Popular Vegan Eatery to Expand Into Town

The list of new restaurants to open this year in Santa Monica continues to grow.

Native Foods Café—the healthy, homey restaurant chain that —is expanding into Santa Monica, VegNews has reported.

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The website reports that the vegan restaurant—which it awarded its 2011 Restaurant of the Year—is rolling out 15 new locations in 2012.

Nationally recognized vegan chef Tanya Petrovna began Native Foods in Palm Springs to feed discriminating diners in search of healthy, organic dishes. Today, seven locations across Southern California continue to serve 100 percent vegan dishes, down to the sauces and soups, at reasonable prices.

Favorites include its collection of "earth bowls," as well as its famous Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger.

According to VegNews, new locations will open in Boulder, Newport Beach and San Diego, among other unnamed cities.

"Sales at the chain increased 16 percent in the last year, allowing management to plan an expansion," VegNews reported.