Happy Family
500 N Atlantic Blvd
Ste 171
Monterey Park, CA 91754
626.282.8986
A week ago, the LA Weekly ran a piece about the “10 Best Vegan-Friendly Restaurants in L.A.” Number nine was “Happy Family Vegetarian Restaurant.” Good timing, since I had plans to go there two days later. The article says, “Eggs may pop up here and there, so it’s advisable to check with the staff before ordering.” Because of that I checked with the staff, who told me there is no egg in anything. So apparently it’s really “Happy Family Vegan Restaurant” — but why scare people even more, I suppose.
Happy Family is in a crazy mall called Atlantic Times Square that is kind of like The Grove on ginseng. It’s a mix of commercial and residential space and it’s got one of the crappier underground parking garages I’ve ever been in. Snap a pic to remember where you parked. Trust me. And I’m not a get lost in a parking garage person.
Then when you come upstairs from the parking lot you have to walk to Atlantic Boulevard because the entrance to Happy Family is on the street. I guess Atlantic Boulevard must be why they call the place Atlantic Times Square but isn’t Atlantic Times Square kind of redundant since the real Times Square IS on the Atlantic? Calling it Pacific Times Square would make more sense but not if it’s on Atlantic Blvd I guess. But since it really isn’t anything like Times Square maybe the best thing to call it would be Westfield Times Square or China Grove.*
Happy Family offers an All You Can Eat menu. It’s $13.95 for adults and $8.95 for kids. You get one spring roll and one “Minced Squab in Lettuce” and then a crazy amount of food. The spring roll is tasty and the Minced Squab — which is pretty much a PF Changy lettuce cup — is very tasty. As for the rest of the food, I took a lot of pictures so I’ll just roll through them and tell you what I thought of these dishes.
“Vegetarian Sliced Pork with Broccoli”
The “Vegetarian Sliced Pork with Broccoli” was the best dish I had. I don’t know why this is considered pork with broccoli and not the more common beef with broccoli, especially since the soy in this dish seems more intended to mimic beef not pork, and does an impressive job of it. The fake beef, sorry pork, has a pretty similar texture to the real thing and perfectly takes on the taste of the sauce. I’m not saying I need my soy to act like it’s meat, but since that seems to be the goal of this restaurant, they succeed as far as this dish goes.
“Vegetarian Chicken with Cashew Nuts (Wheat Gluten)”
The fake chicken with cashew nuts was good, too, though not as good as the fake beef with broccoli. And now that I see the menu says the fake diced chicken here is wheat gluten, I suppose it’s possible the fake beef in the fake sliced pork with broccoli is also made of wheat gluten. But it didn’t say, so I don’t know. The fake chicken in this dish was a little bit rubbery but I liked it, and I don’t usually like rubbery food, at least not as far as I know. Maybe it’s fake rubber.
“Vegetarian Rib (Taro) with Sweet & Sour Sauce”
The “Vegetarian Rib (Taro) with Sweet & Sour Sauce” wasn’t so good. It was basically a soft, gushy mess that was more zeppole than rib.
“Vegetarian Deep Fried House Chicken with Sesame (Mushroom)”
The fake sesame chicken also suffered from zeppoleosis. In fact, I didn’t realize it was made of mushroom until I looked at the menu. It was soft and doughy inside, and when food is like that, it seems more like dessert to me than a main course.
Shredded pork with…
I’m not sure which dish this is. I asked the waitress what her favorite dish on the menu is and she said “shredded pork” and brought me this and it was good. But when I look at the menu I can’t figure out which one it is. Maybe shredded pork with bean curd? Whatever it is, it tastes better than it looks.
“House Tofu with Black Bean & Brown Sauce”
The “House Tofu with Black Bean & Brown Sauce” was one of my favorite items. Part of what I liked was that it wasn’t trying to be a fake meat, though don’t get me wrong I can enjoy fake meats with the best of ’em. Sometimes tofu like this can be limp or soggy but this was just the right amount of softness without falling apart when you picked it up. Oh, and it was tasty.
“Stir Fry Spinach”
Not too much to say about the “Stir Fry Spinach” except that it was simple and very good.
“Fried Bread”
I saw some people at another table eating this and I asked the waitress what it was. She said, “I’ll bring you some.”
Fried Bread minus mouthful.
When it arrived, she said it was “fried bread.” Okay, those are two good words to put together, right? But when I took a bite, well, yup, it tasted like a zeppole. Which wasn’t so bad since I’m guessing it’s supposed to taste like a zeppole. In fact, zeppoles are definitely in the fried bread frylum. But there’s only so much fried bread someone needs. Especially in a Chinese restaurant.
Tiramisu cake
For dessert I had the tiramisu cake. There was a big problem with this. No, it didn’t taste like a zeppole. But when it was first served it was clear it had just come out of the freezer. It had the crystally texture that an old container of ice cream can get. Or an old container of Almond Dream. (One of the great things about going vegan is that you don’t have to give up that awful crystally freezer taste.) Once the tiramisu cake hit room temp it wasn’t bad but by then it was kinda ruined for me, like a movie after a cellphone ring. Oh well.
All in all I’d say that if you’re vegan or vegetarian and like Chinese food and ampersands, this is the place for you. Just leave a trail of (fried) bread crumbs so you can find your car afterwards.
*Linking to a Doobie Brothers video does not imply approval.
insufferablevegan 
YUM. Even those stricken with zeppoliosis look good! And the pork/beef with broccoli looks like either TVP or TSP to me.
And that’s not even a tenth of the menu!
Iv’e gone there a couple a times, and it is pretty good! Iv’e ordered the sweet and sour chicken ( I think) and it tasted really good at the restaurant, but really bad if you try to reheat it at home. :p
The fried rice is really tasty, better than any other Iv’e tried. I also liked the fried chicken, and so did my sister, who said she liked it better than real friend chicken, even though she wasn’t vegetarian back then haha.
And yes, the desert had to be frozen, because the deserts are provided by a different company called Vegan Tiramisu. They provide desserts for other veg places, like Cruzer Pizza (which is AMAZING btw).
Hi Andy, I went to Cruzer for the first time not that long ago. I really loved their meatball sub. If they were closer to me I’d eat there a lot. Thanks for reading.