Bravo! Cafe and Bakery
Restaurant, Coffee/Tea/Juice, Grocery/Bakery/Deli
$ - inexpensive
American, Chinese
An all vegetarian cafe and bakery in St. Paul
This all vegetarian cafe and bakery has an extensive selection of teas and baked goods, but also a selection of vegetarian Chinese entrees, all for $5.00 with rice.
Besides the standard tofu dishes, they feature vegan dishes such as Peking mock pork and orange mock beef.
Vegan wedding cakes can be made upon request, but they don't usually have vegan baked goods available in the store.
Bravo is also a coffee shop, but they only have a few tables and some counter seating. However, they do have free wi-fi.
- Wireless (free)
Added by GBS on Aug 3 06 (updated Jul 18 07)
Reviews
Bravo is a cute little bakery/cafe with an assortment of vegan Chinese-entrees and some vegan cakes and sweets. Their vegan spongecake is super-moist and subtly sweet and one of the best I've had. Their dishes are all light, tasty and simple. Prices are extremely low ($5 a dish for entrees, $3 or less for desserts) and the service is fast and friendly. This cafe only holds about a dozen people, so space might be an issue for larger parties. Otherwise, highly recommended.
I love this place! I could see how maybe some people would be turned off by it, but my dining experience has always been good there. They have lots of different entrees available that are vegetarian and I believe some are vegan as well. They also have tea drinks and vegan/vegetarian desserts.
If you go there for your first time, I recommend trying the orange mock-chicken. Good stuff.
Pros: Good food, reasonable prices (you can get full for under $10 no problem), and friendly atmosphere
Cons: It seems like nobody who works there can speak English very well, which can be frustrating when asking for specifics in food ingredients and drink orders.
It's a pretty small price to pay for some good cheap Asian cuisine.
Nice idea; not sold on the place, however.
I appreciate that all of the food is vegetarian, but I didn't enjoy either my husband's or my food.
I ate here last night with my wife, and we tried three different entrees, all of which were quite good. We had the mock fish w/ broccoli, szechuan tofu (aka ma po tofu), and the tofu with brown sauce.
All three were very tasty, and we were really impressed with the mock fish, which is hand-made by the chef. I don't usually like most mock meats, but this one was very good.
The food is ridiculously cheap, at $4.75 for a plate with a big scoop of rice and an entree. The owners are also really nice, and helpful in figuring out what was vegan, as the mock beef has egg whites.
There are two things that would make this a more attractive place to eat. One would be a larger selection of entrees. Right now they just have ten different things to choose from. Second, they didn't have any vegan baked goods. The owner told us that they occasionally do, but it's not a regular thing.
I got breakfast here during my last trip to Mpls. I had the mock chicken, which was pretty good. They also have unique green tea, which the owner says she has to have her family send to her because she can't find it here. Overall the food was good - I do wish they did carry vegan sweets in the bakery.
I just ate here today for lunch. I had the mock fish with mushrooms. It comes heaping on a plate with white rice - all for just $4.75! My girlfriend got the mock chicken with broccoli. The mock fish was 1000x better than the mock chicken. The mock fish is soooooooo good.
The owner doesn't speak English well, but she did tell us that some of the dishes have egg whites in them. Be sure to ask before ordering.
I'm not entirely sure, but I think they make their own mock meats from scratch.
*edit/update* They now offer brown rice for something like .50 or 1.50 extra on any entree. They also now offer potstickers which are pretty good. You get 20 potstickers for $6.95, way better than any other restaurant. I love the filling, but sometimes they are a bit too greasy. The entrees are now clearly labeled vegan and non-vegan and everything is still vegetarian. I've tried all the vegan entrees and I still like the mock fish & broccoli or fried tofu with brown sauce the best.**
I *finally* tried this place out. I love it! So very cute inside, and the (I presume) owner was soooo nice to us. We asked about vegan items, she gladly told us about which items were not vegan (namely the mock beef). I had the mock fish with broccoli. I thought it was super tasty and the texture was awesome. The broccoli was probably the most fresh and tasty I've ever had in any Asian dish from any restaurant. My fiance had the pepper steak dish, which included tomato and green peppers -- also very fresh and tasty.
Overall, my experience was wonderful. They even had some vegan cakes there, and can make whole vegan cakes upon request. The service was awesome, the woman (I assume the owner) was so very helpful and cheerful and nice to us.
It is a very small space, so be aware if you have a large group, the entire place could fit maybe 12 people comfortably (even though the Fire Dept. says 30). I completely intend to go back and try out all their dishes. I really want to support any completely vegetarian resturant and encourage others to do the same.