One World Cafe

Love it. Reliably good veg food. Interesting specials. Staff are cool. Usually have interesting art on the ways in rotating exhibitions. Every meal I’ve had there is better than average for sure. They’re also cool to little kids.

Mediocre food at best, good servers, and a terrible, ex-​rocker bartender who is rude to any patrons not sitting at the (10) seats at the small bar. He insists on playing loud, obnoxious music that makes it impossible to hear the person you’re sitting across the table from. When asked to turn it down responded with «No, it’s a bar!»
Overheard the staff referring to restaurant customers at the tables as the afternoon went on as «losers» who they were trying to make go away.
If you are trying to go some place to enjoy a nice coffee, work on your laptop, or to relax and enjoy a good meal with friends… go someplace else. They clearly don’t want your business, and do not deserve your money.

awesome café.
had egglant gyro…
taste awesome.
grreat portion of eggplant.
wonderful tahini sauce.
luv the nachos on the side.
gyro tasted even bttr with added sprouts & tomato.
grreat choice.

Been here a few times — never had a bad meal!

Been coming here since I was a freshman at JHU … 9 years later, I make it a POINT to stop in whenever I’m in Bmore. Favorites include: Old Bay fries, Philly cheese steakless, and, if you’re SUPER hungry … The chicken-​less parm. Love. This. Place.
Enjoy!

**As a restaurant**
Let me start by saying that if you are vegetarian or vegan AND like meat dishes prepared vegetarian then this the place for you!
If not…
It is okish. I can get behind a vegetarian meal. However, it has to be a meal that was meant to be vegetarian. Taking a meal that is based on meat and making it vegetarian by substituting vegan mean does not go well for me.
Note that not all items are vegetarian, they have smoked salmon and a tuna steak.
The place is not bad for the neighborhood which I why I end up there. But it is nothing special unless you are looking for vegetarian or vegan. Otherwise you can find better food less than 20 min walk away.
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**As a bar**
their happy hour special makes it worth while.
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Overall, the staff is friendly, and it is a convenient location. Unless you are looking for something vegan or vegetarian, I would recommend it as a bar, but not as a restaurant.

Good vegetarian junk food, fake substitutes for meat cheese etc if that’s what your into.
I prefer real whole foods so this place is just okay to me. Lots of choices though.

One world is a very sound (mostly) vegetarian joint right off Hopkin’s main drag — conveniently located right across from the Lacrosse Hall of Fame!
The beer choices are surprisingly inspired for a café, and the food is good-​to-​great. I highly recommend exploring the Tex-​Mex inspired offerings. The chips, enchiladas, and Mexican Tofu scrambles are all on point, as are their veggie burgers. I’ve gotten burned a time or two straying from the go-to’s, but such is the nature of restaurants.
Pop in for a coffee, brew, or nosh — One World is proof meatless doesn’t mean lifeless.

So the burger of the day was a vegan cashew and tofu burger. It was a hit form me. The burger was topped with sprouts, onion, tomato and some sort of delicious sauce. I also ordered a side of fries which I could have done without. It was an additional $ 4; very big portion. However, I’m convinced the fries were frozen and prepared by baking in the oven. Not bad but not worth 4 bucks. I’ll just stick with the tortilla chips and the tasty salsa next time.

My wife and I go to One World 3 – 5 times a month and it is on the top of our list for Bmore eateries. She is vegetarian and loves having the menu all to herself for once. The cooks truly care about the recipes, presentation, and quality. I’ve never had a dish that wasn’t delicious. The only star I can deduct is for the awkward layout of the sunken dining room. The space often feels unfinished and chilly. We prefer the bar area. Great service every time!
Patron for Life

If it were just a café, or a corner bar, it would still be very worthwhile for folks in the neighborhood. That One World is a vegetarian restaurant with a broad and varied menu makes it a standout more broadly.
Very friendly service. We have been in with the kids with no problem. Feels like a neighborhood bar should, it just happens to be one where the burgers are meatless.
Great spot to stop in for coffee in the morning, a quick bite around lunch, or beers and something more substantial at night.
Not a huge beer selection, but always a good variety of interesting selections.
The food is tasty and filling, and where dairy is used there are often vegan options.

Frequent flyers here-​for vegan, vegetarian, non-vegan…a good cup of coffee and nice place to sit, relax, study, hang with dogs outside. tofu scrambler and tuna steak my fav. not to mention the heaven and hell cake. I also love the menus of the day that the manager creates (From my understanding) which will have a variety of options from time to time. I have been waiting for the vegetarian meatloaf to come back around.
Service is overall awesome-​the regular staff that has been there a while gets the job done and let’s you do your thing too, they give prompt service but also give you time.
Don’t know why the others dont give five star reviews but mine’s legit-we’re there all the time.

