Cornbread Cafe

One of the best places I’ve eaten in a while. I never eat at vegan places, but this restaurant has made me rethink that. Fantastic restaurant by any standard.

I absolutely love their chicken fried tempeh. I know that sounds like a weird dish, but trust me — it’s great. Add mashed potatoes and vegan gravy and a side of steamed spinach — what a great meal.

Just an excellent comfort food vegan option that is perfectly Eugenian. I’d gather to say meat eaters will still enjoy this restaurant. Mac and cashew cheese side is amazing. Fried goodness options at every turn. Great desserts. Great portions. Haven’t regretted a meal here once, except for maybe my waistline!

Didn’t realize it was vegan only when I swung in — was VERY pleasantly surprised at how amazingly close to the real thing their faux meat was. The cornbread was great, Mac and Uncheese tasted super close to the real thing and the beer was awesome.

I went here with a friend who said its outta this world
And she was totally right great food yes it’s vegan but it’s not fake vegan. It’s home true grown vegan. There’s soul and earth to the food like everyone’s grandma just made fresh to order.

We live close to Cornbread Café but we aren’t vegan or even vegetarian so we haven’t been in until yesterday. First of all, I really like the funky, old school diner look and feel of the place. They have used a nice color scheme to create a warm and comfortable atmosphere. They have a small but interesting beer list some of which is from Agrarian Ales which is a great local brewing company. We had the chicken and waffles and the flavor and texture were great. We also had the Mac n cheese with a tomato sausage topping that was delicious. The salad included an interesting variety of organic greens and veggies and the ranch dressing was a great vegan effort. Service was quick and friendly and the prices are reasonable. I recommend you give this place a try even if vegan cooking doesn’t particularly appeal to your tastes.

My family decided to give this place a try and all of us ended up with stomach problems right after we ate. We won’t be going back

Vegan cheese that tasted like cheese… what’s not to like?
My son had PB&J, and my only suggestion is to not toast the bread, since it is already full of big grains. It was difficult for my then-​two year old to eat. Tasted good though!

I LOVE Cornbread Café! The only tip I’ll leave here is to only eat this food if you aren’t looking to have a productive day. Their food is so delicious that you’ll end up eating it all and slipping into a comfort food coma within minutes of consumption.
Worth it.

First and foremost if you don’t know what vegan means don’t go in and don’t say negative things about something you know nothing about.
I ate here yesterday it was great they do a great job I had the Benedict it wasn’t that you couldn’t tell it wasn’t the real deal but they made a helluva rendition of it with the vegan way loved it will go back today and try something else. Very good food.

AMBIANCE: hole in the wall type restaurant. Very green, it is a vegan restaurant after all. It is very cute.
LOCATION: Stand alone building with its own parking lot.
SERVICE: Great, quick, and friendly service.
FOOD: Hands down the best vegan food I have ever had. They were able to develop flavors that I didn’t vegan food could. It almost made me want to go vegan if I could eat here everyday. Seriously, you couldn’t tell it was vegan unless someone told you. Everything was made to perfection. Keep in mind, I am not a big veggie person, I love my meats too much, but this really opened my eyes for the potential of more and beyond my basic proteins.
PRICING: It was fairly priced. $ 9−11/dish, totally worth trying this place out.

I had been looking forward to visiting this diner for quite some time & it definitely lived up to all my hopes & expectations. Food was delicious & well seasoned, the menu options were fantastic, & I left feeling perfectly satisfied. Will be back to visit anytime I ever find myself in Eugene.

I finally made it to Cornbread Café on my last roadtrip to Portland — vegan «comfort» food. Not necessarily the healthiest food but I was pretty happy with my delicious meal! Service was really excellent — very friendly. The place is spotless and clean.
I enjoyed a delicious seitan reuben, plus I got «hot things» which was pretty tasty, and a dessert to go (it was a crazy delicious cookie bar thing). Also picked up a calendar of super cute kitties as a housewarming present for a friend (yay!)
I want MORE — definitely will visit here again on a trip through Eugene.

Not going to say this is my baby to rate, but take this review into consideration if you are a proclaimed carnivore like myself.
Inside feels like a retro diner with booths, but with some outdoor seating available.
The tempeh burger was fairly good, I prefer slab of beef any day of the week but this was some good vegan comfort food!
Mac Uncheese tasted great I thought, the wife wasn’t really a huge fan but she can be picky at times.
The cornbread at the «cornbread» café wasn’t anything special, typical stuff here, I was really hoping that this item would shine since they named the restaurant after it.

