Following news that the vegan/Landmark Forum-tinged Cafe Gratitude plans to close or sell all of their Northern California restaurants (including the popular Gracias Madre), the comments section here at SFist blew up. And how. So much ire and speculation poured forth, in fact, that reader Anthony Lee sent us an impassioned letter in response to the brouhaha. " more ›

In light of today's news that all Northern California Café Gratitude restaurants will close or be sold, owner Terces Engelhart made plea to supporters today. She asked fans and, ahem, followers interested in helping the company to either purchase retail items, or sign up for Landmark Forum-tinged workshops. more ›

Terces Engelhart, owner of Café Gratitude, just posted the following announcement on her Facebook page announcing the closure/sale of all Northern California Café Gratitudes locations. According to Englehart, some "aggressive lawsuits" from former employees brought her to the decision to shutter her vegan/cult restaurants. more ›

Cafe Gratitude, the popular local chain of raw and vegan restaurants with locations around the Bay Area and as far south as LA, has been slapped with a lawsuit from a former employer who was not pleased with the company's quirky tip-pooling practice. As the East Bay Express reports today, former Cafe Gratitude server Sarah Stevens not only missed out on the shift breaks required by labor laws, but she also had to pay out a large part of her tips to everyone from an off-site kitchen to her shift bosses. From the EBX: more ›

Raw/vegan eatery Café Gratitude is spreading the love down to SoCal, with a new location opening in Hollywood, as Grub Street LA and NBC are reporting. The often odorific (both in food and staff) restaurant will be bringing its gospel of organic, animal-free goodness to Los Angeles vegans, along with all of those crazy menu item names like the "I Am Beautiful" nachos and the "I am Fulfilled" salad. more ›

Last week's winner, as picked by SFist Sarah -- the Bay Guardian! Steven T. Jones takes over the opening editorial from Tim Redmond this week. It does not mention Burning Man! Recalls go too far. Club 6 -- still open. Why can't the Chron make money? Now serving at Cafe Gratitude: "I Am....Sued." San Francisco water may be causing rashes. Thank goodness Ed Jew doesn't have to worry about that! (okay, to be fair, we're sending the water all over the area so it might be in the Burlingame system too). Cover: Marke B's Club Guide, a glossy insert. Cute picture of bears! (picture not online.) Goth band comes to town. K Records founder Calvin Johnson has a retro haircut. And Frameline! Oh yeah -- and vote for us for best blog in the Best Of! more ›

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Last week's winner, the East Bay Express: A letter-writer urges the food critic to open his heart to the magic and love that is Cafe Gratitude. Typos in Ellen Corbett's mailers. Open relationships, without using the word "polyamory" ("I hate that word. It's so '70s.") Cover: going wireless in West Oakland (and other East Bay cities). Steak in Danville. New music guy on Neil Young, and Sick Of It All about the lead singer's back pain. And SFist Eve's horoscope: digest and metabolize jolts of insight! more ›

We haven't really posted a lot on Shuna the past couple weeks, since confessing our blog crush on her. There are lots of Bay Area food blogs (close to 100 that we know about, and that's not counting the restaurant review blogs) and we like to spread the love. However, we're going to link to her a lot this week, and we don't feel bad about it at all. First off, we are in awe of the way she stunningly eviscerates a reader for complaining about the high prices of Cafe Gratitude, which Shuna liked. Seriously, it's like watching a mongoose take down a cobra--mesmerizing, lethal and so very, very right. She was probably already amped up from this post, explaining what actions she will take this May 1st to support the Day Without An Immigrant demonstrations for immigrants's rights, and dispensing tips about what her readers can do. In short, Shuna talks the talk, walks the walk, and writes poetry. She is a samurai of the kitchen. more ›

Last week's winner, the East Bay Express: Bottom Feeder on whether the Concord mayor is anti-abortion, and the bad body odor of a Berkeley narcotics officer alleged to be on the take. Photoshopping pandas in Oakland. (check out that awesome picture!) Do conservatives have fewer friends? Cover article: no, you can't void your mortgage by claiming that US currency has no value (this is a pretty cool article). Cafe Gratitude in Berkeley has bad service. I Like Eating charms us again with a visit to Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe. And Harvilla on the Kim Deal musical everyone's talking about. The Bay Guardian: Hey, new website design! Chris Daly for Assembly? An entertaining editors' note (scroll down) about whether or not the Guardian believes that vegetables feel pain as they're being digested! Oh, advertiser Rainbow Grocery, always on the cutting edge (ouch! watch that edge!) The inside scoop on the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic brouhaha. Hating Berkeley law professor John Yoo ("torture is a-okay by me!"). On The Sidelines' hilarious cartoon about bands with three repeated word names ("Die Die Die?" "Tony Toni Tone?" "!!!" ?). Cover article: Matt Gonzalez on Jonestown (and the Guardian shamefacedly admits that they totally thought the Peoples' Temple was okay at the time.) Bettie Page lookalike contest at Thee Parkside this Friday. And SFist Eve's horoscope: it implies that she's currently in a "crazy place" right now -- hey, Double Team, that ain't nice! The SF Weekly and the Metro, after the jump -- along with the Weekly of the Week. more ›

So, get this -- Cafe Gratitude has coffee. It's not brewed, but instead, per the cafe's menu, "infused for 48 hours in cold water." Organic beans, no less, from a company known as Thanksgiving Co. according to the server I spoke with. We knew we had to try it. We anticipated something awful (though not as awful as our last adventure in ), and were looking forward to writing some wonderful headline like "Grateful Dread." Well, truth be told, while it ain't like the coffee like we're used to, it wasn't so bad. more ›

Last week's winner, the SF Weekly: the "winner" for the female synonym for cock-block is "clitoris-no-more-us." SFist Jackson's snatch-latch was so much better! Matt Smith hates the Chron (Laguna Honda overrun edition). Cover article: Roller derby girls. Meredith Brody goes back to the Ferry Building, and the vegan also goes to Cafe Gratitude. Music: Sleater-Kinney, one week late. And Savage Love: politics. The Bay Guardian: Dude, you gotta check out the letters! dreamy Matt Gonzalez on his commitment to gay rights, the phrase "punk Chris Daly school-yard bullies," and high dudgeon at the SF School District! Plus: editorial by the original punk school-yard bully himself, on homelessness! And a dude in Berkeley almost-just-quite managed to squat his way to full-out home ownership! Man, what have we done this week? Nothing. Also, there's lead-tainted candy in the Mission. Annalee Newitz loves Vader, J-town hates Starbucks. Cover article: Mission Creek Music/Arts Fest! Chocolate in the East Bay and the pick of the week after the jump. more ›

In which SFist eats our way around the Bay Area in alphabetical order. more ›