Im very bias when I go to vegetarian places. I will be even more bias for this one as they are vegan. It's funny when vegetarian places make their dishes look like meat. Sometimes the tofu is made to look like a piece of chicken or fish. Why?!?! Tell you the truth, these places aren't even healthy as they are overloaded with oil. We ordered the potstickers, broccoli beef and sweet and sour pork. HAHA ridiculous that you would even call them by these names. Portions were very small and expensive. About $10 each dish. The satay that was on the table had no flavor at all. Full of oil but no flavor? that doesn't make any sense. It seriously tasted like burnt oatmeal. This confirms my reasoning that vegetarians do not have an appreciation for food/flavor. Never going here again. Will be a meat lover until the day I die! read more

Nestled next to Baskin Robbins, on one of the busiest corners in Mountain View, is a hidden gem. A 100% vegetarian Asian restaurant. While I was able to live in the Bay Area nineteen years without ever trying the food, I, along with many others, have certainly missed out on what is now a new favorite place to grab a delicious and nutritious meal. Garden Fresh specializes in vegetarian meat substitute meals. While I have not been a fan of any of the 'chikins,' 'churkins,' or anything else you want to rename the vegetarian meat substitutes, I recently sampled the 'chikin' stew at Whole Foods and became hooked. As the type of vegetarian who never craves meat nor actually likes meat, I was always skeptical about trying the meat substitutes preferring to stick with tofu or tempeh. Garden Fresh has completely changed my outlook. I pored over the menu and chose to order the hot and sour soup, the orange 'chicken,' and the kun pao eggplant-- a meal for fit for three people. While some of the other fake meat options, like the mushroom "fish" sounded interesting, I was not ready to journey into the meatier fake meats quite yet. Let's start with the soup. As someone who loves the Asian soups, I can never seem to find many that don't use chicken broth so I had very high hopes for this soup. They were a bit too high. While there was a plethora of tofu and vegetables in this soup, I wasn't really a fan of the flavor. It almost didn't seem to be strong enough and there was not even a bit of spice. However, the orange chicken thoroughly compensated! This dish was covered in an absolutely thick, flavorful orange sauce with tiny pieces of orange rind speckled throughout. I absolutely love orange sauce and have great difficulty finding it in stores included with anything but real chicken. This orange sauce rivaled the famous Panda Express in its flavor and consistency. It was not watery at all. The veggie chicken was absolutely delicious with a coating on the outside and a chewy inside. My mom, the chicken expert, even raved about how similar the taste was to actual chicken. My quantity of orange chicken was actually so large that I barely even tasted my eggplant. But, just like you can't avoid dessert, I still always have room for my favorite vegetable. The eggplant had a very thick sauce. I asked for it to be a tiny bit spicy, but I really didn't taste any. The tofu was fresh and chewy. The eggplant was also thoroughly cooked and on the softer side--exactly the consistency I like! There were supposed to also be water chestnuts in the dish. However, I didn't think the five (yes I counted) was enough as I really like the crunchiness of the water chestnuts with the tasty sauce and softer eggplant. Nonetheless, it was still a well-made dish. Garden Fresh does a superb job at saucing their entrees using flavorful, thick sauces that complete the dish. With ample options, I would probably be happy eating here for weeks. Asian restaurants, especially those that are solely vegetarian, seem to be a hit or miss. Garden Fresh is a bulls eye. read more

My mom just came back from yet another trip to Asia, so I wanted to round up the family for a nice vegetarian dinner - my mom is a good Buddhist that way and we like to support her occasionally. I suggested Lu Lai, but my dad swore that place was closed (confirmed) and my mom said there was a great place on El Camino. Earlier, I assumed she meant the place near Arby's, but then she said it was in Mountain View. So, I yelped vegetarian and Mountain View and Garden Fresh popped up. It turns out that this wasn't the place and my mom was thinking about the place near Arby's. But everyone met up here, so we decided to try it out anyway. It was pretty empty when we got there before 6pm and one of the ladies said we made it just in time. She was right. The place can seat a very limited amount of people, and we took up more than half the restaurant (there were ten of us). After we sat down, tons of people starting coming in, and most of them ordered take-out because there was no room to dine there. I felt sorry for the people who had to endure my family because we're a rowdy bunch with two small boys (2 and 6). Since there were 8 adults, we decided to try 8 different entrees, along with some starters. The corn and tofu chowder was alright, but my mom makes it way better. We all had fun munchin' on the deep fried "drumstick," which did taste like chicken! My nephews loved it. Here's the breakdown of what we had: (1) General's Chicken (our favorite! had to order another one) (2) Happy Family (not bad, but wouldn't get again) (3) Kung Pao Eggplant (really tasty) (4) Vegi Ribs (texture was spot on, very interesting) (5) Hundred-layer Tofu (no no no!) (6) Vegetarian Fish (yes yes yes!) (7) Green Boat (interesting, but I'll pass again) (8) Stir-Fried Vegi Chicken Chow Mein (decent, will get again) read more

