Peace Pies — Restaurant in San Diego

What an absolute gem. If I lived nearby, I'd ask the staff to hurry up and give me a nickname because I'd be a regular like clockwork. Alas, I don't live nearby. A stellar stop should you find yourself driving between Los Angeles and San Diego, or thereabouts. Like I did. If you do live close, lucky you.

Newly introduced, I didn't know where to start. I asked about fan favorites and was directed to the mushroom quesadilla. "Everyone on Yelp loves it." Well goddamn. Feel free to include me on the "everyone" list. A tough task, creating a raw quesadilla that can stand up to its traditional, melty cousin. But stand up it does. My wife isn't big on mushrooms, but she was eyeing my half like I was going to have to fight for it. The faux-tuna wrap was spot on. A lot of greens and sprouts, extremely fresh, a crunch factor with a dressing that tied it all together like Lebowski's rug. And the kelp salad was blessed with just the right amount of olives to keep it fun.

I used to be disinterested in raw spots. I found the flavors too consistent across the menu, too many dried seed everythings. Too bland, too much not enough. Undoubtedly healthy, but the taste buds want what the taste buds want. Peace Pies took the healthiness, kept that core of the raw lifestyle, and turned up all the rest.

What an uplifting spot to hang. Probably a mile or less off the ocean, it's got that sleepy town attitude where fog chills the quiet air outside, and you get to kick back and recharge. They've got big, beautiful plants, a gorgeous passionfruit vine mural, and a deck outside to enjoy the bites and the breeze. I'm a fan of the color palette. Nice decor without going overboard or out of bounds, pillows to lean on, sunlight popping through to hit all the right spots.

As far as I can tell, everything is made in-house. Even the coconut tortillas, which they sell separately if you want to get fancy at home. I'm a little sad I didn't try the walnut meat, or the durian smoothy. Durian? In smoothies? Normally worth a chuckle, but I bet Peace Pies handles it with care. The staff were cool folks, there to spread friendliness and care through soul-nourishing food and a place to unplug. Good food and a table to enjoy it are the ultimate display of welcome.

I wish we could've stayed longer. A shame, when the daily grind drags us back when the heart wants to stay put. I would've lounged an hour or two on the patio. Maybe sipped a tea and tried one of those sweets in the cooler that couldn't stop looking at me. Closed my eyes, breathed deeply, and noshed 'til I could nosh no more. There's always next time... Well, at least I hope there is. Next time, it...

The portions here are pretty darn big! It was just two of us and we couldn't finish our three plates. We were just passing through, so we couldn't take the leftovers to go, unfortunately. So, I'd start with 1 entree to share and add on as needed because portions are large. Also, I find raw food to be VERY filling, and I didn't feel like eating the rest of the day after our meal. For anyone unfamiliar with what RAW, GF, VEGAN entails, you will primarily be consuming plants and nuts/seeds. They are soaked, dehydrated, and prepared in ways to create sauces, "bread" and taco shells and such without the need for heat-cooking. Here, they take a truly exquisite and artful way of meal design and presentation. I've been vegan for 6+ years, so the plant-filled meal was not surprising to me, but I know the completely cold temperature of the food was off-putting for my partner. They didn't really feel satisfied after eating. Most people are used to warm, cooked food, so I would recommend going here on a warm summer day for a fresh meal! Pricing is around $15-20 per entree. They do offer a 4% cash discount. If dining in, they do bring your food out to you, but it's up to you to get your own cutlery and napkins and put your dishes away. Beverages are few here. You won't find any unhealthy soda machines. Instead, there's bottled juices or smoothies and complimentary water. In the photos are the Noble nachos, Voltaire street tacos (which were actually too similar to the nachos), and (the special of the day) a pulled pork sammie. The blueberry pop-tart I got to go was amazing! As a v + gf eater, I haven't had a decent pop-tart in forever! While raw, it was still very delicious! The filling was A+!

UPDATE: I've been here a few times since my original review and enjoy trying something new each time I go. Always flavorful, and you can feel the loving energy that goes into the food. I also recommend picking up a bag of their addictive kale chips or treating yourself to a...

The short: amazing raw vegan food the likes of which only compares to the places in ubud, Bali. Kale chips are dangerously addictive. Get the mushroom quesadilla with walnut meat and pizza with pepperoni. Service was casual and friendly and a cute natural vibe but noisy from the street. If you like tons of vibrant flavor you'll love it. If you're expecting cooked food like I've seen other reviews, you'll hate it (obviously).

Details: This is probably my favorite raw plant based restaurant in California though it's a close tie with Au lac in LA which is a totally different style.

I get the mushroom quesadilla Everytime because they have a way of marinating the mushrooms so they're magical. The homemade tortilla is chewy and flavorful, so don't expect a regular corn tortilla.

Today we tried it along with the pizza with pepperoni and twix coconut pie on recommendation from the friendly mother and daughter duo working the front. They also recommended the BLT because of the coconut bacon but sadly they were out of that. Will try next time!

It's self serve so we picked up our own cutlery and water from the neighboring room where the smell of sweet mustard from the days fresh batch of kale chips made our mouths drool. They later brought us out a free sample of this and omg it was good too! Haven't had a bad flavor yet.

The dessert was bomb though my mom thought it was too sweet. You could tell it had lots of dates in both crust and the twix caramel, which I personally loved.

Other notes: When mother daughter duo are there, the young girl is adorably attentive to service you even though technically that's not their job there as a counter serve restaurant. Please don't treat her like a servant like we saw some other guests do today (even after the mother reminded them about the self serve). hopefully they at least tipped her very generously after we left ...

2 parking spots up front otherwise there's plenty...