SunCafe Organic — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I'm writing this unfortunate review after trying hard to 1st personally contact the new owner of this place Abe, in the hopes to give him benefit of a doubt that he just doesn't know any better, I called, left messages, left notes, emailed TWICE, even mailed him via USPS, but no response. Unbelievable! this is what I wrote him: "Hello Abe. I have been a long time customer since what sun cafe started in the old location by Rawsheed. I live in South Bay but I make a point to bring my business to vegan businesses. On regular basis I get gift cards from vegan restaurants and gift them to others so they get to know the vegan businesses and become new customers. I spend THOUSANDS promoting vegan businesses. I have held large parties of over 50 people for my father's 80th birthdays, nephews graduation, memorial, other birthdays and ceremonies at Sun Cafe. I try to spend cash instead of credit card so the venue does not have to pay fees. I'm a business owner and I understand especially with restaurant business, profit margin is low so every penny counts. Having worked in restaurants I also respect a good tip for the waiter. I also understand CUSTOMER SERVICE. I was there with six of my family members about a week ago and honestly I had the most horrible experience because of the waitress Jacee? Honestly the first thought that came to my mind was, does the owner know she treats this business as spare change and just tosses customers out the door with her behavior. My brother wanted to get the bill and separately I asked for a $100 gift card and I asked NOT TO PUT IT ON THE BILL with everything else, she went ahead and did it anyway. When she brought the bill I asked her to please take it off the bill and separate it as I wanted to pay for it in cash and she said she already rang it in the bill. So I didn't want to cause trouble, I agreed then she said parties of 6 or more there is a 20% automatic gratuity added, I asked does that mean the gift card gets too added too and she said "NO". looking at the bill and a simple calculation we find out $20 extra was added to the tip because of $100 gift card. So I asked her to please separate the gift card from rest of the bill. She looked annoyed and rolled her eyes and AGAIN said tip was not added for the gift card. So I showed it to her. Then she voided the original bill rang everything over again and gave me a voided slip without any amounts showing that the bill was voided/refunded for what amount. So I asked her if she can please give me a slip with the amount on it and I don't want to have to come back again because being charged twice. She started arguing that the bill was refunded/voided. I said I'm just concerned the way you said tip was not added to the gift card and IT WAS, now I worry this voided voucher without an amount might be a mistake too (a few moths ago there was another mistake with my RAW meal to go I get home 35 miles later with cooked food instead of raw dish). I I just don't want to go all the way home just to find out there is a mistake again. That's when she blew up and said "WELL NEXT TIME YOU MIGHT WANT TO TAKE YOUR BUSINESS ELSE WHERE"!!! SERIOUSLY??? Does she have any idea how difficult it is to bring in customers now she is simply shooing them away? We only have a handful of vegan restaurants and they are closing down left and right. I'm here I am clinging on to the ones remainder and supporting them every chance I get and she is telling me to go else where? Trust me, I LOVE aulac and they have fantastic raw dishes (I'm fully raw) and depending on the response I get from you, I might take my business else where. After I left I came back to use the restroom and the nice waiter ran up to me and asked me to bring the gift card back as it was BLANK and $100 was NOT added. I calmly bring the card back to Jacee and AGAIN she blames me and say that I ran off with the card before she was done???? She handed it to me meaning she had completed the transaction!!! What is this...

Not super impressed...tried a few things on the menu and here are the results.

Avacado Toast 3/10...avacado spread on top wasnt super exciting and bread was tough..

Mac and Cheese 1/10....was very excited about trying to the mac and cheese after the rave reviews and was horribly disappointed. Had no real flavor..and took the taste of cast iron skillet it was cooked it..super bland..had plenty of vegan mac and cheese other places, this was the worst by far...

Breakfast burrito 1/10...was also excited to try a vegan breakfast burrito, but again was dissappointed. Super bland..where's the flavor guys??? Without some salsa or other sauce on it...its bland and unfulfilling, pretty sad...

Mashed Potatoes 4/10. Mushroom gravy didnt have much flavor. Potatoes were pretty blandish (im seeing a pattern here), add some ground up rosemary with house vegan butter maybe or try garlic mashed potatoes as an alternative perhaps? how do you mess up potatoes???

Blueberry cheesecake 4/10 was just ok, was expecting better flavor from this desert though.

Strawberry cheesecake 9/10. This was The one thing on the menu that was actually really really good. Definitely heavy, so share it with a friend, but they nailed it on the flavor.

Super Sun Nachos 5/10 they were just ok...nacho cheese flavor wasnt too bad, sunchorizo "meat" bits didnt really have much flavor at all and there was barely any of it proportion to the size of chips. Portion size was massive, enough for 4 people at least and everyone know you cant box nachos, they go soggy quick

Service was good, ambiance is great. This place has so much potentional. I appreciate their dedication to being organic and vegan, a rare mix to find. 2 stars for the good service and amazing strawberry cheesecake. Perhaps there are items on the menu I haven't tried that would change my mind about this place, but so far...very unimpressed. I highly recommend them getting a professional chef to work on more flavorful items on the menu. Native Foods vegan restaurant has amazing Nachos, Seabirds Kitchen (also vegan) in Costa Mesa has pretty decent mac and cheese, maybe take some notes guys??? Again, pretty shocked I had a dissappointing experience, considering some of the good reviews I've seen. A little apprehensive at trying anything else on the menu based on what Ive had so far, but definitely will be back for some strawberry cheesecake (Can you guys also offer just regular cheesecake please?) Anyway, had to give my two cents, because I know this place has potential and I'll be there to try again when they step...

I became a vegan recently for health reasons so I suggested this place for a early dinner with my friends CB and LR. They had never tried a vegan restaurant before so they were excited for the experience. I appreciate that SunCafe has their own parking lot so parking was a breeze. They offer a lot of cute outdoor seating and I think some indoor seating as well. We sat outside.

We got the following: -- Coffee Shake: Blue bottled blend coffee beans, cold brewed coffee, cashews, dates, cacao, vanilla - Both CB and LR got this and they loved it. The shakes had a very strong coffee aroma so I probably wouldn't recommend getting it at night if you are sensitive to caffeine. -- Apple Carrot Juice: apple, carrot - Refreshing and delicious. -- Mini Mac: 1/2 size Mac & Cheese (Quinoa pasta with tomato and cashew mac sauce baked in a cast iron skillet) - Both CB and LR got this off the Happy Hour menu and they loved it. It looked really good but because of the cashew sauce (and because I'm currently on a raw vegan diet) I couldn't try any :( -- Lettuce Leaf Tacos: sunchorizo, cashew cheese, pico de gallo, avocado, and basil ranch - I got this without the cashew cheese since I'm allergic to nuts. They were pretty good but not great, probably because I miss having non-vegan tacos and am not the biggest fan of lettuce. They were good for what they are, but not good for what they are substituting (in my mind). -- Apple Pie Skillet: apple puree and slices in gluten free crust with a crunchy oat crumble on top with vanilla coconut ice cream - This was one of the few desserts I could get since it doesn't involve nuts. CB and I shared it and we both loved it. She especially loved the crunchy oat crumble that was on top. Definitely recommend this dessert!

Overall we all enjoyed our meal here and CB and LR said they are open to eating more vegan food as a result! So this place is definitely worth a try even if you...