Vitality Bowls — Restaurant in Santa Clara

As a former employee, I feel compelled to share my experience at this establishment. Unfortunately, my time here was marked by an extremely toxic work environment, primarily due to the aggressive behavior of the manager, Chandani.

From day one, it was clear that she felt entitled to belittle the staff. The constant stream of insults, including calling employees “stupid” and asking, “Do you need a lot of brain power to do this work?” and “this is the easiest job you guys can do that doesn’t even involve any thinking” created an atmosphere of fear and anxiety. Rather than fostering teamwork or productivity, her yelling and hostility made it nearly impossible to focus on our tasks.

I want to emphasize that I didn’t need this job; I was simply looking for something fun to do and a way to pass the time. However, Chandani seems to believe that everyone who works here is desperate and has nothing else going on in their lives. She expects us to drop everything every time we come in, working like machines while she screams in our ears. No matter how experienced an employee is, she consistently makes them feel small through insults and degradation. At least she doesn’t discriminate with her insults because she insults everyone.

One of the most uncomfortable aspects of working here was how she would correct employees for minor mistakes in front of customers. Instead of waiting to speak to us privately behind the counter, she chose to “teach us a lesson” right in front of everyone. This not only embarrassed the employees but also put customers in an awkward position, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere for everyone involved.

It’s no surprise that new employees rarely last more than a few months under her intense behavior. The only staff who remain are the long-time employees who have learned to endure her unnecessary yelling and constant chatter by putting their heads down and tuning her out. This is the only way they can survive—by becoming numb to her relentless negativity. Most new hires either leave quickly or transfer elsewhere due to her treatment.

On top of this, the cleanliness of the kitchen was a significant concern. The floors were often slippery and littered with debris, creating a hazardous working environment. Equipment was rarely properly cleaned and sanitized—more often than not, it was just pressure washed for a quick second. When employees took the necessary time to clean properly, Chandani would berate us for “wasting time” and insist that we move faster. Efficiency seemed to be her only priority, even at the expense of customer health.

As a franchise owner and manager, she clearly lacks the skills needed to run a business effectively. She expects employees to know everything by the end of a three-day training period, which consists mainly of random tasks that do not teach the actual recipes or processes. If you try to express that you weren’t properly trained on a specific item, she dismisses you as a liar and insists she is right.

I hope the leadership takes a serious look at how the staff is treated and considers creating a more respectful and supportive workplace. No one should have to endure such a negative experience just to earn a paycheck, especially in an environment that should prioritize cleanliness and safety for its customers. And advice to incoming employees in this branch: don't. Try your best to avoid working here it will only cause you headaches and you will be made...

since it’s convenient and nutritional, i frequent here often for a quick lunch. I came home during lunch break and ordered ahead on the phone so I can pop by and head straight to work. The person on the other side told me my order will be ready in 10 minutes. Great, i arrive there 15 minutes later for pick up. food’s not ready but they ask me to pay - they just need to press the panini. I wait 10 more minutes, no update and now Im running late to work. I asked if I can get a refund because I really have to head out and sounds like my food is nowhere near done. He has to check with the owner because he can’t issue a refund. Few minutes pass, owner comes out and she’s pressing some stuff on the registar. At this point, im getting frustrated - she then says that oh the panini is done, do you want to grab that at least? Im like sure… and then ask her for refund of the smoothie. She goes back to the registar and presses some more and says, we are just blending the smoothie can you wait 1 more minute? At this point, i just grabbed the panini and left to work. I think it’s just so frustrating that refund is so difficult -it just felt like they were distracting me and trying to buy time and not respecting my mine. I already told them I really have to go and they obviously started working on the food when I physically arrived into the store. I felt played — maybe they were trying to help, but I feel like they were using diversive distraction tactics until they can get the food ready, even when I asked for refund multiple times. So yeah, idk maybe i need to go a different vitality bowl location because the food...

Ordered the green glow bowl today. Was so excited to try something new as I have tried the açaí bowl in the past and haven’t been disappointed, With this order, they forgot to add the avocado which is supposed to be one of the main ingredient specially for me being a vegetarian. Upon asking, they said the bowl doesn’t come with avocado. I showed them the menu where it mentioned avocado. They finally agreed and brought me mashed avocado separately, quantity hardly a spoonful. And as seen in the picture, it looked black and unfresh but he didn’t seem to care so I kept quiet. It tasted so bad that I had to thrown the entire thing.

Few things that I experienced- For the price paid, I feel I could have got a better deal at some other place with fresh food and more attention. This was an absolute over priced item along with poor service. Very very disappointed!!

Update- After the review sent on instagram, they got back to me apologizing and asked me to show this message to the counter to get a free medium size açaí bowl. I am surprised they want me to redeem a free entree by showing the same message to the staff. This is the most stupid idea I ever heard of! Is there a guarantee they would still prepare the food with honesty and not take their frustration or anger out in the food????

PS- please note that their portion sizes have reduced drastically and prices have increased. Not worth the...