It's so difficult to find completely vegan restaurants. It was so relaxing to be able to walk in to a restaurant, order anything on the menu and know its is cruelty free! Delicious smoothies! The food is delicious and has a great presentation.
Pros: Great food , Outdoor seating, 10% off for WFAS members
I loved how this place was so down to earth and didn't emphasize the vegan factor. You would forget it was vegan after awhile! The food was homestyle and delicious! I would drive 700 miles again to go back and have the tofu scramble wrap.
Pros: atmosphere, food, decorationsMy husband has always favored this restaurant and loves their garden bowls which are very filling. It is nice to eat outside when the weather is permitting. Most non-vegans I've brought here have liked the fare as well and there is always something for a sweet tooth on the menu.
Pros: Excellent food, Moderate prices, OrganicYum! Very tasty food... very nice little place with a pretty full menu. I truly enjoyed giving my belly such peaceful contentment. I highly recomend this little restaurant!
Pros: excellent cuisine, full menu, tasty tasty tastyI love this place. I have enjoyed everything I have had there (I usually eat the garden bowls--they change frequently). The servers are always nice to me, even when they are very busy.
I could eat the sauteed kale they serve everyday for the rest of my life!
I just had dinner there tonight with my friend and I was very pleased by the great service and delicious food. I had the all you can eat buffet dinner (sadly it was the last one of the season) and my friend ordered the portobello mushroom panini sandwich. I especially enjoyed the polenta with coffee sauce and who knew kale could taste so good. I have tried to come here a few other times and they were so busy they could not seat me. I am glad we made a reservation for this evening. I can't wait for the nice weather to enjoy the garden outside.
Pros: friendly knowledgeable waitstaff, generous portions, nice musicThe Garden Cafe in Woodstock makes some very tasty vegetarian food. Also some very bland food, but most of it is tasty. The restaurant itself is small but charmingly decorated. The owner is often on the premises, she obviously cares about making delicious, clean vegetarian food. I wish that she would care more for the staff, however. It might be a problem of the area, as there always seems to be a new wait staff, but I have had several really bad experiences with rude waiters at this restaurant. I'm a local, and for a while was ordering from them at least once a week. The staff is often disorganized, and a bit cold and rude. Truly it's a shame, because aside from this (and the relatively over-priced menu - 21 for a plate of Polenta with Peas and Mushrooms BEFORE TAX is really pushing it!) the restaurant would be very easy to recommend. As it is, however, I can just say the food is sometimes delicious.
Pros: delicious, clean, veganAnyone who loves Sushi but could do without the fish will have the best meal. Great variety and very reasonably priced. Its awesome. Have patience because it is all made to order.
Pros: quality, menu, service
misharyan
To the orginal poster: Thank you!
This message is directed to the last person that responded (Woodstock):
Hello,
This is Pam Brown, the owner of the Garden Cafe. Every sushi roll was made to order. Our sushi chef spent hours prepping the vegetables, and each roll is different. You may have noticed that the rolls took a while to come out--this is because they were being made after you ordered them. As we are a busy restaurant, some other items on our menu are prepped in advance, but they are all cooked to order--they are not scooped onto a plate (buffet style). When an order comes in, our line cook places each item into the oven, or into a sauce pan to cook. That is why things can take a little longer at the Garden Cafe, as the entrees are complicated, and have many elements. We also do not use any time saving devices, such as microwaves.
Woodstock
Just to correct you, it's not all made to order. There are large portions on the plate that usually have been made in bulk and just scooped onto the plate when the order is put in.
The cafe has a garden theme going on with patio tables and chairs. The walls are decorated with photos of different flowers. It's almost like you're dining in your own little garden! Very casual and cute atmosphere.
The food is delicious! Everything on their menu is vegan and they have a wide variety of appetizers, salads, soups, sandwiches, burgers, entrees, and desserts to choose from.
The service here is not the very best. Don't expect the servers to be attentive. They pretty much just do their job and that's it. The food though, more than makes up for it.
