Cafe Gratitude

Reviews 3

TI

Tiffany Cheung

Located in the Arts District next to a few shabby looking apartment buildings, Café Gratitude brings something new and different with its focus on healthy eating, positive and friendly vibes, and unique menu names. And a huge plus is that it offers free parking in its own lot! Not having to prowl for parking in LA is a definite plus in my book. The first think I noticed when I noticed Café Gratitude was its very modern-looking storefront. There are a ton of open windows as well as an outdoor patio area off to the side of the restaurant. Upon walking inside, I was taken away by the brightness and airiness of the restaurant itself. Everything was very pristine and white - very clean and precise - with tasteful decorations framing the restaurant. Imagine pretty much all white table and chair furniture with plants in the alcoves and white twinkling lights overhead. I would think just sitting in this place would give you brain power or would help get your creative juices flowing if youre using the free Wi-Fi to do some work. So Café Gratitude is an all vegan restaurant that uses only the best and freshest ingredients. At the top of the menu, it states "I AM..." and the menu names that follow are positive adjectives that really make you think as you order - at least it did for me. All of the food items were so colorful and pretty that I forgot I wasnt even eating any meat! "I AM..." Thriving: I took a few sips of their special cooked soup of the day. It was really warm and filling, but for $8, I probably wouldnt order it again. It wasnt that special to me. Fortified: I was convinced because of the sautéed vegetables! This is packed with market autumn veggies and your choice of rice or quinoa with your choice of sauce. I believe I picked the garlic tahini, which was recommended by our server. I loved this bowl! It had a lot of vegetables in it, and with the graininess of the quinoa, and the zing from the sauce, I thought it was amazing! Humble: My friends really liked this dish, and I could see why. Its an Indian curry bowl, but had no presence of meat whatsoever. Instead, there was lentil, spinach, yams, chutney, and rice or quinoa. Again, the sauce - sweet tamarind sauce - really brought the whole bowl together. It was really good! Extraordinary: A house BLT that includes coconut bacon, romaine, tomato, avocado, and a chipotle cashew aioli with a side of spicy coleslaw. I liked the sandwich, but wasnt a big fan of it. I think the flavors werent as bold as the Whole or Humble. Grateful: A community bowl in which Café Gratitude donates $1 for every bowl sold. It contains kale, black beans, garlic tahini sauce, and your choice of probiotic brown rice or quinoa. This was pretty tasty. If you like black beans, I think youll be okay with this bowl. However, I preferred the Fortified because it had lots more vegetables inside. Hearty: Raw Hawaiian pizza with fresh pineapple, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, avocado, cashew mozzarella, onion sunflower crust, and more. (There are so many ingredients for each item!) I thought this was pretty good for a vegan pizza. Taste was there and I liked the toppings on top of the pizza. However, for $15, meh, I dont know if Id order it again. I also have heard great things about their pressed juices - $9 each, they better be good! They have a bakery section off to the side as well. My tl;dr - A very good experience at my first vegan café! The service was good and our servers were friendly and engaging as they patiently waited for our party to order - giving us suggestions and answering all our questions. Food is quite pricey, so I would recommend going family style and sharing so you can taste as many dishes as you possibly can. I love the concept of Café Gratitude - each bowl asks "What are you grateful for?" which definitely reminds you to keep a positive mindset as you leave for your day.

QU

Quintana Kesler-McGrath

For the record, I LOVE Cafe Gratitude. Ive been to the one in Larchmont a million times and my sister worked at the one in Berkeley, so I have had a long and happy relationship with CF. That said, I had a really bad experience at this particular location. The food, as always, was delicious, and most of the staff was great, but our waitress was straight up terrible. When my sis asked about a particular drink she was looking for, this waitress recommended the wrong one and got huffy when we said it wasnt the one we had in mind (15 minutes after we ordered it, btw). Kept insisting they didnt have the one we were looking for, until I found it on the menu. Took back the drink sighing and rolling her eyes. Seriously, its fine with me if you dont know the menu, just SAY THAT instead of pretending the restaurant doesnt serve something. Took our order and we didnt see her again till twenty minutes after we had already received our food, at which point she showed up to ask how it was and give us our check. Still had the incorrect drink on it, so we waited another ten minutes but she never came back so we flagged down the very nice waitress who brought us our food and asked if it could be removed. Took another ten minutes to bring back the modified check and basically dropped it on the table without a word before leaving so quickly I didnt even have time to ask for the bathroom locale. On my way back from the bathroom I asked one of the servers if I could have a bottle of water that was right there and she insisted on carrying it to the table for me (thats how awesome CF servers usually are). when I passed our waitress and she saw the waitress with the water chatting me up she literally rolled her eyes at me again and - no joke - did a 180 and went in the opposite direction. Look, CF is kind of expensive for vegan and the locations arent convenient for me, but I always went anyway because it was such a great experience and the food is so damn good. This bummed me out. If Im going to pay 70 dollars for lunch, Id like my waitress to just plain be nice.

JU

Juvi Guevara

Yes, the food is hella pricey here. A smoothie alone will set you back almost $10, not including tip. But the days of focusing on price over health are behind us, people. At least in this part of LA. Situated in the bustling, newly revamped part of the Arts District, this is a surprisingly comfortable little oasis in an otherwise still blossoming industrial setting, surrounded by warehouses and hole-in-the-wall shops that look nothing like what you would expect them to. But enough wordiness. On to the food! If youve been to any of the other Cafe Gratitude restaurants around LA, you already know to expect super unique and powerfully-healthy menu items with ingredients so exotic, youve probably never heard of half of them before. (Like, what the heck is mucuna? And is it actually good for you?) Each dish on the menu is labeled with an affirmation appropriate to the nutritional benefits offered by that item. So, if youre eating an "I Am Amazing," chances are its going to make you feel amazing after eating it. Even the desserts are good for you... ish, and vary from cheesecakes to truffles. The drinks also offer a nutritional punch and actually taste pretty darn good, provided you remind yourself that youre doing something good for your body. Im not going to lie, some of these superfoods are an acquired taste. Overall, theyre still pretty yummy, though. And they even sell a wide range of healthy products that dont go in your mouth, but on your body, such as organic lip balm. If youre in too much of a hurry, they also sell a few packaged items ready to take on the go, as well as bottled beverages like kombucha and cold brew coffee. And thankfully, angels that they are, they offer free parking to customers. So, parking tickets are no longer an excuse to not eat healthy!