Fuel

Loved the Vietnamese salad and believe it or not — the salt and pepper tofu. A bit on the pricey side but a real taste experience. I would hope they venture out into more vegetarian dishes that have no fried food and are meatless. There is so many great recipes out there.

I really love this place, its an establishment that is unique and a point of pride for the city of Kalamazoo. The restaurant is difficult to find, the hours aren’t always convenient and parking is sparse but it is worth any of the trouble. I have been there a handful of times and never been disappointed. The chef uses creative spices and techniques to create cuisine that leaves an impression on the diner. I enjoy taking friends from out of town here to show them the ways in which Kalamazoo is unique besides the amazing microbrewery culture.

I’m pretty sure they get all to most of their business off Groupon, which means they probably jack their menu prices to 400% of their expected value so that Groupon gets a cut and it seems like a discount. I rate it so low because of the diner quality food at nearly gourmet prices.
I bought two groupons (I was so excited for a vegetarian restaurant!) and went twice, first for dinner and then for brunch. The dinner food was mediocre– edible but nothing I’d order again. We got chickenish strips for an appetizer. My boyfriend got a cuban or cajun or something that was basically a plate of lightly seasoned black beans. He had some soy meat on it (chickenish I believe) which he had to order extra above the groupon to get anything interesting to his black beans.
I do not remember what I ate, but it was mediocre.
We then went for brunch, since I already had the two Groupons and we thought it might be better. I got vegan French toast and he got regular. I was into it (vegan french toast!) but the portions were small and the coffee was weak. I like strong coffee, but this was weak for anyone. I’ve had better at Denny’s. And it only got refilled once, even though the restaurant was empty.
I was disappointed. A vegetarian restaurant can be so novel and edgy and delicious but Fuel doesn’t do much for my expectation.

My girlfriend and I went here with a groupon (1 app and 2 entrees). We kept putting it off because of the location (it’s way across town from us) but I was pleasantly surprised. I am an on again off again vegetarian so it wasn’t that adventurous for me but even full time meat eaters would like this place. The atmosphere is really cute and cozy and the staff is really nice. It almost feel like it’s out of place in kzoo but that’s not a bad thing. Just very unique! The food was good but I feel like it could have been seasoned better. It’s hard to season tofu products well! I think if they had a better location and refined their food a little it would do much better! If i weren’t moving from kzoo i would def give Fuel another shot! Make a reservation to make sure you get a seat! Oh also the menu is kind of hard to read and I have pretty good eye sight. Also I think it would be great if they had wine or beer!
The parking lot is small.

I recently attended a two-​day event catered by fuel; I haven’t had a chance to go to their location, but the food we were served was *incredible.* It arrived exactly on time (in fact, the smell of it from the next room was a little distracting! so good!) and the head chef took a moment before both meals to describe/​explain each dish.
we had: gumbo, beans and rice, corn fritters, west african vegetable sandwiches, coleslaw, and shortbread cookies. _​everything_​was amazing, highly recommend!

At Fuel, you — as a vegetarian /​vegan — will not be an afterthought as compared to other places where they give you «options» like portabello mushroom burgers and salads because they don’t really know how to feed you. {Meat eaters may feel differently on this point, but if you’re veggie or vegan, this place won’t disappoint with the options.}
We’ve tried a number of dishes here. I don’t know what’s in that chickenish, but it is something amazing. I didn’t miss chicken at all! During our dinner visit, we ordered the cuban stack and the southern stack. For dessert, we tried the banana fritters. Very yummy overall.
For Sunday brunch, I had the chilaquiles and really liked it. I’m excited to see them serving brunch and looking forward to the expansion of this menu.
Lastly, a previous poster mentioned something about the restaurant being in a «rough neighborhood.» I couldn’t disagree more. It is in a working-​class neighborhood and there’s nothing wrong with that. We’ve been there a number of times and there were no indications whatsoever that we should have felt unsafe or threatened. I’m glad to see Fuel right where it is, where everyone can enjoy great food and company; in a small cozy and homey space with a fantastic chef and staff.
Try something different, you might like it!

We arrived at 20 minutes til closing and there was no one in the restaurant. The waiter and staff were super friendly and said they were closing up but they would put something on for us.
We ordered two dishes one was so-​so but the other, a raw pasta (egg plant) with home made sauce was AMAZING!!! Worth coming back for!!! We got our order to go and sat in the parking lot with the rain for ambiance and enjoyed our meal. It was a little pricey for our budget but not so much it will prevent us from giving Fuel another try.
Three stars for Fuel but we’ll be back and hoping to add another star.

