Alfalfa Restaurant

We tried this place to accommodate someone who is vegan. The restaurant had a cool atmosphere inside and our server was very nice and attentive. But for the most part, our food was pretty blah.
We started with the fried banana peppers and as soon as they arrived at our table, I remembered reading someone’s review about how bad they were. That reviewer was right — this dish is terrible. Heavy, tasteless breading made the dish inedible.
The shrimp in my shrimp and scallop scampi was delicious and cooked perfectly — the best part of the meal. But the scallops were small and bitter. The tomato bisque that came with it was ho-​hum. The tomato and cucumber salad that came as a recommended side was so bland that I didn’t want to eat it. I don’t understand how any restaurant, in the middle of summer, could find such tasteless summer produce. And there was nothing on it at all — no seasoning or vinaigrette (which would have been fine if the tomatoes and cukes were summer’s finest).
The peach and berry cobbler was okay, but only had a few pieces of peach in it.
Overall, very disappointing. We won’t be back.

Always amazing, love the staff. I’ve never had to wait for a table and the food is always such a short wait. The cinnamon coffee is a must if you’re a coffee drink. The special on their chalkboard are always changing and the stacks are simply delish.

Good food and good vibes. Fun staff and willing to transform just about any menu item into a vegan dish!

Highly recommended. The Arnold Benny, Alfafries, and blueberry buckwheat pancakes are all top shelf.

As I have noted previously, I prefer to patronize independent restaurants over chain restaurants as the indies give a city part of its unique character. Alfalfa in downtown Lexington has been a staple of Lexington’s food scene for years.
They are presently featuring an ‘International Night’ on Wednesdays «to experience delicious cuisine from all over the world.» A creative offering over a period of three months (May-​July). The first stop on this adventure around the world was Indian food.
I stopped in with the initial intention of hoping to try several of the various International offerings over the period of weeks.
Not part of their International Night, I decided to start with their Fried Peppers. I have had many orders of fried banana peppers over the years and these were hands-​down, the worst order I have ever had. The breading was basically inedible. It had the flavor of what I would imagine Styrofoam would taste like. It was chewy and completely masked the flavor of the pepper.
When the waitress asked, «How are the peppers?» I attempted to explain the odd flavor and chewy texture and she quickly replied, «Well, the peppers are fresh. I watched her making them.» It was not about the peppers, it was about the dreadful breading. After trying to eat, I sat the plate aside. The waitress had no further reaction to that fact.
Back to the International Night Menu… The Bengali Shrimp sounded appealing. Shrimp served in a coconut milk sauce with garlic, ginger, chilies, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. Served with rice and your choice of chutney. At a lofty price of $ 15.50 I had a reasonable expectation that it would «wow me.» It did not.
It was rather bland all things considered. Not bad, but certainly not worth the $ 15.50 price tag. Any other time I have had Indian food, each item was full-​flavored. But, Alfalfa is not an Indian restaurant and perhaps therein lies the rub. (I’ll admit, I broke my long-​standing general rule for dining out: If you want Italian, go to an Italian restaurant! That applies across the board.)
The final «nail in the coffin,» in this particular experience is that Alfalfa is guilty of doing something that I find to be very off-​putting in the restaurant business. They charge per can of soda. ($ 1.75 per can in this case.) So should you want a «refill,» you must purchase a second can. $ 3.50 for two cans of soda is overpriced in my opinion and I tend to avoid restaurants that make this type of pricing their practice. It’s not necessarily a «deal-​breaker» but it is a «negative,» in my opinion.
Based on my Indian food experience at Alfalfa, the related pricing, and the per soda pricing, I am not likely to return to try other International Nights. I’ll stick to visiting Alfalfa for their more traditional fare and the occasional breakfast or lunch.

The staff very friendly and the menu was awesome and unique. The prices were reasonable. It’s a very popular place. Would eat here again.

Outstanding brunch with the family today. We had breakfast burrito, eggs & bacon, pancakes and the Bayou Benedict… they were all wonderful! We will definitely return!

Cute brunch spot downtown — had the farmers market and the snicker doodle griddle cake. Felt satisfied with my meal and the ambiance was pretty cool.

