Heartwood — Restaurant in Saint Charles

The people are nice and the food is okay (albeit overpriced).

What gives this place such a low score is how they run their operation. We've ordered from this place a couple times and have since only run into problems.

Once we ordered via DoorDash, the app and their online storefront all indicated this place was open. However, once we travelled some distance to pick up our order we were only made aware they were closed with a sign out front saying they would be closed until Friday. Well it was Friday, and still no one was there. Luckily after some back and forth with DoorDash we were able to get our $60 dollar meal for 2 refunded. Oh well...

The most recent time we ordered from this place, I made sure we called the store ahead of time. Alas! they were open so I asked if we could place an order for pickup. I was told by the gentleman that we would be better off placing our order online and that it'd be ready in about 20 or so minutes -- setting the scene for our next disaster. I arrived to Rootbound 25 minutes after placing the order, stood in line patiently while other patrons placed their orders, and then let them know I was there to pick up my order. I was told at that moment that they had not even started cooking our online order and that they had not been looking at the online tickets. This was hard to understand... I just talked to someone on the phone, who said that was the best option, and that'd it'd be done in 20 minutes. Oh well, nothing to do except sit there and wait (they let me know it would take another 20 minutes). 50 minutes has now passed. I've seen people come in after me order, sit down, be served their food, and start eating -- all while the to-go order that I placed an hour and a half ago is "still being prepared". Finally, I get my order and they do apologize for the wait. I get home and am told by others in my family that they've forgotten 3 of the items that we ordered. At this moment, I have had enough. I've already let my family know we will not be patrons of this place again. That said, one of my family members calls to let them know they forgot a few items and then (and only then) we are informed that they have sold out of those items. I guess they forgot to mention that during the hour and half they spent preparing our food. Save yourself the headache, ulcer,...

This is a great place providing a full vegan and gluten free menu which isn't easy to achieve without compromising texture or flavor. So I decided to go big and try multiple things from the menu. I got the mediterranean salad, Mac and cheese, chickpea Tikka masala, broccoli soup, waffles and the pb&j smoothie. I was definitely amazed by the mediterranean salad. I didn't think I was going to like it, but boy was I wrong. It tasted amazing, just like a bowl of pasta but in a salad form and the portion was much larger than I thought too. Chickpea Tikka masala was good too, a lot lighter than I expected, flavors were bright and refreshing. Mac and cheese was good, could be a little creamier/smoother, but I get it again. Pbj smoothie tasted exactly like a PBJ sandwich, but with a fresh strawberry flavor. It is on the thick side so not exactly made for drinking next to a meal, but great on its own. The waffle blew it out of the park for me with the crispy texture and maple. At first I thought given it was gluten free it would be heavy and dense. To my surprise it was the exact opposite and I will be ordering it every time I go. Lastly the broccoli soup, this one was a miss for me. It was watery and tasted mainly of nutritional yeast, not much flavor or texture going for this one. Hopefully they'll improve it with time. But overall a great experience, great food and I can't wait to go back and try more from their menu! They do though need to advertise better that they serve food, at first glance online it looks like a smoothie and juice place only. Also they need to have some type of menu or take out menu other than just the one on the wall. Would've been nice to have a take out menu to sit at the table and figure out my order instead of standing 10 min starring...

I’ve had good experiences in the past & have been a big fan of this place but unfortunately had a rough situation yesterday. My husband & I spent $300 for us both to do a standard 3-day juice cleanse here & were excited to start. We cleaned up the pantry & planned around doing this cleanse. The day before we got a confirmation email reminding us our pick up time & saying it would be ready.

We showed up at 3pm yesterday, which was a Sunday (our scheduled time to pick up the juices) & they had the closed sign up & door locked. No explanation posted online or in sight. Their hours showed they were supposed to be open another 2 hours & we could see employees inside cleaning up & talking on the phone laughing & talking. The man employee was behind the counter with no shirt on, which I found unsanitary considering his body hair was exposed to the equipment & prep stations. We tried to get their attention & called a few times but were completely ignored. We waited about 15 minutes hoping to get help, even leaving a message on voicemail. I called again this morning with no one picking up but Its been over 24 hours now and still have not been contacted. We’ve had to go through a whole headache situation through Toast (the third party company they use for their online orders) to cancel the order & get our money back just to find out the only way to get it is through Heartwood itself.

I just can’t believe a company would be this unprofessional & not try to at least explain or reschedule the order, which I could have been understanding about, but completely ignoring the situation is not okay. I’m disappointed because it’s a vegan & environmentally conscious place, which is rare to find, but I don’t want to support a business...