It's rare for me to give out 1star reviews, and I wanted to give this place 2 stars for the decent service. But the food here let that ship sail...far far away. Love and I went here on the pretense (due to the outside decor) that it was healthy vegetarian food. We soon found out that this was not the case. Vegetarian doesn't necessarily equate to healthy dishes. Majority of the options here are all deep fried glazed with a high sodium MSG sauce. The scallion pancake we ordered was basically compared to vegetarian chicharron. You are better off with the original scallion pancake, which tastes better and is vegtarian as well. All our dishes were overly salty. We had to go next door to BR, too cool our overly stimulated tastebuds. I was really disappointed with this restaurant, due to their false advertising for appearing health conscious. Because what they serve is Americanized Chinese fast food. Besides, using tofu based products, which you can get at Trader Joe's and easily make yourself a healthy dish. There really isn't anything special about this place. The owners are nice, but as for the food... I would not come back here again. The worst part is that unless you come for lunch, when prices are decent. Dinner prices are ridiculous! To charge $3 for one small bowl of brown rice is outrageous. All other dishes ranged from $8-$12 dollars. If I want "vegetarian" chinese fast food, I can pretty much go anywhere, including Panda Express or the Ranch 99 Deli, and the prices charged there are what the food is worth. as for healthy authentic vegetarian cuisine? Garden Fresh= Epic Fail. read more

I found this place by chance here on Yelp and decided to give it a try Sunday night. Upon sitting down and looking at the menu I found a lot of American-Chinese food staples (General Tso's Chicken, Beef and Broccoli, etc.) which made me a bit nervous if the food would be good or not. Looking at the "Chef's Special" section, I was relieved to find actual gourmet Chinese food selections. In the end I had the following: 1) Basil with Kidney (九層塔腰花) To my surprise, this imitation really tasted like the real thing. I quite enjoyed this dish and would definitely order it again if I came back. 2) Singaporean Rice Noodles This was pretty average, neither bad nor good. The imitation meat in here did amuse me though. 3) Dou Chang (I forgot what the English name was) It was this mixed vegetable melody with tofu. This was quite yummy. Overall, I enjoyed this restaurant a lot. Like other Chinese vegetarian restaurants, for the portions given, it's quite expensive. Aside from the price, I am quite happy that Mountain View has a restaurant like this. --- I read Abbey G.'s review and she mentions how this restaurant's food is overly deep fried and full of sugar. Then I read that they ordered the General's Chicken. Honestly, what would you expect? General Tso's Chicken is basically chicken nuggets cooked with sugary sauce. (Actually, we Chinese people don't eat this dish at home.) The other dish they ordered was the scallion pancake. What is the cooking method for scallion pancakes? Deep fry of course. It's a bit unfair to say that the restaurant is unhealthy and all about deep frying when the foods you order can only be cooked that way. read more

AWESOME imitation meat vegetarian food. It's really a super homey place. The owners are also so special. You really get the food that hits the spot with these vegetarian dishes. We ordered the sweet and sour pork and broccoli and beef. Even though, we thought it didn't exactly taste like meat. I think it's the best of its' kind. The staff and owners welcome every customer and give great recommendations. The food comes out quickly. Their prices are so reasonable, I almost feel like they should charge more for their wonderful creation. So many other vegan places jack up the price so high! PS Their vegan and gluten free cakes are OMG good! I have never tasted anything gluten free and vegan, so moist and delicious before! If you haven't tried, try it! read more

