Juliano's Raw
Categories: Live/Raw Food, Farmers Market, Vegetarian [Edit]
Neighborhood: Santa Monica609 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA 90401 (310) 587-1552
- Hours:
Sun 9:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Lunch
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
47 Reviews for Juliano's Raw
I've been here one or two times. Very interesting place. Juliano is a great guy, and not to mention he lives upstairs which is funny. The people working there are nice as well. I tried their "meatloaf" or it was the "thanksgiving dinner" and it seemed pretty salty. My friend got something of theirs but i dont remember what(im helpful right? lol ) and it was good. I love their chocolate shake with their acai berry/ trail mix stuff on top. Their wine was definitely mild, dont know how to describe it.
Yeah it is a bit pricey, but get over it.
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If you're into trying new and different things, this place is pretty cool. All the food is raw of course, and pretty tasty. The macodamia nut "cheese" is so good.....
That's my only real memory of the food as I was a bit distracted by the treatment of the staff. While Juliano himself seems like a nice guy, and I'm sure he is, his business practices, as it pertains to his staff, are unethical.
I'm not going to go into detail, but I minus-d a star, as I believe employers should treat their staff fairly.
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Good raw food, but I always leave hungry. Their raw pastas are all very good, but their guacamole is excellent. The prices have come down a bit from my previous visits which is great because they were way overpriced. I recommend picking-up Juliano's No-Cook book as well. A lot of the same items as are on the menu.
Ate their two times. The first time I thought was definatly not worth the money. The place is so small that its hard to escape the next tables conversation.
Nothing looked like it was "suppose" to look like. If I ordered the warm pizza...it looks like a salad on top of a thin crustini. If I ordered somehing else...it still looked like a salad on top of a thin crustini.
I've eaten at a few of these types of restaraunts before (y'know...the "healthy/organic" types). This one is for sure the best one. I'd prefer to really give it only 3 stars, but I figure that wouldn't be very fair just because its not my style of food. And, I have to admit, half way through my "pizza" I actually started to enjoy it. (but it still seemed more like a salad to me).
I expected raw food to be pricey (go figure) and it was. The organic wine was not bad.
The second time I ate there was quite pleasant. I pretty much enjoyed the whole process ....until all the fiber gave me a huge side cramp that lasted the entire night.
i must confess im soo hopelessly obsessed with the blueberry instant cleanse smoothie wanting more its sooo deliciously good my taste buds are completely satisfied
p.s..the apple pie is my erotic desert
Found the Raw restaurant 'Julius Raw' thanks to a tip from a co-worker. It was a very 'California' style vegan restaurant, with kitchy bamboo chairs and shag rug pillows. I ordered the Nutloaf app and a signature salad, then a taco - made on with a cabbage shell and Avocado filling. A coconut cheese cake for dessert - with flakey buckwheat crust and lavender/red zinger tea.
note, I did get hungry 3 hours later, but that didn't take away from the 'zen' experience.
apple pie was delicious
chocolate smoothie was delicious
everything else...
not so much
soup was good but not the greatest
I know you should never expect raw vegan food to feel like the real thing, but the textures could be much better. The pumpkin tortellini was ok... outside was hard and stale tasting... inside was a little too salty for me. Sauce was good.
My friend's burger was just a big plate of mess. He ate it with a spoon, lol. There's gotta be a better way to emulate typical food. Either that, or don't call it something that's going to make us expect it to taste a certain way... ya know?
I like trying raw vegan food, but I don't think I could ever be a raw vegan.
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I like this place a lot. It's an all raw vegan restaurant so if your really into meat, I wouldn't recommend going here. However, The decor is not the strongpoint here. If your going out on a date or trying to impress I would not recommend this restaurant. The food is the core of this restaurant. My favorite dish is the wonderful spring rolls. They also make really good alcoholic drinks here and wonderful smoothies. The service isn't good at all. The last time I went here there were only two servers trying to handle a roomfull of people. Overall, the food here is very creative and healthy, but the decor and service are not impressive.
