Goldengate Cafe

Great food. Typically you feel like you just went to see your grandmother or just went to church when you’re eating here. Dr. Bob is pretty chill. Overall just a very comfortable and enjoyable place to be.

Goldengate café is part of the brightly colored, garden centered Innate healing center. The café part is small (there are also some tables outside). Our group of three were the only ones there. The owner was also filling the role of server and cook. The result was a quiet, intimate lunch that felt like eating in someone’s home. (There was the friendly family pet that stopped by as well.)
We split the black beans nachos to start. The chips were just okay, but the generous toppings, including a really good black bean mix, were great. I also tried the soup of the day, a peanut gumbo. Awesome flavor, enough peanut flavor without being overwhelming. I had the falafel wrap and enjoyed it. It was filling, flavorful and healthy. A friend had the power wrap and said the same. Lastly we had the tropical smoothie. Delicious.
Overall a great place to go to have a healthy vegetarian lunch and not miss the meat.

excellent food here. They have a good thing going here. Definitely not the place for those that are uptight. I myself enjoy the relaxed approach here. Definitely order their sprouted lentil salad.

I’ve been vegan for 15 years and am always looking for more places to eat but unfortunately I can’t get past the filthiness of the place; I had flies competing with my food that I couldn’t eat it. I’ve tried to give it a chance twice but it really is not for me. I’m not pretentious and require fine dining experiences, but fruit flies diving and burrowing in my salad is a little too much. They also had a cat in the restaurant that was adorable; although, I love cats and have one of my own, animals should not be in a restaurant.

Let me preface this by saying that I could be stereotyped as a hippy, preferably prankster. This should never be confused with hipster, which is way less fun to party with but you are less likely to get fleas. Rainbow gatherings, Phish shows, summer music festivals and the like are a part of my summer entertainment diet. I am no stranger to freaky people. These events are usually chocked full of all sorts of fantastic creatures undergoing various levels of drug induced euphoria and engage in strange behavior. They make me laugh uncontrollably and are subject to public pranks. My favorite is the Wookiie. Wooks are an interesting sub culture. You can identify a wook by the bare feet, dreadlocks, buck teeth, wild eyes and fairly aromatic pungent organic aroma. Wooks are usually accompanied by a dog, a backpack, and a skateboard. Golden Gate Café is wookiie heaven.
Drum circles annoy me. Golden Gate has them all the time. I have been dragged to the full moon beatings on rare occasions. It really makes me disengage me from my counter culture roots. Nothing worse than the sound and smell of twenty drummers competing for the lead rhythm like burning popcorn in the microwave. The crowd is overly optimistic and full of people in need of hugs and spare change. I wonder what the neighbors think? I heard a rumor that there were people squating in the house next door until the bank got things cleared up. How random.
I have had some of the food here before, nothing really sticks out. It reminds me of the local veggie places in the neighborhoods in Eugene. Piles of raw stuff in a bun or a corn starch container with soy based condiments/​dressing is barely food. Average at best. The raw juices and smoothie options are a nice choice. The atmosphere is pleasant and eclectic and smells of nag champa. There is lots of books and political propaganda littered about. I’m hard pressed to rave about vegan food unless it has some level of preparation. Any food i could make on a tailgate in the parking lot of a grocery store looses. I do have to give them props for being a long standing vegetarian spot and keeping doors open on that stretch of Woodward. Definitely a place to ride bikes to and sip on juice in the sun, just don’t feed the wooks and wash your hands.

One of those surprising finds in Highland Park. Food is prepared with mostly local ingredients. Vegan/​Vegetarian only…

Golden Gate Café feels like a find. Small but comfortable space with a definite vibe. Vegetarian and Vegan only — which I like to do quite often (but not always!) :-)
Let me say, this place is NOT for everyone. I get the feeling no douche bag would be seen dead in this place, for example. WAY to laid back and NO PRETENSES in sight. I want to make sure to leave a positive impression as it was a positive experience but I struggle to do so without putting people off because it is different.
I ordered Arame, Tabouli, and a carrot/​ginger smoothie.
Arame was doable but really out of season (my fault, I mean — who wants hot soup when it’s 90 outside, right?) Much as I wanted seaweed soup, and I kind of did, I just could not wait unfortunately so the suggestion of stir fry instead was made and I went with it.
HUGE portions. Really, a lot of food. Also very tasty. I like that I could taste all of the flavors of my food not just the particular spice they favored. I was also asked to taste to see if I wanted it done differently which was nice. It was fine as it stood.
Parking mid-​day on a Thursday was not a problem. There were a few people inside, and everyone was very friendly. We all had a nice non-​invested conversation and it was all good. Felt very welcoming.
The kitchen is right in front of you so you can see what is going on. It felt a little like a kitchen in someone’s house though so if you are not up for that, could cause a start. But this IS a Café — so don’t confuse it when you go in!
This is not a traditional restaurant so if you are looking for that you probably want to look elsewhere. It felt like a place to hang out and chill out. Wow, am I dating myself!
Will go again and do recommend as a try it.

Pretty cool café. Good place to go if you’re looking for a vegetarian or vegan meal. Drum circle on Wednesday night is very popular; there’s always a motley group of people on Wednesdays that come here. Friendly staff and crowd, reasonably priced drinks and good food, what more could you want at a café? In the summertime the place is usually inundated with people during the drum circle nights but it winds down to a comfortable size in the fall. The usual crowd consists of Wayne State students, people from the suburbs and people nearby the café.