First things first: the place is adorable: on going art installations and works in progress; beautiful stained glass, a great location downtown. Great music, too! Staff was at best friendly and a worst hurried. Now, I showed up at half past one and they close at two so I can sort of get the hurried pace, but nothing excuses bland food or middling service.
While not a Cajun or Creole restaurant: their house items for brunch were red beans and rice, obviously nix the andouille because it’s a vegetarian place. I didn’t order that but ordered what was recommended which was the Avocado Grill, which was a sandwich; the menu didn’t say anything about, it only listed the ingredients inside. And being a good Southerner, I ordered the cheese grits which have Weisenberger on them: a great touch! Food was delivered and then immediately the waitress disappeared, barely looked to see if I needed anything, say silverware or butter for my grits. Had to go gather that myself if I wanted to eat. The grits were a few minutes from being ready. They were grainy and completely unseasoned. The bread on my sandwich was dry; they didn’t use butter; and burned in many spots because there was no fat to soften the blow of what was obviously a hot griddle. The hummus was indistinguishable from the mushy tomatoes and I didn’t really taste it until the last bite. On the positive side, the vegetables were very fresh and the cheese was delicious; it was honestly the best part and the only saving grace besides the art.
The place needs a good cleaning: the floors have a serious patina on them; and, certain staff members were having an off day; but, it’s not terrible. Not great, though, and it came very highly recommended. I took my lunch early to get in before they closed, so I’m a bit disappointed.
They should take a cue from the Chicago Diner in Boystown who really have taken the vegan diner to a new level. Alfalfa could be awesome, just needs a little TLC and a serious manager: and a cook unafraid to butter the bread, as it were.

I’ve been going here for years and know many of the people that are associated with the establishment including the owners. They’re all really great people. That being said, their lack of standards of both service and consistent menu items is ridiculous.
An example of the service: When I arrived with a party of four for brunch on a Sunday we immediately put our name in and went to the counter to order coffee while we waited to be seated — waits can be long for weekend brunches here. After waiting in line for a few minutes all four of us ordered drinks, but I was denied my coffee because «That lady [behind us] had been waiting a long time.» WTF?! Taking it in stride I walked away for a few minutes and then got back in line. When I got to the front I asked sarcastically «So, can I have a coffee now?» — She just laughed and poured the coffee giving no explanation of her previous behavior.
There was another party of four that came in right after us and also put their name in. They were called first without our name ever being called. When a person from our party mentioned this to the hostess she said that they tried to call our name and we didn’t respond and then rolled her eyes when the person turned their back and walked away. We were actually standing right beside the hostess the whole time and were listening very eagerly since we were all super hungry, so I seriously doubt we missed our party being called. Look, I’ve worked in restaurants before and understand that mistakes happen, but when a person questions you about the mistake you shouldn’t lie and you definitely shouldn’t visibly roll your eyes.
So you might wonder why I’ve been coming here for years and the reason is that Alfalfa used to be one of the only ‘alternative’ types of restaurants in town — offering vegetarian options and interesting flavors. However, there are many such options in Lexington now and there’s really no reason to put up with this lack of both consideration and general understanding of how to fulfill a customer’s needs. I won’t be going back unless there’s a really good reason to do so.

Us 2 vegan tourists ate here for a late lunch on Friday — almost too late to be served.
However, our server quickly took our order and brought our food in a timely way.
We both got the Black Bean Quinoa Burger without cheese, and the Cabbage Monkey salad.
The salad was good enough, but the burger was outstandingly great!
The black bean burger was probably the best tasting one that I’ve ever had, and I am giving the 4 star rating because of it. The only problem with the burger was that it was so big, but thin and it fell apart. I think if it was thicker but not sticking out of the bun an inch or more on the sides that it might hold together better for easier eating.
When we arrived to this empty place (because it was late) they tried to seat us at a small awkward table in a dark spot, but we asked for a larger table next to the window. It seemed to annoy the host a bit but he got over it, I think.

Great food, I had a pimento cheeseburger and it was truly a southern treat. I devoured it. A friend and I shared a piece of the raw derby pie and it was super good. I’m used to eating a mostly vegetarian diet so the burger was a lot for me to handle, it was nice to have a dessert I felt a little better about eating ;)
The staff was friendly and patient, as we had come in from out of town and took FOREVER deciding what we wanted, and then adding drinks and desserts and everything. They were closing for the afternoon by the time we finished eating, but not once did they try to rush us out, they just let us talk and finish up at our own pace.
I wish I lived closer and could try more items on the menu!

