Suma Veggie Café

All their dishes are soy based and oh so good. Definitely will be back here an cheap price to boot?!? I’m hooked.

Since the original owners quit and sold the business, I do feel the quality of the food has gone down considerably. The new owners are very sweet and accommodating… but the quality and taste doesn’t match up to what it was earlier. I have also seen a considerable reduction in the loyal clientele that comes here.
Went for lunch last week around 1 and pretty much all the dishes were gone. The owner lady told us we will get more food out of the kitchen and she made sure it did. But took time and with lunch, you can’t afford to sit around for long time. The Spring Rolls were extremely oily… and for sure were frozen market bought.
Hope the owners get it together and become profitable!

Best. Chinese. Buffet. Ever.
I’m not even vegan, but I LOVE this place. Chinese food is my favorite, but I hate buffets because of the quality of the meat. Well… at Suma you don’t have to worry about eating chewy chicken because it’s all VEGAN! Tastes just like the real thing, though.
Obsessed.

Good tasting vegan food. Have to try the sesame chicken I.e. cauliflower, the soups and banana nut cake for dessert. The place is nice and the staff is friendly. Would highly recommend for a quick lunch. Can’t go wrong with this all you can eat for under 8 bucks.

I am very sorry to give just 2 stars to Suma. I’ve been coming here for the last 13 years and have never left disappointed. The previously owners were surly and not at all friendly, but the food was amazing.
The new owners are very nice and the restaurant has been given a facelift with nicer plates and table cloths etc. The service is excellent — no complaints there. The problem is the food. I tasted a few items and they are very salty. The sauce seems to have ketchup in it. The spring rolls seem to have been fried in oils that have been kept for a while. They have a bad aftertaste.
Now this is my first visit since the mgmt. change (Kind of been scared off by the construction in 635). Maybe today is an off-​day for them. I am going to try it again and see if things get better. If not, I am going to have to find a new vegan restaurant. Hopefully, they are able keep the food standards up.
On a positive note their red velvet cupcakes are terrific!

This place has seen better days. It was much better under the old administration. The food is ok, but they take long to bring things out. Today I went to check and there was no fired rice, no orange chicken, no egg rolls and no string beans at the same time. I think they also sold us water for tea. I will probably come again, because it is one of a kind, but truly disappointed based on past experiences.

Fried satan chicken, is amazing. They made it into a dish that reminded me of sesame chicken. I’m not vegan but this dish was better than the chicken version i’ve had at other places. Must try if you are a vegan

So they are now under new management. It happened all of a sudden one weekend. I don’t think the owners said much about it because I was in one week and the next they were gone.
The new owner lady is super nice. She talks to me a little bit and feigns interest in what I’m doing reading, which is nice. Maybe it’s because I come in pretty often.
The food is different now. Not as good as it used to be, but I might still be getting acclimated to the new style of cooking. It’s the same basic dishes, but with a new cook. Everything seems a little sweeter than it was before.
Pros
The egg rolls and fried pancake definitely took a turn for the better. The food isn’t as oily as it used to be, so I assume it’s healthier than before. There is no shortage of brown rice, which is most excellent for when I roll out of bed and get to their buffet late. And they added a new buffet menu item, tofu summer rolls. They are delicious for sure.
All in all, I’m going to take a star away from their impeccable rating. I could understand a 3-​star rating, but I really love this place and can’t do it. Even if you changed a little Suma, I still love you.

Passing this restaurant all the time in the pass as a meat lover, I’ve never tried it… But recently when I decided I wanted to change my eating to be vegetarian, I gave this restaurant a try.
I came in 15 minutes before closing and after reading the review, was a little scared of how the owner was going to approach me but they were super nice! He was quite passionate about being vegetarian which I loved because it really inspired me to continue trying to not eat meat and he was talking about the facts of being vegetarian and his background. Also I got some pamphlet to know more about vegetarians.
The food… I took it to go and it smelled so tasty that I wanted to pull over and eat in the car! I ordered the beef with mushrooms and bamboo. Super yummy! Made me not even miss the real deal. Combination fried rice was also good. I’m super excited to take his offer to try out their lunch buffet.

I went here one day with the family and tried lots of dishes. My favorite was the Crispy Veggie Fish and Curry Veggie Chicken. I could not tell that the fish was not real fish! I hear the buffet is good as well. This is the best vegan restaurant I’ve been to. My sister has been going here for over a decade.

