Ravens’ Restaurant

I had heard about this place from friends as a «must go there,» and they were right. Just approaching the restaurant was a sight, as the grounds are like a botanical garden. In fact, they organically grow their produce on site, and you can taste it in the food. From the very first homemade bread and asparagus spread on the table, we knew we were in for a treat. Rather than describe the food, I just recommend you go there. You won’t regret it.

Great food. Loved the Tamari-​Maple glazed tofu. All the ingredients are from their own produce and hence a touch on the expensive side.
I gave 4-​stars only because I don’t think the place should be this expensive but then the staff and ambience gets 5-​stars.

3.5 stars. Unique vegetarian restaurant tucked away in the forest by the coast. Very cute ambiance behind a little book/​souvenir shop. Their menu is largely Mexican inspired, and there are also Asian as well as Californian-​influenced dishes.
Amuse bouche: quick little bite-​sized date, raspberry, and sauce. Great start to the meal
Ceviche: Unique combination of cauliflower and trumpet mushrooms in the place of seafood. The taste was right on point with a right balance of lime.
Sea Palm & Root Vegetable Strudel: the asian stir fry didn’t really do it for me, but the strudel was very flakey and unique, although a bit bland. I also liked the umeboshi (Japanese plum) and wasabi sauce — appropriately paired with the dish and not too sour or spicy.
Sorbet: pineapple, peach, and raspberry-​blueberry — all very flavorful and on point.
Ambiance was on the upper end, but it was still quite laid back. Great restaurant for families and children too! The waiter didn’t clean our table in between the main course and dessert, and there’s no tablecloth, so it’s definitely more on the casual side. However, the prices definitely signaled more special occasion.

This place has nice ambiance. The service was really good. I definitely enjoyed my drinks. For the food, I think it was missing seasoning. I understand it is vegetarian but it does not mean you should not add any spice or flavor.

Tasteless food… I ordered the Tofu Scramble for breakfast and it was so heavy with turmeric it was inedible. The next day I ordered the waffle and it was just as bad… over spiced, thin like a pancake and awful tasting. The scones were pasty and too sweet… not at all what a scone should taste like. I’ve been a vegan all my life. The chef needs to go to Gracias Madre in SF, Candle 79 and Blossom in NY, Café Gratitude in LA to taste some amazing vegan food!

We were shown to our table and then were ignored for almost 15 minutes, despite servers serving on the tables to the left and right of us. I called a server over and asked for some water and to place an order for cocktails… still nothing 5 minutes later :-(All very strange… :-\
So, it started pretty badly and I have to say after almost 15 minutes sat waiting I was ready to walk out… However, we persevered and ended up with a very good waitress and an extremely healthy dinner, albeit uninspiring…
The cocktails were very good, the wine list was small but appealing and the food was healthy but not very inspiring or fascinating. There was nothing really bad about it, just not that interesting.
The real disappointment was the crème brûlée, which had a very strange texture (more like crème caramel) … The mint chocolate ganache was excellent though.
We’d recommend it if you want a healthy, nicely prepared dinner (and we would come back) but it’s not a gourmet experience, so don’t expect too much.

Where do I begin? A vegetarian/​vegan restaurant in a coastal resort in Mendocino with it’s own organic garden and wine shop? Immaculate table service and a charming amuse bouche while we wait?
We came here on a romantic weekend in the springtime and got reservations at this lovely place. The space itself is beautiful, and is both spacious and cozy at the same time. There were other books and gifts for sale in the little lobby shop as well so it made waiting for our table a nice experience.
We were lucky enough to pick out a bottle in the wine shop to take with us as well! We will definitely be back, hopefully to stay at the hotel.

I am a meat and potatoes guy, tried veggie for a couple months, tried Vegan for several day and I said I would never go back to Vegan. After staying at the Stanford Inn and dinning at the Raven for Breakfast and dinner I was blown away. Outrageously great Vegan, healthy food. I’m hooked! PS try the hot stone massage at the hotel you will melt away!

The restaurant is located in the Stanford Inn. Right off California 1 near Fort Bragg. Hotel parking around the restaurant. There is a living room area for those dining with pets and there is the dining area. Very open area for those with pets. We came with our pet. We found plenty of seating. Menus and drink order taken. Everything on the menu is vegetarian based and seasonal.
We took a moment while the bottle of wine we ordered. We ordered a local Husch Chen Blanc. The wine was chilled and absolutely refreshing for the heavy rain outside. We ordered the Baked Crimini with Stuffed Ricotta and the Tostada. Again all vegetarian dishes.
Food came reasonable time. Hot. The baked Crimini was a healthy balance of mushroom, cheese and seasoning. The seasoning was uniquely different one could easily forget the mushroom being the main element was nestled. The tostada non tostadas were topped with healthy amount of toppings include lettuce, beans, rice and cheese on several tostada shells. Subtle on the spices, but surely not lacking in flavors. One of the best tostadas I have ever had. It was fresh, delicious and hit the mark with savory flavors.
We also ordered a mint chocolate torte. The torte took a few minutes. Dark, bold and sweet. Topped with fresh made vanilla ice cream and sweetness. The dessert was the right amount of everything fresh.
Good everything from wine to food and service. Great vegetarian mains and desserts.
Bad not a thing.
We would most certainly come back.

Excellent food and service! It is obvious that each meal is prepared to be healthy, delicious, and beautiful! It is hard to fine such great food and service in a relaxing setting with views of the gardens and the ocean in the distance! We truly enjoyed ourselves and will be back soon I hope!

