Cafe Sunflower Buckhead — Restaurant in Atlanta

Truly disappointing. The menu is relatively large, but mostly overpriced and not innovative. The beer and wine selection are not great and wildly overpriced ($6 Stella???), especially since we have excellent small breweries all around Atlanta. Service and decor were average given the prices. All our food was bland, and we wished we had stayed home to cook instead.

The crab cakes were interesting, but not balanced in flavour. $10 for 3 small balls of overly sour deep-fried hearts of palm plated with an anemic portion of coulis... not worth it IMO.

The portobello melt sandwich was lackluster, resembling a cheap airport deli sandwich. The baked sweet potato fries were very plain, lacking in texture, and served with commercial ketchup. The salad that came with it was soggy and not fresh, as if it had been dressed and left out at room temperature for at least an hour.

The paella was almost entirely unseasoned; the rice wasn't even salted properly, and the only discernible flavour was a little bit of coconut. The seitan seemed to only be prepared with soy sauce. The vegetables in the rice were very minimal and lacking texture, as if they had been steamed from frozen.

Our server was kind enough to offer another dish to replace the paella; she told us it was not a popular item and she didn't like it herself. Why on earth is it on the menu, then??

We tried the shrimp (konjac) tacos instead, which were somewhat better, but still lacking flavour. They were extremely sweet and lacking salt and heat. The flour tortillas seemed to be factory-made and not warmed well; the corn chips were clearly from a bag, and the salsa that came with them was very bland. The taco holder was plated on a handful of less-than-appetizing spinach leaves for no apparent reason.

Their desserts (cakes) are great, but they aren't made in-house. You can get them at Southern Sweets Bakery in Decatur.

We ended up spending $40 plus tip for an appetizer and two disappointing entrees. I'd be happy to spend that much and more if the food were good, but it wasn't. I can't imagine adding drinks and dessert.

We used to come here regularly before they changed the menu and moved locations. It was one of our favourite restaurants for special occasions... but not anymore. We've tried three times since the changes and were disappointed every time.

This restaurant in its current state gives veganism a bad name. If management is interested in more feedback or help revamping the menu, I'd be...

Cafe Sunflower is a decent place. Not out of the ordinary in terms of service, neither on the good end, nor the bad end. We've ordered four items. The prices aren't really listed on the menu so you can't be prepared for what you will pay for, even if the description of the food items are good. On the surface, this is what I'd imagine to pay for my food: 5 items: strawberry lemonade, spring rolls (2), pan-fried dumplings (6), chicken parmesan linguine, bacon beyond burger.

Spring rolls: $5 (reality, $8) Pan-fried dumplings: $5 (reality, $8) Strawberry lemonade: $6 (reality, $9) Bacon Beyond Burger: $15 (reality, $20) Chicken parmesan linguine: $20 (reality, $30)

Personally, for everything, I feel like the bill should've been aroundd 50$ before tip, not $75

Spring rolls: They give you two of them, and it's sliced in a fancy way. The spring rolls are good, but I can't justify getting it again for $8 when I know both vegan and regular Chinese places charge $4 for two rolls, spring or egg. I understand it's not a Chinese or Asian fusion restaurant where you pick up your food and leave (even though you have that choice), but doubling the price for two rolls that are sliced in a fancy way just can't be justified.

Pan-fried dumplings: The dumplings tasted good. The price is justified. I do, however, believe I tasted more of the wrap than the actual filling. They should either beef up the filling, or buy thinner wraps.

Bacon beyond burger: Superb. Really loved the vegan bacon and homemade 1000-island sauce. Best thing I've had here

Chicken parmesan linguine: The linguine was good. I do think it was slightly bland though. Probably needed a little more salt or pepper to bring the flavoring out more, but it was good nonetheless.

Strawberry lemonade: This was okay. I've had much better. Most strawberry lemonades are on par with each other when you've had one/some that are significantly better, so this was about as normal as the ones I've had before. Can't justify the $9, especially since it's non-alcoholic.

I would come back to try other stuff, but I'd probably skip straight to the entrees to avoid internal dialogue of "Is it worth it to get this appetizer? It costs [insert price tag]. Eh, maybe I'll get...

I am not a vegan, but...

Cafe Sunflower is AMAZING. Not, "amazing, for vegan food", but it's just delicious, everything we had was prepared well, and it was all delicious, we didn't need a box even though the main dish portions are large.

Oh, and Creature Comforts Tropicalia ON TAP. They also have the Impossible Burger.

I had the pad Thai, and it was the best pad thai I've ever had. While most pad Thai is limp and squishy and slimy, I decided to give it a try here and see if they could do better. I was impressed, the ingredients used here made it crunchy and flavorful. The portion size was huge.

We got the fried avocado appetizers, and I've never had avocado taste so good.

For each item on the menu, if it is nut free, soy free, or gluten free, it is clearly labeled.

They menu is diverse. You'll find favorite vegan ingredients like daiya cheese, seitan, tempeh, jackfruit (as carne asada, very good), cashew cheese, and others.

The staff is wonderful. The host was super friendly and gave us menus to look at while we waited. She invited us to sit in comfortable chairs while we waited. When it was our turn, she found us instead of just shouting the name.

The wait staff was excellent. Efficient. Told us the specials quickly and didn't bother us constantly, but made sure our drinks were always full. She seemed to know when we were ready to order each course. I wish I had gotten her name so I could give her credit here.

Dessert choices are brought out on a huge circular plate. She rotated it around telling us what each one was. I love ordering dessert this way, so much better than looking at a menu. I had the chocolate cake, delicious, very moist, lots of chocolate flavor and nice texture.

The restaurant was packed, but our food arrived quickly. The kitchen staff must be magic.

Many restaurants have trouble with noise levels these days, but the ambience here feels alive, but not loud, perfect. Good acoustics. We could easily hear each other across the table while every other patron was talking as well. We're pretty picky about our sound levels as you can tell.

Parking is free, and plentiful.

I loved every part of this restaurant. I will be...