Moon and River Cafe

6/10/2015

Great place to eat if you are vegan/vegetarian and your friends aren't! I was expecting the atmosphere to be very hipster but it wasn't! I got the vegan French toast and it was very delicious. The portions were kind of small compared to when I make myself pancakes/French toast but it was very filling!
If this place was in the city it would definitely be more popular but it kind of looked like business is very slow. The owner who was also the chef and waiter and hostess was very nice. There was a piano tuner while we were there and it kind of made the atmosphere a bit creepy but my experience was overall very good.

Try the moonrise!!! Orange juice and vanilla soy milk omg SO DELICIOUS!!

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  Vegan French toast with watermelon slices and a cup of coffee!

  Vegan French toast with watermelon slices and a cup of coffee!

6/15/2016

• 1 check-in

I have been here a few years ago and as my DS was visiting and is vegetarian we started to come here.

Looked online and noticed it had music tonight so we arrived and there were maybe 10 other people already seated.  The place is very eclecticly decorated book shelves, artwork and plants were placed all over the place. Very nice atmosphere.

We ordered drinks (place has no alcohol license) old fashioned root beer, water and orange juice all good.

My DH and I shared a turkey sandwich and I can't remember what my DS had to eat but I do remember him saying it was good.  As noted in my pictures we ordered dessert DS had a vegan chocolate which was more like a brownie and a little old DH and I enjoyed carrot cake which was good.  

Richard Genest the owner sang a few tunes with the guitarist, notice video in photos, that was playing jazz that evening.  We enjoyed the night.

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  Vegan chocolate & carrot cake

  Vegan chocolate & carrot cake
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  Good... but no alcohol !

  Good... but no alcohol !
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  Scary...

  Scary...
• See all photos from Joan H. for Moon and River Cafe

8/27/2016

How does this place have a license to serve food? The pictures posted are most likely from a different era. Would never eat at this place. I went in, turned around and left.

1/19/2016

Good food, nice and cozy ambience, reasonable prices, vegetarian options.  Live music on a regular basis.  No cash.

7/6/2015

Very cute and great music. Their food is good but the portion sizes are minuscule.

10/4/2015

their menu is quite extensive and very, very responsibly priced. this cafe has a very warm atmosphere and lots of odds and ends inside: mismatched chairs, literature, artwork, cute fliers on the door. i've only been there for breakfast but the vegan french toast was delicious, it's also a good opportunity to try vegan/vegetarian meals even if you aren't vegan/vegetarian. owner was welcoming and polite, would recommend. 10/10

6/9/2013

I agree with other Yelpers - this place is hard to rate!  short story: The funky eclectic decor and menu full of vegan and vegetarian options is DEFINITELY worth 5 stars.
The food is really what brings me down to that 3 star review!

When you walk in you truly feel like you just arrived at your neighbors house for some chit chatting over snacks and tea.  The set up is cozy, with a mismatch of kitchen tables and chairs, a few couches and big arm chairs perfect for reading a book or hanging out with friends.  There is also a shelf full of games and puzzles tucked into the corner, encouraging patrons to linger.  

The food is just a notch above simple, but with a menu which overflows with Vegetarian and Vegan options.  The food is decent, but the portions small, and the prices a bit much for what you get.  We started by splitting a hummus platter which we both felt pretty "meh." about.  For my main course I ordered the "California" sandwich, which was delicious avocado, tomato, cheese and a smear of mayo on a hearty grained bread.  My sandwich was nothing extra ordinary, but it REALLY hit the spot.  It reminded me of a sandwich I used to order at the Wingra cafe at Edgewood College. Love that nostalgia of the taste buds!

There is live music every single day starting at 8:00 PM and there is ALWAYS something to look at and someone to talk to at the Moon & River.

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  Pineapple juice is on the menu! [an available in smoothies!]

  Pineapple juice is on the menu! [an available in smoothies!]
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  the "California" sandwich: avocado, tomato, cheese and a smear of mayo on a hearty grained bread.

  the "California" sandwich: avocado, tomato, cheese and a smear of mayo on a hearty grained bread.
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• See all photos from Heather S. for Moon and River Cafe

6/5/2015

Great spot in a cool historic neighborhood  with live Music every night which is very rare and very cool. Here is the deal.. the menu is ridiculously big and the coffee is horrible (reheated old), how about tea, sure let me just grab this lipton tea bag and plop it in a mug for you. Take this place for what it is, a cool hangout, but make sure to fill-up before you go and bring your own coffee because clearly they do not have a passion for either.

8/1/2014

• Listed in Best Restaurants in the Area

Tons of vegan and vegetarian options, reasonable prices, and quick and friendly service. The owner is very sociable, and happy to personally make you whatever you'd like. There are free live events going on almost every night, including music, dance, art, and other performances.

