• CLOSED: Vibrance

  • (18)
    21

    Closed

  • White Vegan
Vegan
American
Organic
Raw
Western
Buffet
Juice bar
Delivery
Take-out
Fusion
Kosher

Specializes in cooked vegan as well living foods made from sprouted beans and seeds. Makes raw desserts, gluten-free baked goods. Features local artists' work, health and wellness speakers, patio area with fountain and fire pit. Reported to be all-vegan as of Jan 2018. Confirmed closed May 2019.


18 Reviews

First Review by DebbiePurdy

97%

Points +100

Mostly Veg
15 Oct 2018

An absolute gem!

Now specializing in small plates. We had a cherry and a banana pancakes and chickpea frittata (think croquette) with a zesty topping. Got to talk with chef Mario and owner Karen. Mario has some super creative culinary ideas cooking. (I sampled the vegan chorizo and it is righteous!) Really cool place. If I lived in ABQ I’d eat here every week.

Pros: Inventive but accessible offerings, Homemade vegan chorizo ROCKS!, Plentiful seating in & out, wheelchair accessible

Cons: No longer offering buffet, maybe not a bad thing

vsvihla

Points +593

Vegan
14 Oct 2018

Fully vegan option in ABQ!

I have been twice-- once for brunch and once for lunch. This place has so much potential - it is an odd building repurposed as a restaurant, with lots of artwork and interesting places to sit.
The brunch was a buffet and had many options, which as a vegan, was exciting. Some of the options seemed a bit odd for brunch, but honestly, it is such a joy to have a pure vegan buffet that a few unconventional options is fine!
For lunch, they have a small menu. We got the pizza and the coconut curry. The pizza crust is very thin and more like a cracker, but the sauce was ridiculously good. The coconut curry was mild and tasty. Both came with our choice of salad. Salad was very fresh and dressings flavorful.
Service was very friendly. Food was a bit slow but worth the wait.

Pros: Great brunch, Tasty, Interesting venue

Cons: A bit slow for lunch

Labylala

Points +745

Vegan
29 Jul 2018

Everything was so fresh and tasty

After traveling on the road for hours, it was so nice to be in such a place that’s peaceful and quiet. We sat outdoors in the front area, looking at the mountains and enjoying our meals with the dogs. All the dishes were so delicious and freshly prepared. We got both raw and cooked entrees. Friendly owner and staff. Now recharged and ready to get back on the road.

Pros: Freshly prepared food, Delicious!! Gourmet taste, Serene atmosphere and friendly staff

katianoya

Points +48

Vegan
24 Jun 2018

The brunch was absolutely amazing!

I’ve only been here one time for Sunday brunch and it was completely fabulous. I have been recommending this place highly to everyone. I love the totally vegan cuisine.

mblack

Points +60

Vegan
30 Apr 2018

Brunch only, no a la carte

I went on a Sunday morning and found out the only option was the $25 all you can eat brunch buffet. I’m from Portland and know that weekend brunches pack the vegan eateries. None that I know of limit the customers to a $25 ticket, which is 1.) more than I’m willing to part with for a meal right now and 2.) I am simply over all you can eat buffets in general. Too bad since I was looking forward to trying this place. There were maybe six people at tables. It’s a cavernous, odd space. Not sure I’d want to go back. It saddens me to write this but I do so in the spirit of, Come on Albuquerque! Seems like vegan restaurant owners here need to do a bit more R&D. Go to Portland for a week and eat at as many as you can fit in. Do your homework as to what works. If we treat Veganism as so precious as to have to price ourselves out of the market, it’s never gonna fly mainstream.

RobertLopez1950

Points +30

Vegan
18 Feb 2018

A delightful restaurant

The restaurant currently is open three nights per week and only one of four gates was open. That was a first concern. There were not that many other customers. That was a second concern. The staff was friendly. We eat Engine 2 vegan without oil so we asked a lot of questions. The chef came out and answered all our questions and we decided to stay. The food was all fantastic! We were delighted. Every item we tried was prepared to perfection. I highly recommend this restaurant.

