Vegan Nirvana

Calling all Vegan’s. You gotta try this place. My first time here. Everyone’s so friendly and efficient. Fantastic food. Ultimate Liberation is delicious. Feeling healthy and full. Yummy.

I was excited to try this place after seeing next to Gyu Kaku all the time. Also, as a disclaimer, I am not a vegan or vegetarian, but I do enjoy the food. Here are my thoughts:
Food: Between me and my friend, we ordered the Ultimate Liberation («fish» tacos with chipotle sauce), Humble warrior (Cajun style fries), and Heaven on earth (chicken tenders). The tacos were delicious. The texture was spot on and the chipotle sauce gave it a nice kick. The fries were good too, very Cajun-​y. I wasn’t a fan of the chicken tenders though, as it was too bready, and too fried for me.
Drinks: Blueberry limeade and Strawberry Mint Limeade. Both were refreshing and not overly sweet.
Ambiance: I love the ambiance here. The walls were decorated with very Zen paintings, which also gives the place a hip vibe.
Price: A bit pricey to be honest. Everything came out to be $ 40.
I would probably only come back for the tacos. Everything else was Mediocre.

I LOVE this place so much.
been here 4 times within a week with my friend and we both absolutely loved everything we’ve had there (especially the dessert).
i love the food, the staff is friendly and helpful, it’s clean inside with calming music that isn’t distracting so you can have a conversation, the décor is pretty sick, the atmosphere in general is just great and the food is all done so quickly! i don’t normally have favorite restaurants but this is on my top three list now!

This place is soooooooo good! Awesome food, super friendly staff. Fish tacos are amazing!!!
Can’t wait to go back to try other stuff on the menu.

Best vegan spot in Orange County! I like how they pay attention to detail. We got the Kingdom of God with multigrain rice and the «fish» tacos. The Kingdom of God is basically a stir fry that had delicious flavor and all the veggies were cut evenly and had a great crunch. The tofu was surprisingly amazing. The «fish» tacos were spicy and you would never know they were meatless. I wanted to try the desserts but we were so full but in a good way. The food left me feeling great even though I was stuffed! The bathrooms are clean too. Can’t wait to bring my family back. Healthy and delicious!!!

I was sort of skeptical when I read all of the amazing reviews of this place, so I had to try it myself. Anyone reading this, please believe that all of the amazing reviews were well deserved!!!
I ordered the Ultimate Liberation, which consists of four vegan «fish» tacos. Each taco is made with a corn tortilla, cabbage, pico de gallo, a creamy chipotle sauce, and the «fish», which has a delicious spiced breading on it. The serving size was very generous, and it was amazing!
My husband, who is not vegan, ordered the crispy «chicken» strips (I can’t remember the name of them, sorry!) He LOVED them, and when I tried them, I loved them too. They were so crispy compared to other vegan chicken strips I have tried. The taste was perfect too.
The service was great. We sat down and our food was out in about ten minutes. Our waiter was very friendly and checked back with us often to make sure we were doing okay.
I highly recommend Vegan Nirvana!!! If I lived closer, I would be eating there a few times a week for sure. The prices are a bit higher than some of their vegan competitors, but because the quality of their food is so much better, it is worth it.

This place just has a place in my heart. I fell in love with their BLT and their sweet potato fries try them Cajun. The vibe is definitely funky spiritual and open to spark a conversation with the paintings, fireplace, or what’s on their TV. A must try when your in town

Went here for lunch with a friend of mine who has been here before. Before I get to far, let it be known that I am NOT vegan/​vegetarian. I am a carnivore to the max. But I have to say that the food here is OUTSTANDING.
The menu, while not super expansive, it is varied enough to satisfy just about anyone. I had an opportunity to chat with the chef after our meal about the restaurant. He told us that when he was developing the menu, he wanted to reach not only vegans, but those of us that are not.
Not being vegan/​vegetarian, most of the time when I go to a vegan place, I find most of the food «uninspired», this place knocked it out of the park! I will definitely be back. I live about 25 miles away, and I will be making the trip even just to eat here with nothing else to do in the area.
I highly recommend Vegan Nirvana for anyone, vegan/​vegetarian or even a hard core carnivore like me.

