Cafe Gratitude, Berkeley, CA

UPDATE: This restaurant has permanently closed.

I first dined at Cafe Gratitude many, many years ago -- before I started this blog. This feel-good chain was rapidly expanding and I loved their all-vegan menu. At some point though, allegations were made, lawsuits were filed, and Cafe Gratitudes were closing left and right. In fact, most in northern California closed. But, at least there's still one in Berkeley and after a long day of wine tasting, a hearty Cafe Gratitude meal was just what I needed. 

We drove the long drive from Sonoma to Berkeley to dine at Cafe Gratitude on a Sunday evening before they closed. It was a beautiful day so we chose to sit outside on their gorgeous patio. With nice wooden tables and chairs and green foliage, it was just as nice as being in a restaurant, only better.

While Cafe Gratitude offers both cooked and raw meals, everything is vegan. I started with the Effervescent --a housemade ginger ale. It was sweet and tasty.

I ordered the Warm-Hearted polenta bowl. It had grilled corn polenta, sauteed greens, mushroom ragu, cashew ricotta, basil, and almond parmesan. Everything about this meal was amazing. I did, however, think there was too much polenta and not enough of everything else. But, overall, the warm corn polenta meshed well with the mushrooms and spinach and the ricotta brought it all together.

My friend, who is not vegan, ordered the specials. Her meal was even better than mine. She had a huge tomato soup with cashew cream.

And she got a Bahn Mi made with tempeh, avocado, and carrots. They were both fantastic.

The service outside was fine, but nothing to write home about. The food was awesome and the prices were appropriate -- my bowl was $13. It was exactly what I was expecting -- great food no matter what you order. I only wish they'd continue to open more...and then expand to DC.

Previous review
March 12, 2012

Cafe Gratitude
1730 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94709
(510) 725-4418

Cinnaholic, Berkeley #2

Cinnaholic's cinnamon rolls are the stuff vegan dreams are made of. As I recently posted a full review of this restaurant here, I won't go into a bunch of detail. I'll just provide you with a little food porn.

On this trip, we were again greeted by master cinnamon roll preparer, Justin. I ordered the S'mores specialty roll, which was topped with vanilla icing, chocolate chips, animal crackers (ironic, I know), and Dandies marshmallows. As always, a party in my mouth.

Zach created his own with chocolate chips and fresh bananas. I wasn't a big fan of having bananas on my cinnamon roll, but he absolutely loved it.

These cinnamon rolls really are to die for. I mean, if you were to die from the sugar rush, which is absolutely possible, you would die a very happy person while eating these cinnamon rolls. Oh, Cinnaholic, you make me want to visit Berkeley just for your cinnamon rolls. Thank you so much for existing! I can't wait to visit again soon.

Cinnaholic
2132 Oxford Street
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 647-8684

Nature's Express, Berkeley

Zach and I headed to Berkeley to eat at Nature's Express, a small cafe that I had heard good things about. The first thing I saw when we walked up to the front door was a banner that said "Kick-Ass Vegan Food." Love it!

This all-vegan cafe offers an incredible variety of burgers, burritos, wraps, sandwiches, salads, soups, and sides. It was so hard to choose, but the people working there were a big help in helping us understand the differences between the selections.

The dining room was rather small and kind of reminded me of a New York cafe.  Most of the people who were coming in were grabbing items to go. While we waited, I sipped on my water and Zach tried almond water for the first time. It seems like they are making water out of anything these days. As a big fan of coconut water, I wanted Zach to try the almond water to see if he'd like it. He thought it was a bit too sugary. I would agree.

After about 15 minutes, they brought our food out - served fresh. I ordered a salad along with the Cheezy Mushroom Chik-un Melt.  They weren't kidding about how good this sandwich was. The seitan patty, which was made fresh in-house, was incredibly thick and delicious. It was grilled with mushrooms and Daiya cheese and topped with mayonnaise, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. I was amazed at how good it was.

The Essential Greens salad was just as good. I loved how they shredded the kale with collard greens and topped it with a lemon-garlic dressing. The collard greens gave the salad a natural spiciness. It was definitely one of the best kale salads I've ever had.

Zach ordered the Classic Grilled Reuben, which was also delicious. The marinated tempeh was layered with Daiya cheese, sauerkraut, and pickles with their own Thousand Island dressing, served on rye bread. Zach was impressed.

The sandwich was served with a side of sweet potato fries, which were also pretty good.

I think the most amazing thing about this restaurant was their prices. I would have paid $9 - $11 each for these types of sandwiches in DC or NY, but here they were under $7!  And, they were amazing! This is definitely the kind of restaurant that should begin expanding across the U.S. I'd compare it to a Native Foods -- perhaps not quite as good, but could be with a little tweaking. This cafe should be on your must-visit list for northern California. Highly recommended!

Nature's Express
1823 Solano Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94707
(510) 527-5331

Cinnaholic, Berkeley

When I dream of baked goodie goodness, visions of cinnamon rolls dance in my head.  I haven't really had a cinnamon roll that knocked my socks off since going vegan, that is, until now. Cinnaholic is this amazing cinnamon roll utopia located in Berkeley, California.  Ever since seeing images of their rolls in VegNews, I've wanted to enjoy one and today was the day.

We spotted the orange awning from afar and parked right in front. When we walked in, we saw the specialty rolls on display and took a look at the menu. The possibilities are endless. You can top your roll with a variety of icings and toppings. It is a bit overwhelming. I mean, I really couldn't deal with it so after much hemming and hawing, I went for the specialty chocolate chip cookie dough roll.  Zach ordered a roll with mocha icing topped with brownie chunks and almonds. 

While we were ordering, one of those crazed Berkeley parking patrol people decided to ticket Zach's car -- a $43 parking ticket after about 3 minutes! You really need to watch it in this area. When Justin, the baker, rang us up, he told us he was allowed to give one free roll each day and he was giving it to Zach to help lessen the pain of the ticket. That was so nice!  He was really cool!

We sat down to enjoy the rolls at one of the tables. I had such high expectations that I was a bit worried they couldn't live up to them, but, boy, was I wrong. My roll was fresh and soft with a light vanilla icing. The chunks of cookie dough sprinkled with chocolate chips were an amazing complement to the icing. It all meshed together just as I had imagined. Wow!

Zach's was really, really good too. The mocha icing and brownie chunks were delish!  I found myself eating his and my roll at the same time.

Afterwards, we grabbed a brownie to go as well. As I was reluctantly moving towards the door, I noticed two tip jars. One was labeled "eat animals" while the other was labeled "love animals." Ack - eat animals?! I asked Justin why that was there and he said mostly to amuse himself and also to get people to make the connection. There was a little more money in the "eat animals" jar, which was very disturbing so I threw a buck into the "love animals" jar. Ha!

I now see why eating at Cinnaholic showed up in the bucket list of things every vegan should do before they die in VegNews. Yeah - this one should be on the top of your list.  These rolls are amazing! Highly recommended.