I like that there’s a restaurant that serves food which is different than the norm. Alfalfa’s offers a unique variety of foods and drinks suitable for even vegetarians and vegans. They serve many flavorful soups and a good selection of sandwiches and salads. They are also open for breakfast. Try the squash soup at some point. It’s like everything you love about autumn, but in your mouth. Delicious!

Great atmosphere. Staff are very friend and welcoming. The food on the other hand, is at best edible. Absolutely tasteless and bland. I got the Spanish omelet and it tasted like hospital food.
Great place for food that is mediocre but a great atmosphere.

I’ve eaten here for years, and I’ve always been a happy customer. In the past year though it seems like every time I come something else has changed. And not for the better. The local chicken sandwich is no longer on the menu, the buns have changed, my favorite sour cream dill salad dressing is gone, and you don’t even get a piece of wheat bread with your meal anymore.
Did they get new owners or a new chef? Because it’s just not as good as it used to be. Bummer.

Hippie place with good food. Good place to go when you’re not in a hurry. Today they were on a wait with plenty of open tables but they didn’t have enough menus.

Oh Alfalfa, where is your hippie powers that you discovered in the 70s that hit off with UK fans before moving downtown.
We came here for New Year’s Day brunch and we were totally disappointed about several issues:
(1) Hostess probably partied way too much and looked high, was taken aback by our simple request to relocate tables. She came back later, I thought maybe to take in drink orders, but no she stared at us and said the waitress would do it.
(2) The restaurant actually told us that there are no clean knives??? How do we butter our bread? With our feet? You can not simply run a place expecting it to be sanitary, if the kitchen or dishwashing folks can’t do basic tasks.
(3) We were offered substitutions for bacon or whatever, and later to find out that it will cost us more.
(4) On the menu, the omelet comes with bread, but later on we didn’t get it and was told that we HAD TO request them.
(5) My girlfriend had hair in her potatoes and I don’t see a manager coming over to offer sincere apologies.
While Alafafa will go through renovations, they need to rediscover the flower power that they discover from the 70’s or otherwise, it will be a revolving disappointing experience.
Oh, the Beatles, can you sing flower power songs for this place to grow and improve?

This was one of the more vegan-​friendly places I’ve visited while in Lexington. But make no mistake, this place is meateater friendly too. And vegetarian friendly. So vegans will still have to do a bit of investigating when in comes to ordering. But I was grateful that our waitress was knowledgeable about what is vegan and what is not. If our waitress was unsure, she would say «I can find out for you» then scurried off to the kitchen.
With the recommendation of a vegetarian in our party who is a regular at Alfalfa, I ordered the Hoppin’ John. When I asked the waitress what they do to make it vegan, she said they basically don’t include cheese. Fair enough. Although I was secretly hoping that they had Daiya cheddar as a substitute. Regardless, this mix of black-​eyed peas, brown rice, onions, green peppers and Creole tomato sauce was simple, tasty and filling.
I wanted to get a side of soup but the one I was interested in was not vegan so I defaulted to a side salad with a super delicious miso dressing.
The BF ordered the meatloaf (which I was secretly wishing was a vegan «meatloaf») and he seemed to be happy with his dish.
Hoping to end the meal with something sweet, their offerings sounded really yummy but sadly they didn’t have any vegan desserts the night we were there :(
…but I won’t hold that against them :)
Like I said, this was the most vegan-​friendly place I’ve visited while in a town where my options were limited. Awesome location in downtown Lexington and plenty (paid) parking in the structure across the street. This place has a good vibe and I would absolutely eat here again!

For the record, I have loved Alfalfa for quite some time, that said…
–horrible coffee, cigarette butt and week-​old bong water would be better.
–dreadful service. Got our order incorrect, twice. Waited a long time at the front desk to be seated. Hostess was lost.
–food just doesn’t taste as good as it used to.
Come on Alfalfa. Get your act together!

After noticing a wagon toting farm fresh eggs at the local farmers market reading «follow me to Alfalfa», I wanting to love this place. That is the main reason that I’ve been back several times. I love the atmosphere, but the food… not so much. The last time that I went, I tried the Hoppin’ John, it wasn’t what I was expecting. With black eyed peas and rice as the main ingredients, I would not recommend it. My dinner experiences have been basically similar. This place is not southern at all, but is probably very appealing to a vegetarian. They have to be doing something right though, they’ve been in business since 1973.