I pass by this place almost every night after work, too pooped to stop. Lol Well tonight my hubby surpised me with bringing me this evening. I have to say, Soooo worth it! I had the Deep Sea Meditation, & Jackfruit LimeAde wow! So Dank. The server was awesome! Customer Service w a smile, The atmosphere so Zen, chill. Our dishes were so flavorful, hot and fresh! I will definately become a regular customer…

I always lower my standards when I come across a vegan place, but this restaurant went above and beyond the expectations of this carnivore. The fish tacos are a MUST. If you don’t get this dish, there’s no point in coming here, nuff said.
Deep sea meditation is also very yummy. I applaud this restaurant for their mimicked textures! The «shrimp» had a surprisingly accurate texture! Unlike many other vegan restaurants that carry obviously phony tofu meats.
attentive service! Small menu, but all great options.

I called to place an order for pick-​up. It was very quick and easy. The restaurant itself has very dim lighting and dining is in an intimate setting even though there are casual tables as well as stools.
I got the Ultimate Liberation, which comes with 4 «fish-​like» tacos. It’s such a big portion that it could be split between 2 or 4 people when ordering other items to share. The tacos are spicy, so be prepared! It really did taste like regular fish tacos, very filling and delicious. I’ll definitely have to come back to try other items on the menu.

This is a great vegan lunch spot. The menu is full of sammiches, wraps, fries, just great lunch foods.
The names are really hard to remember so I just won’t even try, but I will tell you things that make me happy about this place.
Chik’n lettuce wraps served with the «1,000 island dressing» is amazing the flavors blend so well and trust me when I tell you it is better as left overs the net day.
BLTA was one of the best I have had, the bread was fresh, the veggies were crisp and fresh and the bakon was just the right amount of bakoney.
Sweet potato fries and great cooked perfect that they are crisp on the outside and not over seasoned. Oh and I love the chipotle dipping sauce I want the recipe it is so good I want to eat it on everything.
the chik’n wrap is really good as well. So far I have not had anything that I haven’t enjoyed.
ohh and the desserts, the cheesecakes I have had the chocolate and the berry. next time I think I want to share one of each with the table I bet they would combine beautifully,
The ambiance is chill and the staff is super friendly and helpful as I have found to be the case with most vegan places.
Bring a sweater is it’s always so cold.

Deep sea meditation is really good. Yummy.
It has a hawaiiany taste to it. I like it a lot but I wouldn’t say I’d order it every time I come here. Gets a little boring after a while.
Ultimate liberation was too spicy for my taste. I like it however if they made the sauce mild I would’ve loved it… It sucks how you have to eat it right away or it’s no good. It gets super dry when you put them in the fridge for few hours.
The pricing … Ehhh I don’t like it. It’s pretty pricy for a meal. That isn’t any close to fancy. Rather go au lac for that price. I mean there’s plenty of other vegan joints that are way cheaper with a lot of great reviews. Just sayinnnn

I came back a second time because I really wanted to try their mock shrimp («Deep sea meditation.») Boy, am I glad that I did. I literally could not tell these things from actual shrimp, not even when I bit one in half and looked at it. Only when I really held it up close could I tell that the texture looked a little different.
I ate it back at the conference, and people kept asking me where I got it. They kept saying how good it looked and smelled. Believe me, this conference was not a vegan crowd. There were a lot of military guys there. So that is some compliment.
Bring the carnivore in your life some takeout from Vegan Nirvana. Don’t tell them what it is. I bet you they love it. For realsies.

Disclaimer — I am not a vegetarian.
That being said I like vegetarian food, and have eaten at 5 – 6 other vegetarian/​vegan restaurants so I am basing my review on that.
Place has a cool interior, very colorful and eclectic.
Menu isn’t expansive, most items are around $ 12. I felt the ingredients were fresh. The food tasted decent. We went for a birthday party and had roughly 15 people so I was literally able to try just about everything on the menu. My gripe was that many of the dishes were super salty… I mean super salty. The one exception wasthe sweet n sour (vegan) pseudo shrimp dish. That was sweet. But honestly, if I am eating in a healthy mode I dont want alot of sugar or salt. The salt was so much it unbalanced my dish. As a point of comparison I am a big fan of «The Spot» in Hermosa beach and they get alot of flavor from spices and just the natural beauty of the ingredients.
All in all, it was okay, but if in mood for vegetarian I would just goto a thai restaurant instead… since they are Buddhist they can always cook you a vegetable dish off the menu if u ask.

