Vegan-friendly
Lacto
Ovo
American
International
Organic
Juice bar
Take-out
Bakery
Catering
Non-veg

Serves meat, vegan options available. Juice bar with wheatgrass, organic food, bakery with vegan and gluten-free items. No refined sugar used. Also sells a small section of grocery and bulk items. Casual artistic atmosphere. Reported closed November 2021.


Venue map for Chef Brooke's Natural Cafe
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36 Reviews

First Review by melindashaw

christinncollins

Points +75

Vegan
03 Apr 2015

Fantastic Food in a relaxing atmosphere

I have been a fan of Chef Brooke since her days at Ada's, and frequent her restaurant as often as possible. She is passionate about her cooking, creative and always changing things up. And her baked goods are THE BEST! You can't be in a rush when you dine there... it's my favorite place to go when I have time to take my foot off the gas a smidge, want to share a delicious / healthy meal with a friend, and want to be torn between soooo many dishes that I want to eat! Can't imagine SWFL without her, she is unique and a true gem, we are incredibly lucky she calls Fort Myers her home!

Pros: tons of vegan options, food is delicious, constantly offering unique specials

Cons: service can be slow, not open for dinner or on Sunday's

Michellephant

Points +21

Vegan
14 Sep 2014

Yummy Food and Chill Atmosphere

I loved Chef Brookes! I had the vegan mock tuna melt and a cappuccino cupcake, yummm! Will definitely be back soon :))

katielee

Points +74

Vegan
07 Aug 2014

Stay away

Aside from the curious smell, the food was not very good. The portions were small and took FOREVER to be served. Both my husband and could not finish the food and felt sick afterwards.

Pros: The root beer was good

Cons: Bad tasting, Slow service, Small portions

nawlins4

Points +75

Vegan
12 May 2014

VERY SURPRISED THAT SHE IS STILL IN BUSINESS

I visited Brooke's about three years ago. I live in the area and we have very limited vegan/raw food so I was very excited to find her. I brought my daughter for lunch. The food was ok, portions were a bit small, and the ambience was ok. But the most discouraging experience was the bad energy that the owner Brooke herself displayed. She is obviously very unhappy. I would have probably tried the place again but would rather eat food that is prepared with love and feel as though my patronage was welcomed.

Pros: vegan options in a city with few

Cons: extremely negative behavior, lack of knowledge , small portions

Peacelovevegan

Points +40

Vegan
31 Aug 2012

Great baked goods

I love Brooke's; it's got great vegan options like tofu scramble, hummus, every type of nondairy milk, and wonderful pumpkin spice muffins. Yeah Brooke might be a bit crazy, but she's not scary or mean. I typically spend $10-$20 there, which is hardly outrageous either.

Pros: great food, lots of vegan options, cute cafe

Cons: slow service

Jess McNeill

Points +62

Vegan
04 Aug 2011

Awesome!!!

was in town fro NY visiting my family for Easter. I usually cook at least one dish for the buffet so i have something to eat in the sea of meat eaters (My mom and I are vegan and my sister, brother-in-law and niece are vegetarian) but I didn't have time to get it together. I ended up ordering a vegan lasagne, roasted veggies and some soup from the cafe. They were so fantastic that I plan to order again when I return this week. I have to say that the lasagne was GONE (i was bummed) cause everyone was trying it and loved it (Even my non-veg aunts and uncles. Everyone was raving about it. OH! and I ordered a dozen gluten-free vegan cupcakes. You were right Brooke. They were better than the carrot cake at Babycakes NYC!!! I wanted to rate it 5 stars but Happy cow wont let me.

Pros: food ready when promised, Chef was helpful

Cons: far from South Fort Myers

jlo

Points +13

Vegetarian
24 Feb 2011

Very nice meal

I travel a lot and am happy to find resturants like Chef Brooke's Natural Cafe. It is local, authentic natural food with an owner who is active in the business and interacts with the patrons. No pretence but a lot of care in each plate. There is a health choice on the menu to fit any most any diet I can think of. The menu is not expensive as compared to most any resturant other than Taco Bell or Burger King so I do not understand the reviews that show concern for the value that this resturant offers. Would strongly recomend that the local community support this resturant. There are not many like it.

