VULTURE — Restaurant in San Diego

My partner and I were excited to check out this new vegan restaurant, but were overall a little disappointed. We had drinks, apps, and a dessert. We ordered the bee’s knees and daisy (both gin drinks) and mini champagne cocktails. The daisy and mini champagne cocktails were very good, but the bee’s knees was not drinkable.

For apps we had the bread and “crab cakes”. The bread and “butter” were very good. The crab cakes were also very good, and I found the texture on the outside to really match the texture of a crab cake. The tzatziki, however, had too many pickles and overpowered the flavor of the crab cakes rather than complemented them.

We also ordered the carrot cake. The cake itself was delicious but the frosting was far too sweet and too thick relative to the cake. They could make the layer of frosting half as thick and increase the thickness of the cake layers for better flavor balance.

The service was fine, but not up to the standard for this type of restaurant. However, given that they’re new and likely understaffed, I imagine this will improve with time and experience.

Overall, I’m glad I went but don’t see a need to go back (though someone who is strictly vegan would probably appreciate it more). My other issue has to do with restaurants of this genre more broadly — I love the creativity of vegan food, but customers deserve to know what they’re actually eating. Very few of the real ingredients were listed under the menu items. For example, the vanilla ice cream does not state that it’s coconut based, it just says “vanilla ice cream” and the spinach and artichoke dip doesn’t include the ingredient that’s used as the cream substitute. This made ordering a challenge (especially since the server also didn’t know all of the ingredients and had to ask for each item I was interested in). This problem is pretty solvable with a QR code so customers can access the ingredient list. Currently, Vulture doesn’t even state that it’s entirely vegan on the...

We dined at VULTURE last night and initially left a two-star review, but after sleeping on it, I realized it truly only deserves one star.

Honestly, the name should’ve been a warning — vultures eat whatever’s left, no matter how bad it is, and that’s exactly what this meal felt like.

I ordered the Steak Diane, which was supposed to feature Lion’s Mane mushrooms. Instead, I was served a mix of random tiny mushrooms with long stems (I’m not sure what kind they were), and no explanation was given. The sauce was unpleasant, and it felt like they were hoping I wouldn’t notice or care.

The tableside Caesar salad wasn’t even made tableside (they did tell us this in advance), yet it was priced higher than an actual tableside salad. That alone didn’t make sense—but worse, the flavor was just straight vinegar. I’ve made vegan Caesar dressings at home that taste better than this. How they managed to mess up something so simple is beyond me.

The eggplant parmesan was incredibly tough and rubbery—something I’ve never encountered before. The sauce tasted like ketchup, and I wish I was exaggerating. My husband ordered the Oscar. The Impossible meat was fine, but the “crab” cake was absolutely awful. I honestly have no words for the flavor—it was that bad.

To be fair, the service was lovely. The staff were friendly and polite. But no one warned us or explained anything about the menu inconsistencies, and for a bill totaling nearly $300, the food was inexcusable.

Luckily, we have a good sense of humor, so we laughed it off at the table—but now, in hindsight, it’s just frustrating and disappointing. I wouldn’t recommend this place and definitely won’t...

Date night just got a serious upgrade.

VULTURE is the brand-new fine dining experience from the minds behind KINDRED, and it’s every bit as decadent, dramatic, and unforgettable as I hoped, down to the red curtain entrance and white bow tie clad waiters.

You will find VULTURE tucked at the back of also-new DREAMBOAT diner behind velvet curtains and a sharply dress Maître d’. Yes, inside. You literally step through the back of a vegan retro diner into this candlelit, maximalist dream space.

(recommendation: while waiting for your table to be ready, grab a rich espresso or coffee tonic at the diner’s bar stools and watch the open kitchen while you wait.)

Every bite was so good — decadent without being too heavy, nostalgic without feeling old. This is not your average vegan spot. VULTURE is romantic, mysterious, and made for slow sips and deep conversation. The kind of place where you linger.

Despite visiting during their soft opening, we were incredibly impressed by the service. The staff at VULTURE was incredibly professional and warm — attentive without ever feeling overbearing, and dialed into every little detail. From start to finish, everything felt seamless. We never had to ask for a water refill, a cleared plate, or anything at all. They just knew.

It felt like we were tucked into our own little world in a private booth, but somehow they anticipated everything we needed before we even realized it. The entire experience ran like a well-oiled machine — and honestly? That level of hospitality is rare, even at long-established restaurants.

Clearly, they’re setting the bar high...