Sanctuary Vegan Cafe

This food was amazing. Can you say philly cheese steak?! Omg so good. I tried a few things off the menu. My favorite was the Philly cheese steak followed by the cauliflower wings. They have expanded their menu and added a value menu which was a great way to try a few items. Will be going back! Great service. Great food

but unfortunately the vision doesn't meet the reality. Probably because the food is as organic as possible, it is expensive for what you get. I was so so so excited to see a vegan restaurant finally come back to Knoxville. I am not a local, but I visit every 3-4 months and prefer to support a vegan place. I have gotten spoiled where I live not having to ask all the time "is it cooked with..." and "does it contain...?"

Unfortunately, our dining experience wasn't that great. The owner was super nice, but seemed frazzled. The girl at the cash register was so uninterested in anything going on around, glued to her phone and texting, it felt like you were interrupting her to pay the bill. The food portions were very small, the portobello sandwich practically flat, and more bun than mushroom. The sloppy joe lentil balls tasted overdone to me, and the "cheese" sauce was made from nutritional yeast, which wasn't made clear from the menu (or at least I didn't see it, that could have been my error). I like nutritional yeast, but not as a cheese substitute - never have. So that was a bit of a shock and disappointment, as was the lack of tomato sauce on the sloppy joe. The food was not presented well, and on disposable plates. There just wasn't enough for the cost.

While I wrote a review of Three Rivers Market, I essentially trashed them, but that is not the intent of this review. I see this place currently has 5 stars, and I wish I could leave that kind of review, but it would be dishonest.That was not my experience, though I really really wish it were. I hope that the cafe owners will read this and perhaps reconsider sometng or other - cost, taste, presentation, atmosphere (and actually the place is cutely dine up to looklike the inside of a barn, I did really like the casual ambience, except for the TV), and make some changes. Every town needs a vegan cafe or restaurant, but they need one that will not only be a nice place for vegans to go to,but a place vegans can take their non-vegan people and show them how delicious it can be to be vegan. Right now, unfortunately, this cafe doesn't seem to meet that mark. I do hope it changes!

Edit: I would have been willing to try this again after reading the other reviews, but they don't have Sunday hours, unfortunately.



Updated from previous review on 2017-04-02

This is the only all-vegan restaurant in the area and I was so excited to try it out. Everything is organic too. There are so many options here to try. I got the famous lentil meatloaf and my meat-eating hubby got the seitan cheeseburger. The food did not disappoint! It was so delicious! Great, friendly staff too. There is something for everyone. The cauliflower small plate was so good and the sauces were yummy. Only wish they had desserts every day and not occasionally.

We discovered this little gem in an older shopping center in Knoxville off Kingston Pike. The nachos and burgers were great, as well as the rich cupcake! It's a bit pricy but that's to be expected when you are working with real ingredients and you don't have the commercial volume that big chain restaurants would have. But it's next door to a discount movie theatre so it all evens out- with a vegan flair!

I'm so so happy to have an exclusively vegan restaurant in knoxville. It's delicious and wonderful.

Amazing food atmosphere and staff. Prices and portions are fair and the food is awesome.

This was my first all-vegan restaurant experience, and I was satisfied. I had the nachos and mac and cheese, and I even took home a cupcake. My non-vegan husband was pretty happy with it as well!

Knoxville's only 100% vegan restaurant! The Sanctuary Café hosted the first gathering of 2017 of the K-Town Vegans MeetUp Group, and it was a big success. Since we had 40+ folks signed up, Leslie came up with the idea of offering us an extensive buffet, which worked very well. There was a wide selection of things to choose from, many were also gluten free. My favorites were the lentil meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, and the broccoli/cauliflower mix. I think my wife and I will be regular customers!

This place is so delicious and amazing. I had a great time stopping by. Owner is super amazing and so friendly. We are from California, if we are ever in Knoxville again we will for sure stop by again.

The owner was very friendly and the service was fast! The food was delicious, especially the fried tofu. The mac and cheese was great as well. I'm on a road trip and was very pleased to find a fully vegan restaurant!

Mac&Cheese was great! Service was very friendly. Went with non-vegans who also enjoyed the food. Great restaurant.