Thistle

5/6/2017

Meal prep was occupying way too much of my headspace, time, and energy. I'm a very busy, fitness professional and need quality food ready to go to maintain my activity levels so I don't crash and burn. I sought out Thistle 2 months ago to try and solve this issue.

I love that the food is fresh, organic, and plant based. I enjoy eating vegan all week and then having meat and dairy on the weekends.

Yes, there are a lot of salads for lunch. For me this is not a problem. The dressings have all been amazing! I'm starting to get a few repeats but that is to be expected and I look forward to a few of my favorite items returning. Dinners are usually heated up items, like a stew, soup, curry, or stir fry.

I also get the snacks, which are the same every day of the week. My favorites are Tuesday's 24 Carrot Gold Muffin and the hummus and veggies on Thursdays, but they are all great. Often I get the juice of the day as well. They are all super fresh and tasty. The green juices, Hunter and Verdance are a must but I love Lava, yum! I plan to do a one day juice cleanse with them soon.

I've tried a few of the breakfast items, my favorite being one of the tofu scrambles, but I usually do overnight oats as that is super easy and cheap for me to do on my own.

I have had a few issues with delivery. Twice in one week they delivered to the wrong house but I was able to locate it with the live support fairly easily. One day all of my lunches & dinners for Monday and Tuesday weren't included, just snacks and a breakfast item I did not order. This was highly irritating as I had nothing else to eat at work. Another time, the wrong protein was included, pork, which I don't eat. And finally, some of the broth from the ramen spilled since the lid was not properly sealed.

Every incident was handled quickly and I was given a credit to my account right away. So far this hasn't been enough to make me cancel as I really love to quality of the product when it's correct. I spend way less time at the grocery store and kitchen and more time being productive. This is worth the extra $80 or so that I am spending on food per week. Thanks Thistle! I hope to continue to use your services for a long time!

5/17/2017

The food is great... if it ever gets to you.

Three of my orders in the last two weeks have simply not shown up at my door.  We are relying on these meals: since we are trying to eat healthy and planned our week around having these delivered meals, the house is cleaned out of other food and snacks.  

And while they can't seem to get delivery right their customer service may be even more disappointing.

Thistle has offered to credit my account for the cost of the missing meals but that doesn't really solve the problem of us not suddenly having the meals we were counting on.  I have  asked for them to replace the meals, or deliver a different day, but they say they can't.

But worse yet it has been a huge headache just to get a representative to talk to.  I have asked to be put in touch with a manager and have never heard from anyone.  If Thistle can't respond to a paying customer directly then maybe a review will get their attention.

Careful before you sign up, you may pay a lot of money for a lot of frustration and hungry days.

5/10/2017

I joined Thistle about 6 months ago. I love the concept and love Thistle when it works the way it's supposed to. Easy, healthy eating for busy people. This girl does not have time for healthy meal prep!

However, I'm sad to say the delivery has been an absolute mess. This delivery issue has occurred at both my current home address and previous home address. I have been late to work on multiple accounts because my meals were delivered outside the window. I keep giving it another shot thinking that they must be working on fixing this problem, but it continues. Frustrating way to start the day, for sure. Especially because the purpose is for it to simplify your life, not add stress.

This morning was my last straw. I received a text at 6:00am that my delivery would arrive in approximately 14 minutes. By 7:30am it still hadn't arrived. I ended up cancelling the order. Approximate status updates would be helpful if they were accurate. Not so helpful when I readjust my morning based on approximate delivery time and then it further complicates everything when the follow-through fails. I received another text at 11:59am saying my order is on the way and will arrive in approximately 15 minutes. Why am I receiving this way past my delivery window and after I cancelled my order? Not sure. These notifications and deliveries are whack!

I appreciate Thistle crediting their customers when there is an issue, however I wish the delivery was reliable to begin with. I'm giving Thistle a break for now. If the delivery part is figured out then I would be interested in signing back on to it again in the future!

5/10/2017

I used code heather493 for $20 off first week of delivery.

