Plum Bistro

My friend moved to Seattle last year so I came to visit and explore the city with her. She is vegan and although I am not, I do try to eat plant-based for a majority of my meals. We were both excited to try this Black-owned vegan restaurant but ultimately it was a let down. We were a party of two and stopped by for dinner. We left hungry and disapppinted. Our server had too many tables assigned to him (my opinion). Because of that, we didn't see him often. When we did, the interactions were rushed and dry. In general the restaurant appeared to be clean.My friend and I shared the mac and yease and the calamari lettuce wraps for starters. We ordered the buffalo portobello burger and the American burger with the intention of sharing the sandwiches (1/2 and 1/2). Because of that, when we ordered them we asked that they be served to us cut in half. We were immediately told no and that we would have to do it ourselves. We accepted that answer because cutting them ourselves wasn't a huge deal but I don't think it was a ridiculous ask, especially at this price point. Many places do it anyway as a standard practice. I had two other vegan burgers while in Seattle and both of those came cut without request. Food:Mac and yease: 4/10. This was the best thing we had and the only thing that tasted like it had any seasoning on it. Unfortunately, the primary seasoning seemed to be salt. The two of us typically enjoy salty foods but this was a tad much for us so putting this critique out there for people who may be sensitive to it. Calamari: 2/10. This had the potential to be really good but they need to take some of the salt that they put in the mac and put it in the batter used for this. The only thing we tasted was flour. American Cheeseburger: 1/10. We weren't fans at all. We left with about 3/4 of it uneaten. something about it seemed sweet & wierd-tasting. I initially thought that it may have been the house sauce, but my friend felt that it was the patty itself. She said that to her it tasted like Beyond meat with some sort of nasty glaze on it. I asked for no tomato and was told "yeah, it doesn't come with that on there anyway" when it explicitly says that it does on the menu. 1 star for the veggies on it at least being being fresh and the bread not being soggy.Buffalo Portobello Burger: 0/10. One star for a veggie option rather for those who don't want meat replicas. My friend was really looking forward to this because she loves portobello-based burgers but she took two or three bites before giving up on it. I took one and ended up drinking alot of water to get the taste of it out of my mouth. The mushroom is panko crusted/fried but it is also unseasoned. I think this burger depends on the buffalo sauce for flavor but whatever buffalo sauce they use has a funky twang to it that neither one of us cared for. Similar to the burger - we left with more than 75% of it uneaten.What irritated me more than being disappointed in the food was the 20% service charge added to the bill. No other restaurant that I visited in Seattle did that. My friends that live in town were surprised by it too. I am from the Bay Area so I've seen charges in the 1% - 3% range that go toward employee compensation and benefits - I've just never seen one as high as the one here. In fairness to the restaurant, this practice is disclosed on the bottom of the online menu (they didn't offer us traditional menus, we had to use our phones) but it's in fine print and it's very easy to miss. We wouldn't have minded as much if it at least 15% of it was gratuity for our server while the remaining 5% went to the restaurant and employee benefits. The restaurant keeps 100% of the service fee and if you want to tip your actual server, you'll have to do it on top of the service charge. I am a generous tipper but expecting customers to pay a 20% service charge AND tip the server separately is ridiculous. What's even more maddening is knowing that many people likely don't tip on top of that charge because it's excessive and/or because they associate the charge with gratuity. In my humble opinion they're better off increasing food prices to align with whats needed to pay employees.We spent over $120 afer tax and service charge on two starters and two burgers, excluding tip. We did take the food home for others to try but nobody liked it so it got thrown away. In the end, we removed this from our shared Seattle foodie list that our friendgroup uses. Based on other reviews, this place seems to have a large fan-base so kudos to the restaurant on it's popularity. There's no way to please everyone and that's okay. My review shouldn't be used to form a final opinion of this restaurant without trying it for yourself. Two stars overall for being a restaurant that caters to vegans and for the mac and yease.

Great vegan food! Would give. 3.5 if I could -- I found the burrito not super flavorful but I LOVED these carne asada tacos. Though they were super yummy. Ambiance inside is cute. Just wasn't super impressed by the other brunch options and felt kind of limited in the menu size.

Greedy business practices at highest level. Insane 20% extra charge never mentioned before getting check that explains it doesn't go to the waiters. Beyond that this food was outstanding. The mac n yease (made gluten free) was phenomenal, the French toast was super good, hash browns were super bland m. Lowering rating from easy 5 stars to 1 because of insanely high ending cost. This food was all for me for brunch and I paid $80 in the end and the portions were on the smaller side too. They add a 20% service charge to my check and checks and it explained how all of that surcharge is retained by the restaurant. And it doesn't write the total price of the food ordered before the service charge, which I'm sure makes people tip based on the final total which is price gouged even more . Very confusing, and was not explained there's a 20% surcharge on everything. Very ridiculous, it should be priced into the food like 99.9% of other restaurants do. In end I paid $35 for a medium sized portion of vegan Mac and cheese, and $30 for a medium/small serving size of French toast with a side of hash browns. So $65 total+20% (tip for waiter) =$78 total. I paid $80 total which was including a 20% tip. I've been to several fancy vegan restaurants all over the us and in other countries and these prices are the most insane literally I've ever seen. I've had numerous meals for just myself costing around $100 from super high end spots. What I got today was the most expensive food I've ever eaten. Still I will say it was one of the best meals I've had but it is armed robbery and truly not right. The food cost of what I ordered was around $10 total. I paid $80 for it. Greed at the highest level and there's no possible excuse for this type of practice.

The food was very delicious and there is a lot of variety on menu! Our server was very nice and attentive as well. However- the pricing is what is keeping me from coming back. The entree prices are already steep and then there's 20% service charge on top that is not the tip/doesn't go to the server. So with tip for just two entrees (no apps/sides/drinks) the total was entirely too much to justify coming here again.

V- Vibrant atmosphere E - Environmentally friendlyG - Genuine servers A - Abundance of foodN - Nondiscriminatory environment

So so good. As an omnivore and aspiring vegetarian, I would go as far as becoming vegan if I could eat like this. Great dishes, presented beautifully. I was so impressed by the loaded nachos and crispy Korean tofu. The lettuce wrap will be my order next time.Service was super friendly and quick. Ed took very good care of our table. The restaurant was small and a bit crowded (for good reason) but had a lovely modern vibe.For all my meat eaters out there, I highly recommend!

I can't believe how good their mac and yease is. I'd take this over most of the real mac and cheeses I've had. It was literally unreal. I also really liked the carne asada. I love seitan and everything else was pretty authentic but the price point does make it harder to watch here as much as I'd want.the calamari lettuce wraps were good but the "calamari" was so thin it tasted like just fried crisps. Would have liked a meatier chew from the mushroom. But it was great in the contrast wrapped in lettuce.

100% vegan. Friendly service. Huge portions. Cute atmosphere! Fun to walk the shops after eating!

This review is for a door dash from plum. We had the oyster mushroom po-boy and a General Tso's cauliflower bowl. The po-boy was excellent and the Tso's bowl was just ok. Also the delivery charges were insane. $68.66 for a sandwich and a bowl was a bit much for a mile and a half delivery. They really rack it up, the cost of the food plus a service fee, a delivery fee, tip, tax, and an "other" fee too. (What is that "other" fee for?)It was a good po-boy but not nearly $70 bucks good. Sorry can't recommend.

Interesting vegan options! Overall enjoyed it. The vibe is cool. I don't drink alcohol and really enjoyed the variety of non alcoholic drinks they had