Cafe Gratitude San Diego

OK, I’ll admit that I was a bit cynical and skeptical when friends suggested we eat here:
Cynical — because the idea of ordering my food in the form of affirmations («I am. .. Glorious,» «I am. .. amazing,» etc.) and then having the server repeat my order/​affirmation to me («You are. .. Glorious,» «You are. .. Amazing,» etc.) made my eyes involuntarily roll into the back of my head.
Skeptical — because the idea of eating kelp noodles just didn’t seem either appetizing or satisfying.
However, as a non-​vegan/​non-​vegetarian eater, I have to say that the food was pretty tasty. Also, it was admittedly nice to be able to eat a meal out (especially while traveling) without feeling guilty after.
Will I be switching to the «dark side» anytime soon? Probably not.
Will I be offering affirmations to friends and strangers? Definitely not.
Was this a nice place for a healthy meal with friends? Definitely yes.

Amazingly, I’ve been here three times, and have enjoyed everything I’ve eaten, each and every time.
And this is vegan??? Who knew this stuff could taste so good. Even the desserts are good!
Friendly servers, but some of them could use improvement in efficiency and follow-​up (normally I’d ding 1 star for this).
Great value as well. We’re regulars, and will return.

Want to preface this review by saying that I’ve now been to a Café Gratitude in San Diego, Santa Cruz, and LA — and have honestly loved my experience all 3 times. A definite 5 star in my books!
I’m a HUGE fan of restaurants that make health conscious food in inspiring, innovative ways. This place fits the bill. Boasting an inspired + curated menu, Café Gratitude shows its diners that vegan and vegetarian food is THE food to have if you care about health, local/​seasonal/​organic flavors, freshness, and the earth!
SO many dishes on the menu are fantastic — you can’t go wrong. Menu changes a little based on location (ugh, love the commitment to local sourcing) but here were some of my favorites/​stand-​outs (and P. S. I’d definitely recommend going family style here. Trust me, you’ll get to try + dabble in more dishes to get the full experience):
–ALL of the seasonal specials are always fantastic. I’d definitely recommend getting at LEAST 1 of their seasonal specials, just to experience some extra freshness/​seasonality in your food
–Samosa Chaat
–HUMBLE Bowl
–MEXICAN Bowl
–GRATEFUL Bowl
–CHEF’S SEASONAL Pizza
–RAW Pizza
–BOUNTIFUL (quinoa pasta)
–All fresh juices are AMAZING (and great portion size as well)
–IRRESISTIBLE dessert (coconut/​chocolate)
I’ve been so inspired by the menu, that I’ve even tried to re-​create some of the dishes/​ingredients at home (I’ve made raw pizza, cashew cream, and quinoa-​based pasta).
Little things about the experience also warm my heart — servers will tell you about their «phrase of the day,» and will urge you to think about what you are grateful for, what inspires you, etc. Adds a small touch to the dining experience that makes it memorable and a little more unique. The dishes are also named in fun, unique ways that inspire you to think positively. Décor is fresh + simple, and creates a bright, airy, and spacious vibe. Service is on-​point as well.
Always a FABULOUS experience here, which is why I’ve been three times now, and all in different cities. There are so many elements to the dining experience that I appreciate, which is why it is a ⁵⁄₅ in my books!

The concept and the cuisine are great. I have been to this one and the one in LA. What surprised me is that the take out service is lackluster. In fact it is equally weak at both sites.
The place is café «gratitude». So where is the smile or service? They look annoyed or too busy when you order to go. The service does not match their ethos. I want to support this place and hope they remedy the lackluster attitudes.
I will try the eat in service next time to give that a chance.
That being said, I like the food as a vegetarian and I want them to succeed.

Not really a review since i am only having a fine americano but worth saying something already. Writeups gave me the impression this would be a hippie-​style counter/​culture rag tag kind of place with its ridiculous naming of its dishes. But since i was walking by for the first time i stopped in. The restaurant is beautiful with a clean modern décor and a creative menu that makes me eager to come back and try some of these plant-​based organic dishes. Inspiration seems to come from all over the planet.
Ok back now for their fritata/​quiche. Not bad but not great flavor wise. Presentation first rate. Service somewhat erratic and disorganized. I will not rush to come back.

Awesome spot! One of my faves in San Diego, for sure.
I had the Resolved entrée (southern soul food sampler) and didn’t leave a single crumb behind. Savory, hearty, warm. And the portions are filling.
For a beverage, I recommend the Restored adrenal tonic. It’s nourishing and warm, and sort of tastes milky /​creamy.
I got a dessert to go — the strawberry chocolate donut. Yum! I would get it again.
Service was great, the ambiance is hipster /​modern, and the food is delicious.

