Sunshine's Vegetarian Deli and Health Food Store — Restaurant in Houston

Horrible experience—don’t plan on coming back.

To begin, I tried calling the restaurant 3 times to place a to-go order with no answer. It wasn’t a problem as I’ve lived in the medical center for years and know it can get busy. By the 4th time, a woman picked up and before I could say anything she said “hold” and put me on hold for a couple of minutes. It’s not the hold that I mind, it’s the attitude that was given for no reason. After a few minutes I placed my order.

I made a trip to the restaurant only to have a truly disappointing experience. The woman who was taking care of your guests in line was not only not acknowledging anyone coming up to her, she also had a terrible attitude overall. There were about 4 guests ahead of me. With the person in front of me, the credit card machine stopped working. She walked away from the guy to the back without saying anything while he had his card still in the machine. Upon coming back she said the phone line is down so she can’t take payment. Understandable, but what will you do about it? We have all placed to go orders (the man in front of me and the people behind me, who also left). I completely understand that the power going out makes it impossible for us to pay with a credit card, but she showed absolutely no care. I told her I can leave her my card info, call later with my card information, vemno, paypal, whatever is most convenient. She ignored my suggestions (that would’ve helped her keep the customer in front of me who left after she walked away again for a good 5 minutes without saying a word) and said that the manager would not agree to that. When I suggested contacting the manager who was not at the store at that time to check rather than assume, she dismissed that too and stated she can’t call because the phone line is down. I offered she used my cell phone and she sighed and walked away again. She finally ended up using her own cell phone to call . By that time, it’s been over 30 minutes that I have been waiting to pick up a to go order that I ordered almost an hour prior. After speaking to the manager and making the paypal payment, she continued to dismiss me, couldn’t make any eye contact, handed the food on the counter and again took a step back. The manager on the phone was kind and polite, and even apologized for the inconvenience. Which is more than what I can say for her employees. This is NOT the attitude I would expect or really deserve after being patient and suggesting possibilities to solve this issue given the circumstances.

I live 5 minutes away but by the time this got actually resolved and got home, I opened my food only to find cold, soggy meals. I ordered small nachos with no olives, but as you can see it was filled with olives. I was excited to try this cashew cheese, but was surprised and disappointed to see that there was maybe 1 tablespoon of the cheese itself. The fake meat honestly looked and tasted like dog food. I’m not sure if it was not cooked correctly or what. I’ve tried every vegan meat substitute you can think of but this tasted just bad. The other thing I ordered was enchiladas that were supposed to come with beans, rice, and pico, and topped with cashew cheese. There was a tiny amount of rice and beans inside the enchiladas (not on the side as I would’ve thought) and filled with the fake meat again. The pico was the most absurd. It seemed like a bunch of cilantro, 1 piece of tomato, and 2 pieces of onion.

I have been vegan for years and love supporting local businesses, especially when the reviews are pretty good. This however was such a bad experience; I don’t plan on ever coming back. I am disappointed in how the workers approach their job and the lack of any customer skills, positive attitude, and an actual...

I hate to have to do this. I've actually tried to avoid writing an honest review of Sunshine's for about two years now because I know how hard it is to run ANY business, let alone a restaurant. Also, it's important to cultivate Black business. However, we also have a responsibility to let our Black businesses know when something is unacceptable.

First, let's start with the food. It is excellent. Consistently 4-5/5 stars. They have some of the best raw/cold salads and their black bean burger is divine.

However, their customer service and wait times make it impossible to consistently buy from them. I literally have to ask myself "Do i want to put up with Sunshine's today?" before I eat there. I'm not alone; there were several people waiting for their food for almost AN HOUR during a non-rush time with me who also openly expressed their frustration while we were waiting.

Anyway, knowing that Sunshine's cannot put out a single food item in less than 20 minutes, I almost ALWAYS order online about 30-45 minutes before I'll show up to the store. Fine; I ordered around 12:55. My order was a burger and fries for me, bean threads and potato salad for my daughter. Order says it will be ready at 1:30. I get to Sunshine's at 1:28. It's not busy so I don't have to worry about parking at all. I tell them I'm here for my order at 1:32. I don't leave until almost 2pm. Just over an hour after I placed an "ASAP" timed order at 12:55. If you've made it this far, I want you to ask yourself, "How many times have you ever waited 45+ minutes for a burger and fries? And if it kept happening, would you go back?" There hasn't been a time in the last 18 months where I've gone and someone isn't asking them how much longer the wait will be for their food. Today, a young lady complained about how her online order completely ate up her lunchtime because of the wait.

There are some SIMPLE remedies to this issue that the team at Sunshine's refuses to implement or invest in, even though they will respond to complaints. SOPs and training can go a long way. What is the point of responding if they aren't actively solving a chronic issue of their business that is hurting their brand's reputation?

They only had four people on staff today. Two in the front were nice but the young man was incredibly rude, another issue I've found common there. They go through a lot of staff so i'm not sure if he'll even be there next time. I know that's lean and any restaurant's margins are thin right now. However, their POS system can give them an estimate of how much of what they are selling every day and when their rush hours are and they should prep food to reduce wait times and staff according to that data. Some standard prep SOPs would immediately improve their service model. Secondly, they should have someone monitoring the online orders if they don't already. There's no reason for a single order for one or two people, at a restaurant where the bulk of orders are deli items (burgers, wraps, etc) should take more than 30 minutes consistently.

I've sworn off Sunshine's more than a few times but I keep coming back because we deserve fresh food that is good. And whenever I can keep my dollar in the community, I will. But as patrons, we also deserve to be serviced by a business that respects our time...

First time here and it will probably be my last. No greeting when my daughters and I walked in, but instead I encountered a lady who looked bored and uninterested at her register on the far right. This is NOT the way to set the tone for a restaurant, especially for a first-time customer.

I ordered vegan nachos $11, vegan enchiladas $10 and a beyond burger $12 plus drinks so my bill was not cheap. What came to my table was vegan nachos $11, black bean nachos $13, and the beyond burger $12. Then I looked at my receipt to see if she keyed in my order wrong, which she did. I went to the counter. She was not there and was told I need to "wait for her to come back." Since part of my order was at the table, I left the counter to eat instead of waiting for her. But before I left the counter, I put in my order of enchiladas with another young lady so that the kitchen could start preparing them. Guess what, I had to pay for them, even though I already paid. Okay fine, because SURELY, you will be refunding my whole $13 for the black bean nachos that I did not order.

Now I'm headed back to my table to join my kids while they eat.  While they are eating and I'm waiting for my enchiladas, she SLOWLY made her way to my table. I told her the mistake and instead of a sincere apology, she said "Oh, I always accidentally ring up the black bean nachos when people order the vegan enchiladas." Excuse me?? So I ordered something for $10, but you rang up something for $13.

So she tried to give me the difference but I let her know I need a full refund since I fully paid for what I actually ordered. Her response, "Ohhh, why they do that?!?" My response, "I don't know but I'm irritated at this point." Her response, "That's fine, but I'm wondering why they did that." That's fine? Are you kidding me? Then she says, "There's no one here to put it back on your card." "Okay, just give me cash." Then, she says, "I'll need your receipt for my records." So now I have to give her my receipt. Fine, whatever. So she gives me my cash and says nothing, absolutely nothing.

I asked for the manager, but I was told she is typically in and out. I was told her name was Argb or something like that. Argb, I was extremely disappointed in the level or service I received at your establishment this afternoon. It is very important for business owners to understand who "the face" of their business is. That is the main reason why I do not patronize a lot of black businesses because of the people on the front line who do not embody the meaning of customer service. I guess I will...