A damn good restaurant but after tonight experience I probably won't return again! At check out we pulled out the charge card. The lady that seemed to be the owner pointed to the door and said cash only and credit card isn't honored. When we were about to walk twelve blocks round trips for ATM withdrawal, we checked into Yelp's restaurant page for payment terms. "Yes"! Charge Cards are honored!! At that point the owner reluctantly agreed but still murmured they would prefer CASH!! Hell yes, cold green is always better! If the restaurant owner rather inconvenience her patrons in order to gain a few more bucks from charge commission, I wonder what else in the kitchen are they doing to screw us!? Originally this was going to be a 2 Stars Review for the delicious food they offered. Now putting their integrity in question, they are lucky the minimum Yelp rating is One Star! read more

We are not vegans, but we really like the food, especially the veggie salmon steaks and veggie lemon chicken. They are very much like the real thing. We used to live in Mountain View and came here often, but moved to Cupertino a few years ago. During the covid19 lockdown, I have come back for take out orders, and the food is still good, and the owner is still very friendly. Try the entire menu; they are very creative and skilled chefs! read more

I used to be a vegetarian, but started eating meat again a few years ago. (Please don't hate me for this, all you veggies out there!) However, I still enjoy vegetarian food, and eating less meat is always a good thing so I had to try Garden Fresh. The restaurant is tiny and there were a couple shady looking customers dining in, so I ordered my food to go. I went with the Spicy Bean Curd, which was one of the specials. The server was sweet and friendly and asked if I wanted it medium spicy or very spicy. I went with very spicy. She apparently prefers cash to credit cards though, because when I handed her my Master Card, she asked if I had cash. I only had a $50 bill, and she smiled and said "Oooh, rich boy!". It was pretty funny. When I got home, I opened the styrofoam box and saw a GIGANTIC portion of food. There was enough for two or three meals, and it smelled awesome. I took a bite and had to refrain myself from shoveling the rest into my mouth immediately. It was the best Chinese food I had tasted in a long, long time! There were lots of pieces of tofu and gluten, and hot chili peppers and two scoops of brown rice. I am definitely going to be eating here again! read more

I get why people are enthusiastic about this place--I would be thrilled to have a good source of vegetarian Chinese food where I could order anything--but I don't understand all the rave reviews. If I lived locally I would give it a second chance to see if it has certain dishes where it shines, but I was not impressed by my first visit. The restaurant is very casual (not a problem, just an observation). I commend them for their super fast kitchen as well. My husband and I went in for lunch and ordered the sweet & sour "pork," and the General Tso's "chicken." The General Tso's was definitely the better dish, though it was only "ok"--very pungently spiced and while reminiscent of the real thing, I've had WAY better vegetarian versions of General Tso's. The sweet & sour dish was rather bland, and the fake meat not as good as the chicken. The soup that came first was so bland it was inedible--weak broth, some frozen vegetables, served room temperature. I also wish they had reusable chopsticks instead of the disposable ones because that meant I had to choose the reusable fork instead and it feels weird eating Chinese food with a fork. read more

Been here three times now. The concept of vegan Chinese sounds good but I am always left unimpressed by the food. Let's talk good points first: - pan fried drunken noodles are amazing, with soy chicken that tastes great and is well seasoned. Great vegetables too. Must get. - the scallion pancakes are the best appetizer. Love it. - yummy soup Bads: - orange chicken is more fried bread than the actual "meat" - beef broccoli was okay, but "beef" wasn't seasoned well Service is fast and owner is sweet of course since it's not very crowded and it's family owned. However when we went, the inside was very hot with no fans running and there were flies flying around us. Not a comfortable place to eat in. read more

The place is very quaint & very small, maybe 6 tables at the most. Like the other reviewers said, you do not come to this place for atmosphere; you come here for large portions of textured soy & gluten vegetarian goodness. My friend got the sweet & sour 'pork' & I opted for the 'beef' broccoli. The food was delicious, but my friend and I both found ourselves inspecting our plates to see if it really was not meat, because it was that close. The ladies who work here are so sweet as well. They make sure you take all of your food with you. Don't want you to waste anything. When we were leaving, one noticed I hadn't polished off my beverage, & she said 'you aren't going to finish your apple juice? IT'S ORGANIC!' 'Oh, I'm sorry' I replied, kind of embarrassed & quickly went back to the table & finished my drink. She totally reminded me of my mom, that is, if my mom were asian & served fake meat for dinner. read more