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alright. I might be vegan, but maybe I'm just not a raw food fan. I enjoyed my meal here much more than at cafe craptitude in san francisco, but it still all pretty much tastes the same. maybe I've burned all my tastebuds off with cigarettes and am too full of toxins to have the delicate palette to appreciate "chez," etc., or maybe I'm better off sticking to other overpriced restaurants that cater to vegans who feel comfortable paying for an organic label.
as an offbeat adventure, split an appetizer, entree, and dessert with an open-minded friend, then walk the promenade in your newly acquired purity.
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So I get why this might be controversial as a spot on the web but I think it's underrated here. I would almost give it five stars to help tip toward something brighter but well, now, that wouldn't be completely accurate and I'll get there in a sec.
But first of all! Four stars for sure. The food is Deeelish and so pretty. The flavor combinations are fascinating and as a general rule work really well. You do need to watch yourself and not order too many crazy things at once as your stomach will not enjoy you later. Or vice-ee versee.
I see that people say it's not very filling. Hmm. I think that's b/c as a general rule we american's are a piggy bunch and need to think about shrinking our stomachs. That said, I also think it would be wise to try not eating toward full and sick and see if that helps out the life. My experience of late is that if I don't get full I don't feel yucky, I don't get sleepy and I get skinnier. Win, Win, Win.
The lost star is for consistency. There are a few things on the menu that I truly heart - sometimes. It's a bit of a gamble based on which artist-chef is in the kitchen. I chalk that up to ya know, thank god it's NOT Friday's and everything is the same. And i find the staff very friendly and accommodating if I need to send something back for an adjustment - like more seaweed in my seaweed soup or what-have-you.
And finally, yep. Organic raw food is more expensive. It just is. So remember that you are treating your body right and that's a worthwhile endeavor. It's cheaper than a doctor's bill.
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If you're used to eating french fries with your cousin at a deli in Podunk, NJ in your sweat pants, this is not the place for you. The ambiance is very Santa Monica, but what do you expect? You're in, um, Santa Monica. This place is healthy, raw, light, colorful and delightful.
Visited this place a few days ago after a jog on the beach and I loved it--even thought I was exhausted! I shared the Brazil nut hummus and had the Avo-Salad on my own with a strawberry Kombucha. The portions were just right: small (as Americans we've gotten waaay too used to McMega portions that gross restaurant chains have been feeding us). Also had the ice blended Maca/coffee drink, and although it was a little too sweet, I savored every taste. If you have that drink, save it for last and utilize it like a dessert. I didn't and kind of regretted it. I'm still tasting it!
CONS: The service was a little slow and seemed kind of snobby at first, but soon warmed up and was extremely attentive. The hummus was a bit too salty, but I am used to eating things with no salt, so that might be a reason. I couldn't tell if this was really the case.
The clientele is funny: sat next to a cute neo-hippie couple on one side and on the other side had a poser "manager" and his starlet (some poor girl who was buying his facade). This provided some of the fun of the evening!
Overall loved it loved it loved it! And I will be going back and signing up for the weekend raw foods workshop headed by Juliano himself. Yelp!
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I can't believe the bad reviews. I LOVE this place. I love Juliano, and I really love the raw meals that are created here.
I never have had any complaints about the wait staff - Alex is great, ask for him next time, very well informed and attentive. Great at recommendations, really cares and knows what he's talking about.
Honestly. This place makes me want to stop shaving, move to Ashland, Oregon and dress in nothing but hemp.
It's pure heaven from the detoxs, to the raviolis and the shakes...yes, it's expensive..but it's one of those places that after you leave you feel good about what you just put In your body, and that my darlings - is priceless.
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I've been on the raw diet for a few months now. Well I'm only raw monday through friday. It's free for all on the weekends. It's amazing what you can eat raw, and how awesome it is. It's a great change of place, you won't find yourself throwing down like eating tacos, but some of the play on food is rather interesting. Like the lasagna, and the apple pie. Get the apple pie, it's to die for. Get the rawvioli and the desserts, you can't go wrong.
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The raviolis, soup, sushi roll, and the desserts were all wonderful! The plates were tasty and colorful, and we actually didn't wait too long for each item.
For an appetizer sampler, a salad, an entree, sushi plate, two desserts, and bubbly water, it came to about $60. Pricey, yes, but standard fare for fresh, organic, raw foods.
They lose a point or two for taking almost thirty minutes to come back to the table to give us the check. I don't know what it is, but every raw establishment I've been to has air-headed (even snotty) service. Why oh why are they all too cool for school?
