Playa

I have a love/hate relationship with Playa. I love the space SO MUCH, I love the chips (I could just eat chips for dinner here) and I love their salsas. I love the fun atmosphere that makes you want to celebrate something. What I don’t love is how few vegan options there are.

On my most recent visit, I went at a time when they were serving their brunch menu. ZERO vegan menu items were available other than the sides of rice, beans, tortillas and potatoes. If I were to order those items, I could build a vegan plate for $21.50, which is more than any of the meat-based dishes with the same ingredients included. Is it really that hard to be more creative with the items you already have on hand in the kitchen? There is a Little Gem salad on the brunch menu here that can be veganized by ordering it without the cheese.

I asked for the roasted corn in addition to my sides, and asked for it without dairy, since the usual version comes covered in a cilantro-lime aioli/cream sauce. When it arrived, it was coated in the cream sauce, which the waiter assured me was not real dairy. This seemed highly doubtful since not one other menu item mentions anything about a nut-based vegan cream or cheese- so I asked the waiter what it was made from. He said he would go check, and came back to tell me it was an almond cream sauce with no dairy. I took his word for it, but still find it highly unusual for there to be vegan creams, cheeses or sauces in the kitchen meant to replicate their dairy cousins with NO mention of that on the menu. If it is in fact true, YAY, and I hope they will begin to better market the dairy-free versions of things!

On the dinner menu there is a tiny bit more for vegans to choose from. Tiny bit. Tacos with eggplant, king mushroom, yellow onion, swiss chard, poblano pepper puree, Cotija Cheese, pickled red cabbage and cilantro, and we can order two more side dishes; (1) roasted Brussels sprouts with chipotle dressing and toasted almonds and (2) broccolini with garlic-chili oil and Cotija Cheese.

I hope Playa takes a page out of Flores’ book and adds a vegan section to their menu soon. :) When they do, I might just move in to that gorgeous space!