Fog Eater Cafe — Restaurant in California

Sadly my review of this place is not what I expected to write. I’ve read about this restaurant and had high hopes and was interested in loving it actually. The ambience was nice and interiors in line with the menu. As vegans we optimistically read reviews and articles about this place prior to our visit. I read the background story in various articles online. As a Bay Area native I’ve visited Mendocino frequently my entire life. Our family knows the town very well. I’ve watched restaurants come and the town evolve so it’s always exciting to try new places especially plant based options. We arrived after an 8 + hour drive from LA with 2 hungry teenagers and 3 exhausted adults. We were all happy to be back up in our childhood getaway. My brother called ahead of time and said that he was greeted by a friendly person on the phone. Upon arriving however we were not greeted and stood at the door in a very small dining space until one of the owners (Erica) finally told us it will be a while and needed to clean our table. She turned her back to us and carried on with orders and left us standing. Her energy was unpleasant and annoyed. We stood as long as we could and finally just sat down at the table. She then arrived 8-10 mins later and scolded us for sitting down and mentioned “that’s why” she wanted to clean the table first. It was curt and off putting coming from someone who is positioned in the restaurants PR as someone from Tennessee. Not at all the southern manners or hospitality I ever expected having visited the south frequently and surprising being how southern food in their cuisine. Erica was annoyed and irritated and was going to make sure we all knew it, even 2 teenaged girls in an outwardly passive aggressive manner. We were told that the orange wine we selected wasn’t available after ordering 10+ minutes later and given and alternative to try. This was presented by the other owner (Haley) who apparently is from nearby Fort Bragg. She was pleasant and hospitable and service oriented. We appreciated her suggestion and hospitality. I frequented the places that these 2 owners met in New York City as per their bios, having lived in New York myself for 18 years. I know the establishments well. I am a partner to a hospitality and service firm overseas in Asia Pacific. We train and staff hotels and restaurants so I look at operations and I look at service immediately. Fog Eater lacked both. We should have been greeted with a smile and told “hey the table isn’t clean but have a seat and I’ll be over shortly to get it cleaned up for you”. The entrance door should never be blocked with people traffic. This is an operational and hospitality faux pas. There were 4 additional diners after us who were forced to stand there as well while everyone stared at them and they ended up just leaving. Business lost. When we asked Erica for menu suggestions she became annoyed again and said she would need to come back and left and when she returned we asked again for menu suggestions and she just couldn’t be more annoyed. We ate the food which was good and left. I would never go back. I do hope that was an off night for them and wish them the best. Suggestion: work on your service. Watch the door. Don’t make people stand there. Tourists are the bread and butter of Mendocino. But I own a home there and am not a tourist. I suggest places and give my honest reviews as...

That was your response as a business owner? Talk about big feelings. By the way, on that note, what you mention as public humiliation and slander: BIPOC are often accused of having "big feelings" as to be silenced and what I didn't mention in my initial review as to spare you (but since you want to go there with your ungraceful response) there was a familiar racist undertone in the way that you greeted and accommodated your non-brown and black customers vs us. We felt it immediately as us brown and black folks often do in small towns, from you. Your treatment towards us was glaringly different than how we observed you treat the white/non BIPOC that came in.Your nasty reply just adds insult to injury and validates that you are in the wrong business, Erica.

Thanks for the review. I saw your other reviews, and the ones from your friends. I’m sure in reviewing restaurants, you’re just trying to help out an industry that is barely scraping by. I wonder if the industry you’re in has similar challenges, and you’re hoping your advice to…just have my business partner kick me out?…will make everything just a little better. I wonder if at your job, you’ve poured your heart and soul, years of your career, and endless creative energy to try to make something that brings simple joy and maybe even lessens animal suffering while actually nourishing bodies and the local agricultural economy. I wonder if you ever had a really long, really hard day, and then someone came along, so entitled that they refused to follow the systems you put in place to make your project run smoothly despite unending challenges, and you tried to appease that person, but they were just so hangry that they couldn’t stop giving snarky challenge. I just hope you did your best, and that that person doesn’t keep coming back, months later, to try to punish you for hurting their very big feelings with an attempt to squash your life’s dream and work with slander and public humiliation. Keep up the important work, Karl.

Food was OK but the service was terrible. One of the owners was unfriendly and rude And went out of her way to make us feel unwelcome and the other owner was pleasant and warm. Seems like an easy fix…. Food: 2/5 | Service: 1/5 | Atmosphere: 2/5 Like Response from the owner18...

Updated review. The more i think about their practice of tipping automatically for to go orders without the customers consent, it really has me bothered. I find it dishonest and a bad business practice. So, I"m taking the 3 stars down to 2. If the food was gross it would have been 1 star. But they are trying to male good vegan food and are succeeding on some levels. If you decide to give them a try just know before you go. Also. know there's a ramen place just down the street with vegan ramen and sushi that are decent.

The need to know details: I ordered takeout and they automatically, without mentioning it, added a 20% gratuity....for take out! That alone would make me think twice about going back. I order quite a few things to try. Here's what I'd recommend and not: The Mac n cheese was a little soggy, but the flavor was good. Order the kids one to avoid spice of the Cajun version. The crabbie cakes flavor is good but they were greasy and soggy (although I bet fresh in the restaraunt they would have been crispier.) The mashed potatoes are a pass for me. If your not a fan of potato skins in your mashed potato, you may want to pass. And they were skimpy with the gravy, which tasted good. The asparagus and leek soup also was not my favorite. I'm not sure if I'll be eating it or not. I got two desserts: strawberry rhubarb pie which had some sort of whipped cream on top which made it soggy. The flavor was tart and missing something on this dessert. The beignettes were flavored ok but very greasy. The sauces were a lemon one and a chocolate coffee? One. It was runny and the lemon one tasted good but had chunks in it...