The Naked Cafe - S San Diego

Nice small vegetarian restaurant with a nice staff. The food was okay.

Came on a weekday midmorning. The parking lot had several spaces available, but by the time I left, people were fighting to find a spot to park. Service I totally understand all of the negative reviews regarding service. The front of house staff was very “meh.” I walked in and it wasn’t clear whether you seat yourself and wait for a server, or go up to the counter, order and then sit. The lady behind the counter stood there watching me and sipping her drink. She didn’t greet me or anything. She let me walk up to the counter and ask how things work instead of saying hi and telling me to sit anywhere. Weird vibes. Food I ordered hot tea and the pink lotus (lemonade and raspberry) mimosa. Both were good. I also got the Good Karma entree, but swapped out the egg whites for fried eggs and added steak medallions. The steak was chopped up in cubes, not medallions. There was ZERO flavor on this plate. And I mean zero. When they said they were the naked cafe, they absolutely meant it. I thought that meant clean ingredients/organic… not flavorless and bland. I was disappointed. You can still serve clean, healthy food that’s flavorful. Thankfully, they had salt/pepper and hot sauces at the table. The tapatio was almost a year past the expiration date on the bottle, lol. Atmosphere Very casual cafe. The bathroom was rundown and gross. Very unkept and could use a serious makeover. Kinda grossed out thinking this is the bathroom staff uses while they’re cooking and serving customers.