I've ordered thistle meal delivery for 3 weeks now as I've adopted a plant-based diet. The food itself is pretty good for the most part. They do tend to rely on added oils sometimes more than I would like but overall a healthy and convenient option for my busy work weeks. 3 stars comes from repeated issues with incorrectly labeled foods - i.e. Getting meat in dishes labeled as vegan and vice versa. The company may not fully be ready to deal with the volume of demand and therefore these mistakes happen. When I reported receiving meals I can't eat I was issued a credit to my account for the following weeks delivery... no mention of replacing meals I paid for and now was left having to scramble to put together a last minute alternative. I was assured that measures were being taken to avoid these errors in the future but this being my 3rd week and the problem still occurring is a big issue. It's a shame because it's so convenient and a great concept but their execution falls short.

4/19/2017

This review is based on the absolute rudeness and disrespect I received from this morning's delivery person.

I have been ordering from Thistle for a few weeks now. I've been satisfied with the food though I feel it is very expensive. That said, I've continued to order because it forces me to eat lunch, something I often do not do. This morning the delivery person was very angry because he had trouble finding my suite within a complex. He called me "ridiculous" for having the order sent to my work. And proceeded to degrade me because it took him 20mins and I did not give him "better instructions". He repeated "you are ridiculous" at least 3 times in our short 2min interaction. (Let me point out that this is at my palace of work. Coworkers standing around hearing this man degrade me!) I could have been rude back but being at my place of work, I simply apologized and informed him I he would no longer have to delivery my lunch.

I was shocked at his behavior. The first delivery person called me when he became lost. Moving forward, I had no complaints or problems getting my food. This guy was out right rude and disrespectful. I hope that Thistle considers better training their delivery staff on costumer service protocols. I will no longer order from this company. I never tolerate being disrespected and / or degraded by anyone especially by staff from a service I am paying for.

5/4/2017

Charlene478 for $20 off

Great, healthy, tasty plant based meals. Very convenient for busy professionals. Definitely worth a try!

5/1/2017

I really wanted to like this service. Gave it 3 weeks.

The customer services was good. The website was easy to use and customize what you got for lunch/dinner.

There was 1 meal out of 12 that I enjoyed. Everything else fell flat and kind of flavorless. Big boiled pieces of tempeh with no seasoning is just not for me and there seemed to be a lot of that. I am vegetarian, so maybe it is just the plant-based meals. I wouldn't recommend these meals to anyone though. The juices and their brand coffee was mostly good, but I wouldn't keep the service just for that.

8/11/2016

I tried exactly 4 meals (lunches) from Thistle to take advantage of the 20% off promo code and hopefully experience a healthier week of eating. It seemed like an easy way to incorporate my veggies and fruits into my diet and the meals looked great.

The service itself was easy-to-use and accessible, so props to Thistle for a sleek, intuitive website and seamless delivery. They dropped off the food on Monday and Wednesday morning between 6-8am (you can choose the time range). One minor annoyance is that despite specifying that it was OK to leave the food outside of the building without buzzing, the delivery person on Wednesday buzzed me a few times and woke me up.

The packaging is great and efficient. The meals come in a reusable black bag and an icepack so the food stays fresh for at least two days.

However, the food itself was quite repetitious (all four were salads), hit or miss, and not quite filling enough. For the price point ($12.50/meal), those reasons are why I ultimately why I chose to pause my subscription at the end of the week. Although I know I'm paying more for high-quality, organic ingredients, I didn't love half of the salads and I rarely felt full/satisfied after a meal.

I do think there's potential. When Thistle shines, it really shines. The tomato & panzanella salad was fantastic and had bright, complex flavors. But my white bean & olive salad today is 90% grated carrots which is no bueno. I'm actually confused as to how it looks so different than the picture on the website.

I'll probably keep checking Thistle's menu and opt in for weeks where it looks really tasty, but for the most part I'm not too jazzed about the food I received this week (aside from the one salad). If every meal was like that one salad, I would be happy to hand over my money more frequently. Still, it's worth trying out if you're looking for really light & nutritious meals.

