The Reizod Vegan Experience — Restaurant in Elgin

UPDATE (08-28-2024)

I visited this restaurant again today (party of two). The owner (Chef Lou) was there and let me know he had seen my earlier review. He informed me that he appreciated my constructive criticism and initially offered to comp my party with four sides & four deserts. He Ultimately, comped four deserts now and promised me a free meat lovers pizza at my next visit. He also updated the air conditioning system by installing two wall-mounted units and another portable unit, which made it nice and cool indoors (so we ate there), informed me of a new indoor lounging area coming soon, and increased the portion sizes of the food!

Now THAT's how you respond to honest feedback!

As for the food. My party ultimately got four Double Cheezeburgers (with free soy-free Ba'con upgrades), four Mac & Cheez sides ($15 for each burger and side), two slices of Strawbeery Cheezecake, and two strawberry cupcakes (which we have yet to eat).

I am not exaggerating when I tell you that (minus the cupcakes we have yet to eat), my party and I agree that this was THE BEST VEGAN FOOD WE HAVE EVER EATEN from a restaurant, not just within South Carolina, but within any state within which we've eaten (which is a few); and with the portion size upgrades it's reasonably priced.

Not only were the Double Ba'con Cheezeburgers, Mac & Cheez, and Strawberry Cheezecake ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS, but with the portion sizes increased, we were full after eating just one burger and one side of Mac & Cheez each! That's getting full from vegan food for 15$!!! From my experience, that's a feat!

Overall, we are both HIGHLY SATISFIED AND IMPRESSED with both Chef Lou (who clearly takes pride in his business and food and appreciates his customers and their feedback) and the offerings at Reizod Vegan Experience and HIGHLY recommend eating there!

Chef Lou seems like a really great guy. If there were more business owners (or people, in general) like him the world would be a better place.

Original review (06-16-2024)

Delicious Food - Pretty Pricey

We purchased the Ba'con Cheeseburgers ($10), Spicy Chi'kin wraps ($10 - 4 small wraps), 5 Layer Nachos ($13), and House Juice ($6) initially.

I asked a few questions about the ingredients, but one anecdote I'd like to mention is that when I asked what kind of milk options were available for milkshakes, I was told the milk used is "plant-based" and was asked if I have allergies or something. I said, "No, but I try to minimize my almond milk intake". The cashier said, "Let me check,"  stepped into the kitchen for maybe 10 seconds, came back out, and said, we're out of milkshakes so that concluded our order.

There is a VERY SMALL eating area, which was VERY HOT as it was cooled by a lackluster portable AC unit, so we ate in the parking lot.

The burgers and wraps were ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS, and the juice was pleasant.

The Nachos weren't particularly great. They were decent, but the chips were a bit stale and soggy.

Overall, satisfied with our initial order, we went back in to order more of the delicious ba'con burgers, including a Blueberry Cheezecake ($6).

This time we had a different cashier, so we decided to order a Strawberry Milkshake ($10), no questions asked. We received it... Interesting.

The Strawberry Milkshake and Cheesecake were both SUPER DELICIOUS, and the burgers again were BOMB.

Overall, my experience was positive, and I would return, but the food was a bit overpriced, IMO (the milkshake should have been half the price it was, for example), and the person I asked about different ingredients seemed unsure and feigning competence, which...

I'd been following this place for a while and was finally able to stop by yesterday. We stopped by not knowing what to expect but we also had time. In a place in our world where we rush and we expect instant gratification I try to just be patient. I pulled up and didn't see the food truck because I was too focused on the building that had their name on it, drove past and parked to call. The gentleman that answered was helpful and told me someone would take my order at the car. Now I saw the food truck! I wish I knew his name but the guy that came to my truck was helpful. He let us know that there were 15 tickets ahead of us and it would be a 30 min wait. Fresh Vegan food, prepped to order with ALOT of orders in front of us? 30 min was perfectly fine as I said we weren't in any rush. The gentleman came took payment, communicated that it would be another 15 and the next time he came out he gave us our drinks.

I had the Pomegranate/Cranberry which was deliciously tart and refreshing and my partner had Pineapple/Citrus I believe and his was also very yummy. About 10 min later our food arrived and the gentleman asked me to check it to make sure everything looked good.

The colors of the food were stunning and inviting. I got the philly cheese steak and Mac and cheese and my partner got the hibachi and red cabbage.

I loved the philly. It was full of flavor and very filling. My Mac and cheese was pleasantly delicious. I of course had to try my partners Hibachi. And I wasn't disappointed. There was also a side of I think it was yum yum sauce and it was banging. The Hibachi was full of veggies and chunks of "chikn". You can tell it was made with love. I couldn't tell it was vegan. Overall the food was great and I don't take reviewing lightly.

There are other vegan places in Columbia and I love that we are blessed with a variety. I don't want the same place all the time because my taste buds change. Not to mention the carbon footprint that Reizoid has made an effort to reduce.

All of our utensils, napkins and even the bag it came in are compostable within 90 to 365 days (bag). That means a lot to me as a consumer that's also trying to be aware of my footprint. So thank you Rezoid for caring, it's not going unnoticed and I will be taking my compost to my students to add to our compost bin.

We all know that most the best foods come from food trucks. I'm excited for them to have a building, but we can't invite a building to expos and healing festivals can we?

Wonderful experience will be returning.

Oh and we got a call mid eating asking how everything was! Love...

I've eaten here twice and the food is phenomenal!I Both times I've ordered during weekend hours and the wait time is over an hour. The 1st time I ordered through Uber eats and the driver left because the order took too long, another driver had to go retrieve my order ( when I ordered, the wait time was an hour and once the driver arrived, the food still wasn't ready after waiting 15 min). In totality, it took 2hr 10min for me to receive my food.

2nd time: We decided to pick up, so we could avoid the Uber drama! Ordered online, the wait time was 1hr 20min, left the house 15 minutes late to make sure the food was gonna be ready, once we arrived the food still wasn't ready and finally 15 min later the food was ready to go! Bag was checked before leaving and there was an order of egg rolls missing ( we ordered 2 and only received one); they gave us a refund because they were sold out. Once we got home and started to chow down, I noticed that my sides were cold and my wings were hot (I ordered lemon pepper with barely any seasoning!) Additionally, don't bother ordering extra sauces because the amount they give isn't NOT WORTH IT! The container is less than half full! You literally only receive 1 tablespoon of sauce and they charge $1, for extras.

I hate leaving mixed reviews but the service should be better, especially for the cost of the food and wait time! This place is super busy and I hope there is a way to balance this out, especially when the food is being jeopardize.

I've had the chicken sandwich, egg rolls, all wing flavors, buffalo cauliflower bits, mac n cheez and greens! All were tasty!

Edit: After reading the reply from this establishment, it appears they don't like constructive criticism. I left a mixed review and raved about the food being phenomenal and mentioned a few things to tweak, but obviously they didn't take it too well. Additionally, I missed spoke and stated that I ordered through Uber eats (they are listed on there) but it was Door Dash. For future reference it would be greatly appreciated if you all have the right person to semi-dox (this is very concerning coming from a business establishment). My name is exactly the same...