Pros: Delicious food, Vegan, Variety on the menuNot BYOB as the description indicates. Excellent, low-key vegan restaurant in a beautiful little Catskill town of world-wide renown. We had a very relaxing dinner in the outdoor seating area in a garden of trees and shrubs overlooking the town green. The floor of the outdoor seating area is pea-gravel, which is easy on the feet and makes for a rock-solid stable eating surface (few things are more annoying than a table that rocks or is easily jostled by an accidental bump, causing drinks to splash or worse). Halfway through our pre-dinner local organic dark ale (superb), an 8-person klezmer band began playing on the green and kept us very pleasantly entertained throughout our meal. There is a wide selection of imaginative, tasty dishes, including daily specials. The experience was enjoyable from start to finish. Good, friendly, efficient service and an extraordinarily pleasant atmosphere. Its informal charm and idiosyncrasies (the bathrooms are in a separate building, to which you must borrow a key) fit in nicely with the Woodstock Festival-inspired, 1960s/70s hippie-scene retrospective theme of the town. A+
Pros: excellent food, good service, atmosphereThe food was excellent. Prepared to perfection and so yummy. The waitress was very helpful since I was overwhelmed with too many great choices. It was a busy Saturday and the staff cleaned tables and moved everyone efficiently. I can't wait to go back and bring my husband. I only wish I knew about the garden area I would of like to sit outside. Next time :))
Pros: excellent food, large portions, friendly staffHi, this is "Healthy" but my old account got hacked into, so I started a new account.
I had a bad experience at Garden Cafe back in 2007, but decided to try again after reading the good reviews.
I went there yesterday with my boyfriend and both the food and service was fantastic! The waitstaff were extremely friendly and attentive. The food was amazing too.
Also noticed this time that they used healthy soap that didn't test on animals (in the bathroom).
I was so impressed that I wrote them a nice email this morning. I hope they continue this trend of expertise. Service with a smile means just as much as good food.
Cheers!
Pros: Excellent food, Friendly Staff, Prices very reasonableI'll give my positives first... the food was kinda good and the place is easy to find--right in the middle of town.
Sadly, thats where it ends. We were seated by someone who I needed to request having the tabled wiped down (there was salt and water all over it) and that server stood in the kitchen and glared at me, then we had to go up and get our own menus because no one came back, the people who came in after us had ordered and their food arrived by the time anyone came to talk to us. When we finally ordered, I asked if an item was vegan and was informed that everything was vegan in the nastiest tone I've ever heard from a server. Lets please note that nowhere was that indicated at the restaurant--I'd heard from word of mouth that "its a mostly vegan place." And, then, the item I ended up ordering was told it wasn't available for another 30 minutes so I had to order something else. When our food arrived, my quesadilla had almost no vegan cheese on it and so was DRY, but I looked at the person the next table over and saw a delicious looking moist one.
Worst part? We had finished eating and sat for a long time waiting for the check. I went up to the counter and asked the woman taking togo orders who told me "the other woman will get it," and went back to ignoring me. The other woman did not get it, even after we asked her. Eventually we had to guess at our bill and give cash before just leaving. Also, all the other tables got bread to start except for us. We started off very friendly, were dressed nicely, and otherwise had no characteristics that would get us such bad service except being in our 20s and 30s. Seriously, I thought that treatment was over by now.
I'd NEVER suggest this place to anyone. Our food was dry and overpriced and the service was plain insulting. There are plenty of better options in the area.
I WANTED TO GIVE THEM "ONE COW" but its not permitted by happycow since they are a 100% veg restaurant. The veg status doesn't justify going there, i promise.
Pros: location kinda
Woodstock
i have to agree with you about the staff, I've had too many similar experiences of my own. It's a pity, because generally the food is good (yes some of the items aren't great.) But you are wrong about bread being served to everyone. That is never the case. Any tables with bread probably had an order that came with bread. I have eaten at this restaurant many times and never been served bread by default.
I recently relocated to Woodstock from Manhattan and was so happy to discover this cafe. The food is DELICIOUS!!! It is fresh, tasty and a very creative menu! I love having breakfast there and the muffins are unbelievable!!! The vibe is welcoming and cozy and the outside garden is a great place to enjoy your meal...I can not recommend it enough!! I have eaten at many veggie places in NYC, but NONE compared to this!