The food is usually pretty good. I've had really amazing sandwiches here a few times, and once or twice I've gotten something that was pretty good, but not exactly what I was hoping for, and a few of their meals are on the smaller side. Even then, it's still pretty great!

We stop in every so often, and I'd definitely recommend trying them out!

2/22/2014

My husband and I found this place while visiting Schenectady and searching Yelp for a vegan place to eat. The owner is so sweet and I really enjoyed the cozy ambiance. My husband had the vegan cinnamon French toast and I has the breakfast tofu scramble. Both were really delicious with fabulous flavor! We also had hashbrowns which were pretty standard. We were so grateful to have found a vegan restaurant in Schenectady!

9/2/2012

Maybe I'm biased because I instantly love almost any place that sells vegan food. So I was pretty excited when I got here. There are lots of options on the menu for both vegetarians and vegans. It's a little pricey for small portions which is why I have to take down a star. I'm a cheap skate, and have a monstrous appetite so I like to get as much as I can for my buck.

The place has a lovely homy feel too it. There are fruits/vegetables and fish at the tables. The owner was there when I stopped in and was helpful in the ordering process. It's nice that the food takes a little while to get to you because it's all fresh and gets prepared right after you order it. I can appreciate that.

I do wish the coffee was cheaper and in a bigger cup.

9/8/2012

• 2 check-ins

• Listed in Schenectady Cool

Deucedly strange little off-the-beaten-path café in the historic Stockade district, with an outstanding breakfast-and-lunch menu of simple near gourmet favorites at reasonable prices but with an atmosphere so laid back and desultory that it verges on the somnambulent. It's as if someone took the Slow Food ethos and applied it literally to short order cooking and table service. If you can stand the oddities and aren't in a rush, it's a great little vibe, but if you're in a rush or have fussy kid company (as we often do) you will go insane. There, you are insane now. Enjoy.

This is sort of a Post-Moosewood restaurant (vegan options, but meat available  
- the ham was yummy), as if the nearby Ambition Café were run by lifestyle middle aged hippies instead of young go-getters. The tiny old storefront has eclectic seating and used books and games befitting the independent coffee house aesthetic, but with a far sleepier air to it, as if you combined the dynamism of your Dad's barber shop with the seriousness of purpose of a circa 1989 Seattle coffee house.

It's a cash-only place. I tend to distrust such places, because usually this is all about keeping profits off the books and away from the taxing authorities. In the case of the Moon and River Café, though, I think the owner just doesn't want to bother. Keeping it simple, but at the turtle's pace to win the race, is the watchword here.

We had several sandwiches and the green-eggs-and-ham, and everything was extremely tasty and made with very good fresh ingredients. The portions are small, or rather "normal" sized (our super-sized cultural standards notwithstanding), but now you know that in advance, if you're extra hungry,  just order something extra.

Although you may want to pack a lunch to eat while you wait for your meal. We went on a slow afternoon, with only one other set of patrons (already eating) when we got there, and were served by two very friendly servers who kept asking us to repeat parts of our order. I repeated various details of my order for black coffee three times. ("Black" "hot" and "coffee" being repeated at least twice each to each of the two servers.) Of the three staffers (one of them the owner, we think), two of them appeared to be idle at any one time. Our sandwiches appeared in batches of twos, such that half our party were done eating before the other half were even served. (Sorry to be rude and start in before you got your food, hon, but we were starving by that point).

I once went on an all-Vegan diet, and after a few days I felt slow. Both in the sense that I seemed to be moving, creeping, through molasses as I went about my day, and slow in the sense that it felt like, say, I'd have to hear the coffee order three times before I processed it. Maybe it was just my body detoxifying, or maybe my brain was being deprived of some essential amino acid to make the synapses fire in regular sequence. I can't say I was unhappy, but the world around me was a bit unhappy with me. That is the Moon and River.

If dipping into an altered state for the brief one to two or three hours you will need to complete your sandwich-based short order lunch sounds appealing, though, this is your place. I'm going to somewhat unusually give it a four star rating for its sui generis qualities and truly decent food, understanding that this is the rare four-star where I'd have to think hard to make sure I'm really and truly in that kind of mood to make me want to go back again.

5/20/2013

Not far from where Joyce Carol Oates found influence for her stories full of odd characters is the Moon and River Cafe. On the day I visited, I found the owner and his one sever to to be similar to characters in a short story that is unresolved at the end and makes you feel uncomfortable without knowing exactly why.

Kitchen tables and mis-matched chairs are scattered around and old street-front store. There seems to be no real kitchen or prep area, as items are made behind a counter at the rear of the space. Walls are lined with book shelves, an old, worn out couch, and art from a local artist. Book shelves have books and a mixture of unusual items on them, all just thrown together haphazardly. Next to the books (some for sale) are items like the canned ingredients to be used for meals and a bottle of Prell shampoo. Really. The space seems somewhat dirty or perhaps just dingy. It was awkwardly quiet, with no background music.