Some friends told us about this place and we went there for brunch. I wasn’t sure what to expect since it’s a vegetarian/​vegan place (carnivore here), but I have to say, it was really good! I got the iced latte and huevos rancheros. Everything was perfect and very filling. I love their décor, too. I heard they swap out different art pieces every month so there’s always something new to see. The front part of the café is more for coffee and small treats, and they have seating for those working on laptops. The restaurant itself is at the back. We had no trouble getting a table on Sunday afternoon. I highly recommend it if you’re in the area and looking for some good healthy[ish] food.

I have a habit of dropping into this place every few years. I’m not sure I will keep the habit. It seems kind of overrated for what you get.
This place was full! There was no shortage of customers. Everyone seemed to be sitting around having a good time.
The cashier was nice and polite. She inform dmd it wold be a 15 – 20 minute wait, but the wait really turned into 35 minutes. Now, I wasn’t too picky about this but when I got my food I was a bit more confused.
I ordered the steamed vegetables and ginger baked tofu. The menu made it sound great. What I got was not so amazing. it was literally half a bag of overly-​steamed vegetables, a slab of slightly-​warmed tofu, and a spoonful of miso-​ginger dressing, all floating in steamy murky water. It was the strangest most unappetizing thing I’ve had in awhile.
If all they were serving was microwaved veggies and tofu why did it take so long? Not sure its worth the hype. I ended up throwing it out.

I was in Baltimore for the weekend recently and was staying at a friend’s place that’s a hop, skip + a jump from One World Café. I ate here three times in one weekend. If I lived as close as she does, I’d eat here about 5X or more per week (actually, I think she might be doing that).
I’ve been for breakfast, lunch & dinner (not all on the same day. I do appreciate variety). The first evening, I was feeling in need of serious nourishment after traveling for a good number of hours and subsisting on airport snacks and coffee, so I ordered big and I ordered healthy. A cup of vegan French onion (excellent) and one of their healthy plates full of steamed veggies, tofu and rice. I mean, really, you can’t go wrong with this if you’re yearning for hearty + healthy.
The next day, I had the tofu club sandwich, which comes on really tasty/​nutty whole grain. It’s good, not the best I’ve ever had, but it filled me up for 10 hours somehow. Bizarre, right?
And then, I had weekend brunch on Sunday. That tofu scramble is excellent, especially if you’re a nutritional yeast-​lover (I refuse to call it nooch, as seems the norm these days). One World calls it «magic dust» which I think is spot-​on, as it enhances umami, and on tofu, that’s seriously business since it’s so bland and you depend on influence from flavoring. I also ordered a side of tempeh bacon because their sausage patties aren’t vegan.
In relation to this, my only slight complaint: for a place that has so many vegan options, there are a number of things that are perplexingly non vegan that could easily be made vegan. For example, mashed potatoes. Why wouldn’t they just make them vegan with unsweetened nut milk and one of the many amazing non dairy butters that are pretty common these days? And if you’re offering meatless sausage, why not get the vegan kind? There are so many of them. I get why they have real cheese as an option, as well as eggs, since it’s not a straight-​up vegan resto, but some options seem like no brainers to me.
That said, I just love One World. Their coffee drinks are phenomenal, too (and if you’re looking for a coffeehouse scene, order and sit up front). There’s a full bar. Their vegan coconut cake is simply to die for and the staff is all super nice.
I’m already planning a return visit to One World Café. I mean… to see my friend who lives near by, of course…

I’ve been here three times now. The first time, I just got an iced coffee drink which was a bit pricey, but still tasted pretty good. It’s a bit confusing the first time there because they have a café area and they also have a restaurant area with table service.
The second time, I ate in the restaurant area and ordered the open portabello sandwich. I believe the menu says you get chips and salsa with sandwiches and salads with wraps, but they gave me a salad for some reason. Overall, it was not a satisfying meal; the mushrooms with tomato slices and the salad with the dressing was WAY too sour/​acidic. I would not recommend it!
I decided to give the place one more chance, and I went for a third time for dessert. One thing to know is that the vegan cake slices are a LOT larger than the regular cakes (such as the cheesecake). I got the black bottom cheesecake which was just okay. With it being close to $ 6 per slice, I didn’t find it to be worth it (even though their cakes look beautiful). It had a very homemade taste to it, which was okay, but MOST cheesecakes I’ve had tasted better. I also tried some vegan cake; the cake was pretty dense and the icing was a little too sweet.
Unfortunately, I probably won’t be back willingly.