I've been going to Garden Fresh for over two years; at this point, the ladies and I (and Kevin, too -- he's the only male waiter I ever notice) are on a first-name basis. They knew when my boyfriend and I broke up. They knew when I started seeing someone new. I bring dates around to this place like I would bring 'em home to my parents. That said, the food is delicious and varied -- the menu has fairly recently expanded to Singapore-style noodles, vegan salmon, and tofu curry. The portions are generous. The service is fast and courteous to say the least, the waitresses stopping occasionally to chat up a guest like they grew up together if business is slow. I've been vegan for years, and gone everywhere from Caf Gratitude to Happy Bamboo to Millennium -- only Garden Fresh has me in an-oh-my-god-it's-payday-time-for-lunch vice grip. They knew my favorite soup by my third visit; they chide me for always trying to buy the same dish. They know when I've been sick, and they know hot and sour soup is the best way to recover. May everyone stop by the Cheers of vegan restaurants at least once, regardless of diet. read more

I've eaten here twice. The food is pretty average chinese food. People looking to eat healthy should beware, most of the dishes are either stir fried or deep fried. The prices were a little high considering most of the items were tofu based. The waitress was sneaky and recommended we get the a la carte dishes. Little did we know those dishes average around $12 each, and add to that two bowls of rice, which they charged $6.50, bringing our lunch of 4 entries to $60 after tax/tip! If you're not vegetarian (and even if you are), I would recommend going to another restaurant. read more

I give them credit for the meat substitutes but their cooking really isn't very good. So much Chinese food in this country isn't really Chinese and is too full of sugar, oil and salt and this place was no exception. If you are skipping meat for health reasons then why eat all that other crap? I think it was prepackaged meat substitute products cooked with prepackaged sauces. There were four of us, we tried many dishes and they barely had any vegetables at all. Just meat substitutes with heavy sauces. The textures of the meat substitutes was chewy leaving a few of us needing a toothpick. The dumplings seemed to be hand-made but were oily, under-cooked and doughy. The only thing "garden fresh" was the nicely not overcooked broccoli with the orange 'steak.' The brown rice was good too. I wish Chinese restaurants would abandon the idea of having 50 things on the menu and concentrate on doing fewer things well an read more

What a lovely restaurant! I went here with a friend (she's vegetarian, and I'm dairy free, so vegan was perfect!) I loved that we were not rushed at any point, and we were able to hear ourselves talk. For appetizers, I have to against the Yelp consensus and say that the scallion pancakes are not good here. I was super disappointed. The dumplings with soy sauce, in comparison, were divine. I had the duck, which had an interesting crispy texture on the outside and then a more traditional tofu type texture inside. My friend ordered the basil tempura, which was good but not particularly special. I'm a huge dork, so I actually got some mint chocolate chip ice cream in a to-go container. SO GOOD! I have had a lot of different vegan ice creams but this came the closest to actual "ice cream". (That's not necessarily the "best" or the "most interesting flavor" but just closest to what I remember ice cream as tasting like!) Overall, I think this is a can't miss restaurant if you are vegan and in this area. read more

"That's it, I have decided." ~ My girlfriend, just before announcing we're going to Garden Fresh for dinner. No, I have no idea why she has to preface it with such a declaration, but I've got a bit of a Pavlovian response to the statement now. If she's decided, I'm automatically hungry. I've absolutely loved every single thing I've tried here, which is saying a bit as we've probably cleared a third of the expansive entrée list by now. Their crispy fried sesame beef is amazing, their veggie bundles wrapped in ham are amazing, their duck is amazing...are you getting the idea, here? And it's all vegan, and unlike a lot of Chinese it never sits like a rock in the tummy no matter how silly you stuff yourself. And you will either stuff yourself, or you will get a doggie bag: they don't skimp on the portion size. (You could leave your leftovers I guess, but that's just not an option with food this tasty.) The staff's ultra-friendly too and recognizes us immediately even though I wouldn't call us regulars (yet...it's starting to turn into a deliciously biweekly thing for us). read more

I love this place so much!! It feels good to support a local small business- especially a vegan one. Plus, the food is so yummy and the service is so friendly. Highly recommend. :) read more

