Spiral Diner & Bakery

Reviews 3

CE

Cece Nguyen

Yikes. I have had a burger and the migas from the Fort Worth location, and really enjoyed the food. The employees were a bit rude and unwelcoming, but I thought "eh food > employee". So in a hunger induced stuper, I convinced my friend that we should eat at Spiral at the Dallas location when we were in the area. I was very optimistic. We ordered one of the nachos that came with guac, salsa and vegan cheese. My friend who was incredibly skepticle of dairy free cheese, admitted that he thought the texture and taste was very close to the real thing. The salsa and guac were incredibly bland and underwhelming. Next we had a pasta dish that in the description sounded amazing (or at least to us at the time). I forget what it was called but it was marinara pasta and pesto. We had wanted penne or another form of pasta but the waiter didnt ask us, so assumed we wanted the default spaghetti. That was more on our fault though since we should have been more proactive, and its all still pasta so no big deal haha. For an upcharge of $3 or $4 dollars, we also had "meatballs" added. When our dinner arrived we were horrified. It was a disgusting blob of pasta, scant marinara and pesto chunks. Not the prettiest view. But I mean, never judge a book by its cover right? Yeah... the taste was also underwhelming. By attempting to have so many different strong flavors, they ended up muting everything so all you tasted was tomato. Additionally we only had 3 TINY meatballs. A bit of a rip off, in my opinion. I went up to ask about it, and I was left awkwardly standing at the front near the kitchen/register trying to make eye contact with anyone. After a good couple minutes, I was told each order of meatballs comes with 4 pieces. I was disappointed because of how small they were, but its whatever. So they brought out ONE meatball on a small plate to us. It was more comical than anything else haha. What wasnt funny was the fact that the fourth meatball was cold and and an icy texture on the inside. They had given and upcharged us for tiny, FROZEN meatballs. Because of that, the meatballs were very spongy and had too much moisture on the inside. Also underseasoned. When we went to pay, the guy at the register asked if everything was good, and we confessed about the meatballs. He was surprised and very apologetic. He called over another worker to run the message to the cooks, and told us that we wouldnt be charged for the meatballs which is nice. We then had a small convo that many customers usually stick to the nacho deluxe platter thing (comes with all the fixins) or the burgers. A bit odd that a restaurant would know its menu has weak points that customers have repeatedly disliked but not made any changes. Overall I would come again with vegan/vegetarian friends for a quick burger or quick burger if I was in the area, or wanted a cool environment late night. But if youre in the dallas area looking for vegan/vegetarian food, therere other places with better food. My friend on the otherhand is an experienced cook, and was completely disappointed at the experience. He will definitely not be returning.

DI

dillon johnstone

I wanted to give this two stars because of the service, but I cant even do that. Im vacationing in Dallas for the holidays in order to spend time with family. My aunt who lives in Dallas had the idea to go to Spiral prior to going to a concert we had tickets for because shed heard so much about it from reviews, all of it good. My entire family, parents and siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins, all went to Spiral. I was pretty surprised by the menu because its like they fashioned the choices to mirror any other ordinary restaurant, why be held back by being vegan? We have alternatives mirroring what meat eaters and vegetarians would eat! My meal was fine, the el dorado burger I think it was, with a mushroom for the burger patty. I need to point out that most of my family is vegetarian. Sure, they have dairy and eggs, but thats definitely not even close to a 20th of their diet. Theres really no reason why an persons digestive system shouldve gone into shock from anything that was eaten. For some, sooner than others, most of my family began experiencing varying severity of diarrhea. My aunt who suggested the place, had to leave the concert because her diarrhea was so severe. We had tickets to see the Christmas Carol the following day, and people couldnt go because they were still experiencing diarrhea, and had an upset stomach. At first, I was just going to blow this off as one of those things that happens. Sometimes you get more than you ask for from your food. But last night when I was having some drinks with some old friends from college, I brought up Spiral, asking if anyone had gone their. One friend said hes gone there a few times, and liked their selection. When I brought up my family getting diarrhea, his reaction amazed me. Apparently every time he goes their, he gets diarrhea afterwards, but he thought it was an issue with himself, not with the restaurant. He thinks the food is good, but not good enough to keep eating their since he knows thats whats making him sick now. This place obviously has issues. Id rather go eat at a thai or indian restaurant any day of the week to get delicious vegan food. Not an establishment that tries to recreate meals that arent vegan, and make people sick because of it. I dunno if its a spice because their are definitely spices out their that can work as a laxative, blood thinner, whatever. Maybe its a chemical that they use, which would be ironic if a vegan joint is using chemicals the make their selections. Spiral sounds great as a new age vegan place because its like they really want to cater to a wider base of healthy eaters. But what the heck are they doing to their food that makes people sick?

DE

Devron Lee

I dont think Ive ever rated a place this low before, and I dont like to do it. Ive been to this restaurant with my partner twice now. We really wanted to like it, especially given the other glowing reviews. Perhaps, as others have suggested, we really ought to have skipped this location in favor of the one in Fort Worth. Ive was given the wrong side both times Ive been here and asked for it to be corrected (which they did). The restaurant wasnt terribly busy either time. The waiter presumably wrote down our orders each time as well, assuming thats what he was jotting down on the pad. Im not too upset about the service - sure, Ive had better but Ive also had worse. Truly though ... the food was something else. The second time we tried the place, I ordered the "spicy jerk" tempeh sandwich, my partner ordered the Spiral burger with a portobello cap, and we got the amaretto cupcake at the end. There was nothing spicy about the tempeh. The jerk part must have been a joke. Im not sure if anyone in that kitchen has had jerk / Caribbean food before - from the blandness of the tempeh, it might as well have just been dyed for color. It was an orange-red tinted, spongy tempeh patty that served as a filler to a pineapple - mayonnaise sandwich. The burger was worse. The mushroom cap was a tiny, rubbery disk maybe 2/3 the diameter of the bun it was hiding on. The dressing for the burger was pretty much what the burger was composed of, with a significant quantity of mayonnaise that turned the bottom bun into a greasy pudding. Youd forget it was a burger if it werent for the rubber disk buried in the stack, rudely asserting itself with every bite (and the fact the bread was a burger bun, for appearances sake). We hoped the cupcake at least would be a redeeming component. Unfortunately, no. The batter must have been beaten lifeless as the texture of the cupcake was deflated and an uncomfortable combination of chewy and spongy - a bit like the gummy unpleasantness of an overmixed and undercooked pancake. Seriously, maybe we only ordered their weakest options or only arrived at their "off" times (though it was always a lunch at noon on a Saturday). But even so, as part of the menu - if they are known issues, maybe either improve or remove them. From the service errors to the execution of the food, it just seems this place can be described as "clumsy".