Let me start by saying this has been my favorite place to eat for a couple years. Everything is delicious and the service is wonderful.
However,
I have not consumed any Kombucha yet, ordered tap to go. Paid $ 6. Upon delivery of my drink was told it was for 8oz of Kombucha. As a café owner, that sells local, raw Kombucha on tap, this is pretty insulting.

The food can be summed up as: Tasty Enough. My partner & I got the eggplant parm sandwich & the pizza (although I think you’d need quite an imagination to label a circle of bread piled with what can most accurately be described a salad «pizza,» vegan or not). The food was seasoned reasonably well, although it wasn’t anything I’d likely ever crave or desire to eat again. However, the raw tiramisu we got for dessert was delicious.
Now, with everything we ordered, the fact that the bill came out to be around $ 50 was a huge turn-​off for me. Of course I knew how much each item would cost, but I expected it to taste a lot better for the price. The only thing even remotely worth the price tag was the tiramisu, and at $ 9/​slice, even that was a stretch. I suppose you pay for the ambiance and the over-​the-​top bougie atmosphere reminiscent of Whole Foods. It was nice to try it out, but I’ll most likely never be back.
On a side note, there was a very loud party of 4 seated across from us who ordered shots of wheatgrass (?), then proceeded to perform some kind of shaman-​esque ritual over the glasses before downing the «sacred liquid.» Get over yourselves, you just paid $ 10 each for a shot of lawn clippings.

My friend was visiting from Vermont, and we decided to try Café Gratitude for the first time.
We were greeted by a very nice waitor –unfortunately forgot his name– he explained the menu and gave a question to ponder on while we waited on our entrées.
I love the atmosphere here, it truly is peaceful– just like the name. And the food is both tasty and super healthy and filling.

Let me start by saying I’m not vegan or vegetarian. If I could eat here every day 3 times a day I would definitely go vegetarian.
I was hesitant because in my experience began/​vegetarian always seemed flavorless to me, and unappealing. We ordered the Opulent and Brave elixir, «golden» turmeric drink, celebrating spring rolls, kansha ramen bowl. The spring rolls were so fresh and delicious, filled with avo, carrots and other veggies. My Chilled ramen bowl came with noodles, kale chips, pickled veggies, cucumbers. It was just so flavorful, earthy, seasonings were perfect.

Gosh. Well this place is the cheesiest place without cheese I’ve ever been in my life. Look, I get the whole positive vibe, but it is over the top. I’m also not a vegetarian/​vegan so the menu was a bit difficult to navigate. I honestly didn’t know what most of the items were, and service was so slow, I didn’t want to ask and make things even slower. I ended up ordering the sweet potatoes (which I had to order saying something like «I am comforted» and pretend it wasn’t the dumbest thing ever), because it was one of the only things on the menu that I actually recognized. They’ll put things like «burger», but not tell you what is actually in their «burger», which is bothersome to me.
We came here for lunch, and it didn’t appear to crazy busy. We were there early, about 11am on a weekday, so before the major business lunch. Services was unbearable slow. It took about an hour and twenty minutes for our entire lunch experience, mostly of just waiting for our drinks/​food/​check.

I really love the concept. Everything on the menu is named after some positive state of being. The top of the menu says «I AM…» and your order comes out to be some empowering statement like, «I am awesome» in which you really just ordered an eggplant parmesan sandwich. Or if you speak espanol, you can say «Yo soy fuerte» to get a mock chorizo torta. And it’s reinforced when they bring out my dish and tell me «you are awesome.»
But I’m just not a huge fan of the food. Everything is vegan. Not that that’s a bad thing (because I make vegan meals myself sometimes), but I feel that they try too hard to overcompensate with sauces that take over the whole dish. Like the «I am liberated» pad thai kelp noodle dish… it was tasty at first, but the thai almond sauce was way too overbearing halfway through the dish.