I would like to start out by saying I really wanted to like this place. I bought a groupon about a month ago (the first one I’ve ever bought), just for an excuse to try this place out. I can’t even begin to describe how disappointed I am.
First of all, it’s not in the greatest area of town and the parking situation isn’t spectacular. Second, the restaurant was scalding hot and uncomfortable to sit in. This however truly has absolutely no bearing on the rating I’m giving. The problem comes in when we arrive and sit down at our table. Our waitress immediately informed us that pretty much half of the menu was unavailable, leaving us with a pretty limited selection (the chickenish, pasta, and more were gone). Perhaps they’re extra cautious with their ordering as the items they order likely spoil quickly and they don’t wish to carry a lot of overhead. However for a Saturday night, all of these items should definitely be available.
With our groupon, we were allowed 2 appetizers and 4 entrees. We ordered fried plantains and sliders for our appetizers. The plantains were pretty good, came in 5 slices with a little sauce (certainly not worth the usual $ 9.00). The sliders were nothing more than 2 pieces of tofu and 1 piece of burgerish on 3 ciabatta bread slices. Not anything more to it, although I will say the burgerish is very good and tastes like it could be meat. Again, the price of the sliders was ridiculously overpriced for what it was. The other thing I found interesting was the fact that there were 3 sliders not 4. Four seems to be a common number as many couples and double dates go out to dinner. Three just seems like an odd number.
Anyways, so we ordered our 4 entrees. Two of us ordered the cuban stack, one ordered the southern stack, and one ordered the «burger». While everything in the cuban stack tasted fine, I again couldn’t help but notice the price. The cuban stack was probably ¹⁄₈ lb tofu (literally a slab of it, no seasoning), 2 pieces of plantain deep fried, and probably ¾ of a pound of black beans. The price of this entrée is typically $ 13.00!!! Again, the food was fine but nothing special and I certainly would’ve expected to see at least some culinary technique with my meal. It was very simple.
After dinner the waitress comes by to ask about dessert. We end up ordering some banana fritters and binnet (I have no idea how to spell this word). Both were just completely covered in grease and pretty much inedible. One of the people I was with speculated that the fryer oil was too low causing an excessive amount of grease. I really don’t know anything about fryers, but I know overly greasy when I see it. The portions for dessert were really large, not that I’m complaining about that.
What I will say for the restaurant is the staff were very friendly and very apologetic about the amount of food they didn’t have in stock. I don’t see this restaurant doing very well for a myriad of reasons. First, they’re only open 12 hours a week, I’m not sure how they think they’re going to build up a clientele. Second, their food is clearly overpriced, particularly for Kalamazoo. Third, the food is adequate and nothing more. It’s a shame because there’s such a large vegetarian/​vegan population in the Kalamazoo/​Portage area. I just don’t see it working out.

I visited this restaurant a couple of weeks back with a small group of friends. We decided to all order different items and share so we could try a little of everything. Wow!!!
Every bite from every dish was absolutely delicious! I’ve been back a few times since, and have yet to be let down.
That being said, when you look for a dining experience, if you focus on food and service, you’ll love this place, because they do both well. This place is tiny, and has a terrible parking situation. The restaurant itself is clean, cozy, welcoming and unpretentious. That’s what I prefer, so I’ll deal with the lack of parking.

Found out about this relatively new spot thanks to a friend, and I’m so glad I did. Not only is the cuisine here vegan, but the vast majority is also gluten-​free! Had brunch (egg with black beans, avocado and pico de gallo and GF bread and fantastic breakfast potatoes), and it was delicious. They have their own blend of Water Street coffee, and they eve had decaf (yay!). The employees were all very friendly, but it also got to the point that we were a bit confused as to who our server was. We were in the back room; the drawback was that were very close to the kitchen and left smelling as if we’d just been doing the cooking ourselves. Parking is definitely a drawback, but I would absolutely return here the next time I am in Kalamazoo.

Fuel is a small Vegetarian restaurant that seems to specialize in what can best called Fusion cuisine. Their meat substitutes (chickenish and burgerish) reflect a genuine savoriness not often found vegetable protein alternatives, and are as deliscious as their meat counterparts.
We had a cuban stack (black beans, chicken substitute, with garlic mashed plantains), Southern Stack (Black eyed pees, chicken substitute, and collard greens), and large ravioli stuffed with collard greens whose flavor reminded me a fresh indian pollack paneer. All dishes were prepared well. For desert we had the plantain fritters with honey drizzle. They were amazing.
My only critique is that the restaurant is very small and located in a rough neighborhood. When we went, tables were by reservation only, and upon arriving we had to park across the street and walk past a group of young thugs fighting outside a house only two doors down from the restaurant. My hope is that the restaurant does well and relocates.

I had dinner here for the soft opening and it was overall a good experience and I am looking forward to see how they evolve.
This place is tiny (maybe 25 seats) but decorated nicely. They did lose our reservation but were able to seat us anyway.
Service was hesitant and confused, as you would expect at a soft opening, but also very friendly and helpful. We interacted with three or four employees during dinner and they all clearly were doing their best to make the night successful.
We ordered:
Pot licker soup (collard green broth with rice) — 4 stars
Tempura cauliflower — 4.5 stars
West African Stack entrée — black-​eyed peas and tomato stew over fried plantains. Very tasty, a solid 4 stars. It was nice and flavorful and substantial.
My girlfriend ordered the «raw stack» for her entrée. The menu described it as «zucchini spaghetti with raw ricotta, fresh tomatoes and basil.»
Maybe the word «spaghetti» threw us off but we were expecting something a little less salad-​like. It was, in essence, a zucchini and basil salad with some tomatoes and ricotta. It made a fine salad, but was unsatisfying and left her hungry.
— Yes, this is an entrée for a «raw» diet, and maybe we should have seen it coming, and it isn’t fair to be disappointed by it. Maybe in future versions of the menu the raw section can be delineated a little more clearly, or they could avoid words like «spaghetti» which have strong connotations.
Our two biggest problems were 1) The parking lot is confusing and small, and we couldn’t tell if we were parking in someone’s lawn or not (due to fresh snow) and 2) The temperature of the restaurant. Both of us had freezing feet, and I am not usually cold.
Despite some problems we had a very nice dinner here, and look forward to coming back. I hope that restaurants like this are able to do well in Kalamazoo.