The wife and I had heard good things about Suma Veggie Café and decided to give it a try. Especially since the wife was on a «no meat» experiment that lasted 5 days. =oD
Here’s the main thing that I took away from my dining experience here:
When the waiter (who I think is also the owner) says it’s just like chicken, don’t believe him. It kinda tastes like it, but it definitely does not eat like chicken. The consistency is off. It was definitely edible, it wasn’t that it was gross or that I wouldn’t eat it. It was quite tasty, but the consistency of the «meats» were something to be desired.
If I were a vegetarian, I’d probably come here more often, but since I can get the same food elsewhere that is made with actual chicken, I’m finding that more desirable than food made from tofu. I think I’d actually prefer the dishes we ordered to just be made with Tofu cubes or fried tofu, rather than an approximation on chicken.

Don’t listen to the lame comments. This place rocks. The owners are cool if ya get to know them. If you don’t know older people from other countries and what a difference they are, then you wouldn’t understand.
Get there right when they open for lunch because it gets packed for the buffet fast. The buffet is all vegan by the way and every single thing is amazing and great quality. I have eaten here for about 7 years. I moved to Austin and make sure I eat here everytime I come back to visit.

The food was OK. I dont see myself coming back. Only had one dish that was good. Everything was salty or ton o MSG. The place is small and is in need of some ambiance (music). The staff is very polite. I hope they do well.

This place is Just OK.
I would hate to review this place 3 stars. The owners are extremely friendly.
The food is fresh made, all vegan, no MSG — then why 3* ?
It is the taste my dear — Of the 8+ items on the buffet table — myself and my wife liked only 2 of them, some of the items almost made me puke, I am just not used to eating this kind of stuff.
Looking at the name, it seemed to be an Indian place, but it is 100% chinese food, dont get me wrong, I love all kinds of Veggie food, Indian, Thai, Chinese, Middle eastern, Italian … — but somehow this place did failed to impress me:
— all items are a bit on the sweeter side
— most items seemed to be made of a similar kind of sauce
If you are thinking this is healthy food, be warned — more than 50% of the items are deep fried. If you are looking for really healthy food — check out ‘Kesari Indian Vegetarian’ or ‘Pei Wei’ or ‘Indian Flavor.
Another thing which did not go over well with me is that fact that they charged $ 4 for my 3 year old daughter who hardly had any food — most places do not charge for a kid of that age.
Unilocal reviews usually do not disappoint me, but there are 3 places which have really pissed me off so far: ‘Suma Veggie café’, Kalachandji’s and Cosmic Café
Overall — this place is a big NO for me.

***BE AWARE, IF YOU GO TO THIS RESTAURANT YOU WILL END UP STUFFING YOUR FACE***
OMG Yummy!
I really love the delicious vegan buffet
I read about this place on Unilocal and eventhough I live 1hr away I just had to try it.
The food was great, I loved their fried spring rolls, veggie tempura, orange chicken and fried rice.
I think I went back for 3rds.
If you are a vegetarian you HAVE to try it!

I haven’t been to Richardson in about 6 years; I arrived today on travel for work, and after work wanted to get something from an independent restaurant, especially one that caters to vegetarians.
I am rating this one on flavor and selection (top priority to me for a restaurant) — and NOT on their décor or demeanor.
I tried getting the owner to recommend something, and since he had no specific suggestions (only asked if I have a preference for type of meat substitute), I asked what’s most popular. He said that the orange chicken is most often ordered, so I thought I’d give it a try. Not bad. Not incredible, but decently flavorful. He used «American» broccoli, not Chinese broccoli or bok choy, to stir into his dish, which was disappointing… but I somehow suspect that the majority of his clientele aren’t used to true traditional Asian ingredients.
Sadly, the place was almost empty, and the old guy running the place was very brusk and assumed automatically that I’d be unhappy that there’s no meat. After I ordered, I spoke with him a bit and he admitted that many people who try his place out are not expecting a vegan menu (this area seems to be very meat-​heavy, as I would expect in Texas).
I’m giving him a solid 4 stars on flavor, selection of choices, and the fact that there actually *is* a vegan/​vegetarian Chinese restaurant in Richardson, Texas. I will most certainly return to his establishment — he apparently also has a lunch buffet from 11:30 — 2pm, all you can eat.

