The Vita Cafe

08/23/09

fresh?

by makaiah at Citysearch

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

02/22/09

VEGANS BEWARE

by bacichm at Citysearch

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 at Citysearch

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

10/09/08

worst service almost ever

by 1mem at Citysearch

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 at Citysearch

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!!!

02/17/08

Nastiest "veggie" burger anywhere, rude service

by slorenziprince at Citysearch

First of all, it was a long wait...and not because it was super busy really, but because the wait staff was just not efficient. Then, when we were seated, our server gave us complete attitude. then we didn't even get water for about 10 minutes...we were actually about to walk, but then she finally came to take our order. I got a VEGGIE burger. Usually, I ask at restaurants whether their fake burgers are veggie or soy (because wannabe boca burgers gross me out) but since it said VEGGIE I figured I was fine. I figured wrong. I tried to ketchup the taste out of it, but it didn't really work. Then the waitress tried to make up for her rudeness at the end so we'd tip her well (I was a server, I know that ploy). It didn't work. (The cakes did look tempting...but not for the rip-off price of $5!)

• Pros: Better than eating toxic waste.
• Cons: Food, service, attitude, ambience, you name it.

01/16/08

Horrible!!!

by realfoodsnob at Citysearch

I guess that you get what you pay for, right?!! The worst service ever ,and I got real sick from eating their gravy. Would absolutely not recommend this place unless they get a manager and start monitoring the food quality. Yuck!

01/10/08

yick yick YICK!

by ihatethevitacafe at Citysearch

The service was awful. I went with a group of friends and we split the tab 4 ways, I was the only one who paid with a card and they charged me the full tab, and my additional quarter, AND TOOK MY FRIENDS CASH FOR THEIR PORTION. The vita cafe stole double the money and if I hadn't checked my bank statement, nothing would have been done. How do you not notice extra cash in your till? Did the waiter think we left him a huge tip? I was highly unsatisfied and nothing has been done to refund my card yet. I called, left a bank statement and was sassed by the owner when I told him my bank took care of it. I DON'T THINK I AM THE FIRST THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED TO. Be wary of going to the vita cafe or at least check your bank statements afterward.

• Pros: vegan cuisine
• Cons: horrible service, theivery

07/18/06

Lousy service, terrible food.

by blueangel30 at Citysearch

We thought this would be a decent casual destinationg for a light veggie meal. The outdoor patio was inviting. However, the rude, flippant attitude of the waitstaff contradicted the vibe of relaxed and friendly Alberta. The food was mostly unpalatable: cold, bland mashed potatoes, unseasoned frozen vegetables, and a general lack of any seasoning or presentation. It would seem that a place specializing in vegetarian fare would use some fresh vegetables and maybe some herbs. It was beyond bad. The whole experience felt like an insult, and in the end, we couldnt believe they were taking our money.

• Pros: patio, outdoor dining
• Cons: service, food quality

11/06/05

Vita Crappé

by fivealarm at Citysearch

What a disaster. The food was unimpressive; we got a tempeh chicken-fried steak that was crispy yet smothered in a pallid gravy and a Greek salad with tomatoes that had the consistency of gumballs. What was worse was the indifferent to outright rude service we received. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't like to be publicly scolded for leaving a 15% tip when I should have left an 18% one, when all that had happened was I'd made a simple arithmetic error. It completely destroyed our party's good spirits, and any chance that we'd ever be coming back again, even though it's a block from where we live. Hipsters, get off my street!

• Pros: Decent prices
• Cons: Rude servers, Poorly cooked food