We have recently transitioned from vegetarian to Whole Food Plant Based… essentially vegan, only healthier. Came to Mendo wondering where we would eat and found our new favorite!
Ravens is amazing. All vegan, much of it grown on site. The seasonings are perfect and I’m pretty sure some carnivores wouldn’t even know they were missing the meat.
We chose from the Mexican menu and ordered chile verde tamales and enchiladas with rice and cashew cheese… Wonderful!
For dessert we had pecan torte with (vegan) maple ice cream. OMG.
I want to go back tomorrow and probably will, to sample the other creative offerings. Just go. You won’t be sorry.

The food is phenomenal; clean eating at it’s best. I appreciate unfussy, well prepared, fresh and healthy food. I also want to give server Alex a shout out. He is the nicest, smiliest dude in the building — he deserves 5 more stars and a raise. :)

I have been to Ravens multiple times– and keep hoping for that «wow» experience. I find the dinners to be lackluster but I do love the breakfast/​brunch menu & their desserts. Dinner could use a make over. It’s also too mushroom centric for me

I can only vouch for one item on the menu — we had breakfast here. even my meat-​eating husband enjoyed the mushroom crêpe special they had for the Mushroom Festival.
The other dishes that came out looked enticing, but again, can’t tell you how they tasted!
The grounds of the hotel are really wonderful. love the organic farm. VERY dog friendly — loved it. Great offerings of books on vegan cooking, healthy eating, etc.

Every dish was outstanding. We had no idea vegan food could taste so good!
The venue is beautiful and rustic. We sat near a fire place next to a grand piano. Very charming.

The Stanford Inn is incredible, the restaurant on site unfortunately is not. The breakfasts included with price of room were great but the expensive dinner was not at all. I ordered the cauliflower napoleon… it was boring and lacked any sort of flavor. Being a vegetarian, eating like this is custom for me. I was expecting to be wowed, and instead got my food to go so that I could try to make it more tasteful from my home kitchen.
Imagine a thick slice of unseasoned cauliflower on a bed of uncooked greens, with a tower of vegetables on top. Not only unappetizing but hard to eat. The potatoes were overcooked to the point I needed a «steak» knife to cut them in half. I didn’t want to be the person that complains, but this meal was pretty bad and I only wish I had spent my money on one of the other restaurants in Mendocino or surrounding areas.
The dishes lacked any sort of creativity and the prices they were charging were absurd for what we received.

While spending the weekend in Mendocino where choices for breakfast were so few on a Sunday we decided to give this place a try without looking at food options on their menu on the website and went knowing nothing.
Overall the Inn is really gorgeous and I found the lobby and restaurant to be very warm feeling from the staff to the wood décor and open feeling. We were pretty surprised to find we’d picked a vegan only restaurant but that’ll teach us!
Well, actually what it taught us is that vegan can be very delicious for breakfast when a chef prepares something like we had. The presentation was very nice and the food tasty. I even had coconut milk in my coffee for the first time ever and found it quite delicious.
While I don’t think that we would want to stay here and eat all that often considering we love our meat and dairy it was a pleasant experience and I would recommend it to my vegan friends.

Let me sum this up for vegetarians:
You know how non-​vegetarian restaurants make a dish that’s mostly onions, eggplant and red bell peppers and then call it their vegetarian option? This place is that meal x 10, both in price and lack of imagination.
It’s difficult for me to not love a vegan restaurant. I was a vegan (now vegetarian) and want these types of high-​end vegan restaurants to thrive. I want them to be the hottest place in town. Ravens’ has that potential. The staff is wonderful, the view is lovely and the atmosphere is charming.
The food is, unfortunately, soulless.
Seasoning is the heart of vegan cooking. The other thing you need is good fat and different types of texture in every dish. I know this from experience. I’m a vegetarian (almost 20 years now) from San Francisco so I’m pretty spoiled when it comes to eating out. I’m also willing to spend a lot of money on food. Keeping that in mind, my family of vegetarians found every dish we were served at Ravens’ to be underwhelming. This is not good, because at the end of the boring meal you get a huge check.
The only thing I would recommend is the sushi. I wish that had been the only thing we ordered. The caesar salad was the most boring salad I can recall eating. I mean, it was shockingly boring. It’s as if someone is afraid of adding seasoning, including salt.
The BBQ mushrooms had the same taste as the beans they were served with and the kale was soggy and lifeless. It reminded me of my first attempts to cook kale, before I got the hang of it. My husband’s main course was completely forgettable. All I remember was the pile of onions he left on his plate, roughly the size of the original dish.
My kids got the spaghetti. It was expensive and couldn’t hold a candle to the very affordable Emmy’s Spaghetti in San Francisco. Spaghetti with marinara can be awesome. Here it waszzzzzzzzzzz. And $ 10.
I’m glad so many people have had great experiences here. I was underwhelmed with the food and then overwhelmed by how much it had cost.
PS– The servers here are fantastic. They deserve 5 stars.

This place is underserved by the Unilocal Reviews. I loved it. Their dining room was beautiful, minimalist, walled in exposed pine, with beautiful light flooding in from outside. Their wine list is delicious, precisely what you’d expect from fine dining in the region. Their food, it’s unique if you aren’t used to vegan cuisine, but it is delicious. I left feeling full, but not bloated, as I do when I leave a steak house (non vegan here). I felt content, happy, and energized as opposed to lethargic. on the expensive side? yeah, you bet, but I felt like I got good value, and would gladly return.

A fancy vegan restaurant, where I can eat everything and there’s great beer as well? I was pretty excited, and really wanted to give 5 stars.
My meal was pretty good — pizza and burger, although the bun was a big soggy. The beer was amazing.
What stops me giving five stars was my girlfriend’s meal. She’s not vegan, and I was hoping to get her excited. However there’s absolutely no way a rubbery tortellini is worth $ 25. And her mixed drink was a bit sad too. I really think they could have done better.
Still, I’d definitely go again. It’s worth looking at what others are getting.