Vita Cafe

12/20/07

Best Vegan Lasagna

by sallyh03

I'll be the first to admit that some of the Vita Cafe dishes can miss the mark, but the one dish that has been consistently great for me is the Vegan Lasagna. Get it with Pesto Sauce and you'll be in heaven! It is pretty much the only dish I order there anymore, unless I eat lighter and go for a salad. The lasagna serving size is large and filling, so bring your appetite!

• Pros: vegan lasagna, vegan desserts

08/23/09

fresh?

by makaiah

It was a hot summer day (just last week) and I was craving a hearty veggie burger and nice salad. I figured a place that advertised the use of fresh organic products would have an amazing salad. I ordered the green salad and it looked (and tasted) like a bag salad from safeway. Iceberg lettuce, shredded carrots and red cabbage, diced barely red tomatoes and soft flimsy cucumbers. The veggie burger was ok, but the bun.. ugh. Again I would assume that a place claiming to be so healthy and grand would serve up more than an enriched white franz bun. I was out 10 bucks for garbage food. Go 10 blocks down the street to the Hilt. The burger buns are good and the salads are amazing. ie fresh and tasty and the prices are better.

• Pros: none
• Cons: not fresh at all

07/22/09

Try the Salmon Cakes!

by ilovevita

I love the Vita Cafe (across the street from its old location). It's got a little bit of everything - and you can't help but enjoy the cool decor. I would recommend this place for all ages. There's a toy box and high chairs for kids. There's a bar for adults. And the menu suits everyone. Try the salmon cakes - they're delicious! I'll definitely be going back to the Vita Cafe.

• Pros: A little bit of everything!
• Cons: None.

03/08/09

Extremely Vegan Centric

by supervegan

I have to rise up and give praise to the Vita Cafe. I am a vegan through and through... the Vita's menu has so many vegan options from the choice of tofu or tempeh with each breakfast entree, to the sietan cheese steak sandwhich witha vegan cheese option..to sweet pea vegan cheese cake OMG... or try the vegan nachos or the vegan mac and cheese.. oh I almost forgot the super grain salad or the daily vegan soup. Must I go on.. i love the many many options for me to eat..

Yes the story below is a bummer... but when I talked to the Vita about the situation.. they were so extremely sorry and explained that the menu does't state that it is vegan sausge.. and servers (most of whom are vegan) are very aware of the what is and is not.. so ask ask ask..if you are concerned. Vegans not to worry, the Vita has your back.. .

• Pros: most vegan choices any where

02/22/09

VEGANS BEWARE

by bacichm

In as much of a vegan/vegetarian friendly city Portland is, it is still rare to find a restaurant that truly understands what it is to be vegan. Since the launch of the Vita Cafe, I have been a frequent diner. As a vegan, their solely vegetarian/vegan menu led me to believe that the owner and staff were conscious of my diet and convictions. Well, apparently this is not the case. I dined for breakfast yesterday morning with one of the items being their ?vegan sausage?. From a previous visit, I was under the impression that the cook staff was developing their own recipe, so kindly asked the server only to have my heart broken. Can you imagine my horror when I learned they serve Morning Star sausage? I believe it is common knowledge among vegans that Morning Star does not make a vegan product. It is all egg based! This is the most irresponsible and deceitful action a restaurant, supposedly catering to vegans, can make. I am now left wondering what else on the menu isn?t vegan despite its claim. Maybe they use bone filled refined sugar and egg in their vegan biscuits. Well, you won?t be seeing me in the Vita Cafe any time soon. This is an outrage, and I encourage all vegans to follow suit and let the Vita Cafe know that their deceit and lack of compassion for our diet will not be tolerated.

• Pros: None
• Cons: They lie to their customers

01/23/09

don't bother

by jicamalurver

This place is in my neighborhood, so I'm no 'ubranite' a&@#hole. The food is mediocre at best. Some of the breakfast stuff is ok, like the pancakes that come with the coconut syrup, but most of the food is pretty bland. The real kicker is the service. I'm no uptight yuppie that demands superior service either, I'm a starving student with tattoos and a weird haircut. I even have a couple of friends who work here. It's like the aprons have some zombie-like power that turns all staff to uber snobs. I have never had to wait so long for food. Ever. I once waited over an hour for my food, and got no explanation or apology. They make you feel like you're putting them out for stepping into their restaurant. Go to Tin Shed instead.

