Guru's Cafe — Restaurant in Provo

We visited Guru's today (Friday, March 15, 2024). We walked in and there was only one table with people sitting at it. Very empty. We walked right up to the register and placed our order (two sandwiches, two wraps, and one pizza) at 4:07 pm.

As we sat there waiting for our food, we watched several other people walk in, place their orders, and then get their food delivered to their tables...while we sat and waited and waited.

Finally after FORTY minutes, I went up to the front and asked if they were almost finished with our order as we had been waiting 40 minutes. The young man turned around and checked all the tickets that were hanging up, couldn't find ours, turned to a fellow employee, said something to him, then he looked through the tickets and couldn't find it either. After a few minutes, they finally found our food...which was sitting off to the side on a side shelf/table behind the register area. They brought it to our table (no apologies) and ALL of it was cold - the pizza and the sandwich that were supposed to be served hot were stone cold. You could tell that the pizza had been sitting for quite some time (you know the look pizza cheese gets after it's been sitting for a long time – wrinkled and dry-ish). Our food had been sitting back there for at least 30 minutes.

We didn't go back up and tell them about the old and cold food because we were now on a time-crunch since we had been waiting so long. We didn't have the time for them to re-make the food.

The two wraps had VERY little flavor and were a disappointment. The pizza was decent, but definitely would have been considerably better had it been hot, like it should have been. The pickle that came with my daughter's sandwich literally looked like someone had been chewing on it. I'm mad I didn't take a photo of it! We all felt the food is over-priced for what you get (especially when it takes 40 minutes and a trip to the counter to get the food).

Our bill was $81.88 and what a waste! The least they could have done was offer us...something! Some sweet potato fries, a couple of desserts, a gift card for future use...but AT LEAST an apology.

We've eaten there several times in the past (it's been a while) and we really liked it. But something BIG has changed. We will not be returning to Guru's.

Edit: After looking over our receipt upon arriving home, I have discovered they charged us for a side salad and rice and beans...which were supposed to BE INCLUDED with the sandwiches. Oh. My. Gosh....

I have never walked away disappointed when I have eaten at Guru's but it is missing something, and maybe writing this review will help me put my finger on what it is.

I like to rate restaurants on food, service & cleanliness, atmosphere, price of food (based on the type and quality, so not just looking for low prices), and would I come back. This hits on 4 out of 5 for me.

Food - The food is always delicious, fresh, and they have great portions. I have never left feeling hungry, and always have to make a tough choice between 1 or 2 items on the menu when I am deciding what to order. So there is good variety in the food options. My wife prefers healthier food and loves this place too. There are desserts served at the place next door, but I believe it is a separate business and you have to go over to the other side to look through the items available for sale and to pay for them. The last time we went there was a private party in the place next door, so we could not order desserts, which totally disappointed my wife. They offered to get her some, but she likes to browse the treats before deciding.

Price - The price is reasonable for fresh food, although it is about $3-$4 more than fast food, but I am ok with since it is NOT fast food. You will spend over $10 per person on average.

Atmosphere - The atmosphere is always a hard thing for a restaurant to do well, as most of the time they are focused on good food. This place is fine as far as the atmosphere goes, and it is even unique, but it is kind of all over the place. I am not sure what theme they were going for, but maybe it is too artsy for this average guy to decipher. Great for lunch, a quick breakfast (I have not tried a breakfast here yet), or a light dinner.

Service & Cleanliness - The restaurant was clean, but the service was just kind of impersonal. I'm not sure what was wrong, but it just kind of feels like you are putting people out by being there. Maybe the model of delivering your food to your table makes it feel that way, but it just doesn't feel as welcoming as I think it could be.

Would I come Back? Yes and I have several times since it opened.

Tip: Make sure to check out the desserts next door. My wife always orders dessert for there...

I have had a hard time finding real Carne Asada or steak in Provo Utah in general.The burrito had uncooked hard black beans, plain white rice with no flavor, cheese, and the steak did not not taste like real Asada or steak.

The best authentic steak in Provo is located at red Fuego in Provo and Orem. This is authentic Peruvian food. Guru’s is expensive so you might as well pay for authentic delicious healthy food at red Fuego. It is a 12 out of 10!!!

Guru’s : The pizza that my husband ordered had little marinara sauce on it, The cheese was not melted all the way, The pizza dough was soft and not cooked all the way. And I’ve noticed that everything there tastes like there’s no flavor or seasoning.

We disliked both our dishes so bad we could not eat it and we paid around $40 for chips and salsa, pizza, and a burrito. The chips were not homemade and they were cold.

It was so bad that I told the cashier that we did not like it and we wanted a refund. The chef was upset and would not give us our money back. Instead they gave us a cookie and supposedly the best thing on their menu a quesadilla.

Quesadilla: first of all the quesadilla was green which is fine I’m guessing it was spinach tortilla. Now in a quesadilla you can typically expect meat and cheese. But if you’re paying over eight dollars for half a quesadilla you would expect it to have corn, sour cream, guacamole, option of pico, onions, different cheeses. This green quesadilla had ricotta cheese or cottage cheese inside of it with broccoli. I love healthy food, but make it taste good when you pay so much for it!

So the only thing we ate from there was a cookie and cinnamon roll. I will say the cinnamon roll was delicious. The cinnamon roll is the only thing I would buy from there.

The decorations they had inside were super cute and creative and I loved the seating arrangements! I loved the color pallets and their decorations! It looks like a cool place to hang out, but the food bombed it. So it was a bad experience for price. Even the cashier said he does not recommend the burrito there and he said when he lived in San Diego he had delicious burritos with good meat and rice.

I’m sure other items on the menu are better and I heard the...