Pros: food, decor, procesThis place is amazing! The food is absolutely delicious. I was very pleased. We were in Woodstock for the weekend and ending up eating here 4 times it was so good!! The lunch and dinner menu both have great variety, the veggies, tofu, soups, salads and deserts were so good, I could go on and on. You MUST try this place if your in Woodstock. I will definitely be back again and again and again. The chef was so sweet and came out to say hello...the decor is charming and the vibe is very warm and inviting...Also, my husband is not even a vegetarian (healthy eater, but not vegetarian) and he enjoyed it so much he insisted that we stop by before leaving on sunday to get some deserts for the way home!! This is by far the best place in Woodstock!!!!
Pros: food, decor, serviceThis place has all that a vegan/vegetarian or anyone could want--the food is healthy, yummy and extremely attractive. Attention is paid to ingredients and presentation, and the results are outstanding. All of the dishes we had were top notch (sesame-carrot pate, chick pea blinis, herbed farro, rice dish with leek sauce, walnut-mushroom loaf with horseradish cream, bbq'd zucchini, tempeh pepperonata, sauteed greens and a wonderful strawberry shortcake). I can't say enough about the selection, service and attention to detail. Sit outside if you can.
Pros: Presentation, Taste, HealthfulnessMy husband and I are always looking for a good veggie restaurant. I googled best veggie restaurants in Woodstock, read the reviews and decided while visiting Woodstock we had to try it! Sooooo happy we did. The entrees were delicious (Macro Meal and Farro with Chickpeas and Roasted Asparagus)and the lemon/coconut cake was to die for! Friendly service and the place has so much character. We started off dining in the garden which is very lovely but it began to rain so we made it inside and enjoyed the rustic character. If your lucky, you can catch the "drum for peace" in the village square directly across the street!
I give this resaurant 5 stars!
I visited this cafe on a recent trip and had a great experience. I am not a vegetarian, but this place can be enjoyed by all...the food is absolutely delicious! They have a great variety of food for everyone to pick from (I have a picky 12 year old!) and we were both very satisfied with our meal.. they also had the yummiest brownies and chocolate banana muffins for desert...we even took food for lunch on our drive home the next day...the place was cozy and welcoming and the staff very friendly. If you visit Woodstock you MUST come here.
Pros: great food, decor, staffI have been here regularly for the last 6 months as I travel between NYC and upstate. This place never ever disappoints. The food is delicious, creative and very tasty. The decor is charming and welcoming, very cozy... I have spoken to the owner many times and she has been wonderful and sat with me for a few minutes one Saturday afternoon and answered a bunch of questions I had on vegetarian food....have no idea what the previous reviewer is talking about, but it is absolutely untrue....perhaps the previous reviewer was expecting to much from a busy chef running a cafe....the variety on the menu is great and they recently added breakfast...the french toast and breakfast burritos are AMAZINg!!! You will not be disappointed here!!
Pros: food, staff, deorBoring decor is all I can say. I understand it, but it doesn't work in the space. It is very cramped seating which inhibits how you enjoy the food. If you want a place to relax, don't go here. It's like dining in nyc, but upstate, where you have all the space you can get...so why not use it?! Instead you're sitting on top of each other and in uncomfortable seating. How are you supposed to fully enjoy the food if you're worried about knocking into someone else?
Also, I've tried talking to the owner before, to tell her how I liked the food. She seemed uninterested and that I was an inconvenience to her. I felt brushed aside when I was offering a compliment. No thank you, how rude!
The food is good. Especially the desserts. And the waitstaff is great! Very attentive and fun to be around. They each have a great personality which comes out in how they treat their customers. I can't believe what the previous person wrote regarding the waitstaff. They're always great when I go in.
If you can get over the seating and the owner, then go ahead and eat there, you'll get a nice treat from the food and the waitstaff. Otherwise, just take it to go.
gabby123
The owner is very friendly and sweet...Perhaps you just caught her on a very buy day, but she is always very pleasant and runs an amazing cafe...everyone I know who has eaten there has also had a positive experience with her.