One World Café is conveniently located a two minute walk from my apartment. So my roomie and I have come here more often after moving in, three times to be exact. The first time, I had the Smoked Salmon Roll, which was served with a side salad and a very acidic vinaigrette (balsamic vinegar and something else). The menu itself consists of mainly vegan/​vegetarian options, but they do offer salmon and tuna. I found the salmon roll to be well made and seasoned and paired well with the vinaigrette. However the vinaigrette was definitely too sour and acidic and gave me a mini heartburn/​acid reflex after the meal… but I walked it off.
The second time I came was for the Taco Tuesday. I think Taco Tuesday might be one of the best deals at One World Café. They serve two large tacos with a large spoonful of Mexican rice on the side. The tacos. Are made with either refried beans or vegan beef. I had the vegan beef, but you can order one of each. They also let you choose between soft shell or hard shell. (I chose soft). The meal was delicious and what made it even more delicious was that it was only $ 5.25!!!
My friend ordered the black bean quesadilla. It was positively delicious! The serving was large, so she took some home. I ate it for lunch the next day… it still tastes delicious after hearing it up.
My third visit was a late night dessert run with my roomie. I got the vegan strawberry chocolate chip cake. Honestly, it was dry and thick and too sweet. The icing was hard and really much too sweet, I felt extremely sick after the icing. On the plus side, they give really huge slices.

Had a gig that put me a couple blocks away from One World for three days and went for dinner each night. My wife joined me on the last visit. We ended up trying a decent amount of the vegan options.
The atmosphere is cool, nice beer selection, with Peak Organic, Yards, etc on tap, and any place that’s all veg with a decent amount of labeled vegan options gets points in my book. Seems to be popular for coffee as well with a dedicated spot for that in the front and it looks to be popular with Hopkins students.
Sadly, the food is not great. Keeping it inexpensive for the college kids is fine, great even, but inexpensive does NOT equal boring or average. This place has mad potential because they have a great location near a college in a nice part of Baltimore, and because they’re already onboard with being veg and vegan. Healthier for people and the planet is not going away anytime soon — this market keeps growing. If the food was creative and really good this place could be a food destination worth traveling for! Please, please, bring in a chef that can do that! Plenty of bars serve up creative and delicious vegan food (one of the best being Memphis Taproom in Philly, off the top of my head and they’re not even full veg). In comparison to them for example, One World, well… they unfortunately just don’t compare with vegan food.
The vegan club sandwich was the best vegan item that I tried, but nothing spectacular. As for their ‘famous’ chili — honestly I’ve had better from a can (Amy’s brand). The entrées we tried missed the mark, and somehow even the appetizer and dessert that we had also disappointed.
Again, so much potential to be really awesome, but they need better food. Hope they work on it!

I’ve come here over the years, more recently as a hangout with some book club friends. In general, I’ve been bowled over by the «meatless» meatball sub, falafel with pita bread and occasional desserts. It’s a funky, laid back atmosphere with a combo of Johns Hopkins students at laptops and small groups at the front, bar, near-​bar or the lower level space.
Tonight I noticed the specials menu and was leaning toward the Roasted Garlic Grilled Polenta with Crispy Tempeh Triangles in BBQ sauce with veggies and creamy coleslaw. However, the bartender/​waiter suggested that the seitan was meatier in the General Tso Crispy Seitan with veggies galore, including snap peas (Yay!), broccoli, ginger and basmati rice. And so I did. However, although the seitan had a heavy, beefy taste and the vegetables were OK, I felt the overall taste was… meh,
Nevertheless, the homemade tortilla chips and salsa were tasty and hard to stop eating. Next time, I’d go to the homemade guacamole for variety.
Major thing: The service adjacent to the bar is never consistent or timely for service or getting the check – one has to take the reins in one’s hand sometimes; and the attitude of the servers can be an irritant. However, the food came out in an ordered fashion and he did make the effort to help me decide. Another thing: Wi-​Fi sucks here. Shouldn’t every café attempting any semblance of being a part of modern society have this? Or are we resigned to «hotspots» and xinfinity?
Nevertheless, as a hangout for lunch or dinner and for the good taste of the on-​menu fare, it’s a good place to sit down and read or chat with friends.

I’ve been here three times, once for take out on a weekend afternoon and twice for dine in after 7pm. The food is cool but I don’t feel that you get the best value for the money you pay. The amount they charge for vegan cheese is unheard of. One would think a veg friendly place’s vegan cheese upcharge rate would be the same ratio as a carnivorous eater (roughly about 50 cents) but it’s about a dollar more!
Might I also recommend calling in your order ahead if you’re doing pick-​up. I sat for 25 minutes just waiting on a vegan cheesesteak that should have only take under ten minutes to prepare especially considering the people that were dining in had all been served (I had time enough to look around and observe each and every person there while I was waiting all that time).