Believe the hype — Vegan Nirvana is that good! Vegan, vegetarian, meat eaters, it doesn’t matter. Take them here and everyone will be happy.
We went with the most raved about menu items: the fish tacos (Ultimate Liberation) and the chicken and tofu vegetable stir fry (Kingdom of God). [From here on out, I refuse to use those ridiculous names and just call the dishes what they are.] The fish tacos looked legit: four to a plate and each served with a corresponding lime wedge. I limed mine up and took a bite. Wow! Crunchy from the fish, fresh from the cabbage, and creamy and spicy from the chipotle cream liberally drizzled on top. Yeah, these were actually quite spicy bordering on just tolerable heat-​wise for me. If you are sensitive to spice, I recommend asking for less sauce or getting it on the side to be safe.
The chicken/​tofu stir fry was served with multi-​grain rice, per our request. The stir fry was smoky and well seasoned but not at all spicy even though the description said it has jalapenos in it. I didn’t see any visible pieces of it, either. I was initially hesitant about ordering the dish because of the hodgepodge assortment of veggies thrown in it (cauliflower, kale… really?), but it all worked together just fine since everything was nicely cooked in that delicious sauce. The portion size was quite large and we ended up taking half of it home with us.
There are so many pictures of the food items and not enough of the crazy, psychedelic paintings so I’ve included a few here. And FYI, there was no propaganda being shown on the big screen TV. Instead, it was a montage of marine life, ocean waves, and seals basking on the beach.
Great food at a reasonable price, plus an intense art experience for free. Go here now!

I have fairly low expectations for vegetarian restaurants that are not Native Foods, but you can bring your omnivore friends (me) here and there is a good chance they’ll enjoy it.
This place looks. wacky. It has a waterfall inside. It definitely looks like a vegan restaurant. And get a load of the menu; Ultimate Liberation? Haha. oh wait, it’s ‘fish’ tacos! I want to try that. Our server was sweet and brought over our jackfruit limeades quickly. I need to learn how to make this or at least bring some tequila to slip into it next time; it’s delicious! When my tacos arrived, my jaw dropped and our server laughed, saying, «That’s the reaction that we usually get.» The portion is huge! My friend could not even finish her wrap but I made quick work of my 4 tacos. The consistency was a little more like chicken but tasted unmistakably of battered fish. Almost as good as any other fish taco I’ve had, aside from Matt Orlando’s pop-​up at Hija de Sanchez. Dat smoked bone marrow fat tho!
The price may seem a little steep but you get a lot of food. Good place to keep bookmarked for your veg friends, or even if you feel like eating not-​fish fish tacos.

My wife and I have visited here twice now and both times have been totally blown away by how amazingly good the food is here. As a man who grew up with a vegan mom I always associated vegan food as bland and boring yet more and more of these vegan places are popping up proving you can be healthy, meatless, and loaded with flavor.
The inside of this restaurant is beautiful with artwork everywhere. There’s even artwork in the bathroom. It’s very relaxing and reminds me of something you’d see at a Spa. Service on our first visit was excellent. Our waiter was thrilled to talk about the food and happy to talk about how things are made and what ingredients are used. Our second visit our waitress did the bare minimum and acted pretty bored.
First visit I had the «Kingdom of God» which is «chicken», tofu, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, red onion, bell peppers, and jalapeños. It’s all beautifully caramelized in a Korean BBQ style sauce they call «Wisdom Sauce». It’s served with white or multi-​grain rice, I had the multi-​grain. The portion size is HUGE and even though I devoured it all you could easily split this. It smelled delicious, looked delicious, and tasted delicious. I didn’t visually see any jalapeños but the plate definitely had a spicy kick to it.
My wife had the «Deep Sea Meditation» which is crispy «shrimp», pineapple, red bell pepper, green onion, red onion, jalapeño, and cilantro in a sweet and sour sauce they call «ying yang sauce». I’ve have vegan shrimp in the past that look like shrimp but these had the taste and texture of real shrimp. It was insane how realistic they were. They said the trick is they use tapioca to create the texture. Seriously good stuff.
On our second visit I wanted to try a wrap so I went with the «Light Keeper» which is «chicken», bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, cabbage, pico de gallo, all wrapped in a spinach tortilla. The wrap was huge and pretty spicy. Fake chicken tasted like the real deal. The cook came out later and apologized saying he’s training somebody and they forgot the chipotle sauce. Honestly, it was so good already it really didn’t need any extra sauce. He offered me a new one but I was fine with it the way it was. My only complaint is it was fell apart too easy so I ended up eating it with a fork. Easily big enough to split. Came with house made chips & salsa.
My wife had the «Divine Eternity» which had the same ingredients as my wrap but with the addition of cilantro, sprouts, and toasted almonds. This dish is served like lettuce wraps. She wasn’t that thrilled with her dish, said it wasn’t very flavorful. she ordered a side of fries which were tossed in a really tasty cajun style seasoning.
Great place, I highly recommend. It’s a big pricey but the portions are huge enough to split.