Pros: Wide Selection, Diet types easliy recognized on menu, Great care in making each item

Cons: Did not notice any

kellbex

Points +13

Vegetarian
04 Apr 2010

THE BEST!!!

I absolutely LOVE Chef Brooks!!! It's a Godsend for people who really want to enjoy healthy cuisine in a world of fast, fried, rich and heavy foods. First, the atmosphere: I always relax and enjoy the good energy, wonderful food and sweet little touches at this secret Vegetarian paradise. My husband and I are native Californians and moved from Santa Barbara over a year and a half ago, and we've been to many vegan and vegetarian restaurants in the US and frequented many in Santa Barbara. Chef Brooks is among the best, if not my FAVORITE. Her delectable menu (which is always changing as she's always inventing), the unique combinations of flavors and personal touches, and her fabulous personality keep us coming back. (We travel an hour each way, I might add).
Today, for example, I had the MOST AMAZING stuffed cabbages with a side of fresh squash and lentil soup (one of my favs) and an almond vanilla muffin for dessert (we took 4 to go). Chef Brook and her staff, including her lovely mother, were an absolute delight as usual. And
considering the types of high quality ingredients, the time, thought and preparation that goes into this kind of food, the pricing is VERY fair...in fact, i would pay more, (but don't tell her that!).
My husband is allergic to gluten so we especially appreciate the gluten-free items on the menu.
I've been to Chef Brook's many, many times and never waited more than 5 minutes, but maybe I've just have a streak of good luck...though I tend to think what we put out in life we get back : )
I'll end with this: The first time my husband and I came to the cafe we commented on how much we liked the music; Chef Brook made us a CD to take home with us... now that experience alone, is worth writing about, especially considering the hard times we're in, when it's way easier to be crabby. After frequenting Chef Brooks Cafe many times I've come to know this is just the kind of person Chef Brook is.
I highly recommend Chef Brooks Cafe. She's a wonderful chef and a pretty wonderful person. Fort Myers is lucky to have her.

Pros: healthy cuisine, excellent food, friendly staff

Cons: She's not in California

melindashaw

Points +37

Vegan
19 Feb 2010

Decent, but expensive and poor service

I recently visited Brooke's cafe and was disappointed overall by my experience. There was a decent selection of vegan items on their menu, but the food was definitely overpriced. I order the Tofu Egg Salad and Tofu scramble dishes. They were tasty but nothing special. My mother (not a vegetarian) ordered the burrito and said it was the best she's ever had. The service was extremely poor and the owner and her mother that worked there made us feel like we were bothering them but eating at their restaurant. Brooke was very impatient with answering any questions about the vegan food, and her mother who was the waitress I presume didn't want to get up from eating her lunch at the counter to seat us or wait on us. Brooke offers a cooking lesson and dinner for $25 (too expensive in my opinion) and when I asked what we would be learning to make and if it was vegan, her answer was something to the effect that it was an impromptu lesson and we would learn whatever she wanted to make that evening. I have always wanted to take a vegan cooking class, but her personality and response completely turned me off so I decided not to take it. When it came time to pay the bill, I never received an itemized bill with our food order. As I watched her Mom ring us up on the register I noticed a few unusual charges. They charged me .$75 for using my credit card and were never going to tell me, even though we had a conversation about using cash vs. credit, and they charged an extra fee with a tiny amount of extra salad dressing, as well as overcharged me for the Tofu Egg Salad (as a special instead of a regular item on the menu.) I felt it was borderline unethical the way in which she overcharged me, and tried to get away with it without my knowledge. I had to ask her about the random charges as I saw her ring them up quickly on the cash register. They did have good vegan cupcakes, and the Fairy cake was actually better than the chocolate one. Although at $4 for one cupcake, it really wasn't worth it.

Pros: Vegan Food, Tasty

Cons: Expensive, Poor Customer Service, Overcharged without customer's knowledge




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