Sunlight Cafe

01/14/10

Three things you should know about the Sunlight Cafe.

by PierceMartin , Citysearch Contributor at Citysearch

Nutburgers. That's all you really need to know about this place. Oh, and the tempeh burger. Oh, and the freshly-made, mind-blowingly good lemon tahini dressing. That's really it. I could go on, justifying the seediness of the Sunlight's interior, soliloquizing about it as a piece of 60s history in the U district. Or, I could go on in general about the charm of a vegetarian place that allows itself to be a dive rather than looking like a Crate & Barrel blew up inside of it, but I won't do that. That would be kind of snobbish and not at all like the Sunlight Cafe. So, I'll leave you with three things: Nutburgers, Tempeh burgers, and Lemon-tahini dressing. 'Nuff said.

10/13/08

Mediocre at best

by suzymccormick at Citysearch

As a vegetarian I was excited to try this U district cafe. My husband and I were dissapointed by the limited and unimaginative menu. The waiter hovered over us while we were deciding and the restaurant itself was fairly rundown and not exactly clean. The food came rather quickly and it was decent but I don't think we will be returning, we go to Silence-Heart-Nest instead.

• Pros: vegetarian
• Cons: Bland food, run-down

09/01/08

Disorganized and suffering service, has corner on vegetarian dining, lemon tahini dressing the best

by ghs at Citysearch

I've eating at Sunlight many times over the years and appreciate their comfortable attitude and focus on serving tasty vegetarian food. I don't mind that the place desperately needs an upgrade from peeling paint and rocking counter stools and just assume things are pretty clean since you can look into the kitchen.

But Sunlight really needs a service upgrade. It's not that they have a bad attitude, in fact they're mostly nice! But dining there can be a painful experience with servers who seem to be overwhelmed or dazed don't even notice that you are waiting....and waiting. The food arrives fairly quickly, fortunately, however about half the time I have to get up to remind a server that something is forgotten. I used to be a server and it's painful for me to watch the disorganization.

It's depends on the timing and I appreciate Sunlight still serving vegetarian after all these years, plus the lemon tahini dressing is to die for, but I wish the servers could either get extra help or receive some training on how to wait tables. I think the whole place desperately needs an upgrade.

• Pros: lemon tahini dressing, good food
• Cons: service spotty

05/22/08

Tasty and Cheap!

by Glytterrie at Citysearch

I have been to Sunlight Cafe multiple times and each time gets better! The hummus and pita/veggie appetizer was good, with fresh veggies and creamy hummus. I have had both the nutburger and the portabello burger and both were fantastic! Their sandwiches all come with soup. One great thing about dining at a vegetarian restaurant means that you never have to ask or wonder if there are animal products in the soups. Hidden chicken broth for example. The yogi tea can be made with soy and is a cold weather treat. Their desserts look amazing although because the portions are so large, I havent tried one yet!

As to people who comment the service was slow, I have never noticed. However, both times I went it was seat yourself, so I can understand if someone stood around for ten minutes before being seated because they weren't aware.

• Pros: Healthy and tasty veggie fare, cool informal atmosphere
• Cons: none

05/16/08

I'm a HUGE Fan of This Place...They Know What They're Doing

by afurlan at Citysearch

This is a consistently phenomenal place to eat. From brunch to dinner, they take great pride in their food quality and they nail it every time. Some of my favorite brunch dishes are the amazing blueberry crunch waffles, and the scrambles that you can have with eggs or tofu!

For lunch or dinner, my favorites are the brown rice salad, and their tempeh is so good! You won't go wrong here for creative and solidly wonderful vegetarian dishes that are made with high quality food!

• Pros: Food Quality, Service is Friendly and Prompt, Creative Dishes
• Cons: None