I didn’t know that the guys in Nirvana are vegan, that’s pretty cool!
…oh wait, you’re telling me that Vegan Nirvana is not a 90s Seattle grunge band-​themed restaurant? Nevermind. (see what I did there?) It’s actually quite the opposite. That is, if opposite means space-​themed restaurant filled with aliens and UFOs. Very «eep opp ork ah-​ah» for you Jetsons fans ;)
What do aliens have to do with vegan food? I have no idea. But what I do know is that the Meateater BF was singing high praises about this place after our delicious dinner here. It was as if he was abducted by aliens and forced into crazy experiments that caused him to love vegan food. Yeah, that must be it.
Or maybe the food here is just so good that they were able to sway the Meateater BF over to the darkside for an evening. My evil plan is working! Thank you Vegan Nirvana! :insert evil laugh here:
His favorite dish of the night, and mine too, were the vegan fish tacos otherwise known on the menu as Ultimate Liberation. So legit! Batter-​fried pieces of «fish» on a bed of cabbage and pico de gallo then topped with fresh cilantro and a tasty smokey chipotle sauce. Possibly the best vegan fish tacos I’ve ever had!
The sweet potato fries, or Selfless Savior as known on the menu, are basic. The homemade dipping sauces however, pretty impressive. The BF couldn’t decide on which one to get so we got all four: ranch, thousand island, ketchup, and the same chipotle sauce that was on the fish tacos. My favorites were the chipotle sauce and the ranch which had a tasty peppercorn flavor to it.
The Light Keeper is anything but light. This wrap is stuffed with red bell peppers, onions, cabbage, pico de gallo, and mushrooms. It also comes with «chicken» strips but since they were out of that ingredient, they used «turkey» strips. This wrap is pretty huge and the BF was only able to eat half. The other half became my lunch the next day and I still couldn’t finish the whole half. This photo doesn’t do it justice but I swear it was pretty big.
Deep Sea Meditation comes with the biggest mound of rice ever! Then around that giant mound of rice are crispy-​coated «shrimp» tossed in a sweet and sour sauce with pineapple and veggies. Tasty stuff! But I would recommend eating this one within a few hours because my leftovers were tricky to get the crispy back. Although if I was successful, I would write my review to the tune of «sexy back» and call it «crispy back.»
Easily 5-​stars from me. I’m not a fan of the way they name their menu items but I’m a fan of the menu items itself. The prices may seem a bit high but the portion sizes are actually quite generous. None of that pretentiously small serving sizes many vegan restaurants serve. I also love that this is just down the street from The Donuttery. But perhaps one day I’ll check out Vegan Nirvana’s raw cheesecake and maybe forget all about the delicious vegan donuts down the street ;P

I saw that this place has five stars so I guess I just had to confirm it for myself. It seems like a hole in the wall because it’s in a small area next to the $ 3 theatre. Parking at the front is 30 minutes only, but there’s a large parking structure to the side and only a couple feet away.
My family came for lunch at 11 and were greeted nicely at the front. The décor is really colorful, humorous, and calm, and there’s Planet Earth with subtitles playing on a wall. The server gave us her recommendations, and so we ordered the divine eternity, ultimate liberation, and light keeper. Our food came in less than 10 minutes and all three looked like art (so I took pictures of course).
The divine eternity is 4 lettuce cups filled with goodness. I think it’s Asian fusion since it has some sesame and pork imitation, stuff like that. I could even smell the dish sitting on the table.
The ultimate liberation is 4 fish imitation tacos. That was my sister’s favorite. Each taco came with a slice of line which was cute, and the sauce was very light but amazing. The fish imitation was also crispy and good. I would definitely get this again!
The light keeper is a wrap with chicken imitation that really tastes as good as chicken. It also comes with a small side of chips and salsa. The entire wrap was literally lighter than any other wraps (like Chipotle’s), but I feel like it is the most nutritious and also the yummiest. Maybe I’ll come here again and order a wrap to go!
Overall, really clean and nice place. Servers and cooks are incredibly nice and receptive. Food is great for the stomach and mind. Ideally, come with a group of 4 so you can share 3 or so dishes.