The owner and the server were polite and informative. I'm not sure if the server was new or just slow at processing and moving. He seemed very unsure of what he was doing.

The menu is large and includes items with meat, without meat, and vegan. I ordered a vegan burrito and received a tortilla with a smear of refried bean paste in it. Two others with me had hummus and olive tapenade. All the food was moderately tasty.

There is parking on the street and they do not accept credit cards. A flyer indicates that there is live music of some sort every day.

I walked out thinking, "that was odd", but at the same time thought it was an interesting experience. I won't rush back there, but I would encourage anyone who wants an unusual experience to check it out.

9/25/2011

• 1 check-in

Moon & River is very eclectic in appearance with an extensive menu of vegetarian and vegan offerings. We stopped in for Sunday brunch on our way back home from Saratoga Springs. Though Schenectady seems like a very quiet and mostly closed place on a Sunday we were fortunate to find Moon & River open and happily serving. Our server M was very sweet and efficient. I had the vegan enchilada and an iced tea. While it was a little salty, the enchilada not the tea!, it was still AOK. I liked the avocado on top which was warmed by the heat of the enchilada and made it kinda sexy! The decor is very homey if your home is a little hodge podgy, warm and welcoming. We are glad we deviated off 87 to give them a go for some very acceptable eats in a unique and OOAK environment.

youtube.com/watch?v=tsAf…

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  Vegan Enchilada

  Vegan Enchilada
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• See all photos from L L. for Moon and River Cafe

4/23/2015

I WANT to love this place. It's local, hosts live music, and has a huge menu of mostly vegetarian food. But it's also extremely slow, the service is hit or miss, and the last time I was in, it was absolutely filthy.

4/1/2013

It's hard to rate this place. It's definitely artsy funky, eclectic. It kind of feels like you'e walking into someones sloppy apartment when you go in....only there are some tables so...it's run by an old hippy who will want to chat you up. There's some pretty cool art in there. Particularly Alex Acevedos stuff, I ended up buying a print of one of his paintings. So, the ambiance is really weird...and interesting I guess. The food...was kinda gross and the drinking glass was icky. Cash only. So to sum it up, this place is worth going to at least once to "experience" it, because it makes for some funny stories but I wouldn't make it a regular thing, cuz it's kinda icky. Sorry hippy dude. :)
Oh, another upside, they have some vegan and gluten free options...if you're desperate for a meal.

8/8/2011

• 1 check-in

Imagine wanting to go to your friend's house to hang out but your friend isn't there so his/her dad invites you in and offers food he was just thinking of preparing and not wanting to be rude, you go in. That's pretty much what Moon and River Cafe was like - it was so quiet and there were no other customers so it felt sort of awkward, like I didn't belong there but didn't want to be rude by walking out.

The food wasn't anything amazing, it was all something I could have made myself and I think if I had gone there expecting that, the rating would be a bit higher. There also wasn't any live music the time I went, so that could have contributed to a better atmosphere and thus higher score.

After ordering, a few groups of people showed up to eat but it still felt like a library. However, considering the cook was the waiter and also the host, I had sympathy for the other groups that didn't even get a chance to order until after our food was done.

Despite the issues mentioned, I would return if my fridge was empty and I was feeling completely lazy. After the meal, I'd be motivated again to cook myself a dozen gourmet meals as punishment to myself for being so lazy.

3/15/2013

• 1 check-in

Located in Schenectady's historic Stockade district, the Moon and River Cafe is a little different than most of the food places I've tried, especially around the Capital Region.  It bills itself as a cafe and coffeehouse, and even has live music every single day.  It's a cozy and eclectic place that serves a lot of vegan and vegetarian fare (but not limited to that), complete with second hand furniture, and remember to bring cash, since they don't take credit cards.

As for me, I decided to come here after reading that the cafe has some Mexican style dishes.  So I ordered a couple of bean tacos, which were actually a lot like tostadas on a hard shell.  The food was decent, but a little more expensive than I'd like for the meal I had.  But don't fret, they have a big mix of different menu items, some which are quite less expensive, plus coffee is only a buck!

I decided to give the restaurant a 4 star review because of it's uniqueness.

2/23/2014

Little, intimate, live music EVERY NIGHT, great and extensive menu ranging from vegan smoothies all the way to burritos... all made fresh to order in a small little kitchen prep area behind the counter.
It's these types of places that keep me interested and coming back to schenectady... everything else sucks because people care more about what the places LOOKS like than for what it has to offer. Definitely a favorite hangout spot of mine..
The only reason it's 4 not 5 stars is that the coffee is usually luke warm, and this is definitely a place that can get a little crammed.

8/20/2013

• Listed in Good food - Capital District NY

The menu is HUGE! ~90% of the menu is vegetarian and they make my beloved tempeh Reuben. I definitely need to try their breakfast sometime, maybe the Moroccan eggs...