Essene Market and Cafe

Essene's management has changed. The delicious, healthful cuisine you've come to expect is no more. In it's place, greasy Chinese junk food. So sad to see what's become of it.

Essene should be at the top of the listings for vegan restaurants. It is all vegan and uses the cleanest ingredients of anywhere. That would include whole grains, healthy oils and better sweeteners. It's a buffet so some of the hot food tends to be soft but there are many nice options including salads. I have been there many times over many years and it is usually excellent.

When I die and go to heaven, their buffet is going to be the meal plan. :)

I re-visited Essene again more recently and the buffet was much better than in my prior visits. Amazing vegan eggplant parm. I tend not to do a lot of shopping here, because the prices do tend to be higher. I noticed that they carry some things I can't find elsewhere, like bulk red quinoa, sweet & sara marshmallows and a couple other things. If they would make the store all vegan, I would definitely go to the extra expense and extra distance to do all my shopping here, but since they're still selling fish and animal products, I'll just stick with the buffet and a few goodies that I can't get elsewhere.

I read some of the reviews and they weren't stellar. My experience was wonderful. The food was great (I didn't care for a couple of the items), the staff was wonderful and the market was great. One stop shopping. I plan to go there agian when I'm in Philly and Ihave recommended it to friends.

I ate a ton of food from their deli case and was well impressed by their layout of the store in general. I felt great leaving, and would encourage anyone to check this place out.

I did *try* to go here twice when I was in Philly; however, I must stay the food was buffet and it didn't look too appealing at all. And I believe they had one Seitan dish each time. Needless to say, I stopped in twice and the food didn't look appealing at all, so I never tried it, I just wanted to share my opinion. However, I will say they had a very nice co-op connected to it with excellent choices!

Larger selection of vegan hot foods than Whole Foods down the street, but priced similiarly. The menu changes frequently. As a lot of the food is heavy and dense, it is easy to spend more than $10 for a plate if you are not careful.