Love this place, black pepper chicken always hits

I was going to give this 4 stars, because I liked it and definitely want to go back and eat again. Then I remembered that I completely forgot none of the fried "chicken" or "chicken" Singaporean noodles were actual "chicken". I was slightly confused while reading the menu since I was aware we were going to the Vegan / Vegetarian restaurant. They had Chicken this and Chicken that. I thought, hmm, maybe it's one of those Chicken only eating Vegetarian places. Still it didn't click. I had a long day. After we ordered the Scallion Pancakes (these are a must-have here, deep fried goodness), probably one of the most popular appetizers, Potstickers (thick and yummy), General's Chicken and Singaporean Noodles with Chicken. Steamed brown rice comes with the food, as well as hot & sour soup, they also have tofu and corn chowder. The soup is served in the beginning as soon as you place your order. While ordering a Chocolate Mint ice cream to share, it then hit me on how the ice cream was Vegan. I never had vegan ice cream before, it was pretty darn tasty and interesting. I inquired to my party about the "chicken" and then found out everything really was Vegan and none of the "chicken" was actual chicken. I thought everything was really good. I liked General's Chicken the most and the Pancakes. The noodles were good, but the flavor was not my most favorite. This is a very small, almost a hole-in-the-wall family style place with maybe 10 tables. Service is excellent. Waters were refilled before they became empty. It's not one of those luxury fancy places, it's definitely a place you'll go once and either love it or hate it. You'll then either, never go back or soon become a regular. They are open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. read more

My expectations for vegetarian "meat" weren't very high, but I was definitely very nervous and anxious about trying it. What if I hate it? What if it's disgusting? I didn't want to have to pay $10 for something disgusting. I came here for dinner with a group of veggie friends the other night. I was seriously the only meat eater of the group (which is a big deal because the other 99% of my friends eat meat). I ordered the sweet and sour "pork" which tasted something like the real thing, just with some sort of chewy stuff in the place of pork. I'm almost tempted to compare it to Trader Joe's Orange Chicken, just without the meat. I really liked the sweet and sour soup. I got to the restaurant late, and didn't know that what everyone else had was free, so I ordered the soup. It was something like $2.50 for a large serving. It didn't taste like it was vegetarian, which is definitely a plus. It had a good, thick consistency and I liked that it was a little spicy, but not too spicy. They serve brown rice here. It's sort of hard and chewy, but not bad. My only experience eating brown rice outside of Garden Fresh, was when I attempted making it myself. It's supposed to be a lot healthier, but since I was born and bred on Japanese short grain white rice, I definitely prefer it. My only gripes are that there was lipstick on my water glass and I had to ask for chopsticks. (Come on, Chinese restaurants ALWAYS have chopsticks on the table. The norm is to ask for FORKS.) read more

DO NOT EAT HERE! Dropped by here for lunch..I'm sorry but there were flies everywhere! Especially in the bathroom! I had some flies go straight into my mouth as I was taking a bite. The eggplant with water chestnuts had seriously ONE piece of water chestnut and it was extremely greasy. I do like that they served brown rice but all the flies and the greasy sauce completely turned me off. I think the health department needs to visit this place. Utterly disgusting. THIS PLACE IS DIRTY!!! read more

Clean, fast, friendly, delicious, low prices = 5* (Maybe not the right place for a romantic candlelight dinner ;-) ) read more

Tofu that doesn't squish between your teeth? Really? When I first came to this place I was worried... for starters, I'm probably the only vegetarian on this planet that doesn't like tofu, so naturally, I was already quite hesitant about eating here. But the reviews were great and even my meat eating friends raved about it. We ordered the: -Hunan Veggie Chicken -General's Veggie Chicken -Chow Mein The Veggie Hunan and General's Chicken were very good but the Chow Mein lacked in flavor a little... not to worry, they had Sriracha sauce so we fixed that up quick. I enjoy eating here because the tofu is fried, has texture and makes you feel like you're biting into something with substance instead of that squishy nasty feeling that tofu gives you, like you're biting into rubber bands or something. Bleffk. All in all, I would certainly recommend this place to other vegetarians that hate tofu as well as those with celiac, as they have gluten free dishes. Yum! Oh and also, 72 days meat free and I've never felt better! read more

I'm a carnivore, I like meat. I love meat. So when your vegetarian friends are like dude, let's go here. You need to go here. Why? Because it's fake meat. I have no clue what this stuff is made of but the texture and taste are just spot on. I've only had two dishes here First dish, the general chicken (I'm sure I couldn't tell the difference between real general chicken and this stuff). The second dish was the curry chicken, the only weird thing about this was the chicken tasted like chicken nuggets. A tad unusual but nonetheless quite good. -1 star for not letting your meals come with rice or any type of small soup or anything like most chinese places. Everything just costs $$. My friend told me this is the place he and his other vegetarian friends go when they are succumbing to their desire for meat but don't want to break their vow of vegetarianism (I think that's the word O_O) read more

