Cleveland Vegan — Restaurant in Lakewood

I'm not vegan, but my wife is. As such, I do go to various vegan restaurants on occasion, so this isn't my first encounter with such a place.

Our visit started off fine - We were seated with water already on the table, and a promising meal experience ahead. Then, approximately 10 minutes later, we were given menus. About 5-10 minutes later, drink orders taken. After that, things kind of went downhill.

The food was... just okay (at best). Honestly, I was not wowed by what we got. The spicy chicken sandwich wasn't spicy at all. Not even a little, and I'm not one of those who has so much spicy food that I can't tell. I actually have a relatively low threshold for spice tolerance, but every now and then, I like to take a risk. In this case, no risk taken at all. It was just a plain ol' sauce.

I asked for a few things (to help my meal to be a little more enjoyable) that seemed to take forever and multiple requests to actually get.

The server was nice, and the rest of the staff real friendly. But as far as vegan food goes - I've been to several places, and I can firmly put this establishment last on my list. Nothing was "Oh, my word - I need to get more to take home". Quite the contrary - Everything came with excited expectations, but then followed up with quiet disappointment.

The thing that set this place to a 2-stars was the automatic gratuity added to my bill. Due to some miscommunication (because I had stepped away from the table), I didn't see the gratuity added when I paid. Yup - My fault and I take ownership of that. But because i didn't see the automatic gratuity, I ended up giving an additional gratuity - Which, in absolutely no way, was it earned. In full disclosure, we were a party of six, but two checks. I understand it's a gray area, and while I'm sure some people will say, "Yes, parties of six or more get an automatic gratuity", my experience has been just as often not an automatic gratuity on parties of six, multiple checks. So I do not automatically assume an included gratuity when the bill arrives.

What is the issue for me is that I do not think the level of service we received warranted a 20% tip (which was the automatic gratuity added). I wasn't going to cheap out and leave a 5% tip or anything - But I truly do reserve 20% tips for excellent service. We didn't get that. I wanted to just leave a 15% tip. Ended up giving them a 35% tip when all was said and done. Again, my fault for not reading, and my lack of reading is not why they are getting a 2-star review.

At the end of the day, if I could get a refund, I 100% would ask for it. But that ship has sailed, and onward I go to (hopefully) better establishments.

Of the multiple vegan restaurants I have been to, honestly, this one is dead last for me. I won't even leave the door open to a return visit. There are other vegan restaurants in and around Cleveland. I'd rather try them. If people I'm with insist on going back here, I'll gladly go elsewhere on my own, and rejoin them after they are...

If I'm being brutally honest the atmosphere is great, the service was not the best and the food wasn't the best vegan food I have but the desserts were out of this world. It was odd the server kept coming over to the table but completely ignored me and didn't ask for my drink multiple times he ignored me till a different woman walked over. He only acknowledged the man I was with which was rude as heck. I haven't been treated like that before and it threw the vibe off. The food wasn't worth the drive. I feel like a lot of the choices I tried were lacking something. The fake bacon tasted weird and burnt but other vegan places have a much better vegan bacon that has a more bacon red or pink color and better sweeter smokey taste. The food was edible to eat but I most likely wouldn't order again. The potatoe skins were a 2/5 or 3/5. The vegan chicken sandwich was a 3/5 or 4/5. The vegan burger was a 4/5. The green smoothie was a 5/5. Most desserts were a 11/10: the pecan tart and oreo cupcake. The Dubai cookie was so disappointing...not much filling and dry. I've had other better double chocolate cookies at other vegan places. I'd say 2/5 or 3/5 for the cookie but if they added more filling and it wasn't as dry it would probably be a 4/5. The woman at the register was nice and one of the male staff was friendly but the other one was rude and sexist it seemed to women if I'm being honest. Just not sure why he ignored me as if I didn't excist. I don't think I've ever been treated like that my entire life and if ever maybe one other time. Everytime I wanted to ask for a water he just completely put his back to me and I was invisible to him. Wasn't welcoming at all. That's why overall experience 3.5/5 and if not would have been a 4/5. Definitely some of the best desserts in the world but the food...just seemed like it needed or eas missing something to make it really have a pop of flavor. The potatoe skins for example wete bland and little dry too. The bacon ranch salad was also just "meh" and 2/5. I've been to other better vegan places with better salads and homemade dressings in this state and surrounding states. I would come back though to try more items since it seems once a month they change their menu. I think a few positive slight adjustments and this place would consistently overall by a 5/5 stop. Thank you! I truely wanted to give this place a 5/5 but I also want to leave honest feedback about both the...

I really wanted to love Cleveland Vegan, but instead, I was rather disappointed. Very slow, indifferent service, mediocre food and steep prices given the quality. Maybe it was a fluke, based on the reviews? I just felt sad that I drove all the way across town for a sub-par experience.

I ordered takeout and showed up on time. A lady at the desk said my food wasn’t ready yet and walked away. It would have been helpful if she told me it would be another 20-25 minutes. Yup. I waited for more than 20 minutes before a different woman finally came out with my food and apologized. The first woman never apologized or communicated how long the wait would be. Considering it was a Wednesday night, the place wasn’t busy and they had at least four people in the kitchen, I’m not sure what took so long.

I started with the tofu wings. These were cold (probably because they were sitting out, waiting for my other dish) and very uninspired. Seriously. Cold, limp tofu with buffalo sauce. They weren’t crispy and I wonder if they were cooked at all? They were edible, once I doused them in ranch.

My entree was the fried chicken sandwich, which was listed as a popular item. It barely had any chipotle mayo and was very dry. I poured some of the leftover ranch on it. The slaw was crunchy, flavorless cabbage and onions, not exactly what I was expecting. There were a few limp pickle slices on the side, but not like the picture on the menu.

I paid $27 for a lifeless, unfulfilling dinner. To top it off, the receipt asked if I wanted to leave an additional (second) tip. Considering I already tipped, before I knew how my experience would be, there was no way I was going to tip again…

I’d like to maybe try coming here again, they seemed to have a lot of good looking desserts, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to stop by a second time.

Honestly, I feel bad for writing this review. 3-stars is probably being generous, but hey, at least...