Purple Grain — Restaurant in Vancouver

It's not every day you encounter a bussiness that stands out from the rest like a shinning star and deserves the attention drawn to it. The kind man assisting me today at checkout seen me struggling with my bank card as I attempted to purchase a tea. As he rung me in twice and my card continued to decline, I stepped aside to check my bank balance. Despite there being nobody waiting in line behind me, he discreetly came over and told me "Ahh don't worry my friend, it's a gift". I felt very welcomed and appreciated as a customer even though it was my first time visiting here. The kind gesture was not done out of convenience to speed me along and out of there, nor was it done for the potential acalades of surrounding customers. There was nobody watching, and he did so quietly, and politely. Simply, this man treated me as an equal, another human being trying to survive, and I truly felt he passed not even a hint of judgement towards me whatsoever with regards to my appearance, race, gender, age etc. After checking my bank account and seeing my balance, I determined I could now most likely afford the chicken fajita (which was delicious and stuffed with fresh, wholesome and real chicken). Normally I would have politely said "thank you" after the much appreciated gesture and been on my way so as to not inconvenience him further (my feelings, definitely not his). However, his actions left me feeling warm inside, and genuinely respected as a fellow sister of the big Mister, ruler of heaven and earth. I decided that whatever I could afford with the remainder of my money was well worth contributing to this establishment, and went ahead and requested the total price of the fajita. And yet, my bank balance was still slightly short of the total for the meal. And again, this man says to me "Well, it's a dollar discount today" and he rung in my order. It's been a long time since I've received this kind of professional treatment from a very humble establishment, or any establishment at all. I recommend this place to anybody. The food is fresh, without the taste of preservatives, healthy and wholesome but above all else, the people who work hard to see this place succeed are real, genuine, and have truly big and...

This salad bar is located inside the Diamond Centre in the VGH complex, so it's an ideal location for those working at VGH or who have appointments there. In addition to the actual salad bar, there's a case of prepared grab-and-go salads and wraps, a hot pot bar, and some healthier/natural ingredients baked goods from To Live For Bakery. I just made a beeline to the grab-and-go fridge so I didn't get a super close look at the salad bar, but from what I can tell, the place looks exceptionally clean. There's two tables outside in a reserved patio for Purple Grain, but there's also plenty of seating in and around the building to take your food. The guy working the register is super friendly. I first tried a masala chickpea buddha bowl from the grab-and-go fridge. It was very fresh! The composition was simple, but I liked the spiced chickpeas. The raspberry vinaigrette that came with this bowl did not complement the chickpeas at all. It completely masked the masala seasoning of the chickpeas when they were mixed together. On my next visit I got the veggie samosa wrap and a carrot cake, and was glad I decided to try this place again because these were delicious. The samosa wrap was made with a soft flatbread filled with lots of vegetables and tangy tamarind chutney. Very filling. The carrot cake was exactly how I like it with lots of coarse shredded carrot and big walnut pieces. The prices are pretty reasonable. It's not anything fancy but the portions are decent and it's wholesome,...

I bought a smoothie for my sick mom and got ripped off. The tall spanish guy with a athletic built in his late 30s to mid 40s who was the CSR who ripped off a poor elderly patient with dementia and candida from the overuse of antibiotics from VGH. I ask if he can replace the drink due to her candida to take out the mango and replace it with kale and/or spinach and he charged another $1.60 for the drink with mostly water and no protein powder and it was not thickened as I asked. I asked him before the purchase if he can add protein power. $7.40 was the cost to a total of $8.99? Why am I paying almost an extra $1.60 for what? replacement of mango to kale or spinach? Rip off! The cup is only about 1.5 cups/750 ml completely watered down. I tasted it myself and it was awful!

Body Energy Club at City Square Mall main floor (12th and Cambie ) is much better and they add protein powder and more variety of ingredients with about the same price with much more variety of different products and choices of menu (and there is a point reward program too!) and this would be a better value than Purple Grain.

When I asked him a question about what he put in it, he showed hesitance and shame. It is a business and yet when you pay with your credit card they still are asking for another tip I was angry! He showed he was disingenious and I will not be going back there again. It is easy to make your own vegetable/fruit drink at home, if I only knew my mom wanted...