Happed in over the weekend since in the area. Had the stuffed tofu with minced vegetables. I was given soup which was eh, typical starchy with cutely finely diced tofu cubes, peas and carrots. Stuffed tofu was ok but per all the rave Yelp reviews on this jaunt expected something a bit more in taste and technique for what was presented. Then came the bill which was ALMOST $15.00. Not quite but about a 40 cent difference. I put out my card and I was looked at like a idiot. "You don't have cash! We have a $15 minimum for ccd." I'm sorry I must have missed the NON EXISTENT invisible sign on the door that was supposed to say, "CASH ONLY or $15 for ccd payment!" I'll stick to the myriad of great Buddhist vegan jaunts in San Jose who have a wide variety of dishes, always at a consistent price and if they are cash only.. YOU AT LEAST KNOW IT WALKING IN! read more

We love Garden Fresh's Chinese vegan food! It is owned by a delightful couple, who remember us and our favorites even though our frequency is about once a month. Our family loves the walnut shrimp, basil tempura, and crispy noodles. It is great for takeout since the ambience for seated dining just isn't there. read more

On my list of things to do in 2003... 1. Go snowshoeing 2. Swim with dolphins 3. Find an awesome Chinese restaurant 4. Get a life [...] As of last night, #3 is checked off with a big, fat permanent marker. My sister raved about Garden Fresh in Mt. View years ago, so when I needed to find a good restaurant for my birthday dinner last night, I checked into Garden Fresh. I noticed that they had a location in Palo Alto -- decision made! With a wide selection of dishes, it was a little hard to choose. But since it was my birthday, I selected the chicken (tofu) Chow Mein + 2 appetizers: Basil Mu-Shu Rolls and Vegetable Potstickers. Every morsel of every dish was amazing! Honestly. The potstickers were the best I've ever had, hands down. We cleaned our plates so thoroughly that it looked like they forgot to feed us. The icing on the cake: We got a chance to speak at length with the owner, Alice. Her pride in the restaurant and the food was inspiring. She told us that, 7 mornings a week, she travels north from her home on the peninsula, to SF Chinatown to buy the day's vegetables. That's fresh. She spends the morning before lunch hand-chopping all the vegetables for the day, along with all the other prep that needs to happen. During the 2-hour "break" between lunch and dinner, she's back to work, preparing for dinner. What surprised me was her level of energy at the end of this day, and her positive attitude. Wow. She makes it a point to connect with the customers in such a friendly, nice way. While she was talking with us, she offered us 2 small bowls of soup to try -- on the house. She is very proud of her soups, deservedly so. She brought us Hot and Sour Soup and Corn and Tofu Soup, both of which were so tasty! I'll tell ya, I'm hard pressed to visit *any other* Chinese restaurant after having eaten here. Delicious, healthy food prepared with care and love. She deserves to thrive for as many years as she wants to be in business. EAT HERE! it will exceed your expectations of Chinese food, let alone Vegan Chinese. read more

I admit, I have been all over the world and to some excellent eating establishment, so I am hard to please and uncompromising, but this place is just terrible. I cannot imagine all these glowing 5 reviews ... are these people real or were they given some amazing drug that I somehow missed? We have been here a few times, and some of the times the food was OK, but tonight is what prompted me to write a review because it was just dreadful. My girlfriend and I went here for dinner tonight since I have recently decided to try to get less meat and processed food in my diet and we are searching to find out what is available and for a really good place. The place is small to the point of being cramped, on your way in or out or to the restroom count on being uncomfortable or hitting someone's table, silverware or food. Almost as soon as we ordered our food was delivered. So either this was mass produced pre-made food that was just microwaved or it was already made in advance and just sitting there. That would explain the wilted dull look of my vegetables. Thinking back on it I should have just said, I am not going to eat this, but one wants to at least try something to be fair. The menu is a mixture of vegetarian dishes and these faux soy meat product dishes. This evening we tried one or each. I got bok choy with black mushrooms, she got a kind of fake salmon dish. My bok choy was wilted and the black mushrooms ... I don't know what they were, perhaps fake or something, because there were no gills on the bottoms of them, it's like they were sliced off ... something really wrong. Her salmon was like a frozen TV dinner. I was mostly edible, it wan't terrible, it just had a texture and surface that was very off-putting. The beverages menu has no fresh fruit juice. I got bland apple juice that tasted like it came from a box. The service was non-existent. They charge $1.65 for one of the smallest driest bowls of rice I have ever had, and it was all mushed together in the middle like a brick. I mean this was just slop food, and this place is a slop place, and I can't imagine what those who are saying different are thinking. Two microwave dinners would have been infinitely prefereable to this oblivious and uncaring place that says it is a restaurant. read more

