Kale Cafe Juice Bar & Vegan Cuisine — Restaurant in Daytona Beach

I tried their amazing mobile event offerings a few times in the past, but today is my first store visit! It's special Thanksgiving special: all you can eat buffet with dessert and Sorrel leaf-hibiscus-pineapple-beet juice drink included.

Kale salad- lemony medium body oil dressing, perfectly rich and tasty crisp-ish fresh leaves of Kale, but strong and simple bold basic refresh the pallete style. You really only need 1 or 2 bites of it before going on to something else, and then you can refresh with a bite as needed. Watermelon salad was so interesting with a pepper, cilantro, red onuon and thus slight salsa feel.

The dishes were creative, not spicy, but still generally bold, and maybe half of them were on the simpler side, which is extra reasonable for the holiday buffet to appeal to many and not necessarily bad.

Sweet potato mash had the perfect whole cranberries on top that burst with hi-qual cranberry juice oh so nicely. Those cranberry bursts were relished deeply. Th classic cinnamon/walnut/raison/nutmegs made the sweet potato dish complete and somewhat standard but better. If you took away the cranberries, perhaps it would be great as you expect, but the cranberry bursts are just something to look forward to so much. The scalloped gratin potato dish did not have a gravy, but rather a not-so-regular creamy sauce that was a little cheezy... actually, medium cheezy with some green onions and an occasional slice of zucchini! Interesting, good, but a hair too cheezy creamy for me to want a ton of it at once. I think the zucchini could have been cut thinner and maybe grilled/seared. There were also cheezy large penne noodles. It was basically mac n cheeze with some cajunish spice that was fair and not so wet, a little dry esp with the thickness of the noodle. BBQ seitan and slightly different tofu

Spinach and onion side was basically like a basic spinach onion dip but not in dip form. Great for a few bites, but I did not want more. Plantains were solid and sweet and just right enough. They were the softer type, not on the crisper side. Seemingly light on the fried/oily side- not that they were trying to emphasize any fried nature.

Veggie lasagna with zero meatiness- only small bits of veggies dispersed evenly. Normal good. No issues except perhaps it should have some baked crispness at the top/edges. Zero crunchy. Basic rice and beans: fine. 3rd time getting BBQ now... oh this BBQ is great. My partner and I love the juice drink so much.

Split pea dal was perfect fine solid as you'd expect standard doll but with a stronger pea flavor vecause of the split pea core. I wish there was naan with this!

Dessert- pineapple upside down cake with fruits and syrup on top. Awesome. Partner ate most of syrup and fruit so my part was barely dry. I recommend a touch more syrup. Fluffy cc cookies. Very thick fluffy. The large chocolate chips are smooth silky chocolate good perfect.

It's so evidently extremely healthy- as nutritious as it gets + vegan. The open space is bright with bold colors, a sweet accent wall, and fairly mellow jazz music today. The menu...

I feel I'm being generous because we are locals and want to support all (of the very few) vegan restaurants in the area. We try to come by at least once a month, but can't always afford to do so. Sometimes I go alone or my husband goes alone to pick up. I have no idea if I have more bad luck than my husband, but the service can be so disappointing. Believe me, I try to think of every possible reason of how things could be my fault. Only thing I can think is I am admittedly anxious/awkward wherever I go out, while my husband is more obviously outgoing. Two employees were out front today, one who was very new. I barely got a "Hi" as I entered and waited. The lady in front already placed her order. It felt like I was waiting patiently for over 5 minutes, which, I think is highly weird when it wasn't even busy. When a couple came in after me (and after those 5+ minutes), suddenly there was a bit more attention to the line. I believe one of the owners stepped in. I say this next part because my family also used to own a restaurant, but I did not feel like the owner gave me equal attention. I /was/ finally being helped by the two others, mostly by the newest employee [and I really try not to judge new folks, I get it, but they were clearly very lost as they tried to stuff my husband's entire vegan value meal (I decided to no longer order for myself) in one tiny box because they ran out of bigger boxes, instead of separate boxes. They didn't stop until I said something because I knew the portions were way off.] I feel owners especially should try to make all customers feel equal. I hate to say it, but I said it then, it feels like they give more attention to white customers. Other customers in this situation were all white, and I'm not. My husband is white and he doesn't experience this when he goes alone. It's really odd and unfortunate experiencing this from other people of color. To clarify, I'm NOT asking for special service; I just want to feel like I also deserve basic attention. It almost feels like my presence doesn't register as a willing paying customer, too! When the stars align (which is sadly rare) and you can get regular service, their food is good. Support vegan restaurants!

edit: Because I might get a response: yes I brought up that my husband had been getting undercharged because it still highlights a difference in how customers are treated. Please just charge everyone equally. Sorry I tried to push something like a confident white guy, but I couldn't pull it off as cleanly (the cashier did try to rectify for the other things that went wrong, but I was made to feel like I was wrong for being a little upset with the whole thing). Obviously it's super fair to be charged normally, but that coupled with the way I was being treated at the time, didn't add up well for me. (Can I repeat that the person in front of me already was attended to. They didn't deem me important enough to try to help me in a equally...

Requested a Raw vegan plate With Smoothie: Banana, blueberry, Moringa powder. With Tabouli Salad

The Raw plate - A plate of fresh kale greens relaxed in Kale Cafe's "Judah's" signature salad dressing/marinade (used for anything that needs flavor basically), a whole avocado  topped with other fresh house veggies: my plate had celery, fresh mango, fresh oranges, avocado, nut meat, with a hefty kale salad base.

The "nut meat" - I had it twice then thrice and she said it comes out different every time. The first time it was hearty with herbs, not spicy and the second time it was slightly spicy and sweet due to a nice red curry undertone which added a different dynamic altogether. The third had a nice kick to it. All versions are absolutely phenomenal.

The Kale Salad - This superfood is deliciously made with Kale Cafe's signature dressing/marinade "Judah's". This dressing is a super food in and of itself. View that the ingredients are barely processed, all natural and RAW. It is not only made with Apple Cider Vinegar but also Nutritional Yeast which makes this dressing a superfood go to for any meal. Aside from being super healthy, it is packed with a nice tang for your tastebuds. For 15$ this plate was adequately priced given the quality of the food, the taste, and the filling quantity.

The Tabouli - Not your traditional finely chopped matter. This salad has all the ingredients for traditional tabouli but with a tangy cucumber salad twist and added watermelon chunks. The sweet taste of the watermelon clashing with the tangy vinegar of the salad was delightful on the palate.

The Smoothie - Banana, blueberry, moringa powder. This was a custom request and they were happy to assist. They use both frozen fruit and ice. Kale Cafe posts a variety of creative smoothies and juices on their menu.

Aside from the amazing raw vegan options they offer that meet raw food vegan dietary needs, they also have a variety of cooked foods such as different burgers and a food bar of home heart foods such as lasagnas, mac and cheese, rice, etc.

I recommend Kale Cafe for any occasion. Family friendly and often times you might hear people hanging out filling the air with sounds of hand drums or playing the piano. The ambiance is relaxed.

The vibe and energy at Kale Cafe is beautiful. On behalf of humanity, we are grateful for the vision of the owners of Kale Cafe that have created a place such as this so we can all live in a more balanced and healthy world.

Sincerely, The Vegan Food Critic "Because I have good taste" thev3ganfoodcritic...