Happy Veggie: What’s Vegetarian Editorial Review

Happy Veggie is a Vietnamese and Thai restaurant at 709 N Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach, and it serves no meat. Its owners say they cook every dish entirely plant-based, and they’ve served the South Bay for 20 years. You can order anything on the menu without worrying about a hidden chicken broth. The names are the catch. You’ll see Chicken Drumsticks, Mongolian Beef, and Clay Pot Fish, and the cooks make every one of them with soy protein.

What to order

Start with Golden Tofu ($10), crispy tofu with a black pepper and lemon dipping sauce. Order the Veggie Egg Roll ($9 for four) for tofu, vegetables, and mushrooms with sweet chili sauce. If you want something lighter, the Refreshing Spring Rolls ($9) wrap lettuce, mint, cilantro, rice noodles, and tofu in rice paper.

Every soup costs $17. The Pho is a noodle soup with more than ten herbs and spices, vegetables, and tofu. In the Spicy Royal Noodles Soup, you get soy protein slices, mushrooms, cabbage, and mint. For a noodle plate, pick Pad Thai ($19) with soy chicken, bean sprouts, and onions, or the Pan Fried Noodles ($19), the house signature, with soy chicken, stir-fried vegetables, and tofu.

For curry, ask for the Curry Veggie Masala (from $17), with mixed vegetables and tofu in a tangy curry. The Curry Chicken (from $17.50) pairs soy chicken with sweet potato, red potato, taro, and carrots in a lighter sauce. On the Egg-Plant Tofu (from $17.50), the cooks stir-fry eggplant and tofu with basil. The BBQ Vermicelli Noodle ($18) tops rice noodles with crispy soy protein. Every entree comes with white or brown rice.

Sides stay cheap. Steamed Mixed Veggies cost $6 and cover broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas, bok choy, cabbage, and carrots. White rice costs $3 and brown rice $4.

Desserts and drinks

The menu calls the four cakes vegan: Coconut, Chocolate, Strawberry, and Lemon, at $6.50 each. Smoothies cost $7.50 to $8, and the kitchen blends them with organic soy milk, agave syrup, and fruit. The Thai Iced Tea costs $6, and the menu calls it creamy without naming the cream. Ask before you order it if you avoid dairy.

The kitchen

No meat comes into the kitchen, so a vegetarian shares no surfaces with chicken or beef. The restaurant calls its food plant-based, but only the cakes carry a vegan label, and the menu doesn’t say what goes into the Thai tea. We list Happy Veggie as 100 percent vegetarian until we can confirm every item. Vegans should ask about the tea. No dish carries a gluten-free label, so if you avoid gluten, ask about the soy sauce and the noodles.

Practical notes

Happy Veggie serves Wednesday through Saturday from 12 pm to 8 pm and on Sunday from 12 pm to 7 pm. It’s closed Monday and Tuesday. Most entrees cost $17 to $19, so by our math from the menu, dinner for two with a shared appetizer lands around $45 to $55 before drinks. You’ll see pickup and delivery options on the site, but we couldn’t place an online order when we checked on October 29, 2026. Call (310) 379-5035 to order.

Take two friends, order the Golden Tofu, one soup, and two noodle plates, and split a cake before you leave.