Pros: Excellent food. , Friendly staff. , Good music.

Cons: Only available a few hours per week. , Only one of four gates in wall fence open. , Relatively new so not a large customer base.

Delve

Points +302

Vegan
06 Nov 2017

An endless echo of "I don't knows"....

Such great reviews of this place led me and my companion here for dinner one night last week. It's a rather large place for what ended up being an unexpectedly limited menu. We were immediately greeted by a very enthusiastic and seemingly nice host/waiter. We sat down and asked if there would be live music that night. His answer was "I don't know, there might be". While looking over the menu he presented us with a plate of what looked like dehydrated flax crackers, and some sort of dehydrated seed bread(?) and a small bowl of dip. We asked him what it was and his answer was "I don't know, I think it is some sort of seed cracker and bread." We asked what was in it...and were again met with "I don't know". We asked if he could find out - he said yes. Once we finally decided on entrees to order - we asked questions about them and were met with another few sentences of "I don't know" and "I'm not sure". My companion and I ended up ordering the same dish (a quinoa and sweet potato stew and two sides of beetkraut) as it seemed the most straight forward in terms of what could be in it. When the food arrived there was one plate of the quinoa/sweet potato stew (it tasted like canned food) and another plate of something else. We said we'd ordered the same dish and he said "ohh, you did? Well, I can put the order in again for the second entree" which would mean one of us eats while it's still hot or wait until the other entree came out. So we opted to keep the new dish he'd brought, It was a 'veggie wrap' which was basically a bunch of cut up vegetables on top of a dehydrated vegetable wrap. Something you can make easily at home. There was also a dip type thing that came with it..and I'll be damned if the waiter didn't know what it was. Shocking, right? During all of this there were two musicians who came in (both performed separately from the other) to sing/play acoustic guitar in the main dining area. The first musician was fairly mellow and quiet and it was pleasant enough although a little distracting, The second singer/guitarist, however, sang a few feet away from us...and was incredibly loud in playing, singing and talking - as though we'd paid money to specifically see her. We got up to leave without finishing all of our food as we couldn't even hear each other talking any longer over the musician. As we were leaving - I asked the waiter if the Sunday buffet had the same food as the menu - it was just the right question to get a final earful of "I don't know."

ezflex

Points +68

Vegan
24 Oct 2017

Not a good birthday experience

Went here for the first time to celebrate mutual birthdays for 3 out of 4 of us. Much of the food containers on the buffet were empty and not replaced the almost 2 hours we were there, other foods that should be warm were not. I cannot say that any of the 4 of us were able to rave about any of the food. I had heard so many good things about this place and won't go back. Very bland food and experience.

MarkBarone

Points +23

Vegan
18 Sep 2017

Outstanding Food!

I was taken back by the amazing food at Vibrance, both raw and cooked. The flavors, colors, and textures were all considered in their preparations. As an Italian, It is hard to win me over with a Lasagna that tastes as good as the original. Vibrance did just that! It was incredibly delicious (I had two huge helpings from the buffet), and I had my choice of so many salads, a Jamaican curry that was off the charts, Enchiladas, Quinoa, rice, and 5 different cheesecakes to finish off my awesome vegan experience.
It was by far, the most satisfying food I have eaten in a long time and the best buffet. The owner and her very friendly and professional crew were wonderful, too! Five Stars!!!!

s7345565

Points +46

Vegan
30 Jun 2017

delicious and surprising

We tried Vibrance for the first time today and could not be happier with the amazing flavors and friendly service.

First, the menus online and in restaurant still say vegetarian, we were informed that they are only serving vegan options now - yay!

They brought out a seed-based cracker and dip for starters - yum. I had the Italian mushroom pocket and found the flavor to be complex and very satisfying. My dining companion had the veggie wrap, which was a very thin dry crepe-like wrap filled with delicious fresh veggies and offered with an amazing curry cream dip and a ginger date chutney. We were both really pleased.

The meal ended with a fabulous slice of banana strawberry cheesecake with a side of cashew sweet cream. All for $30 before tip

Pros: all vegan, gourmet, great price

Cons: limited hours, takes a while (but worth it!)