I heard about Cornbread Café because of its feature on Guy Fieri’s «Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.» Even though I’m not vegan/​vegetarian, the menu was appealing because there was lots to choose from … and there’s a great dessert selection as well!
One of my friends and I were in Eugene for a business trip recently, and I had this restaurant Bookmarked. We actually passed by it numerous times when we were out and about town, but we finally got to go for lunch on our last day in Eugene.
Parking is limited at Cornbread Café, but there are a few stalls out front in the small parking lot. Fortunately, our car grabbed the last available stall! The cozy diner-​like eatery isn’t super big on the inside, but there is patio seating available as well. It definitely has that eclectic, hometown feel to it, and though service was slow, the workers were nice.
Since we were going out to dinner later that evening, my friend and I decided to split one of the entrees for lunch. Our server recommend the «Build Your Own» option since it was our first time there. If we didn’t share a meal, I probably would have opted for soup or something so I could try the famous cornbread. But, this was a win-​win situation … and our lunch only cost $ 11.50. Score.
There are lots of entrees I would actually like to try if I ever returned to this café. But, I was really pleased with our entrée. The «Build Your Own» option comes with two sides of your choice, an entrée from the selected list and a piece of cornbread. And, if we had no dinner plans that day, I totally would have splurged and ordered dessert as well.
Here’s what I would recommend:
«Southern-​Fried Tofu»: This was the entrée we chose under the «Build Your Own Meal» option. It features the Surata tofu patty coated in southern-​style breading and it’s fried to a golden brown crisp. I read great things about this fried tofu option, so it was a no-​brainer to choose that as our entrée. For the two sides, my friend and I got the «Mac UnCheese,» which was macaroni smothered in cashew-​based cheese sauce. We also got the «Crinkle Fries,» since I love crinkle fries … I love thick-​cut fries more than thin, shoestring fries. This was definitely a starchy, carb-​heavy meal but since this was one of our last meals in Eugene for the time being, I didn’t care too much. The fried tofu was definitely as amazing as I thought it would be. The tofu was soft and fresh on the inside, and the exterior layer of batter was light and crispy — similar to the taste and texture of shrimp tempura. The fried tofu apparently comes with a dipping sauce; our server suggested Ranch so we just went with that. The tofu did need a sauce and the Ranch was perfect for some added zing. I loved the mac and cheese — I couldn’t even tell it was a vegan option; it tasted just as cheesy and delicious as any other mac and cheese concoction. The crinkle fries were flavorful, thanks to the Cajun seasoning, and they weren’t overly crispy. I liked the cornbread and I was glad we were able to taste it. I think I’ve had better cornbread before, and my friend agreed, saying she wished it were slightly more moist and buttery. It probably would have been perfect for dipping in soup or chili, but I was completely satisfied with our meal and would order it again in a heartbeat.
«Phish Phillet»: This is the other entrée I would have gotten for the «Build Your Own Meal» option if we didn’t get the tofu. But, according to the menu, it actually sounds pretty similar. This features a Surata tofu patty coated in the eatery’s seasoned kelp breading and is fried to a golden brown. It’s served with housemade tartar sauce and lemon. I’m curious to try the house-​made tarter one day; since I loved the fried tofu patty so much, I’m sure I would like this option as well.
«Frozen Peanut Butter Pie»: If I had the chance to get dessert from here, this would be at the top of my list. I love all things peanut butter, so I’m dying to give this pie a taste. If I didn’t want a huge dessert, I would probably choose the «Peanut Butter Crispy Bar» alternative. Yum!
«The Eugenewich»: This is the sandwich I had my eye on, but I guess I’ll just have to wait until my next visit to try it. It features that famous southern-​fried Surata tofu patty topped with melted Daiya cheddar, deep-​fried carrot slices, hand-​breaded onion rings, lettuce, tomato and a smoky sauce on a grilled bun. I normally don’t like carrots, but I would make an exception for this sandwich … just because these slices are fried. I would also order my sando sans the tomato, but everything else it includes sounds amazing (especially those hand-​breaded onion rings).

I love this place; it’s the only place I eat at when in Eugene. I’ve tried a couple different items off the menu but I’ve found that I really just love the basics. The bowl of chili and of course CORNBREAD! I think I could eat a dozen of their cornbread muffins and be just fine.
This visit they were participating in a Grilled Cheese event that helped a good cause so I ordered that and the chili. My tummy is very happy! And as always I got their most popular dessert to go-​Peanut butter crisp!

I have always found vegetarian and vegan food in particular highly suspect. Had I known this was a vegan restaurant, I probably wouldn’t have tried it, but it was nearly 9 at night early in the week and almost nothing was open. The lights were on, so we wandered in. Once we saw the menu, we considered bolting for the door, but the staff was super welcoming and things smelled good, so we gave it a try. Lo and behold, this has become one of our quirky Eugene favorites.
I’ve tried most things on the menu and everything has been really good. The moody portabella and the chicken-​fried tempeh are my favorites, the bloke likes the eugenewich. Does it taste like the «meat» version would? Absolutely not, but it is delicious down-​home southern food. Get a side of greens, maybe two, they’re awesome.

Almost all the tables were occupied when we came hungry at lunch time. Our friendly waiter arrived, and shortly afterwards so did most of our order. The grilled cheese on multigrain bread was delish, as was the nondairy chocolate shake. The BBQ seitan sandwich is my favorite, love the seasonings and the addition of slaw. As usual, the greens were so tasty.
We had hoped to enjoy nachos as an appetizer, instead when we inquired they arrived with an apology as we were finishing our sandwiches.
The nachos didn’t have much curb appeal and were just ok. They looked chips covered in vegan velveta, with minimal salsa, jalapeños and olives. Don’t think I’d order that again.
We will be back.

We are long-​time fans of Cornbread Café, beginning at the time when they used to be a tiny little foodtruck we happened to stumble upon while driving through Eugene years ago. While prices have gone up a bit since the foodtruck days, the quality of the food certainly hasn’t and neither has the quality of the folks serving it up.
One of my favorite things about eating here is that you leave genuinely full, but not in a way that leaves you needing a nap like lots of traditional Southern food does. :) I always anticipate being torn between the Eugenewich, Southern fried tofu and the Phish. My side dish options are also frequently a toss up of any combination of the mashed taters and cashew gravy, greens, mac uncheese, or ju jus. Oddly enough, despite its name, the cornbread is probably my least favorite item served. (But don’t let that deter you; I am not a huge cornbread fan in general!)
This is easily one of my favorite places to eat in Eugene and I will certainly be back again and again. (Besides I still need to try one of their incredible looking desserts sometime!)

It should be illegal how good the food here is… and vegan too!!!
I just can’t describe the absolute glee I experienced when eating the Eugenewich. It was like nothing else I have ever experienced vegan or non vegan (i mean that in a good way ha!).
The diner atmosphere is the perfect set up for a joint like this. the service was a little slow but I came well after typical lunch hours so that was most likely why.
I can’t wait to come back and try some other menu items.