Giving up your favorite comfort foods during Lent can be challenging. Most people abstain from meat on Fridays — and some do it for the entire 40 days — choosing seafood or vegetarian dishes instead. It’s a self-sacrifice that takes a lot of devotion, but it can also strain your wallet.
Rising seafood prices — one of the most tariff‑exposed food imports — along with wholesale vegetable prices jumping 38.9% as of July 2025 are making it harder for restaurants to offer affordable meat‑free and plant‑based dishes.
But don’t worry. There are a few places in LA that are still affordable without sacrificing quality. Here is a list of restaurants across Los Angeles serving some delicious vegetarian, vegan and seafood alternatives with menu prices that are $20 or less.
No. 6 CaCao Mexicatessen
Eagle Rock
1576 Colorado Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90041
CaCao Mexicatessen is a family-run favorite family in Eagle Rock. Famous for its duck carnitas, another signature dish on the menu is the Ensenada fish tacos, which can be either batter-fried or pan-seared.
Toppings include fresh cilantro, red pickled onions and shredded purple and green cabbage served on either Sinaloa flour or blue corn tortillas.
For about $12, diners get two tacos and a side of chips with the restaurant’s signature habanero salsa.
No. 5 Pizza Girl
Venice
1697 Pacific Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90291
Pizza Girl opened a pink-and-black shop alongside Hotel Erwin in Venice the summer of 2024. Inspired by her family’s legacy in Italian pizzerias, owner Caroline D’Amore created a menu of handmade crispy pizzas, organic sauce jars and pizza dough starter.
One of Pizza Girl’s signature pizzas is the California Girl, a vegetarian roasted pie topped with sliced green and yellow zucchini, roasted red bell peppers, whole roasted garlic, slightly brittle kale, thinly sliced red onions, fresh feta cheese and the restaurant’s signature marinara sauce.
At $7.50 a slice, this is on the higher end compared to your average pizza chain. But it’s relatively reasonable for artisanal, made-from-scratch pizza in one of the most expensive parts of town.
No. 4 Highly Likely
Highland Park
5526 N. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90042
Highly Likely is a busy restaurant in Highland Park with a minimalist atmosphere that works for breakfast, brunch or a late-night bite. The menu offers plenty of vegan, vegetarian or pescatarian substitutes for most of their meat-based dishes.
The standout is the bucatini beet arrabbiata, priced at $20. Thick spaghetti-like noodles are tossed in a spicy beet sauce and topped with homemade whipped ricotta, drizzled with olive oil and a hint of salt that balances the spice in the noodles.
No. 3 Tirzah’s Mexi-Terranean
El Sereno
4625 Valley Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90032
Tirzah’s Mexi-Terranean is a bright red taco shop housed in what appears to be a converted El Sereno home, reflecting the Mexican and Egyptian flavors created by husband-and-wife team Tirsa and Steve Farah.
The culinary mash-up of Tirsa’s Mexican roots and Steve’s Egyptian family recipes has drawn attention, especially for their kofta kabob burrito. But the Egyptian carnitas nachos — made with jackfruit — are a perfect balance of flavor and texture.
The vegan carnitas are seasoned with Egyptian and Mexican spices, topped with feta cheese, garlic sauce, sliced cucumbers, tzatziki, red pickled onions, refried pinto beans and light-green hummus.
The nachos, which could probably feed a family of four, are $18.
No. 2 Wendy’s Tortas
Lincoln Heights
2603 N. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90031
East Los Angeles
5000 Whittier Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90022
Wendy’s Tortas is a family-owned restaurant that has served East LA for nearly two decades. Inside, the dining room feels like you’re being welcomed into someone’s home, decorated with Mexican knick-knacks and Dodgers and Rams memorabilia.
Wendy’s is best known for Jalisco-style birria tacos and menudo, but its fried seafood tacos are top-notch. Diners can choose fish or shrimp coated in a light batter then lightly fried.
The subtle technique results in a golden-brown texture that is neither too soft nor too crunchy on the outside and steaming on the inside. The tacos are garnished with freshly cut cabbage, sour cream, lime wedges and a creamy chipotle salsa.
For $9.09, you get two tacos with every order.
No. 1 True Food Kitchen
San Gabriel Valley
168 W. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91105
True Food Kitchen is a casual-chic restaurant chain focused on natural ingredients. But each location does their own thing with the menu. In Old Town Pasadena, that means you get a delectable plant-based double-cheeseburger.
The vegan burger features a seeded bun and patties made from portobello mushrooms, beets and walnuts. It’s topped with melted vegan cheddar cheese, fresh butter lettuce, tomatoes and pickled red onions. It’s all held together by a tangy jalapeño rémoulade — an LA twist on the classic French sauce — that hits all the right spice notes. It all practically melts in your mouth.
The vegan double cheeseburger clocks in at $19.50 and comes with a salad.