Merit Vegan Restaurant

Generous portions, great flavors!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

3.5-4Star
Merit Vegan Restaurant

Merit Vegan sets itself apart from many vegetarian restaurants by offering dishes with distinct, creative flavors instead of the same plain taste over and over. That alone makes it worth a visit, and explains why it’s often crowded.

But flavor isn’t everything. The biggest disappointment here is value. Portions are very small—most dishes feel like “diet-sized” single-person servings—yet the prices are higher than the generous, family-style plates you’d find elsewhere. A single dish often leaves you unsatisfied, so expect to order at least two plates or spend $35+ per person just to feel full.

For a restaurant built around vegetables, soy, and tofu, the pricing feels steep and at times unjustifiable. The food is good, but when you leave still hungry after paying a premium, it’s hard not to feel shortchanged.

If Merit Vegan improved portion sizes or lowered prices, it could deliver a truly fulfilling experience. Until then, it remains a place known for flavor, but not for value.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 3

Service: 3

You need to stay open during 3 to 430 on weekends. Turning away customers is a bad experience and will doom your return and your business. Announcing it with a strong attitude when we eat and talk over your time limit of 3:00 when you way over cook an order and give the intro tompka soup last will keep us from coming back after 10 years of loyalty. Stop serving flamed aluminum panned soup. It smells bad and is toxic! The fish and chips was wayyy over cooked and when it came back it was slammed on the table and the ketchup taste like tampered with. The homeless car in the parking lot with trash all over is an added experience with the graphiti storage container for a view outside the restaurant. Clean it up!

Food: 3

Service: 4

Got about 5 different dishes including two salads. Loved the Lotus salad the most with the fried rice my second fav. But everything was wonderful! And a huge menu

Food: 5

Wherever I visit California, I always seek out this excellent, vegetarian restaurant. Tasty, well spiced dishes abound, and the menu clearly marks the very spicy dishes. Our favorite server always gets us warmly, and brings the dishes promptly.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

We were on our way to an afternoon appointment at Kaiser and looking for a lunch restaurant. We found Merit Vegan Restaurant by accident so we thought we would give it a try. Wow, what a surprise! The atmosphere was welcoming, the servers were very friendly and helpful, and the food was amazing. We ordered the Vietnamese Crepe Lunch Special and the Golden Era Lunch Special. Absolutely delicious! The spices, the vegetables, and the tofu were all very tasty. Looking forward to our next visit.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Merit Vegan is the best vegan Asian food in South Bay, hands down! I've been several times and the food is always fresh and delicious. The staff is polite and the food comes so quickly. Prices are reasonable and affordable. The restaurant atmosphere is clean and pleasant. I wish I lived closer.

Photo is of the spicy noodle soup, absolutely delicious.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Staff needs to be trained well on how to talk to customers. When one of our friends paid the bill and skipped the tip by mistake on the machine, the staff was extremely rude. I had to point out that they need to listen first on our side and ask politely. Also, it is illegal to force a customer to tip in USA. Tipping is a social culture and not a legal requirement. Merit’s staff needs to understand this.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 1

Food is good except that it's too salty to me

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 3

Service: 3

Love the vegan desserts - so many options including cheesecake, brownie etc.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

My kids' absolute favorite place. Giant menu with lots of good stuff and they are also flexible to make changes. Of course their favorite thing is the delicious deserts - from Oreo cheesecake to brownie with ice cream. And the best thing is that this place is 100% vegan. We've been regulars for years and we also order whole cakes from them for birthday parties.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Fresh vegetarian food with a large menu. This place is a new favorite for the whole family.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Four of the five of us were not vegetarian or vegan and all found the food to be amazing. What a great place.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

Awesome place. Super friendly staff especially Bill, that guy is a genuine friendly person. The food was very good and the portion size was above average. Food is amazing every time.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

the food was delicious, no complaints there. but while i was inside eating (about 30 minutes) my cars windows were smashed in right outside in the parking area in the daylight. i went in and told them just to see about cameras because it was a rental bar so i needed to file a police report… the employees just came out and ooohh and awwwed at my cars broken windows as i cried in the parking lot. i understand there was a bit of a language barrier, but i just helpless being alone, not from the area and just lost all my stuff. it just felt weird and unhelpful. definitely wouldn’t go back regardless of the food being good. when going i just recommend watching your vehicle….