JOi Café // Coffee by JOi

"I'm amazed. I had so nice lunch over here. It was so perfect, all the flavors in all the dishes. The huevos rancheros (I forgot to take a picture) with 'egg' is a bomb, everything on the plate tasted so much! I felt like I was dining in France lol. We also ordered breskfast beyond sausages with hashbrown and veggies, and it was perfect too. As a side it came with pancake. It made us think to order the whole pancake menu, but we were already full....what else to say. They have very nice display of very unique all vegan desserts, high quality vegan cheeses and I bet the smoothies are delicious too, because as I've seen on other tables, they have something like whipped cream on top! I can't wait to have another opportunity to visit this place! (If you come on Sunday, there is a farmer's market going on that day and you can buy nice organic local fruit and veggies after having this great food)"

"Awesome! Plant-based food, vegan restaurant with amazing coffees. You don't even realize you're eating vegetables. Very good. They also have a new location called JoyBirds. Located at 299 Thousand Oaks Blvd #4, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360"

"I have been plant based for 8 years. I've eaten at hundreds of vegan restaurants. I am also the author of a NYT Bestselling and James Beard award winning cookbook. I first had the pleasure of eating at Joi Cafe before I knew anything about them because I did what every vegan does when they roll into a town they're unfamiliar with: type the word "vegan" in Google maps. I believe in grading vegan restaurants solely upon their merits. I do NOT believe in grade inflation because "they're vegan," "they're trying," "they're nice people" (other than customer service). Indeed, I find grade inflation to be at least partially responsible for the amount of "meh" vegan restaurant options and, now, their rapid demise, which ultimately hurts the movement by reinforcing the notion that vegan food = bad food. In sum, the overwhelming majority of vegan restaurants I've tried in the past 8 years have been... "not great." I say all of this to bolster the credibility of my evaluation for Joi Cafe. My first meal consisted of their Caesar Salad and Broccoli Cheddar Soup. I instantly knew that whoever created these dishes understood not just flavor (the soup), but was a master of texture (the salad). I delighted in each caper buried between conveniently sized hunks of purple kale; was soothed at the sight of nori (an ingredient not usually found in Western establishments) sprinkled between the greens; and utterly amazed by the tang from the dressing. Do I like everything on the menu? No. Joi's menu is far too diverse to please every taste every time. But I love so much of the menu, I go back at least 5 times a week. Sometimes it's the Caesar Salad, today it was the bagel sandwich, and tomorrow, it'll almost certainly be the Acai Bowl (the best I've ever had--the creator was smart enough to understand you can't just put the "toppings" on top!). I love that there are plenty of options that do NOT have alternative meat--just plain beans, potatoes, greens, and fruit. The dishes on this menu weren't thrown together by someone who watched 17 YouTube videos and now thinks they know how to cook (which is what I sometimes think is the case for most vegan restaurants). Whoever designed the food on this menu knew what they were doing, employed skills that obviously took decades to develop. If you found the food tasteless, bland, or subpar, it's likely you went on a very very very bad day (which is hard to believe since I've gone hundreds of times and NEVER experienced this) OR your tastebuds are defective."

"Boring, undercooked and over priced. Initially was excited for unique veg options. Potatoes nearly raw, veggie patty cold and barely cooked inside, veggies bland, no flavor. I asked for cooked potatoes to replace mine but they never came. Salsa bland. Fun tuna side was edible, can't say much more than that. Dry toast with nothing on it? No thanks. Thanks for the butter upon request (I don't eat much butter/marg but was hoping to make this breakfast edible) but it also didn't have any flavor, couldn't save that toast. I found this breakfast a waste of time, money and tummy space."