The Refectory Cafe
- Friend
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Veg-friendly
2726 Durham Chapel Hill Blvd, Durham, North Carolina, USA, 27707
Serves meat, vegan options available. Cafe offering vegan specials, and the menu labels what's vegetarian and vegan. Sample items include chili, kale salad, Indian dal, slaw, muffins, cookies, breakfast soy yogurt parfait and tofu scramble. Also has cold press juices, soy and coconut milk for coffee, and vegan desserts. Open and bright atmosphere. Order at counter for breakfast & lunch. Table service, wine, beer and spirits for dinner. Open Mon-Thu 8:00am-8:00pm, Fri 8:00am-9:00pm, Sat-Sun 9:00am-3:00pm.
Category: Vegan-friendly, Lacto, American, Beer/Wine, Take-out, Catering, Fusion, Southern American, Non-veg
Reviews (5)
First Review by turtleveg
Contributions +93
Great vegan cakes - Edit
I haven't had the food here, but they have awesome vegan cakes. I've had both the chocolate cheese cake and the blueberry cheese cake, and both are phenomenal. Service is great too.
Pros: Delicious vegan cakes, Good service
Cons: Haven't tried the food
Contributions +354
Great drinks, small food portions - Edit
I visited the Refectory Cafe for breakfast and ordered coffee, a green smoothie, and a tempeh scramble. The drinks are all serve yourself with a fantastic buffet style bar. There are several options for sweeteners and such right there. The smoothie was fresh and tasty. The tempeh scramble was very small for the price, which was a tad disappointing compared to the drink bar. The service was wonderful, though.
Pros: Lots of options
Cons: Pricey for the portions of food
Contributions +644
Meh - Edit
Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I found this place to be a big let down. "Lots of vegan options" are three. A tempeh sauté for breakfast and a wrap or a bowl for lunch. I suspect that all three are the same. One is served for breakfast, the other is served for lunch and the wrap is just the bowl wrapped in a tortilla. So, I went with the breakfast sauté, after double checking that it had "lots of veggies." What I got was a bowl of oily squash and zucchini, with a few strips of peppers and onions and a small amount of tempeh. Not impressed.
1 Response
turtleveg 16 May 2016 - Your negative experience with the tempeh dish aside, they do have several other vegan options including a vegan dal w/ brown rice, and vegan chili, a black bean burger, a few different salads, and a couple of vegan desserts. They do offer several different vegan dishes using tempeh which I think is what you are referring to. Sorry you didn't enjoy!
Contributions +20
Great vegan options! - Edit
I love to come here for the vegan dhal, or chilli, both are gluten free. They also have daily vegan specials like tofu tacos. The service has always been phenomenal. The atmosphere is great, and they always have been helpful in allowing samples before eating. They are also many vegan/ gluten free dessert options. This is one of my "go-tos" in Durham.
Pros: excellent tasty food, incredibly good service, clean, nice atmosphere
Contributions +290
good food, nice atmosphere - Edit
This place is "cafeteria" style but don't let that stop you - it actually has a very nice atmosphere - open and bright - and staff is very friendly. They happily promote their vegan options, which are all quite tasty. Standards include Indian dal, chili, slaw and kale salad. There is also always a vegan cookie and vegan muffin option. And often a daily special or soup that is vegan. The best part is there is a vegan option at breakfast/brunch - tofu scramble and/or vegan tacos (fresh with avocado, veggies, and cilantro - it's really good), and they also have fruit smoothies and soy yogurt parfaits.
Variety of hot or cold drinks including beer.
If it's a nice day, sit outside on the picnic tables.
They also have a location at Duke Law school with a similar menu but I haven't been to that location.
Pros: vegan breakfast options, friendly staff, outside tables
Cons: distance from downtown, would like to see more vegan variety
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