Gaia & Loki — Restaurant in Jersey City

TLDR: In our top 5 best vegan brunch places in 8 different countries and 9 states. Huge portions, reasonably priced for the NYC area, and amazing flavors!

Atmosphere: cute, with thoughtful decorations. Clean and well maintained. While many vegan restaurants seem to be haphazardly decorated, Gaia and Loki subverts the expectations in all the good ways.

Service: Sunday brunch is BUSY. Get a reservation. Without one, we waited 10 min to sit at the bar, but the staff was kind and attentive even though the place was full to the brim. Our server Riley is one of the best servers we have had since after COVID worldwide and hands down the best server we have had in the typically rude NYC/Jersey area. Riley deserved every cent of his tip, and he should be a model for all servers to be trained. Honestly, we ate at Eleven Madison Park two nights ago, and Riley was better than our $1000 staff over there.

Food: the shining star. The comfort food is not greasy. Even the onion rings (yes, the ever illusive vegan onion rings) did not leave grease stains on my fingers. Their "eggs, bacon, and sausage" were all high-quality faux meats and were not your typical grocery store Gardien packets. The wife had the chicken and waffles, which was surprisingly amazing considering most of the vegan chicken and waffles down in the South where we come from can't compete. The breakfast potatoes had a TON of flavor and were not deep fried, dry, or greasy but were pan seared with onions and peppers that elevated the typically simple side. I had the bacon and egg croissant, which was flavorful, filling, and flaky. The hot sauce they brought out was ACTUALLY spicy! So many vegan restaurants are pumpkin-spice-valley-girl-whitewashed to the point where there is nothing spicy. The sauce had a great kick. I'm not sure if it was homemade or at least local, but it was great! We are 100% going to come back again. And the kitchen cares about presentation. Food is nicely plated and not just thrown together.

Owner/operator of this fine establishment, please know this was better than our $1000 meal at Eleven Park Madison. Our only recommendation would be to lower your price by like $2-3 and then give half the food! Why? I want to see you thrivd in the long term, and no one needs TWO fat waffles, fried chicken, and a side. You could make a tad less per plate, but cut ingredient costs and increase the number of people coming to the restaurant. I know us fatty Americans like our big portions, but you're too generous. But maybe this #FloridaMan is wrong, and the Jersey locals need a single meal to feed a small country :D

All jokes aside, amazing all the way around, and we are excited to come back and eat our way through the rest...

As a huge fan of vegan cuisine, I found this place really under-delivered. In fact, I didn’t want to leave this review because I am so passionate about the vegan cause. But I there was such a huge mismatch between the quality and the price of the food, I wanted to provide feedback.

I felt the food could be so much better because vegan cuisine is all about creativity, innovation, and in most cases, when it isn’t explicitly fast-food, it’s about health. Loki and Gaia styles and prices itself as a restaurant, but the dishes I ordered today were aligned with what is vegan fast-food.

I order the crispy “fish” sandwich, mushroom/spinach empanadas, and potato leek soup. The best thing was the soup.

The empanadas were extremely deep fried and the outer shell was not like your traditional empanadas at all. I actually have never had anything so deep fried where there are boils all over the dough from being so deeply boiled in fat. The contents of the empanada were slimy with oil. I am pretty sure the picture in the menu did not look like this.

The fried fish sandwich was the most disappointing, because the bulk of the sandwich, the “fish” part was made of a patty commonly sold in the frozen isle at ShopRite. Gardein Fish Fillets. The only difference was they deep fried these, slightly changing the texture. I can say with 100% confidence that these are the same vegan fish patties because I used to buy them. Paying $20 for 2 fish fillets from a $6 bag of about 8 is not very encouraging. Plus, the taste of these patties are very bland.

The potato leek soup was good, but it won’t keep me coming back.

My biggest issue with Gaia and Loki is how it it is misrepresenting restaurant-level vegan fair by cutting corners on quality ingredients and using a deep frier to conceal a lack cooking acumen. There is nothing wrong with vegan fast food, but with the prices at this resto, I wouldn’t expect it the quality I had today. I hope the owner creates new recipes that bring out the best in vegan cuisine because the cause for animal welfare is one worth working hard for and not...

Gaia & Loki – A Revelation in Plant-Based Dining

If there’s one thing Jersey City has never lacked, it’s grit—a city alive with immigrant soul and a dash of unapologetic charm. Gaia & Loki doesn’t just fit here; it thrives. This unassuming plant-based haven on Grove Street doesn’t scream for your attention, but it doesn’t need to. The food does all the talking.

Let’s start with the meatball sub, because once you taste it, you’ll question why meatballs ever needed meat in the first place. A chewy, golden-crusted baguette cradles a perfect harmony of texture and flavor. The “meatballs,” impossibly tender yet robust, dance in the Gaia sauce—a deeply complex marinara with just the right hint of sweetness and heat. It’s the kind of sauce that takes hours to coax out its soul, and when you taste it, you’ll know it was worth every second.

And then there are the mocktails. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill, sugary afterthoughts. They’re vibrant, complex, and crafted with the same care and intention as a fine cocktail. The “Urban Alchemist” blends tart citrus with herbal undertones, while the “Green Revival” hints at a garden party with every sip. Pair one with your meal, and you’ll forget that alcohol was ever part of the equation.

Gaia & Loki isn’t trying to convince you that plant-based dining is better—it’s showing you it can be just as indulgent, soulful, and memorable as anything you’ve ever had. If you come for one thing, make it that meatball sub. But trust me: you’ll stay for everything else.

It’s places like this that remind us food doesn’t need pretense to be extraordinary—it just needs care, respect, and a little bit of love. Gaia & Loki has it in spades. Jersey City, you’ve got a gem here. Don’t...