Nourish — Restaurant in Eugene

My girlfriend was excited to check out Nourish. They had good reviews (4.7), outdoor seating to reduce COVID-19 risks, vegan options, and yummy-sounding smoothies. What could go wrong?

Finding parking at this building can be challenging. Most spots are either reserved or assigned to the businesses in the building. We were excited that one of their two outdoor small tables was available. We both are vaccinated but still wanted to minimize our risks. I put on my KN95 mask and went inside to get us menus while my girlfriend reserved the outdoor table.

The ambiance inside is cozy and slightly industrial. It had a relaxed vibe. There is a big menu on the wall. I asked if they had menus I can take outside since we are sitting at the outdoor table. The bearded guy said they don't have paper menus except what's on the wall and online. When I'm out with my girlfriend, I would rather focus my attention on her and our experience rather than my phone. I let my girlfriend know about the menu situation. She went inside to look at their menu, while I looked up their website to review their menu online and continue to secure the table. This initial friction in ordering is already creating a negative customer experience.

The bearded guy came out to check on us. He asked how we were doing. I said, "I am still scrolling through your online menu, but wish you have paper menus." He replied, "We're not quite there yet" (after 3 years in business). I thought privately, "You'd be there and have two menus for the outdoor tables if you give a kid $10, papers and crayons."

It was 92°F outside and they didn't offer any water.

I placed an online order for two of "The Vegan" with added tempeh ($32) and a "Keep It 100" ($8.50) smoothie. My girlfriend went in to check on the order after 10 minutes (the estimated ready time). She came out empty-handed. They brought out the food a couple of minutes later WITHOUT any glasses of water! The temperature is heading toward 93°F. I walked to my SUV to get one of our Hydroflasks and the CamelBak filled with ice water. A third of the way into our time there, my girlfriend asked for water and they finally gave us some.

The description and image for "The Vegan" made it seem like it had a fair amount of vegetables. It had mostly noodles. The added tempeh (not soybean, possibly lentil) was disgustingly mushy. It would have been better to bake or pan-fry the tempeh so it's slightly crunchy before putting it in the broth. The mushroom seaweed miso broth was too salty. My girlfriend ate a clump of something that was very salty and had a texture that made her want to vomit. I guessing it was a clump of miso paste that was not properly diluted. She finished only half of her noodle soup.

The "Keep It 100" smoothie had some interesting flavors. However, the combination of beet and ginger flavors overwhelmed the orange, mango, acai, and coconut flavors. My girlfriend stopped drinking the smoothie after a few sips.

Halfway through drinking the smoothie, I tasted something chewy and rubbery — almost like a semi-cooked boba in boba tea. I took the item out of my mouth with my fingers and laid it on the lid of the container the noodle soup came in. The circular purple "unrolled condom" looking disk is about 1 cm in diameter and made out of latex. The "mini condom" topped off our awful experience so far. I wanted to let it be and never come back, but my girlfriend insisted on bringing it to the restaurant's attention. She carried the lid with the "mini condom" inside and showed it to them. She came out and said their only response was, "We don't know how that got in there."

My girlfriend escaped and walked around the building to see what other businesses were there. I stayed to let my body digest the salty noodle soup and the condom-flavored smoothie.

A few minutes later, the bearded guy came out with $8 in cash. I said, "Please keep it." He replied, "No, I insist" and left it on the table. We cleaned up our table and brought everything inside for them. We won't be...

Overall, a really disappointing dine in experience. I hope the owners read this and make some needed changes.

First, customer service. While the employees were polite, and kept checking on us throughout the meal, they ask questions to understand our needs and thus offer more helpful service.

My partner and I are only comfortable eating outdoor right now with the pandemic where it is. When we went inside seeking a menu to look through when outside at out table, the server directed us to the menu inside and let us know there was an online menu. They said they hadn't reached the point of having reusable in house or paper menus yet. They also let us know that we could order online. We chose the online option, but didn't know the online option was for pickup. The server didn't check to see if we would be dining "in" and thus when we placed the no contact order, they automatically packed the food in throw away containers instead of reusable dishes. This really bummed me out, as I like to minimize waste. Further, because they didn't ask us if were dining in, they never thought to offer us water. We were sitting outside in 90 degree heat. After the server realized we were eating there, they brought reusable spoons only. I finally asked for water when they came out for a second time to ask how the food was.

The food was even more disappointing then the customer service. We got the vegan noodle option. The description of the dish was misleading. We were brought out a very salty, mostly noodle and broth soup. Whatever miso paste they used in the broth wasn't properly dissolved and I ended up swallowing a mouthful of the paste. It was an extremely unpleasant, salty taste and it turned my stomach sour. I couldn't eat much after that. We shared a The 100 smoothie with mango, beets, ginger, orange and acai berry. On top of the smoothie flavors not complimenting each other and no trace of mango flavor, the smoothie texture was gritty from all the powders they used in it. When my partner spit out a piece of rubber from the smoothie, I was so disgusted. After showing the server, he just said "Sorry, I have no idea what that is." and walked to the back to show the cooks. The only reason they offered a refund was because my partner stayed at the table for about 5 minutes more after I walked away, never wanting to return to this establishment. They should have offered a refund or sought to fix this...

Nice patio. As far as the food, it was overpriced and just mediocre. We had the egg bites and the lamb sandwich. as for the egg bites, they weren’t that great, and you can get those at Costco, which were probably better less expensive, eight dollars for two small bites, and it’s very likely that there are egg bites came from Costco. There was a wilted kale, I guess you could call it a salad, but it was pathetic. I had the lamb sandwich. The lamb was OK, but they put this tomato relish thing on the sandwich which kind of overwhelmed the taste of the lamb. When the white person came and asked how everything was, I said that the sandwich was mediocre, and suggested that the tomato relish, which had whole cherry tomatoes on it, overwhelmed the subtle taste of the lamb. The egg bites and the sandwich came out at two different times and when I asked where my sandwich was, they said we’ll you bring it out when it’s ready, and when I suggested that they bring both of the foods out at the same time they kind of just ignore me and walked away.. But the Capper, was when the waiter came out and asked how things were, and I said the sandwich was mediocre. He took offense to that, And when I told him that he said, “well I guess you don’t like the sandwich” which I never said I didn’t like it, only that it was mediocre, he picked up my sandwich without asking, took it away as though I wasn’t gonna finish it, and I had to call him back and say please bring back my sandwich. This person was not at all open to any kind of criticism or suggestion. It helps to listen to your customers, cause that’s how you can you become better .. He was kind of a grouch. given all the circumstances of our experience having lunch there, I won’t be...