Full disclosure, I only learned this place exists because Cassey Ho went to the LA one so I looked it up because she is my #powergirlcrush. I LOVE this place. I have a thing about not being into vegan places, because in my experience they try too hard to be like every other restaurant – imitation meat, etc. This place doesn’t apologize for being vegan/​vegetarian, but rather celebrates it for all it’s worth.
It works for me.
For the record, I eat everything and am not vegetarian/​vegan, but sincerely appreciate the style Café Gratitude has in its approach to food. They boast in sustainable practices, gratitude for life, and offer 100% organic food. They use creativity in their meals, with cute, perhaps kitschy, names for everything. They offer breakfast, desserts, entrees, and sandwiches/​wraps. It is gluten-​free friendly as well, in case that is for you!
I used the online ordering system to place a to-​go order while I studied at Birdrock down the street. It was SUPER easy, and they have the full menu online and up to date. The shop is BEAUTIFUL and the location is PERFECT. It is light and bright and has a nice outdoor area on the sidewalk. It is PERFECT for visitors because it has a nice view of the harbor! It is really beautiful.
Now back to food: I got the «I am humble» bowl – HUMBLE indian curry bowl 15.50
curried red lentil dal, spinach, roasted garnet yams,
coconut mint chutney, spicy tomato jam, chopped
scallions, sprouted probiotic brown rice or quinoa
I got it with the rice, and the portion is really generous! I saved half for later. I was so satisfied with the depth of flavor – the lentils are not mushy at all, which is a fault of some red lentils (at least when I cook them, because apparently I suck), and the spices are DELICIOUS. MY GOSH. The yams are brilliant in it, and the spinach is so welcome in the bowl. The chutney and jam add a nice spice and flavor, and all in all, I would eat this EVERY DAY. UGH. I’d consider going vegan for this. Maybe. If I was vegan, I’d be here 3 times a day.
All in all, this place is utter perfection. Thanks for coming to SD, Café Gratitude! Please stay forever. I love their concept, I love the execution, I love the way they celebrate the beauty of plant-​based meals while creating fun, exciting, interesting, and beautiful food.

Had the whole bowl, ammmmazing! Perfect balance of flavors and just the right amount of nutrients for a packed lunch or dinner. I also has their ginger kombucha, which was lovely. As well as a matcha latte to go… Need I say more?
The staff is great, welcoming and accommodating. This was my 2^nd visit to CG, and I had a great experience.
If you are in SD, and haven’t been into the LA based chain for some plant based greatness, I’d highly recommend.
CG– you are amazing!

I’ve seen so many posts about this place. From YT, to IG, to FB and since were finally down here I thought that we could make a visit. We met up with another couple and the girlfriend happens to be a Vegetarian, so I knew she would appreciate this place.
The whole concept of this place is sweet and I like a lot of the commentary/​ice breakers in the begging. It’s def different but I am super open.
We were seated outside on a gorgeous Saturday early afternoon. We ordered:
YO SOY FUERTE — «mexican torta 15
housemade tempeh chorizo, cilantro pumpkin seed
pesto, tomato, shredded romaine, avocado,
chipotle cashew crema, salsa verde, roasted
tomatillo sauce, slow fermented ciabatta, side of
mexican coleslaw and spicy pickled vegetables»
ACCEPTING — «sushi bowl 15
blackened tempeh, shredded kale, wakame,
avocado, cucumber, scallions, cilantro, basil,
sesame wasabi dressing, gomasio, sprouted
probiotic brown rice or quinoa» with probiotic kim chee
and spicy vegetables
COMFORTED — «roasted garnet yams 9
oven roasted yams, rosemary, and spicy
cashew nacho cheese»
REFRESHED — «basil lemonade 5
lemon, agave, sparkling water, basil»
I thought overall for the type of food it is, plant-​based, so pure, good and good for you. it was a great place to visit and dine in.
I would LOVE to visit again!

It’s nice to have a Vegan restaurant that serves wine as Vegans are fun, too!
Although I’m not Vegan, I do prefer to eat this way, so it’s nice to have a restaurant that appeals to my palate and ethics!
There are many dishes to choose from and all meals are named after a positive/​empowering adjective; i.e.: wonderful, powerful, kind. And you are to order each dish by saying «I am wonderful», «I am whole», etc.
I ordered the cauliflower steak. It was delicious but a bit too much cruciferous for my belly. Thankfully, the portions were generous and my friends are sharers! One friend had the avocado kale salad — light, refreshing and delicious! My other friend ordered the polenta — hearty, satisfying and scrumptious!
Afterward, we crossed the street and finished our night at KEX.
I will definitely be back to Café Gratitude!

