Café By Tao

This was my first time eating here. I love vegan food! The restaurant was silent, no music, no chatter and no one greeted me. There was no customer service. As someone in the customer service industry this made me uncomfortable. I had the nori roll and butternut squash soup. Nori roll had no taste until I dipped it in the very salty Tamari sauce that came with it, very disappointing. The soup was AMAZING!!! I wanted to buy some and take it home! I was excited to see they sold Raw pizza crust and I bought them. The pizza crusts are like a round cracker NOT like the texture of a pizza crust :(I’ve had many Raw pizza crusts and I would never buy these again. The only way I would return is to buy the soup for take-​out.

Lemon Ginger Magic ($ 4) is a 12oz hot drink using cold-​pressed juices combined with hot water. Apparently unlimited honey (self-​serve) is available at the counter.
I found the drink somewhat bitter and also lacking ginger bite. I tried some honey but probably put too much because it then tasted like lemonade with ginger notes.
Anyway the concoction is supposed to be good for you. Safe to try if you’re worried about too much ginger heat
I really liked having the cover for the mug/​glass to keep things hot!

I love this place! I’ve been a vegetarian my whole life, and recently started a gluten free diet so this place is perfect. The menu isn’t large and neither is the place itself, but the food is good and clean. My favorite are the Nori rolls and the kale wraps. Its best suited for people who eat raw, vegan, and are looking for a light lunch/​snack. The location is great, right near the quay with plenty of parking in the back and the streets.

Went yesterday with family as we needed a vegan meal. Was so fantastic! Young lady serving us was very friendly (actually all staff were) and helpful with us as we were menu virgins. We had the minestrone and red lentil coconut soups, (includes a side of the «crackers and cheese») and rawsagna. Then we finished with the double chocolate and lemon blueberry cake. Was so delicious. New favourite place

Considering I’m part owner of a small business, I know that customer service can make or break a store. And unfortunately, the absolutely horrible customer service I received him has convinced me to never, ever, ever return. I came with a small group of people, 5 of us. All paying customers, we all ordered food and drinks (two of us ordered right away and sat down) and were going to use two small tables considering we are five people…
The owner swiftly came to us, and demanded we only use one table. We explained we are going to be doing work, and we’re all paying customers and will be ordering even more, but apparently that not allowed. Might I mention there are two other free tables with no one sitting there and the entire side of the café has empty seats.
It’s a shame, I love vegan and healthy food. But unfortunately, due to the horrible service here will make sure I will never return and will tell others to avoid at all costs.

Liars.
They say they are vegan but they serve cow’s milk. Don’t get me wrong, as a vegan, I still go to vegetarian places even sometimes meat restaurants, but I won’t be going here again until they stop selling cow’s milk or re-​brand themselves as vegetarian. They are obviously lying to their customers by calling themselves a vegan café.

Pretty good food, but expensive for what you get, and the staff, when they’re busy are not the friendliest. Was hoping to have a nice relaxing lunch, instead was met with poor customer service. Too bad, because it’s a great location and the food offering is unique — too bad about the customer service.

Always been one of Favorite places that I love to support, wish I lived a bit closer! The food is always 100% organic and the owner Agathe puts all of her love and passion into providing healthy food for everyone. The food is Delicious, vegan and gluten free (except perhaps the muffins) and there is also plenty of grocery items available. Most of the dishes are raw living food but there are a few cooked soups and some baked goods as well. The pricing is really great for what they offer, there are not many gems like this place! Some of my favorites are the falafel with added avocado, the lasagna, blueberry please cake and the ‘Daily Green’ juice!

«This is one of my favorite places to go to in the area. The food is very fresh and never disappoints. The atmosphere is cozy and the fact that half of the place is a mini-​market of healthy goodies provides a perfect setting for a healthy food establishment.
I’ve tried the following:
The Real Lasagna
Butternut Squash & Cilantro Soup
Double Chocolate
All were excellent! Being a student of holistic nutrition, I know the amazing benefits of what a Raw Whole Food Plant Base Diet can have on our body, and this place is great for that! I would move to North Vancouver for this. (laughs)
Check this place out, it is definitely worth it!

Great Kale Chips! in fact I like almost everything… especially the location. :)

Went there only once because we live in Vancouver. However, it was really good, fresh and flavourful. Why not 5 stars, because the atmosphere is a bit blah, they serve dairy milk and bee products so it is not as vegan as they claim.
However, I bought some frozen and fresh food to bring home and it was delicious. The apples pancakes were amazing

The food here is pretty tasty. This is coming from a pure meat eater. I ordered take out and it was prepared quickly. I had the «rasagna» (I felt kind of racist ordering it on the phone in public). It was made of a number of vegetables. Somehow, it tasted relatively «meaty». However, I’m over 200lbs and if you have anything close to a normal appetite, you will need to microwave a couple of pizza pops after enjoying your vegan meal like I did. (I am aware that this completely counter-​acts any of the benefits of eating something this healthy.)
I also ordered the sushi and the wild rice salad for my dinner-​mates. They all tasted great but I could have easily eaten all 3 meals myself. The desserts are also good.
So in conclusion if you want a light, healthy meal, or if you’re a hippy that doesn’t need more than 15 calories per meal then this is the place for you.