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  So many carrots

  So many carrots

5/11/2017

Food was delivered last night for the first time and it's all salads.  I HATE salad-- salad isn't food.  I've stayed thin and fit my entire life having never eaten salad.  If I wanted a salad I would eat in the cafeteria at my work.  VERY disappointed.

3/16/2017

I'm on my third week with Thistle and I LOVE this service. I work a LOT and their service, quality and unique dishes are awesome!

I've instant messaged with the team, and they were right on it - very responsive!  Very helpful and polite and also followed up with me later.

Give this service a try, I love the flavors they put together. And I'm not wasting food as a single person or dragging myself to the grocery store after a long day at the hospital.

Thistle rocks!

3/20/2017

I am a tax accountant, so trying to eat healthy and quick is always a challenge. This service has totally made that possible!

The food is amazing. I order the animal protein or the vegan options interchangeably and have NEVER been dissatisfied. The quality of ingredients is fabulous. If I didn't enjoy cooking, this would be a regular delivery for me.

5/5/2017

I like this food very much. Have been getting for about 3 months. The delivery has been great, no problems. The website is easy to use. I do the vegan meals, am about to try the non-vegan for my husband. The 4 stars is for the expense.

3/31/2017

This review is not about the food or delivery service, which I've never tried and which sounds like it is great, based on the other reviews here.  This review is just about the business model, as I experienced it while trying to redeem a gift certificate.  

I received a $100 gift certificate for Thistle.  When I went to the Thistle website, I was required to provide my email address before I could even view the meal options (as in, I tried to leave it out and I couldn't proceed to the next step).  In the age of inbox overwhelm, I really dislike being forced to provide any personally identifying information before I have even surveyed the landscape to know if I want the service at all.  This was a hint of how the rest of the attempt to redeem the gift certificate would go.

After I went through the process of selecting the service that I wanted, putting in allergies, choosing frequency, etc, I was prompted to pay.  I entered my gift certificate code, and was told I could not complete the order without providing my credit card information.  I contacted customer service and asked if there was a way around this, since I know I don't want this service long-term.  I was told that I _did_, in fact, have to provide credit card information _and_ that I would automatically be enrolled in ongoing delivery service using that credit card information once the gift certificate was used up, but that I could "cancel any time."  

In reviewing their gift certificate denominations on their website ($50, $100, $250, $500) compared against the cost of their meal delivery options, I see that it would be impossible to use up a gift certificate entirely without incurring additional charges.  Given that they set the denomination for the gift certificates they offer, and that they know the cost of their services, this essentially forces gift recipients to enroll as customers in their program.  As a gift recipient, it doesn't feel like a gift to be forced to enroll in a program I don't want, and then to be responsible for remembering to follow up later to make sure I won't be continually charged.  I'm an absent-minded enough person that the likelihood that I would forget to cancel at the right time and end up being charged fifty bucks for a product I don't actually want is pretty high.

Thistle agreed to refund the money at my request.  However, to do this, they needed me to provide them with the credit card information of the gift giver, to whom the credit would be issued.  Fortunately, this happened to be my sister, with whom I feel comfortable enough that I could call her and ask for her credit card information and disclose frankly that I don't want her gift.  If this had been a gift from someone I didn't feel comfortable contacting about their credit card information or that I thought might take it personally that I didn't want the gift, I probably would have just let Thistle keep the $100 and never used the gift certificate.  As it is, it's been a hassle to get the refund sorted out (just because it's inherently a hassle--Thistle has been promptly responsive, which is why I'm not giving one star).

I really value freedom of choice as a customer.  There is a lot about this system that I perceive as locking people into pathways that benefit Thistle but not the customer.  

I actually really need the service Thistle is selling (I would love to be able to have healthy vegan meals delivered to my home), but I'll keep looking for now.