• Pros: 
• Cons: super surly waitstaff

12/05/08

Go for the atmosphere and the Seitan Cheese Steak

by mjpdx77

Frankly, I'm surprised about some of the reviews I've seen on here. The Vita Cafe offers a delightful, casual diner-type atmosphere with plenty of vegan and vegetarian options. My favorite is the Seitan Cheese Steak, which is served hot off the grill and is better than any of the Philly Cheese Steaks I had back in my meat-eating days. The great thing about Vita is that even though there is some healthy fare on the menu, they don't try to fill you up with a bunch of colon-blowing superfoods designed to "cleanse" and "purify." It's real food for real people who don't eat meat. Not all of the options are healthy, and why should they be? That's half the fun of going to a restaurant.

• Pros: Diner atmosphere, location

11/24/08

What the lady before is not telling you

by oihop

This is coming from an almost 5 year customer of the vita is that she is one of those ubranite as@#oles that goes to the alberta district to a diner when its rush hour and is upset that her server is trying to balance all of her customers. what you are feeling lady is the blue collar thats arround your waitress's neck. and if you havent eaten in portland before you would find out the "manifesto" is at almost every resteraunt here. drop your pretencious bullsh!t and just admit your a snobby b!tch whos husband exploits people so you can feel good about your high end vegan resteraunts you normally eat in compared to a good and honest diner style food.

Come eat at the vita the people there are very gret, they take great care with your food, everyone hustles good and fast to get things out to you, and above all els that place has so much love it developed customer loyalty to the point i had to write what i put up there.

• Pros: good people great smile and very kid friendly
• Cons: long wait whn it get busy

11/04/08

Wow what a deal- love this place

by PORTLANDMA

I love the Vita. It is an 'ol stand by for us. Where else can I get a good, simple meal for an excellent price. Really nothing on the menu is over $11 bucks. The portions are big too. No its not high end dinning and the staff is definetly the creative type. But each time I'm welcomed into the restaurant, and we enjoy a good warm meal. We're not total vegetarians but we're trying to eat less meat. The Vita has so many different options - the cheese steak made with seitan is the best, the thai pasta, and we love the buffalo tofu wrap. Never mind the salads like the quinoa salad is just yummy. I'm saddened to read some of the cranky customer reviews below. I'm telling you it's just not the Vita - we're there a least once a week.

• Pros: Great local place
• Cons: busy on weekend brunch :(

10/09/08

worst service almost ever

by 1mem

i can see that i'm not the only one who was met with the slowest worst service ever. Except my experience felt extra uncomfortably special. They do not cater to children, they waited the 45 min. it took to cook our little corn cakes to bring their fruit cup. kids can only sit so long waiting, especially hungry children. there was hardly anyone there when we arrived. our waiter almost completely ignored our existence, and another girl waiter had to make up for his lack of service and started removing plates, finally we get our bill. well apparently the staff here thinks tips are mandatory, because i tipped super low to match the quality of service, and the girl has the nerve to come outside and ask why i tipped so low. that's a sure way to have customers come back. she may have been trying to compensate for our male servers completely absent demeanor, because she did apologize for the service. but it came across as uncomfortably rude. get your stuffs together people, there's way too many good restaurants to have to deal with this. sad to say because i love your quinoa salad, but i will never come back.

• Pros: quinoa salad & corn cakes
• Cons: cant enjoy the food with such horrible service

07/08/08

bad food, bad servce, bad karma

by pdxseattlediner

Dear PDX eaters, Don't do it! DO NOT EAT AT CAFE VITA. After several years being gone from pdx, my husband and I were curious about Alberta and picked Cafe Vita for its patio. When we walked in, we were looked through as if we were not actual real people! The blonde (shoulder-length hair, blue eyes, tattoos) was the most disgusting server we met while in Portland. She ignored us (we felt like we were standing there holding our d****) and finally just--MISTAKENLY--sat ourselves. The waitress actually seemed disappointed that we sat in her section! This was gross, truly gross. I'm sorry that you are a 40-year old waitress, man, and that customers are a drag!! We were polite anyway because that's who we are. It was embarrassing. Next came the pretentious menu, complete with a manifesto on FOOD. This place has no idea what good vegetarian food can be. When demon waitress finally brought food, it was cold because it sat on the slide for 15 minutes after the cooks were done with the order. She brought me a salad that was comprised of rotten-edged industral romaine. Cafe Vita is pretentious, not democratic in the slightest, and the service is HELL>>>>>>>>>>Incidentally, I called the cafe to complain but the owner/manager, Aaron Whoo, wasn't in, so I told the girl on the phone what I a telling you now. Her glib hipster response: "That's totally cool..."

• Pros: The patio is very inviting, but it's a trap!!
• Cons: The service and the food. BAD!!!