Another down side is that the menu isn't ideally organized: desserts come before other things, etc., so its just difficult to orient oneself to find the things you want to find.
Anyway, go there and split a bunch of different stuff like we did! Your taste buds will be delighted.
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I was very impressed by the food here. I didn't feel like I was eating a soggy old burrito (like at Leaf, ew ew). I had one dish with tons of mint leaves, which was not something I'd try and quite delicious. I do agree with the reviews that say it isn't super filling. I think that might be true of all raw vegan food. And yes you pay a premium.
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I've tried a number of raw restaurants in my day, and truth be told... they were about as enjoyable as having red hot needles poked into my eyes.
This restaurant is mindbending and Juliano is a truly mad, paint splattered all over the ceiling, Van Gogh of an artist.
Is it expensive? Yes. But this stuff is incredibly labor intensive to make, so... it is what it is. Mind you, I'm a born & raised meat & potatoes guy and still am.
The service is slower than a lazy turtle in that hippie way. If you raise your voice slightly, it scares the crap out of them and puts them back on track.
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This place is very overpriced and the food was not satisfying at all. I had some type of salad, but after eating it I felt a little queasy. The waitress was not very friendly. I would rather go to Leaf.
I came here when I was on my 2 week raw food diet. This was one of my top raw food restaurants in terms of taste.
My friend and I tried the Kleem (berry smoothie), Sea Witch soup (seaweed w/ avocado), Bacon Western Double (very pretty), and Pasta Fresco (zuccini strips). I recommend every one of these dishes to first timers. I also recommend sitting in the open area on the side of the restaurant. We very much enjoyed the taste of the food and also the service. Our total bill including tip came out to $85. So, it's a tad bit overpriced (The price range for this place is $$$). Best to go with someone that's adventurous with food and/or is interested in experiencing "raw food".
For the taste of food, creativity, and service I give it 4 stars; ambiance 3 stars; parking and price/value 2.5 stars=resulting in an overall rating of 3.3 stars~!
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I will admit that not everything here is great, but I have to say that it is high quality vegan and organic. Once you know what to order it is totally delicious. I stick with the rawvioli, pumpkin tortellini, blood drink, strawberry shake(better than any shake with dairy I've ever had) and cheezecake(yum!). Sometimes the almond milk is delicious too, but I've been disappointed a couple of times. Yes, it can be a little pricey, but I still love it.
The restaurant is really small, but there is a lot of outside seating and on a foggy November night, it's not that great to sit outside while you eat a cold raw vegan dinner. Thank goodness for heat lamps.
Some mishap caused the establishment to not have any tap water, so they were selling bottled water at cheaper, but apparently, via a conversation with my health guru friends tonight, a lot of the bottled water in the US is really just purified tap water with minerals added so we ordered teas, expresso coffee (not considered raw since it's made with bioling water) and I had a mixed drink. I had the Summer High, white wine with pecans, berry, apple, honey and bee pollen. They also serve vegan organic wine.
The same mishap affecting the tap water caused the dish washing to be out of order. For the price of the food, it's insane that we were fed our dishes on paper plates. Yes, PAPER PLATES!
The food itself deserves 4 stars for being innovative and healthy, doing things with vegetables and nuts that are full of interesting flavors that wakes up the palate. I enjoyed the chick n' oodles soup,black truffle stars with julienne veggies, really tasty and filled with seaweed and mushrooms, it was actually steaming as it is steam heated to 120 degrees. The butternut soup was okay, instead of a dollop of cream, it had some sort of nut cheese that tasted like hummus, but it wasn't.
For appetizers, we wanted the jalapeno poppers and pumpkin tortellini, but they ran out of that so we had the olive plate, raw-violi's, and another I can't remember.
The sushi rolls (no rice) were the best the menu has to offer IMO. We had the S&M (get your head out of the gutter, it stands for Santa Monica, not some fetish thing), the eel (my favorite dish of the whole night), and Mighty Aphrodite. They were filled with various nut cheeses like pumpkin pate, or walnut seaweed pumkpin pate, pretty good stuff.
