Birds & The Beets — Restaurant in Vancouver

This is a review for this particular visit and not of the overall reflection of the cafe. I use to frequently visit when I lived in the city.

I'm in town for a wedding and decided to come in for a relaxing coffee and breakfast.

Ordered my coffee and a miso barley bowl, it tastes good, but my complaint is the staff who made my food... For some reason there was a box on the coffee pick up counter and the barista was asking the kitchen staff about the box and why it was there. Maybe she asked him to move the box, who the heck knows....

So my barley bowl is literally almost done, he was literally about to slice the soft boiled egg in half to garnish my bowl, but instead of completing the bowl, he decides to move the box with his food soiled hands and then STRAIGHT back to the egg without washing his hands. This infuriated me. I had made a comment after he handed me the bowl that he should have washed his hands before going back to handling food or at least finish the bowl and then moved the box of supplies.

I didn't say much afterwards and wanted to see if anyone would correct this experience, but sadly no one bothered and no apologies or offer to do something, anything.

This is an open food handling space where customers are literally watching everything that's happening as they wait for their order. Safe food handling is a very important aspect and reputation of any cafe/restaurant establishment. I've worked in the industry and owned my own restaurant, so this is probably why I'm so bothered by...

The worst cafe experience I’ve had in Vancouver.

I visited this cafe around 10AM on Oct 17, and it was honestly the worst experience I’ve had in Vancouver.

Unfriendly service My boyfriend and I stopped by for breakfast, planning to have sandwiches and coffee. I asked if we could order the roast beef sandwich, but was told “not available right now” even though there was no such note on the menu. Then I asked if we could add ham to the breakfast sandwich (since I saw that option in another Google review), and she abruptly said “No, we don’t have ham” with no further suggestion or explanation. Her tone was cold and dismissive from start to finish.

Strange taste in coffee and pastry (weird sour flavor) I run a cafe myself in Korea and currently work as a barista in Vancouver, so I’m quite familiar with how coffee should taste. The almond milk latte I ordered tasted sour and off, and my boyfriend also found it unpleasant. It was likely due to an issue with either the beans or the milk. When I politely mentioned this, the barista looked at me with clear disdain and said, “Then I’ll make another one for you?,” in a sarcastic way.

This was supposed to be a special week for me my birthday week and the experience completely ruined our morning. I left the cafe feeling upset and even got a headache from the stress.

I sincerely hope the owner reads this, takes responsibility for the staff’s attitude and...

Not safe for anyone with food allergies!

I was taking some people out for breakfast and this came up as a viable vegan option on Google. At first I was going to just get avocado toast and coffee to be safe, but the woman at the till assured me I could have something more substantial and that she would tell the kitchen not to put any milk products anywhere near my food. I was hungry, so after some more assurances I hesitantly bought the spiel. (I should not have).

I then watched bro behind the counter making my order: slapping a big chunk of butter in the pan, then seeming to remember a note about milk - dumping out the butter, and then proceeding to fry my egg in the same buttery pan.

When my order came up, I asked him if any milk or butter or anything had touched my meal. Maybe it was vegan margarine and I was being crazy, after all. At first he tells me there's no milk or butter. When I ask if he's SURE a couple more times, he mentions, "well yeah there was butter in the pan, but then I remembered and took it out before I made your egg." Wow!

They offered to make me something else, but I was a little bit concerned at this point so I think I ended up with avocado toast, after all that.

TL;DR: The food looks and probably tastes great but these guys are in no way allergy-aware or true vegan, so buyer beware on that. If I wasn't watching the cook I would have had an allergic...