Cozy Plum — Restaurant in Sebastopol

To the owner who says this is just "purity politics," to people who no longer want to eat here after changing to a vegetarian restaurant, let me break it down for your narrow, judgmental mind why this isn't the case.

1.) I do not want to second guess which ingredients made it into my meal. Mistakes happen. There is a huge difference between forgetting onions on my order and putting cheese instead of vegan cheese. the last time I ordered from you guys, you completely forgot to make the nachos that were on the receipt. It was a door dash order and when I called to see if you had the item and it didn't get picked up, I was told it wasn't made at all, despite being right there on my receipt. So if you can't even be trusted to make an item on the order, how can I trust cheese won't mistakenly get put on my vegan item? I ordered from you guys on July 4th (supposedly when the change happened) and I was not paying attention to any "vegan" labels since I knew you to be an all vegan restaurant. Now I have to wonder if I had vegan cheese or real cheese, so thanks for that.

2.) If you think you're going to expand your customer base with this change, you are mistaken. I don't know a single vegetarian who refuses to eat at a vegan restaurant because there isn't real cheese. You will, however, lose vegans who don't want to gamble on an order mistake or don't want to support a business that is increasing demand of dairy. The only people I know who refuse to eat at a vegan restaurant are meat-eaters. So unless you start serving burgers, good luck on gaining new customers you didn't already have.

3.) Maybe this is purity politics to you, but vegans are paying $18-$20+ dollars for a meal at your restaurant- a restaurant we could be sure wasn't supporting anything we were against. The price is the same high cost (but cheaper for vegetarians!!! lucky them!!!) just for you to increase demand of dairy that you currently weren't demanding. Not only is the price still high, but I notice the portions getting smaller (my nachos this time have about half the amount and there is no longer any taco meat) which again I would understand from a business perspective if you were not being so dismissive of your vegan customer base in other ways. So we are paying high amounts now to support a business that has added to that demand of dairy. You are literally punishing your existing loyal customer base (and criticizing them when they get upset!)

4.) I was bummed about the change and knew I'd order less from you guys, but I figured I'd still order occasionally, because I do understand the impossibility of having a vegan only restaurant survive in Sonoma County. But your ignorant replies on yelp are why I will no longer be supporting you. Because you could at least have the grace of apologizing and sympathizing with the people who have kept you in...

I sooooo wanted to love this place. Walking in, the restaurant has zero ambiance, it is cold inside, black curtains on metal poles covering part of the kitchen area. There is no way to order any form of a "meat" option unless you enjoy the overprocessed fake options. Couldn't even find a black bean burger option. The tacos sounded almost good except there is maple or molasses on the mushroom ones when I just want a mushroom to taste like a delicious savory mushroom and the other options were all fake meat options again. I decide to start with tater tots because who doesn't love Golden crispy tater tots and continue to look at the menu while waiting for those to decide what else to try. I walk up to the counter and the young woman rushing hurriedly around says very sweetly that she will be right back with me. When she gets back, I sympathetically tell her how hard that must be that she has her working so many tables all by herself. She smiles and says well the other guy is working too but at the moment he is meeting with his dad (clearly the owner or manager-- I am guessing owner) both at a table where they can clearly see how busy she is literally nearly running trying to take care of everything. I want something warm to drink because it is so cold inside but all the hot tea options are all the weird flavored kind so I go with a cup of coffee. It is in a press pot behind the counter but rings up "pour over" for $3.50 (I have to hold myself back from laughing out loud.) The tater tots arrive and they are hot and that is the ONLY thing good about them. Mind you the languaging on the menu says... and I quote, "extra crispy" on one description and "crunchy golden brown" on the other. It does come served with enough ketchup for twice the order... maybe that is because they know it is needed to drown the lack of crisp they promise. I come from the restaurant and bar industry. SO much of this experience is so unacceptable on so many levels and totally fixable. But clearly it starts with owner/management. The ONLY reason I give this 2 stars is because of the wonderful attitude of the young woman working so hard and doing her best (clearly under trained as well as under supported) under very challenging circumstances. She is going to make an excellent employee hopefully someplace way better than here where she can get the training and make the tips comparable to her wonderful commitment and attitude. I did eat all my tater tots because I was quite hungry. My plan was to eat only a little and order something else from the menu. But after all the aforementioned there was absolutely no way I was going to drop another $17 for another dish...

Absolutely Disgusting Experience — False Advertising and a Total Rip-Off

This place claims to serve the best food and cater to vegans — what a joke. I was excited to try it today, and it turned out to be one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had.

What did I get for almost $50? A sad pile of crappy chips with ranch dressing and a few wilted salad leaves dressed up to look like a real meal. That’s it. No substance, no creativity, no flavor — just cheap ingredients plated to fool you into thinking it’s “amazing.”

If you’re excited about vegan food, do yourself a favor: go to a grocery store, spend $1 on a bag of chips and a bottle of ranch, and you’ll get the same thing — probably better.

This place is nothing but overpriced, disappointing, and misleading. Don’t waste your time, and definitely don’t waste your money here. I would never recommend it to anyone. This is what I got reply from the owner of the restaurant, "Go ahead and provide me with a receipt and I will offer you a refund. I suspect you won’t though because this review is completely fake. In case you don’t know, narcissistic wrath is really transparent. Making yourself a DR. for this review is a particularly hilarious touch, though. Kudos to you for that. Does Kuldeep translate to Mark in English?" Here is my reply, " My objective is not to get a refund, although that would be honorable. My objective is to let people know that this café is falsely advertised. Just because something is vegan does not make it healthy. It really is an overpriced fast food stop.

I also want to make it clear that I do not appreciate the racist comment in your response. That was unnecessary and unprofessional. I hope you take this feedback seriously and reflect on how you treat...