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A Quest for Fresh
- Price Range:
-
$
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- None
2 reviews for A Quest for Fresh
Raw food isn't only salad. But this place makes SLOW FOOD its mantra. If you choose to come here expect to wait a long, uhm, excruciatingly long time for vegan raw food. This place gets four stars for potential. And the food is good for being so raw and meatless (carnivore writing here).
The restaurant is located on a street with potential. There is an organic treasure trove shop next door, a clothing and ladies shop boutique next door, and once the other side of the street gets cleaned up, then this could be a real street of character. One of those pockets of personality that is not gentrified and still has soul.
The inside of this restaurant is small. The kitchen is almost bigger than the cafe part. There are about six tables and the cashier sits right in the midst of it all. There's a cooling counter with organic juice (sour and fresh good for you things... like jewels). The atmosphere is one of elegance like that of the French Quarter in New Orleans. There's a window from the kitchen through which the chefs can pass your food when it's done. The kitchen is open on one side, like the kitchen is a stage set box in the middle of an old stately theater. I noticed the tiles on the floor, and how the pattern changed to lead into the kitchen... nice touch. As I said, I had plenty of time to notice the tiles.
The service is slow so my friend (the non-meat eater) calls her order in. Even so, she usually has to wait. I kid you not, this place can take an HOUR to make your raw food whateverthingajingysalad. That said, the falafel type thingy (made of some sort of super grain) isn't bad. The surroundings are good (let's be frank, it's a salad, or veggie wrap). Because some raw food can be bland, they spice it up here. I don't know with what. It's very salty for raw. I kind of liked it. My friend likes the fruit salad as well. Yeah, whatever. But if you have vegan, super healthy, non-diabetic (they'd fall over while waiting) friends or family, come here. The prices are in the $4-15 range and the servings aren't very big (your body's a temple, not an EZ storage!). The people who work here aren't all that friendly but you're not here for the friends. But the lady who owns her own boutique next door is.
Mostly, it's an adventure to explore this street. A pocket of character (with characters) right over the border from DC. Gosh, I almost forgot. Opening hours are only 11-8 on Friday and Sunday. I know. And they are sloooooooow. But as I said, if you have a vegan friend... (she won't eat you, that's for sure)
It's a shame, really. Their food is great and I love the location. I'm vegan, too, and god knows I tried to support this place when it opened. The service is so slow, even when I'd call in my order an hour ahead, that it made patronizing this place not worth it. I live in the neighborhood and really want to see businesses thrive in our little downtown, but this place is not run by good business minds. People with good food sense, yes. People with good business sense, no. The place is never open, except for a few hours late on Sunday. Its slow service and inconvenient hours make eating here an act of charity. Frankly, I wish they'd let the space go and let Berwyn Cafe open a store in that location instead.