1/10/2017

I have been using Thistle for awhile now and have been really happy.  The food is delicious and unique and they often use ingredients that are organic.  They also use ingredients I have never had or don't typically like to prepare at home which is nice - gigante beans, fennel, leeks . . . Last week one of the dishes was a salad with vegan ranch dressing, the dressing was so good I want the recipe.  As other reviewers said there are a lot of salads which I love.  Typically the lunch is a salad and dinner is something you heat - chili, stews, ramen bowls, lots of variety.  I also love that many of their vegan dishes have beans and nuts, I think I have only had two dishes with tofu.  

Delivery is easy with a two hour window and they can leave it in front of your door if you prefer, the bags are insulated and have two big ice packs.  I have chatted customer service a few times with questions and they are always really responsive.  It is also easy to stop service or update your plan - you have to let them know by Saturday at 10am if you don't want delivery the following week.

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• See all photos from Cari N. for Thistle

3/15/2017

I have a mixed review. I like the food. Not everyone is a home run however they are creative, fresh and have good variety. I get the animal protein meals.
Operationally, they have been a mess since the new year. Not sure what's up but have had an intolerable number of missed deliveries. I was just googling to see if they have a competitor to switch to after the most recent dropped ball and lack of responsiveness on the customer team side.
Get it right folks or you will be gone next year.

3/30/2017

I'm two weeks in and super happy! The flavors are delicious. Very balanced and tasty. I can even swap out meals for other meals, as I discovered that I'm not a fan of the breakfast choices. My most fav thing so far? The 24 Carrot Revolution Muffin! It's heavenly!

11/2/2016

I live in San Jose and I'm really into food delivery services and the whole convenience of it so I thought I would give Thistle a try.  I tried it for about a month.  Unfortunately I did end up canceling my subscription.  The first week my order was not correct,  so I received food that I wasn't able to eat which I wasted.  There seemed to be a misconnect with the people who are packaging the orders because this happened 3 times during the month.  The staff that answered the phone was happy to help and did credit my account so I wasn't charged for food I did not enjoy.  Secondly,  the food tasted great for about a week.  It's super healthy but after about a week it starts to all taste the same.  I had a hard time eating salads twice a day.  Also I would have preferred more protein and less carbs.  I also did get some juices too.  Most of the juices I did enjoy.  Except maybe one which was a turmeric and almond milk combo.   The breakfast mostly were carb based and small which had me crashing a couple hours later.  They also did not follow my instruction for drop off at my house.  Overall as you can see there were too many negatives about this service so I had to cancel.  They have a great concept, I hope they are able to improve and thrive.  Competition is tough out here in Bay Area there are so many food prep services that do a great job.

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  Tiny breakfast, melted smoothie bowl

  Tiny breakfast, melted smoothie bowl
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  The bag it comes in

  The bag it comes in
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  Salad salad salad

  Salad salad salad
• See all photos from Julie B. for Thistle

10/11/2016

I tried thistle thinking to myself, finally I have found a food delivery system that's healthy full of nutrients, lots of vegetables and good protein, to help me get on track. But unfortunately the food that I received from Thistle was not exactly that. In fact I could not eat any of it. I don't like to throw food away but this food was in edible. I had Thistle for a week and canceled it indefinitely.

On another note, it took over and hour for someone to get back to me on the chat and I also emailed them. All they offered was an apology, which is fine but with my experience in the restaurant business I know that you have to keep wowing your customers in order for them to come back. I will definitely not be going back. Good luck Thistle!

3/22/2017

You should be able to choose what kind of food you want delivered (salads v stews). If that option comes up, I will sign up again.

5/1/2017

I used to be a fan, but their inability to handle logistical issues are unfortunately leading me to consider canceling my subscription. For the second time in a week, Thistle missed its delivery window. The first time was by about 2 hours, this time they failed to show up at all. The part that really made me angry was the complete failure to pre-emptively communicate what was going on or to try to rectify the situation. Part of what I'm paying for is convenience and reliability, and they've lost that with their new operations set up. Really truly disappointing.