I've been eating here for years. They have a good balance of "healthy" and "unhealthy" dishes to suit my particular mood. One of the few veg places I've been to with *good* hot and sour soup. I've been dying to ask for the recipe. Somebody reviewed and said that they use canned veggies. I am assuming that they are blind....or retarded. There is a fridge in the dining area where you can clearly see all of the fresh veggies they use. When you order something with sprouts or snow peas or whatever you can see then reach in and grab em before heading to the kitchen. Speaking of fresh veggies, they do an excellent job of cooking them. Not too soft, not too firm. Just right. overcooked veggies = no nutrition.....you'll find none of that here. They offer dishes on a sliding scale of spiciness. Don't be a wuss, get it extra spicy. The food preparation is FAST. Crazy fast. I ate there for lunch every day for 2 years for this reason. Not once during that time was I ever dissatisfied. I've had nearly everything on the menu. My faves: Singapore style rice noodle Mongolian chicken Hot+sour soup (a big bowl) mu shu rolls corn chowder veggie ham Best of all, the prices are reasonable. Take out service is fast and reliable. The staff are attentive, although (since it's so awesome) it has a tendency to get packed to capacity during lunchtime. read more

I ordered here for a work Christmas party. My boss is vegan with a huge list of dietary restrictions, so I chose this place. Even he couldnt tell it was vegan! Everything was wonderfully seasoned and the texture of the tofu did mimic the texture of chicken and pork. Amazing! I found this place through Yelp, and Yelp does not lie. read more

Expect a very peaceful, quiet, intimate dinner if you come here. They don't play music, and it is a relatively small dining area. The female employee working tonight was very kind and outgoing. She remembered the order of the people behind us, even though they hadn't been in "months". She convinced a group of guys to stay and dine in, and take out whatever they didn't finish. She insisted that a man who came for takeout have a free bowl of soup, typically only for customers dining in. The soup was very spicy, so unfortunately I couldn't finish it. My boyfriend ordered the spicy Mongolian "beef", and he was very, very satisfied with the spice level. I ordered the crunchy sesame "chicken", and it was some of the best I've had in a while...and it wasn't even real chicken! The sauce they serve with it is so delicious that I poured it on the brown rice we shared, as well. The potstickers were pretty average, and very doughy. The soy sauce was very, very salty, and I probably wouldn't use it here again. I loved this experience, and my boyfriend and I decided that whenever we want Chinese takeout in Palo Alto, we will just come here! read more

Terrible service on a slow night with maybe one other table there eating. We ordered, had questions, and asked for the menu at the table so we could order more. No one ever came buy to take our 2nd order, ask how our 1st order was and we had to hunt all over a very small place to find our server when we wanted to leave. Considering how small this place is, it shouldn't be so difficult and the servers should be much more attentive. For the true vegan, this should be a good place. For the veggie lover like me who cannot eat tofu, the small amount of tofu that must have snuck it's way into my bao (despite waitress' assurance there was no tofu) it certainly wasn't worth being very sick for the next two days. If you like tofu this is for you. If you have issues as I do, go somewhere else where they are abundantly clear on their ingredients for EACH dish. Some of the sauces were okay, but there was very little I could eat except steamed veggies. Not worth it for me. ~Ms Ali read more

Wil J. wrote and suggested this place to be added to my Palo Alto vegan dining list. Thank you for the information. I heard of the Mountain View location but never had the pleasure of eating there. This location is where a Korean restaurant used to be, next to Mandarin Gourmet. It's very clean. Staff is friendly and helpful. The food vary from the usual Vietnamese vegan places (more Chinese) and from Loving Hut (no crazy vegan literature to scare people off), which is nice. Iced water with lemon is also a great touch. I ordered spicy string beans. My vegetarian coworker who's never had Asian style fake meat before was overjoyed to eat sweet and sour pork again. The green onion pancakes were too greasy. I'll probably forgo next time. Soup was slightly bland but nothing white pepper can't fix. Other than those minor flaws, their food was tasty, vegetables were cooked just right. and our glasses were constantly refilled. We enjoyed our meals. Will be back! read more