Woodstock
I've had positive experiences with the owner as well. I think she perhaps just isn't the kind of person who is enthusiastically warm towards people; she's a chef, and a good one. But I have to disagree about the staff. Yes, they have had some very nice wait staff, but honestly, I consider myself a very friendly person and have been rubbed the wrong way by staff at least 4 or 5 times. The problem is there always seems to be a new waiter here! And honestly, there are so many mistakes made, I don't think the owner is training them properly. It's turned me off of the restaurant, which generally serves good food! A pity!
I have been going into the Garden Cafe since their opening. I enjoy the food very much, however, on several occasions I have had a very negative experience with the wait staff. The male server has been very abrupt and on a few occasions down right rude to me and others at the table. He is not very attentive and I had to wait long periods of time for his attention while he chatted it up with friends at the counter. I do really love the food, but when the wait staff leaves you feeling like a nuisance its hard to want to come back and spend money there.
Sincerely,
A hurt customer
Woodstock should have 3 0r 4 vegetarian spots and sadly there are barely two. I really like the Garden Cafe tho, the service can be slow and the chairs and tables uncomfortable.The food is always fresh, large portions and interesting combination's of veggies, and grains. Now that the weather is nice you can always call ahead and order take out and dine on the green or stop by your favorite stream and dine.
My husband and I go to The Garden Cafe once, twice, three times a week. We live in Woodstock and we are thrilled to have The Garden Cafe in our midst. The menu, which changes often,offers a delicious array of grains, beans and veggies presented beautifully and cooked to perfection in ever more creative recipes. Can food this good really be completely VEGAN??? With many gluten free choices, the food not only tastes divine but is absolutely fresh, organic and healthy. The desserts are sinfully delicious..The chocolate brownie and ginger cake are beyond yummy..yum-o...yum-a-licous..yum-atudinous, yum-ificent..Centrally located on the village green, The Garden Cafe offers a great view of our lovely hamlet, and the outdoor garden, beautifully crafted by Peggy Fusco, is a total delight in spring, summer and fall.
Thank you too for the professional and friendly service and warm ambiance....
As ethical & health-conscious vegans living in Woodstock - life is complete for us now! We love Garden Cafe--from it's creative and filling meals to it's welcoming and tastefully designed decor (now complete with a beautiful outdoor dining area!) The menu is varied, inventive and not overpriced and the owner, Pam Brown, puts a tremendous amount of care and energy into every detail. My husband and I are steady regulars and it's a favorite for many friends in town - veg and non-veg. We would go every night if we could! For a restaurant just closing in on it's first full year of operation, we're extremely impressed by the ongoing improvements we've seen in every aspect of the operation. Things just keep getting better & better. Too many favorites to list here but make sure to try the Strawberry Shortcake! THUMBS WAY UP!
Pros: delicious!, great friendly service, great valueThe Garden Cafe is a breathe of fresh air to the life of Woodstock's Village Green! My wife and I try to dine there at least once a week (and always make a reservation, as this place fills up fast). The newly added outside garden seating is truly delightful, and they have patio heaters for those chilly Catskill evenings. The menu offers a fairly wide selection including 'comfort foods' for my tastes (and for anyone who may be new to vegan food), a good children's menu (including macaroni & soy cheese), and healthier fare for my wife (though it is all fairly healthy in the grand scheme). The daily menu changes often enough to offer delightful surprises, while the regular menu has a wide variety of dishes to satisfy many cravings. Best to make a reservation!
Pros: comfort food, garden patio, vegan!A friend recommended this restaurant since I'm a vegan. But not only am I vegan, I am health conscious. When my boyfriend and I were seated the host barked "This is a vegan resturant!" That was unnecessary, I felt ... what made her think we weren't vegan? That weirded me out. We are both thin, healthy looking and were not wearing leather or suede ... so that comment was definitely uncalled for.