Jonyaya

Points +64

Vegetarian
11 Jun 2017

Wonderful!

The meal started with a plate of tomato-basil spread on lovely full grain/seed bread and a whole grain cracker. Delicious! Next Salad rolls in veggie rolls with a ginger, garlic and cashew sauce.

I had the Asian Salad... nice! My wife had the curried lentil and sweet potato stew... tremendous!

Karen, the owner was very caring and so devoted to our happiness. Highly recommended!!!

Pros: everything!

Cons: none!

SaxMaam

Points +16

Vegan
20 Apr 2017

Yay!

I love the Sunday buffet. the initial non-Sunday menu wasn't too exciting for me but I think it's being updated.

Jessieb

Points +36

Vegan
19 Mar 2017

Amazing!

The food was beautiful, delicious and healthy. Truly gourmet vegan. I can't wait to take my family when they are in town.

JaneWyatt

Points +18

Vegan
15 Feb 2017

Best Vegan food ever!

This is simply an excellent restaurant! Simple place
but clean and fresh. I admire so much the level of
talent it takes to pull this kind of cooking off. I am
a vegan cook myself so I do have a point of comparison.
Everything we ordered was delicious. Wish I lived
closed to Vibrance!

DanHooke

Points +20

Vegetarian
18 Jan 2017

Vibrance

Tastiest, most well thought out meals available

Pros: Has vegan, Has vegitarian, Has raw

Cons: Not enough people eat well so attendance is low, Raw cheese cake is too good.cant stop.eating, I can't be there all the time

VeganRican

Points +35

Vegan
11 Dec 2016

Easily the Best in ABQ (and beyond)

I recently moved to ABQ from New York City where excellent vegan options abound. Vibrance is the only place here that has vegan food on the level of the best restaurants I've tried. If you're just passing through, put it on your "must" list. Annapurna's is great, but if you only have one meal in ABQ come here. If you live here, put it in the rotation. Everbody should try the all you can eat Sunday brunch. It is rare to find exquisite raw deserts, imaginative dishes like a raw cashew mushroom tamale with a cashew cream, raw crackers, home baked seeded bread, well done staples like scrambled tofu, quinoa with veggies, a variety of fresh sprouts, raw soups, dips, and dressings and guacamole in an all you can eat setting. Everything is done with superbly fresh and high-quality ingredients. All that in a beautiful setting. Can't go wrong.

Pros: Ingredients are top-notch , Flavors well-balanced , Raw and vegan forward menu

KarenHammer

18 Jan 2017

Thank you for the wonderful review you wrote on Happy Cow. We love seeing you come back for more and are happy as a cow in a pasture that you came to Albuquerque!

Rich Wildgrube

Points +51

Vegetarian
18 Nov 2016

Excellent raw foods

I have eaten at Vibrance twice and will continue going back. Their buffet is amazing with appetizers, soups, entrees, sides, and desserts - all raw. I loved everything from the croutons (I could eat a bowl of them straight) through the "cheesecake" desserts. They are very creative with their dishes. Nice atmosphere, nice people. Finally! a raw, mainly vegan restaurant in Albuquerque.

Pros: Creative, tasty dishes, Friendly staff, Fantastic variety

KarenHammer

18 Jan 2017

Thank you Rich, we appreciate your posting and sharing what you like. We hope we can continue to please you with the foods we create.
Karen.. vibrance

DebbiePurdy

Points +20

Vegetarian
03 Sep 2016

Best vegan since Green Zebra in Chicago

Just found out a new vegan restaurant opened up near us in Albuquerque, within walking distance.
We checked it out and found it was fantastic, gourmet inexpensive, and beautiful interior. The food felt really clean, yet inventive. I had the fresh kombucha, the mushroom turnover, ad the delicious raw pomegranate cheesecake. What a delight. This place has to be supported here, and Santa Feans should take a ride down just for this.

Pros: Great vegan food, Beautiful environment near [censored] Hill, Friendly staff




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