Finally checked this location out, we've been going to the Mountain View location for over 10 years as fellow business owners and it's the best vegan Chinese food ever! We stopped here in Palo Alto and love this spot and to our pleasant surprise they serve beer and wine at this location. We always get the Black pepper chicken, veggie ham and chow Mein, always super delicious and amazing flavor (I did notice PA dishes were a bit spicier but I'm OK w that!) the wine and beer was a nice lil benefit as we were winding down from a stressful day, not to mention Our server was super sweet and friendly. read more

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [Clears Throat, Regains Sultry Baritone...] I was pretty excited to see that Garden Fresh had opened it's Palo Alto location. The owner (Alice) told me about a few months ago and I've been googling from time to time for updates (I don't make it out to Mountain View as often as I used to). Point: I'd been going to their previous location for Years, even before ownership changed. I miss Jin. I walked in for lunch today and Alice seemed genuinely shocked to see me and asked how I found her. Ok, I could have really taken that the wrong way, but it was too funny not to laugh. She remembered my usual (which surprised me since I have a bad habit of disappearing for months to years at a time). Point: Alice creates a warm comfortable atmosphere for her patrons. I recommend... Experimenting! It's not about a single dish here, but the fact that Everything on the menu is Vegan (and delicious). For Vegan Cuisine, the menu is large and available online at their web site. http://gardenfresh.us/lunch_dinner.html http://gardenfresh.us/chef_special.html As far as my favorites: I always enjoy the Hot & Sour soup, the scallion pancake is a guilty pleasure and the General's Chicken is an easy default. The Crispy Fried Tofu Stuffed with Minced Vegetables is a good one to share. Take medium sized group, get a bunch of different items and find a favorite (or 3) of your own. Did I mention I'm really happy about this new location? read more

The Scallion Pancakes are absolutely insane! Yum yum! This is the kind of place that you'll have to find your favorites.. it's the vegetarian fake meat king of thing so everybody reacts differently to certain dishes. Overall, I've mostly enjoyed the fish, the pancakes, the sweet & sour chicken and the orange peel beef... I also love that it is served with healthy brown rice. There was an ownership or management change a while back.... can't say I was happy about that. The food suffered for a short time as did the hospitality... they used to offer a bowl of corn chowder on the house while waiting for your take out order, but since the change... we haven't been handed many bowls of soup.. prices increased as well, but no worries. If I stepped in today not knowing the past and not having a comparison... I'd still recommend this restaurant. Oh, it's definitely a very casual atmosphere... lol.. in fact, it could use some spackle & paint.. read more

I've been coming to Garden Fresh since it first opened. Alice, the owner, is part of the reason. She is there everyday welcoming customers as if they were guests in her own home; She is incredibly personable, kind, and makes customers feel like family. All the food is vegan Chinese, with some flavor profiles designed for a more Americanized palate. If you're looking for authentic Chinese flavors, don't expect to find that here. What's important is Garden Fresh offers vegan/vegetarian translations of some of our favorite Chinese-American dishes. For example, the broccoli beef dish does resemble broccoli beef. The "meat" of the dish has some resemblance to real beef -- from taste to texture, color and flavor. All meat alternatives bear semblance to the actual meat you would expect (i.e. Veggie ham looks like ham, veggie duck has the gaminess of duck, etc). My favorites are crispy noodle and basil tempura (a more recent addition). Expect medium to high sodium content (as you would in most Chinese restaurants) and gluten (a lot of vegetarian "meat alternatives" contain gluten) -- so definitely ask if the dish contains gluten if you eat GF. read more

This place is tiny, sitting is not great. If you order food from here, make sure you order take out. Its not a place to sit down and eat. They make some amazing vegetarian food though! read more

Tasty, satisfying vegetarian entrees, served quickly and with a smile. I'm thrilled that we won't have to drive all the way to Mountain View to enjoy the hundred-layer tofu (my husband's favorite), lettuce cups (my favorite) or the famous can't-eat-just-one scallion pancakes. And I could devour a zillion of those tiny crispy eggrolls ...just thinking about them makes my mouth water! read more