Main courses we split included the lasagna (the pasta is thinly sliced zucchini), tostada (red cabbage cup filled with guacomole, cilantro, nut cheese), and pesto pizza. Of course, being raw food, none of the food actually looked or tasted like their name implies.
Skip the dessert, the one we wanted to split, the Candied and Caramelized Fuji Apple was also sold out, so our server recommended the Apple Tortellini, which he said was far superior of a dessert. I don't know about that because it tasted like a power bar to me, and that's not dessert.
I didn't find the staff friendly at all.
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Wow, I've got some ambivalence about this place.
I walked in to a half-empty restaurant, and three members of the waitstaff standing in the front, too busy talking with each other to take notice of me. And boy, did they seem annoyed when I interrupted them to ask if I had to seat myself!
Once I seated myself, the member of the wait staff that did come over (who hadn't been part of the coffeeklatsch) was very friendly, and helpful in advising me on what I should eat coming off a juice fast.
Unfortunately, she also asked me if I wanted still or sparkling water, without mentioning that water was about $5/bottle. Not. Cool.
I got a tahini salad, which was super-yummy. The dressing was great, and the mix of vegetables was unusual, with unidentifiable yet tasty crunchies, sesame seeds, and a lot of other flavorful things.
Whoever said it wasn't expensive was wrong. It's over $10 per salad, and those salads aren't exactly giant. I didn't try the other entrees, but I had no reason to believe the serving sizes would be any larger.
So, ambivalent. On the good side, tasty and some friendly wait staff. On the down side, expensive and a lot of useless waitstaff. I'll probably try it again at some point, and see if it's better or worse than I initially thought.
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This place gets into my book of Most Ridiculous Experiences Ever, the sort of restaurant that would be mentioned with reverence in a Bret Easton Ellis novel. I came here with my sister and college friends for a mini-reunion, since my sister is pretty into the whole Raw Foods Movement, the friends were up for anything, and I thought it would be a kind of over-the-top experience: raw, Santa Monica, Juliano. It was! It took about 45-60 minutes before our tiny raw meals came (we were, perhaps, among 2 other tables in the entire restaurant), and this was after one particularly outspoken member of our table informed the inattentive, spaced-out waitstaff that we had been waiting nearly an hour. (We mused that she was underfed and thus mentally foggy. ) As a kind of apology (but only, presumably, to preclude bad press), a man came by (I believe it was Juliano himself) with a complimentary dessert entry, but negated the gesture by slamming a bunch of spoons down onto our table in a bewilderingly hostile manner. Not super tasty, interesting, or pleasant for the nonsensically high prices, but memorable as far as vapid L.A. experiences go. Weird and beyond further analysis.
Nice cozy place. I like the outside patio because it feels less crowded but yet still intimate. Raw food is often a yes! or a no no. Meaning, its either really good, or it just isnt. The other thing is that raw food usually has a stronger flavor and sometimes it overwhelms me.
The waiter was very friendly and he told us a lot about the food and what he recommends and so I think we fared rather well because he was able to tell us what to get.
Blood Juice (pomegranate, lime, ginger, etc) - yummy! but only if you like ginger, definitely good for the circulation
Steamed Nut Milk - yummy! with cinnamon, its not too sweet, just right
Aphrodite Sushi - this is really good. Made with dried pumpkin
Kimchi - tastes like kimchi! =p
Nachos - flax see crackers with a mixture of avocado, olives, nut mix for sour cream, etc. - pretty good. The mixture of topping was a bit too gooey, and just "blah whatever!" like those melting monsters that try to talk to you but their mouth is melting so its all gooey
Quiche - apparently this is seasonal, i didnt like the filling that much because of the same reason, too gooey, but the "crust" of dehydrated breaded vegetables was SO good, my favorite. bet you cant just order the crust though. =/
apple pie - got it, but it disappeared, so never got to taste it =*(
and then i didnt notice, but something about eating dessert first because otherwise i should wait 2 hours then eat the dessert. oh well either way i didnt eat dessert because it disappeared so nm.
This place is expensive, but in a way i can understand because it takes a lot of effort to make raw food and organic ingredients are costly. Took me 2 hours to make a raw lasagna. yikes!
