Eliza's Vegan Café — Restaurant in South Carolina

As I arrived at the location I walked through the door with a group of folks excited and hungry we sit down at the table only to find out we needed to order first. placed our order with the cashier who... how shall I say this was cold, disconnected, and hot bothered! My husband found this restaurant prior to our travels from Colorado so I was very excited to try certain items on the menu only to find out that the items that we so truly desire it was no longer available so we looked at the menu and said how about this or that which was not available for example the Jamaican beef patty, no collard greens, no sweet potatoes you get the picture so we get our food after dealing with the angry bird sit down at our table waiter didn't ask if we wanted anything to drink there was no condiments later found out that our hamburger did not come with fries so we wound up placing three additional extra orders for drinks and no side dishes. The cashier did not even ask if we wanted anything additional to go with our items as if we were regulars this was my first time in the state and at this restaurant I was hoping for a better face-to-face experience. if I had to rate the cashier she would get a big fat zero attitude was just crazy and she was the cook the only one working in the restaurant certain other people came in picking up to go orders she would crack up sometimes smile but she was just downright rude the things that you wanted to order it's almost like she persuade you to get something else I don't know if that's Less cooking for her or what. Our food arrives she did miss placed one of the orders with lasagna instead of rib sandwich so that just made things worse she became extra irritated. It was almost comical in a sense that is this really happening does the owner know that this is her first impression given out to folks coming into her establishment? If that is the case I am sure she is missing out on a host of patrons who may have been lost due to this person's uncaring attitude. My burger was delicious I enjoy the mac & cheese it could've been a little bit hot and more creamier it was a little dry. My husband's barbecue sandwich was good the bread was a bit much and it was served in a plastic to go box while everyone else had plates. Kept slipping off the table almost not a very good dish to eat out of. Another friend of ours ordered the stir-fry and she commented that it was super-hot and are you sure you want to order that most grown men have thrown it in the trash... I'm thinking to myself why would she say something like that. I seriously think she put extra pepper flakes in there just to see if our friend could finish the meal and that he did! Oh, and then she walked by and said to him how are you doing! He said I'm doing good😂😂. The Italian meatball sub was good and our other friend got a fish sandwich I didn't really hear too many comments but she ate the whole thing so I'm assuming it was good. Overall, the food was good the whole experience was horrible I guess it pays to just do a takeout because the dining experience is not where it should be oh, we didn't get any ketchup for fries. We had to ask for utensils everything we had to ask for was done with trepidation because we knew that we were going to get the side Eye or hear grunts! Owner if you are reading this, please, please get someone in there that's going to represent your character and how you want to be represented at as a business establishment because this person was not it. I believe the cook's name was Cookie...All in love Aurora Colorado❤️ My reply: To the owner... This post is old; I recently updated this due to some grammatical errors and the addition of Cookie's name. So it looks like it triggered a response, which I am surprised you are just now seeing this. The date of our family visit was October 28th, 2022, so at that time we ordered what we saw on the menu. I don't remember the time of day as it was shortly after a memorial service. There was still daylight outside. Your food, I enjoyed and was super excited to...

Updated after owners response: Yes I was feeding my newborn and or 1 year old or both. I’m a devout Catholic so modesty is very important to me. I know how to nurse my babies without having to use a cover & remain modest. I’ve done it for a total of 7 years. My tshirt covers my breast while I nurse, maybe a little of my stomach was showing. If it truly offended them they should’ve said something to me. I didn’t see anyone offended that I was feeding my babies and thankfully I wasn’t offended that they were eating either! Thankfully South Carolina Law (S.C. Code Ann. § 63-5-40) states that women can breastfeed anywhere that they are authorized to be and that breastfeeding is not considered public indecency. So while I don’t have your support to breastfeed my babies - I’m glad the law/state does. CAUTION: APPARENTLY NOT A NURSING FRIENDLY ESTABLISHMENT

You told me to change my baby at the bathroom. What bathroom?! Your cafe doesn’t even have one. I was told to walk out and go next door. So I did. The restaurant is connected to a gas station & convenience store but it doesn’t have a changing table and my car was absolutely full after 2 weeks of travel, 3 car seats, and 6 people total. We got 3 hours of sleep and had car troubles. He didn’t think it was a big deal to quickly change a pee diaper. His body was covering the baby and no one said anything to us! If it bothered anyone, an employee didn’t let us know! Perhaps consider adding a bathroom with a changing table to your restaurant.

The rude employee must have been Cookie then. The receipt says Yolanda (so that should be fixed) Yolanda was pleasant but Cookie was the one who was snarky and short. We ordered close to $80 of food and when I asked for a plate for my 1 year old to eat she said “that will be $2” she never offered us a plate, I asked her for one and she seemed annoyed at my request. Yes, I try to remain optimistic and kind even when others are rude. Saint Mother Teresa says “that a smile is the beginning of love” and that’s what I try to emulate with everyone I meet even when it’s not given back in return. That’s why you see me being joyful even as we were having a very challenging day.

It’s too bad that after a kind but honest review instead of offering an apology or some grace to customers you listed off all the excuses as to why it’s okay to have horrible customer service.

*Check out the other 1 star reviews!!! Most tend to be for bad customer service and rude Cookie! Clearly the owner doesn’t care and is keeping her around no matter what. I’m surprised owner isn’t getting the hint from several complaints (and I almost didn’t write a review, I bet so many others also don’t have time)

Original review: We are a vegan family, so I was thrilled to find this spot right off the highway while traveling. The juices were great, the food was tasty, but the employees were not kind. We have four children so naturally, the two babies were being a little irritable from being in the car all day. We had a lot of eye rolling, snarkiness, and short attitude from Yolanda. Maybe she was just having a bad day, but she seemed like she was miserable and hated her life/job. Heads up if you want a pleasant respite from driving...

This was the best vegan food I've had in years, and itcwas as good as being in any 5star restaurant.. I also want to point out the service and awesome woman cooking, running and who owns Eliza's was so patient though I asked a dozen questions about the food, and recommendations on what I might order. ( which being on a careful restricted diet because of illness, was a welcomed help,thank you) and it was a pleasure to have such great service, she was friendly, personable and answered all my questions with a smile and I must add never rushed me *(though she had other orders to do, she was so attentive ) .. thank you fo a rare experience most places don't give..top notch customer service, and as for the well prepared food delicious food... It was also great, again the best meal I've had in quite a while...after I asked to have her tell me how it came to its name I was told she had it named it after her grandmother " well if her grandmother cooks as great as she does... she is and has" definitely made her proud". though I was passing thru on my way from the Outer Banks of NC for a important hospital stay in Florida, I hope to one-day have the privilege to stop in again and order and eat again.. I can only wish she had a place closer to my home, I'd eat here regularly for sure..I heard she was going to open a restaurant soon, if true you will want to go and eat there for sure.. until then, if you see the food truck you'll not be disappointed..getting quality, great food at a price that won't break the bank.. and by the way try the chickpea veggie, bacon pita wrap.., yummy and the fries hot crispy and not greasy.. to all who are considering Eliza's, stop ...I promise you won't...