Oh my, what to say about Planet Raw…

I had to go to my college bookstore to pick up a textbook for one of my classes today and much to my dismay, the campus was closed. Disgruntled, I gave in to the calling of my wallet and walked across the street to Planet Raw. Everyone and their mother had been asking me if I’d tried this place so I figured, why not? I’d heard many good things about it so far.

Planet Raw is an all-organic, all-vegan, gluten-free and raw restaurant located in my very own lovely little town – Pleasant Hill, CA.

Not to sound like a negative Nancy right off the bat or anything, but I’d been skeptical of this place for a few reasons. First of all, there was my damaging one and only experience at Cafe Gratitude with raw food. I felt like I was eating a dirt salad. Nasty. I’m still willing to give it another shot regardless. I just need some recovery time.

Two, Planet Raw’s website. While they are located in Pleasant Hill, the website says www.planetrawwalnutcreek.com. Huh? OooKkkk…. Call me a website snob, but I believe that marketing and advertising are very important when it comes to promoting your product. If a website looks sloppy, it gives me the impression that the food is going to be the same.

And third, the appearance of the actual restaurant. It’s located towards the back of a really old, run down looking shopping center across from a community college and seats about 15-20 people max. Not my idea of an ideal place for a unique restaurant. “Whatever”, I told myself. It’s just a building. Moving on…

I decided to place a quick to-go order, swing by the house, and drop some off for the hubs before I had to get back to work. I went with the Maki Roll Sushi (mock salmon walnut pumpkin pate in a nori roll with baby greens and spears of red bell, avocado and cucumber), the Cali Wrap, and the Bangkok Thai soup (a light coconut creamy blend of Thai herbs and spices over veggie shreds and shrooms). The server told me it would be about 3-5 minutes. Perfect, since I was in a hurry. To be honest, the ambiance was weirding me out a little so I stepped outside. I started feeling a little claustrophobic and wasn’t really diggin’ whatever crazy kinda music they had goin’ on.  

10 minutes later, I paid for my goods and rushed out the door. $35 dollars?! I almost had a stroke! Instead, I sighed and crossed my fingers and hoped that it was worth it. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind paying a little more for organic. Like, a dollar more for a head of broccoli or something but $35 for 2 rolls and a cup of soup? Whoa there buddy! Simma down now.

When I got home and unloaded the bag, I noticed my $9 cup of soup was missing. I’d mistakenly been given a salad instead. Double sigh. Rushed for time, I started shoveling away.

The salad? Good! The ‘special’ dressing? AWESOME. Next up, the ‘salmon’ roll. DOUBLE AWESOME. I have no idea how they did it, but they worked that s**t! Last but not least, the Cali roll. It tasted somewhat similar to the ‘salmon’ roll but that could be because I was eating like it was my last meal.

Overall, the menu choices proved to be EXCELLENT. And this is coming from a non-raw foodie. Worth the $35? Not on a regular basis, that’s for damn sure. I’m definitely going to give it another try but I still have my pro and con list. The staff was super friendly but the order mix up was a little frustrating. The ambiance isn’t anything special so I don’t see myself sitting down for an actual meal in the restaurant. I’ll stick with the take-out option thankyouverymuch. The price? I get that the bills need to be paid and the ingredients are probably pricey, but $35 for 3 small things is a little much. Especially given the the location with the majority of residents being broke-ass college students.

My conclusion: go check this place out at least one time. If you can handle the music and don’t mind staring into the tanning salon next door (maybe that’s your thing? I don’t know) – the food is worth it. If you can’t handle all that, take it to go. Even though my experience was a little weird, who’s to say that yours will be the same? I give them props for being all vegan and super healthy and I’m SUPER stoked to have another all vegan option so close to home. My advice to them? Hire someone to clean up the website and fix the stretched pics, then relocate to Walnut Creek or Danville or something where all the Oprah-watching soccer mom’s who are following the new trends can access them more easily and the prices make more sense.

While I don’t see myself frequenting this restaurant (due to lack of funds), I will recommend the take-out option to others and drop in occasionally for a special cleansing treat. Most likely after a long weekend of drinking. I can honestly say I was slightly disappointed in my first experience but I do have high hopes for this place and I fully support the all-veganness they have going on.

So yeah, GO try it!