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I love going to raw restaurants for how healthy and energizing I feel after I eat there. I had eaten at Juliano's twice before and loved it, so I thought it would be a great place to eat with my friend visiting from out-of-town. Except my experience this time was not the same. I ordered the coconut soup which was way too salty; we also tried the jalapeo poppers which were not what I remembered. Instead of being soft and moist, the pepper was dehydrated and it was like trying to chew a dead branch. The salad would have been delicious if it was not so over saturated in dressing. The best part of our meal was the dessert--my friend had the chocolate mousse and I had the apple pie, which were both delicious. I don't think my friend liked this restaurant at all and I felt so bad that this was her first impression (and likely the last) of Juliano's Raw. I will go back again though and next time will order my salad dressing on the side and chose my other selections more carefully.
What an odd little place. My friend and I were in Santa Monica 'cause traffic was killing us on our commute home (I miss carpooling). He had mentioned some vegetarian place. We totally couldn't find anything, so when this one homeless dude asked me for change, I was like, "I got a buck for you if you can tell us where the vegetarian place is!" He was "Oh yeah, you go down to that street over there, take a left, and go straight for a few blocks!" I was like, "You sir have earned yourself a dollar!"
So we ended up here. It wasn't the place my friend was thinking of, but we went in anyway. First off, wow. EXPENSIVE. I was a little sticker shocked, but we held our course and just ordered stuff we could share. We got 2 soups and pizza and a salad. The soup was was cold and really herby. I mean, it was kinda hard to drink, but the flavor subsided quickly, so you could actually stand to take another sip. Probably better if you are used to it.
The pizza was made with this delicious nutty cracker thing. I was very pleased with it, but it would have been better pipping hot, that's for sure.
And then the salad was just fantastic. I mean, it was just an amazing medley of veges, fruits, and nuts. The dressing was pretty freaking tasty too.
So in the end, while it did have nice staff and neat atmosphere, the price just didn't jive with the quantities. Very little food for way too much money. I can forgive the odd rawness of the place, 'cause who knows, maybe I'm just not used to it, but seriously, I'm not made of money people.
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LESS SALT PLEASE!!!!!
that's all i can say. i had their Thai Lemon soup and one of their nori/sushi rolls and all I can say is... OMG was someone trigger happy with the salt in the kitchen???
I've had great raw food cuisine before & this was just plain oversalty. i left feeling like I had been hit by Mac truck full of salt & i was a wet sponge that was forced to absorb it all. just nasty!
overall they have a great waitstaff & their chocolate shake kicks ass! I would order that if you go. Their chocolate shake...you won't regret it.
but if Juilano is reading this...LESS SALT PLEASE!!!
best chocolate "milk"shake i've ever had. i asked the waitress for recommendations and ended up with the chocolate milkshake, a tostada, and a side of pesto. the chocolate milkshake was amazing, and worth every penny. the tostada, in my opinion, was a little over seasoned- too salty and vinegary for my taste, but the pesto was delectable- really good layers of flavors and textures. i would recommend it to anyone with an open mind and a knack for loving sensual details in their food.
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One of the more puzzling yet soothing dining experiences I've had. I'd been recommended to eat here because of that vegetarian habit of mine, and also because apparently a certain Mr. Spielberg had been seen eating here various times...
It was glorious and warm in its cozy patio-furniture and low-lighting ambiance, casual in that the waiters are total raw food nerds and absolutely comfy with that, and dressy in that its simply gourmet portions and prices. I muchly felt obligated to dress nicely to make my wallet feel less guilty.
I had a wine elixir. It had an awful aftertaste. The meal I had was very yummy, and didnt leave me feeling heavy. However my boyfriend complained that his bite-sized portion was a bit on the emaciated side, and while I'm no glutton when it comes to going out, I had to agree.
It's a nice experience, but a bit too overpriced; especially when the waiters are more enthused about explaining temperature for proper enzyme digestion than re-filling your water.
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I did not enjoy Juliano's raw. The food is overly complicated and not particularly tasty. I guess it might be okay if you want to change up your raw diet, or if you want to try something new.
My sister also got some kind of food poisoning from the food- she ate some sort of pizza. She may, however, have some sensitivity to a particular raw ingredient. In any case, the taste really wasn't good enough to justify trying it again.
Tonight was my second foray into trying out Raw Cuisine, with my first being at Leaf Cuisine in Culver City. I have to say that while the restaurant setting was pretty, the food was just not that impressive to me.
