Stuff I Eat is the happiest restaurant on the saddest street. It sits in the midst of shuttered businesses, with a boarded-over former movie theater across the street, in Inglewood.

I’m guessing all that will change — or is in the process of changing — in anticipation of the megazillion dollar Los Angeles Rams football stadium opening nearby in a few years. But in the meantime, there’s always Stuff I Eat.

And Stuff I Eat is worth the trip, if only to feel the pure joy of a restaurant where the staff clearly loves what they do.

As the takeout menu for Stuff I Eat tells us, the place is “vegan, organic, eco-friendly.” We’re told, “Our food contains no refined sugar, artificial flavors, artificial colors or preservatives.” And that there’s an admirable house policy of “waste not, want not.” If you don’t finish what’s on your plate, they encourage you to pack it in one of their “eco-friendly” takeout boxes.

The portions are big. I took the rest home — and it was fine later that day.

The “I” of Stuff I Eat is chef Babette, elegant and slim, who’s taken an alternative approach to vegan cooking.

This is not the doctrinaire cuisine of Real Food Daily, where a request for a cup of cold water is greeted with a response that cold water is bad for you. The response is chilly; the water isn’t. Here, they serve a fine glass of cold fruit-flavored lemonade, very refreshing if a bit sweeter than expected. It’s pleasant to sip while you peruse an overhead, order-at-the-counter menu of meatless dishes that are part Mexican and part soul food, with the occasional Caribbean touch, such as jerk tofu.

It was, not surprisingly, the vegan soul food dishes that brought me in. Soul food is built, to a large degree, on pork products; vegan cooking isn’t.

There seems to be a contradiction here so strong, it’s like matter meeting antimatter; their collision will annihilate everything and everyone for miles around. But thanks to chef B — it doesn’t. It tastes pretty darned good. And that’s from a guy who firmly believes that vegetables are at their best when sitting next to a steak.

There are a pair of vegan platters on the menu, assembled pretty much from the dozen or so side dishes. The Organic Soul Food Platter is a fine assortment of this and that, pretty much all of it much tastier than you might expect, and some of it downright delicious.

At the center is the barbecue tofu, cut to look a bit like ribs, and tasting like — barbecue tofu. The taste was good, but the texture had the bounce of tofu. But the accompanying dishes, let me tell you.

At the top of the order for me were the yams, sweet and soft and soothing. The menu says kale greens, but they sure did taste like collard greens; in either case, they were good to eat.

There were black-eyed peas and a cole slaw that was better than you might expect from a slaw made without egg-based mayo. There was a vegan cheese mac ’n’ cheese that was OK. There was a potato salad that was really good. And anchoring the plate was a corn bread muffin that would have caused damage if it had landed on my foot — it was solid.

Sumthin-Sumthin is something else

But the real surprise was found on the other vegan combo platter. It’s called the Sumthin-Sumthin, and it leans more toward the Mexican side of the menu. There are black beans, corn, guacamole, a couple of solid tortillas, seasoned tofu and a wild rice blend.

But the item that knocked me for a loop was the carrot untuna. It didn’t taste especially like tuna. But it did taste like grated carrot tossed with a really flavorful well-herbed and spiced carrot and mango dressing.

Honestly, it was delicious. It made me think that the way to go was with the carrot untuna sandwich, or the carrot untuna salad with chip and guacamole. This is stuff I eat — and gladly.

And there’s much more: tacos, burritos, vegan cheese quesadillas, nut burgers, a nacho salad and a create-a-salad option.

Aside from the lemonade, there are sundry smoothies. There’s a children’s menu that includes a nut butter and jelly sandwich with a miniature salad. But mostly, there’s such a good feeling in the restaurant.

Outside are streets that have seen better days — and hopefully, will see better days again. But inside Stuff I Eat, better days are here. And better vegan food as well.

Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Send him email at mreats@aol.com.

Want to go?

Rating: 2.5 stars

Address: 114 N. Market St., Inglewood

Information: 310-671-0115, www.stuffieat.com.

Cuisine: Vegan.

When: Lunch and (early) dinner, Tuesday through Sunday.

Details: Healthful beverages. No reservations.

Prices: About $15 per person.

Cards: MC, V.