Okay, this is the best vegan Chinese restaurant I have been to! Granted, I’ve only been to two (both in Richardson) but it’s even better than non-​vegan Chinese places I’ve been to.
Please know that my rating is based on their buffet. My husband and I have probably been to Suma Veggie Café 8 – 10 times and always go for the buffet, which is during lunch hour.
Yes, it’s not the most jazzy place. It’s located in a strip mall and they keep to the basics inside, as far as style. It is a mom and pop place. The owners and a mom and dad and the waitress is their daughter (or so it appears). The waitress is AWESOME! She’s like a hawk, in that she is there as soon as you need more to drink or need your plates removed. The owners may seem cold to some but if you get in a conversation with them they are rather sweet and down right adorable. Here is a flickr link to a photo taken of the owners (I think it captures what I mean):
Personally, I love supporting mom and pop shops.
The food is FANTASTIC! Suma Veggie Café is about 40 minutes away but well worth the drive. Whenever we have people visit we take them to Spiral Diner and Suma Veggie Café. Needless to say, we love it!

Suma is the best of its kind. I’ve eaten at similar asian buffets that are affiliated with Ching Hai and there’s no comparison. It is one of my favorite vegan restaurants in the country.
Vegan options include-​beef and cabbage, kung pow chicken, tofu and veggies, 2 different kinds of soup, chow mien, orange or sesame chicken and this savory fried pancake with green onions that I would sacrifice my first born for. The buffet changes daily and Id strongly recommend going on Wednesday for the beef, celery and potato dish. ITS UNBELIEVABLE.
Their dinner menu is also impressive. They offer vegan fish options and an amazing black mushroom dish.
I’ve eaten at Suma for almost 5 years and I have never had an issue with Phillip, the owner everyone is talking about, or his wife Elaine. They are both beyond friendly. There is a language barrier and quite an age and culture difference between them and their customers and i think its insane to hold that against them. The wait staff is also incredibly warm and attentive despite the buffet style lunches. They notice if we go a week without eating there, and always make casual conversation.

All vegetarian food! So it’s exciting for a vegetarian to be able to order ANYTHING off the menu! They have veggie chicken, veggie pork, veggie beef, veggie seafood. It’s crazy.
I ordered the Wonton Soup to start off with. The small bowl was enough for me and my friend to share. It was very good! For dinner, I had the Seseame Veggie Chicken. Great stuff!!!
The atmosphere itself leaves much to be desired, and the place is pretty small. But that’s not why people come here. People come here for the amazing food.
I also have no idea why people are saying the owners are rude. The man was VERY nice and so was the woman.

I love Suma! My friend, C, and I have been eating here for 8 years or more. The lunch buffet is where it’s at, although I always keep meaning to try the dinner at some point– just to see.
It’s all vegetarian (some dishes are possibly vegan), so the sesame chicken is really TVP «chicken». And it’s delicious. They’ve got 2 kinds of rice, some noodles, 3 – 4 ‘chicken’ dishes (sesame is my fav) and some veggies. It’s a small place, with a small buffet area, so there aren’t hundreds of choices, but you don’t need them, because what they put out is the best.
PLUS the fried donut things they have as a dessert option are absolutely insanely good. C and I have gone to this place and paid the full buffet price JUST for the donut things (we call them fried dough rounds, because ‘donut’ just isn’t quite right). Sugary and fluffy and doughy and I’m drooling now. Oh god.
The folks that own the place aren’t always shining beacons of friendly conversation, so don’t expect for them to join you at your table and chat. But I’ve never had a *BAD* experience with them, unlike some of the other reviewers have mentioned.
Which is fine. I go there for the awesome food with a friend, not to talk with the owners.
The prices have gone up a little over the past few years, but it is still an awesome deal for a lunch buffet.
GET THERE EARLY! They stop doing the lunch buffet around 2, and you really don’t want to get there later than 1. Ever. When they’re busy, they’re constantly refilling the buffet and changing the main dish options/​flavors, so you get the most variety and the freshest food early. Obviously– it’s the same at most buffets.

This unique niche Vegan Chinese place has a lunch buffet. Hot and Sour soup, beef and brocoli, egg roll, stir fried rice, sesame chicken, sweet and sour pork; all your favorites are here and completely %100 VEGAN and around $ 7. Clean enough and decorated in soft greens, printed curtains are drawn to let in the trees and sunshine. Irascible no-​nonsense, older Chinese owner running the ship adds even a little more character.
We also ordered the steamed dumplings off the menu, they were excellent.