This place is located right on the corner in Little Italy, and if you blink, you just might miss it! They menu is broken up into easy to read sections and serve a great and healthy option of food to their guest. This was my first time dining here and overall, I must say I had a great experience.
I came in and was seated with my friend. As we dined, our server came up and introduced herself to my friend and I. The first question she asked us was if we had any food allergies. I thought this was an interesting question, but so true! So many people nowadays have something they need to be on the lookout for and what a great way to get it out of the way so your server knows about it! Now I wonder what would have happened if we did have a food allergy; would the food be prepared in a different part of the kitchen? would they have different food preps makes the food? oh the wonders…
I ordered the Giving (Seasonal Pizza) and the Celebrating (Collard Spring Roll.) The food was delicious. I loved the pizza. So much flavor and awesome ingredients. It seems like their stuff is seasonal so stuff is always changing. I have to come in and try it again then! The spring roll was a little much for me. Instead of the traditionally spring roll wrap, the café uses collard greens. It gets tough to eat. It’s hard to bite through the collard greens and it’s also got a little bit of spice to it.
Overall, super awesome and can get pretty pricy, but for the raw and delicious food that you are getting, it’s worth it!

I’m going to start this review by saying what no one else will: This place full on cheese. Ordering in self-​affirmations? Cheese. Being presented with a question of the day to encourage positive conversation? Cheese. Sorry. I have to be honest!
Now that that’s out of the way, I will say that I really enjoyed my dinner at Café Gratitude. I ordered the «Magical» burger which is a burger made of two thin and slightly crispy black bean patties. Add on some fresh romaine, pickles, red onion and some cashew macadamia cheddar and… wait, WHAAAA? Cheese made from cashews? Ok, I’m really new to this whole vegan food thing, so I had no clue you could get a cheese-​like substance from a cashew. Mind blown. And it was really good, too!
For dessert we split the Irresistible pie which really held true to it’s name. It is called a coconut cream pie but the description of the coconut custard fits better. The pie is more like a dense mousse with dark chocolate swirled throughout. The date crust was interesting… not my favorite.
Overall, I had a very enjoyable dinner with great service in a gorgeously decorated restaurant. I’m a meat lover myself, so I won’t be back too often, but I do hope to check this place out for breakfast!

This is a place to feed your soul and your spirit. Everything from their menu to the kindness of their servers and their service has you leaving revived and alive.
Being the first time going here, I was not sure what to expect but I was delightfully has me thinking about transitioning into eating a plant based diet. (But then I had pizza the next day so there goes that idea!)
The menu first off sets the tone… I AM… and then you pick your choices which are all positive affirmations which is a very creative way to mentally set yourself up for a great meal. I WISH I could remember all my affirmations but I KNOW it was AMAZING!
GRACE: a coconut milkshake with almond butter. Sweet, refreshing and soothing to the soul. Reminded of me being on a tropical island or beach.
COMFORTED: roasted garlic yams with this savory and nippy mint chutney. It was a great combination of sweet and savory.
VIVACIOUS: can’t go wrong with garlic kale chips with garlic tahini sauce. We even dipped this into the mint chutney and vise versa and it brought out so many different flavors!
and darn. I forgot the affirmation for the eggplant parmesan sandwich. Soft, savory and done right. The eggplant was not too mushy and they took off the skin or it was done so well that I wasn’t chewing at the eggplant. The tomato sauce and the arugula combination added a nice freshness to each bite and the bread was buttery.
By this time I couldn’t eat it all and was GRATEFUL that I was able to take home my leftovers which pretty much was another meal in itself.
My bestie ordered the Key Lime Pie which had the tart that made your face pucker. Creamy and had the right amount of sweet but not my kind of dessert.
I AM COMING BACK.

Went here last week for a girls day out date and admired the NYC-​esque aesthetic of the place. Unfortunately, that’s where my appreciation kind of ends in terms of both service and food. For a vegan place, it does have a plethora of different options, but the options are kind of haphazard for pairing (from Indian to pseudo-​thai to raw wraps).
When we first arrived, we were told there was a 30 minute wait– as all the tables were occupied. We didn’t have a reservation, but in plain sight there were a few tables open for service for sure. The hostesses were surprised at our willingness to wait– and taken aback when we understood them speaking in Spanish (don’t judge a book by its cover). After waiting 30 minutes, they ended up seating us at a table that was empty the 30 minutes we waited for one. Seriously.
In terms of the theme, I liked the system of «gratitude» they use– you basically order from a menu of sentiment-​named dishes. I liked the «I am dynamic» dish as it really had a married medley of flavors. The other stuff was decent, but overpriced for the portions and taste (I get that everything is made in store/​locally sourced, but taste has got to count too).
I would definitely pass on the smoothies, unless you’re a super health nut as they’re pretty gritty in texture, super filling, and kind of pricey.
Honestly, my favorite vegan place is still Evolution fast food– their burgers and shakes are wayyyy better (and less pretentious) than the fare here.

Me encanto la comida, el lugar y la atención. Disfrute mucho venir con mi familia a comer, muy recomendable.