I was so happy to find this place! Most items are gluten free and the idea of everything being raw with delicious natural foods made it easy to order. The pizza was so good. Like so good. And the natural cakes were also sooooo delicious. I didn’t have a chance to try their juices but everything looked well made. A little pricey for some things but it’s all organic.

I really wish I could say I love this place. I understand the appreciation for a place dedicated to vegan/​raw/​organic. I ordered the hot mushroom soup & cold cilantro soup. My husband said his falafel wrap was ok. I did not enjoy the «lasagne» at all! Lacked flavour in my opinion.

One star, and that is being generous. Why?
Poo explosions. I could be polite and nuanced, but no poo explosions are why. Been here twice, both my wife and I have suffered subsequent poo explosions.
This is aside from the fact that items are preposterously priced and preposterously small. Their raw pizza is comically small as are the smoothies (for $ 7!). What margins!!! The food tastes okay, but it definitely isn’t great.
The best raw place I have been to is Rawmba’s in Nanaimo. This doesn’t hold a candle to that.
Pricing is way off the mark, coffee is mediocre, and it causes poo explosions. Why would I return?

Was researching some vegan friendly restaurants in the Lower Mainland (since recently becoming vegetarian) and came across this place online. The menu looked incredible and naturally I had to stop by. I was running a little late and it was literally 8:57pm the time I arrived; luckily they were still open. I had a hard time deciding what smoothie to get because of the AMAZING choices, but I ended up getting the Chocorific smoothie which was so thick and delicious! I also got a slice of the Raw Acai Berry Banana raw cheesecake which was a great deal for only $ 3:50 a slice. Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at Tao and I will certainly will be back for more soon!
I wish I had a photo to share of my order but let’s be real: when the foods THAT good who has time to take a photo? Haha!

Very clean and organized and the food is fantastic! LOVE their smoothies and juices amongst other things… Friendly and welcoming staff as well.

i ADORE this place and wish i could come more often! i love the cute space it’s in as well!
everything i have had here is incredibly fresh and delicious and satisfying. i love eating raw organic vegan food so that already makes this place super easy to eat at but the service is quick too which is amazing for raw food and it’s been super easy to get take out here when i’ve come some mornings on lucky lunch days :)
i can drool just thinking about the burger and the kale chips here are some of the very best. prices seem extremely reasonable to me and i very easily go crazy here stockpiling on as many snacks and treats as possible, justifying the spending with the fact that i really don’t get here often enough.

This little spot is located in the courtyard near the yoga studio, while the map shows the location on 1^st, it’s on Esplanade as stated.
wow. Such flavour! We tried the Nori Roll, the Lasagna and the Gaia Burger. The portions are a good size so not sure what another reviewer meant by small portions. I think they are «normal» portions, westerners are used to oversized portions. The nut cheese on the burger was so tasty, my carnivore partner loved his lasagna and I would actually prefer this raw nori roll over traditional sushi.
Someone went off on their review regarding milk offered for coffee. I think it’s kind of ridiculous to be so hard on them when the café is so dedicated to vegan and raw healthy food. Why nitpick? No one is telling you to consume the dairy!
There is a whole wall dedicated to raw ingredients to take home and purchase. I picked up some matcha powder and there is everything from cacao nibs to coconut. There is also a «take out» area cooler where you can purchase burgers, wraps, crepes, desserts and other items. There is also a large book selection.
I appreciated the wonderful service and the homey atmosphere.
Will be back!

NOT VEGAN!
They clearly claim to be vegan but they serve cow’s milk. For someone expecting to support a vegan establishment, this is a huge disappointment and essentially false advertisement. It’s like someone expecting to go to a vegetarian restaurant to find they serve steak.
They must either remove cow’s milk from the menu asap or stop claiming to be vegan.
Edit: Thanks for the comment Agathe but that is much like offering bacon bits for ‘transitioning’ Omni/​vegetarians to sprinkle over their seitan sandwiches. I’m sure if you offer good food, drinks, atmosphere and service they won’t mind if one of their coffees doesn’t contain animal secretions. If they do, a vegan establishment obviously is not the place for them. One could also argue that if you did not offer a dairy option, those regulars you mention would have ordered almond or coconut milk on their first visit and you wouldn’t have had to serve them dairy at all…
And who’s to say only ‘transitioning’ people are ordering dairy? It’s more likely that those who order it, do so because they drink it regularly and will continue to do so. Most people who truly care about the continuous suffering and death of dairy cows I imagine, would stop consuming milk altogether and would therefore have no need for a ‘transitioning’ period.
If you claim to be vegan, you don’t serve cow’s milk. Simple.

I’m in love with this place! The food is so good!!!
We ordered the lasagna, pizza, cookie bits, and 2 juices and we were SO stuffed! The funny thing is they give you the correct small portions and at first you’re thinking that it’s not enough but one bite and you see why you get full, the ingredients are raw, fresh, healthy and so clean!
This hole-​in-​the-​wall spot is an absolute must!