for the non-​vegan
for a raw/​vegan place…4 stars for flavor and creativity
compared to other foods…2 stars for the lack of texture and crazy use of NUTS
I appreciated the laid back vibe of the place and that it was the entrance way to a yoga studio… the concept of the food is intriguing… but this meal just didn’t make me want to eat raw foods again
As we discussed how mildly-​upsetting it is that vegan places don’t create names for their concoctions rather than substitute the original,
Jenny S. and I sat behind our humongous plates of colorful art trying to figure out what each color was made of. (come to think of it the fun plates echoed the abstract art on the walls)
We eventually gave up and just asked the nice and informative worker for the answers.
each blob/​chunk of «meat» or «cheese» is made of nuts, beans, herbs, and more NUTS!
Just because it’s VEGAN does NOT = light
I liked the flavors of my PIZZA… the marinara sauce and pesto sauce kept the dish from being too nutty and diversified the flavors… and the «bread bar» — a sheet of, probably, more nuts added a LITTLE crunch to the pile of mush, which tasted DECEPTIVELY light and air-​y.
Overall…enjoyed all the different flavors. but eat half the dish and you’ll have enough energy to last a marathon… that is if you can MOVE after -.-
Half way through, I started getting that carsick feeling from eating too much FAT… cashew fat.
The kale salad that came as a side was light and refreshing
Jenny S. didn’t have much of a ball at her FIESTA PLATTER… looked eye catching but I think the mounds and mounds of mushed beans and nuts were a downer
I don’t know why or how we managed after the main course, but we moved on to getting desserts… I got the CINNAMON ROLL made with dates, cinammon, sigh-yes.more nuts…, with a vanilla icing on top.
it was very very dense! like a brownie texture. the flavor grew on me… but it was definitely CARB-​O-​LISHUZ
Nice to try for the funny experience… but I think I’d rather eat multiple meals in a day instead of one big plate of flavorful RAW NUTS
$ 11.55 Fiesta Platter
$ 11.50 Pizza
$ 4.?? Cinnamon Roll
$ 4.?? Choco Vanilla Cake
+
coupon
= $ 31.02
DISCOUNT NOTE:
coupons are only worth it if you get the $ 25 one… we used the $ 10 off one which automatically adds 18% gratuity