The waitress wasn't very friendly either. I wanted a salad. I asked for apple cider vinegar on the side and she gave me WHITE VINEGAR (which is NOT vegan). Also, she gave me a dish with pasta and beans when I asked for a salad!!!! I bit my tongue and ate the bean portion and my boyfriend ate the pasta. (I do not eat pasta, as it has too much sugar in it and I have health issues).
Then when I went to the bathroom, the soap was very heavy ... I'd bet my bottom dollar bill it was not natural and probably tested on animals.
The only saving grace was the AMAZING raw gelato.
But I will never go there again since I found out you can buy this gelato in bulk.
Pros: Raw gelatoI heard Woodstock had this new Vegan restaurant and was up doing some work on Friday afternoon. I stopped in around 2 when I assumed things would be quieter. Most of the tables were full and, since I was by myself, grabbed a seat at the 'bar' area. It's small and unassuming [with seating outdoors as well] but the menu was full of such diverse fare that I had a hard time deciding. A page of specials was also presented to me. I started with a berry smoothie made of frozen organic berries and coconut milk. If you don't like the soy yogurt they make a lot of their smoothies with, they'll be happy to substitute coconut milk, soy ice cream, whatever. I decided on a main entree of Indian chickpea and vegetable wrap with 'bombay sauce' which was all very tasty and mild enough for those who prefer to stay away from the hot spices often used in Indian cooking. It was definitely flavorful. The plate came with a curried apple, coconut salad [unexpectedly delicious] and a side of kale cooked with onions which was equally delicious. I feel bad for the other reviewer's negative experience as I came home talking about this place like it was Woodstock's Sublime [Ft Lauderdale's famous vegan eatery]. With so much food [$15 entree], I could only eat half my wrap and couldn't even consider dessert. They had vegan pies listed as well as a raw gelato that I will definitely have to sample next go-round. Total bill was about $22. Most sandwiches and lighter lunch-fare was listed at only around $9.
Pros: fantastic food, ALL Vegan!!!, great portionsI hate to be the first to write a less than positive review, but, here it goes... The menu at this restaurant was impressive at first. I was ready to have a good experience there but a few things went wrong. Our waitress seemed nice at first approach. She took our order, brought us some bread while we waited for our appetizer, and then seemed to forget about us. 15 minutes (too long) later, the waitress brought our appetizer, but was unfriendly and inattentive for the rest of our time there. The first course tasted ok, but was executed with far less skill than one might expect for the price. 25 minutes after she cleared the table after appetizers, our meals arrived and seem a little less than fresh than expected. It was as if everything (except the greens, which were fresh) was prepared in advance and sat there all day before we arrived. I am especially sensitive to this as a health-conscious eater. From looking at other tables, one would do best with salads, not hot food there. Also, (not to harp on service issues but...) I drank water during my meal, but my glass remained empty after my first. I saw other tables get regular refills but they had a different waitress. I will not return or recommend this place to friends.
Pros: Vegan, Location
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Hello,
This is Pam Brown, the owner of the Garden Cafe. I am sorry that you have had bad experiences with our waitstaff. While rude service is inexcusable, I will mention that we often can only have one server working at a time, so they may not be able to be as attentive as we would like. If you feel that you are being treated rudely, please feel free to ask for me at any time to rectify the situation. As far as the price of the polenta entree, I would like to explain how that entree is prepared, so you can understand our pricing. First of all, the polenta is purchased from Wild Hive Farm, a local farm providing organic corn. This is much more expensive than regular bulk polenta. This polenta is cooked, the vegetables (peas and mushrooms) are prepared, and blended into the polenta. Each sauce on the entree is homemade, as we do not used pre-made sauces. A tempeh round accompanies this polenta. This is first boiled, then marinated, then baked. It is then mashed, and mixed with other ingredients, and formed into patties, and brushed with mustard, coated with cornmeal, and lightly pan fried. In addition, the asparagus in the salad is very expensive, along with black kalamata olives. This is also served with organic sauteed kale. The reason I have gone into such detail regarding the entree is to illustrate the amount of labor that goes into preparing all of our food. It is not 'scooped' on a plate before serving.