I think the only thing I really liked was their chocolate milkshake that consisted of sapote / cherimoya carob w/ cocoa, fresh Vanilla bean, honey & macadamia milk. It was thick, creamy and yummy. The one thing was annoying though was when I asked for a straw, I got a somewhat snide remark from the waitress saying that they prefer that we use spoons since the paper from the straw is so wasteful. Please. A shake and a spoon just did not work for me, so I got the straw anyway.
Instead of getting an entree, I settled for two appetizers, a "sushi plate" and dessert. My first appetizer was the zucchini fries. I ordered it because I wanted to see if they can get that "crisp" factor usually associated with fries. They didn't. The zucchini was cut in short strips and were dehydrated. They were more chewy than crispy. It's just not the same. Now batter-coated and deep-fried zucchini fries would have been more my preference but we are eating in a "raw" restaurant after all.
The appetizer I had was their spring rolls. Unfortunately, I don't remember what the ingredients were. I just remembered that I didn't like the dish that much. It was too hard to bite the spring roll without the somewhat squishy filling coming out of the wrapper. Quite a messy dish.
My sushi was called "Mighty Aphrodite" and it had pumpkin and other fillings. I apologize for my vagueness the ingredients on some of these items. Usually, I'll take pictures of the menu and/or write down what I ordered, so that I can better review what I'm eating, but it wasn't possible tonight.
Anyway, the "sushi rolls" I ordered came in a bowl, which I thought was odd and with it was a red cabbage salad and also some other veggies (broccoli and greens) which I think were dehydrated. Weird. Why would they do that?
For dessert, I had their chocolate parfait which was kind of like a pudding, but I found this dessert a little bitter and not as sweet as I would have liked.
Overall, Juliano's Raw was quite the disappointment and I don't plan on returning anytime soon.
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This is a phenomenal restaurant for raw foodies and SAD eaters alike. The raw vegan cuisine is not only healthful but it is incredibly tasty. The mango crepes, coconut wrap spring rolls, and the pasta with meatballs are all fabulous. The chocolate shake is AMAZING, you would never know that it is raw. The prices are slightly high- but the food is great. Very light, healthful, and satisfying. Yum!
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2.5 stars for this establishment.
This place is certainly different. Smack dab on Broadway in Santa Monica (where the beautiful people roam) this place offers organic/vegan selections which includes drinks and dessert.
My friend and I ordered the fried zucchini and a pesto pizza to share. The amount of zucchini we received for the price we paid was far from enough. It's not the broad spear-like zucchinis but only the outer skin was coated and fried. I don't know where the rest of the zucchini went. The appetizer resembles a small plate of twigs and requires an acquired taste. It was serves with sides of organic ketchup and mustard.
The pesto pizza was the size of a square of lasagna. The crust is made from buckwheat, topped w/ pesto, macadamia cheeze in heirloom tomato sauce, salad mix, sun drieds, olives & bell. It's colorful and looks appetizing but upon tasting it, it was on the very salty side.
Though I don't mind the different foods Raw Planet offer, I do feel it's on the pricey side. Do come for a different cuisine experience; go elsewhere if you want to be full.
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Minuses:
I ordered soup that tasted like carrot cake batter
We made a reservation that wasn't honored properly
Portions are pretty teensy and expensive
Plusses:
That cake-batter soup sure cleared out my system
They have wine
The desserts are edible
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Expensive and fussy. More basics would have been a welcome relief in the array of choices that resembled too precious overly decorated Easter bonnets worn by dueling grandmas at Sunday service.
That being said, having a restaurant option for such flavorful all raw is a delight. Do try it if you have never had raw in California.
Bring your sunglasses to sport in case the life sized poster in the dining area of Juliano bare waisted gets to be too much for you.
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I haven't read the other reviews for this restaurant, but here's mine. Note that I am a vegetarian, but this was my first time eating at a raw food restaurant.
To start with, I was put off when I read in the menu that you could see Juliano for a personal health consultation for something like $150 for 15 minutes. Look at his website and you'll see that he seems to think highly of himself. The food is fairly expensive, and most dishes are small (some comedically tiny). The staff will tell you that it's a lot more filling than it looks.
Our party had one person who wanted raw food. The rest of us had various feelings, from curious about raw, to wishing we could eat well-cooked meat somewhere else. All five of us were very hungry. When the first appetizer came out and it looked like several small crackers with a spoonful of dip in the middle of the plate, you could see a look of despair fill our eyes. If the rest of our meal was going to be this minimal, we would have to order two or three entrees each!
But before you think I hated the place, they did serve wine, which was a pleasant surprise (I had several glasses).
Also, considering nothing was cooked, their food tasted pretty good (with a few exceptions), and the main courses were nicely presented. And the waitress wasn't kidding, the food was actually more filling than you'd expect. I still could have eaten two entrees, but I'm a big eater. As far as raw food goes, I'd imagine you can't make it much tastier than it is here.
So if you want raw food and don't mind small portions and high prices, you'll probably enjoy this place. I'm not sure if I'll go back, but it's possible...
Oh, I was told they don't take reservations unless you have at least 5 people.
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i liked the sushi and guac. it was light and refreshing. my friends on the other hand didn't like it so much.
If you hit the 2nd and Arizona one last Saturday, switch it up and go to this one the following Sunday. It's an excellent source for, not only veggies and produce, but for prepared food from local resaurants. Talk about a great way to experience your neighborhood!
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We've been there several times and after trying various delicious sounding items on the menu (because they represent food that you won't find here), we've determined that the best items to order are the smoothies, soups, and salads.
The entrees are overpriced and will only let you down if you have it in your mind that a pizza will be arriving. Better to invent new names for these foods rather than pretend to be something that they aren't.
The good news is the prices seemed to have dropped slightly lately.
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This place is expensive, but the concept is cool. While I would never "cook" raw food, this place showcases some cool raw ideas. Their drinks are pretty good and their food is interesting. Don't be a texture freak because their textures are "interesting." For healthy food, this place is a little too sweet. Weird huh? Again, it's expensive but cool to check out this hyped up place at least once. I do like Real Food better.
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I have read the previous reviews to Raw, and while I understand that there aren't many enthusiasts about this type of delicacy, I'll have to defend one of my fave restaurants here in SaMo.
I have eaten here exactly 7 times this year, (the 1st time being my birthday in January), and I leave here pleasantly full of the yumminess that mother nature has to offer. Being vegan, I was immediately intrigued and equally excited to learn about this restaurant here in my hood, although I can see how my fellow carnivores would not be as open to the idea.
I truly expected the prices to be compared to something like Il Sole, or some other overpriced, overrated, celebrity driven restaurant...but not here! Most everything on the menu is around $7, and the most expensive dinners are no more than $15. Try that compared to a well done, carcinogen filled piece of flesh served up at BOA steakhouse for $32....(i promise, i don't judge!)
So, onto the delish dishes.... My boyfriend and I always share everything when we go here, so I have tried a lot of different things. I'll start with my 3 favorites...
1. the Pasta Fresco with 'meetballs' - this is a true bowl of heaven, and the 'meetballs' taste eerily real, even though they are made out of raw mushrooms. My man has gotten this a few times and is never disappointed.
2. the Green Curry - oh my lord, i wish i could express how unbelivable this tastes being vegan AND Raw. Just picture the best curry you've ever had, and this may come in a close 2nd for you peeps that may be hard to please. :)
3. I LOVE LOVE the Tortilla Soup!!! It tastes like that spicy flavoring in tacos, and cheese, and is finished with slices of avocado. mmmmmmmmm...i love to get this when i'm sick too, along with their wonderful drink concoctions that you benefit from when your health is ailing.
I have had 2 desserts, (i don't have a big sweet tooth), the chocolate parfait, and the cheesecake....both amazing! Which brings me to my last little tidbit about sweets - my downfall is straight up Coca-Cola, and while I try to not drink it as much as possible, I found a fantastic natural substitute that satisfies my craving. It is the Ginger Honey Cola that is not bad for you at all. It is A-OK for this Coca-Cola queen!
A few other of my fave's to try: the Pizza!, any of the 'sushi' rolls, Apple tortellini's, and the Tostada Grande. Not to forget the yummy organic wines they have...my favorite is the Syrah. Oh, and everyone is right about the zucchini fries, they are not very good.
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