Y'all know how hard it is to find vegan wafers. They had vanilla and chocolate flavors, both are good. Neither are very sweet, which is kind of nice. But, they're also a bit bland at Essene Market and Cafe in Philadelphia
Pretty good. The choclate tasted kind of strange, but I still liked them. at Essene Market and Cafe in Philadelphia
Delicious at Essene Market and Cafe in Philadelphia

  • Essene Market and Cafe
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  • Health-food-store Health Store

A natural foods market where food is vegetarian and macrobiotic. Open Mon-Fri 8:00am-9:00pm, Sat-Sun 8:00am-8:00pm.

Venue map for Essene Market and Cafe
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11 Reviews

First Review by ·X·

Avatar Shaggy

Shaggy

Points +192

Vegan
11 Apr 2021

I like it

Essene is neat. You dont have to look hard to find some interesting vegan items. They are very expensive. I cant imagine anyone shopping here for their regular grocery needs, but its a good place to pick up a fun treat.
Before the pandemic they would have a hot food bar with a decent selection of vegan things. Good food, but also very pricey

Pros: Unusual vegan items

Cons: Very expensive

They're like starbursts, but vegan. You know at Essene Market and Cafe in Philadelphia

Pretty good. The choclate tasted kind of strange, but I still liked them. at Essene Market and Cafe in Philadelphia

Y'all know how hard it is to find vegan wafers. They had vanilla and chocolate flavors, both are good. Neither are very sweet, which is kind of nice. But, they're also a bit bland at Essene Market and Cafe in Philadelphia

Delicious at Essene Market and Cafe in Philadelphia

Avatar BradRainke

BradRainke

Points +460

Vegan
18 Jan 2021

Great healthy market

Lots of great vegan food options, great deserts.
Pricey, but worth a splurge.

Avatar Saramste

Saramste

Points +327

Vegan
05 Jul 2018

Wasn't Impressed

We stopped by to check out their hot and cold bar. To be clear, they just had a hot bar, and the "cold bar" were mainly pre-made sandwiches, and noodle dishes -- and I'm not sure any of them were made in store. The hot bar looked dry, and was not being replenished. I believe the hot bar was $8.99 a pound, and the sandwiches ranged in price, but were about $5.95+. In terms of the standard vegan items on the shelf (tofurky, etc), the prices were a little high, so we didn't pick anything up. An option if you are in the area, and probably not bad if fresh.

Avatar cabora

cabora

Points +52

Vegan
25 May 2018

great options!

Good variety of pre-made food and fresh produce, plenty of vegan options

Avatar PlantBasedZen

PlantBasedZen

Points +48

Vegan
02 Aug 2017

Pretty good hot/cold bar.

Great vegan options. The bakery is all vegan I believe. Lots of options in the whole grocery store section.

Avatar irabike

irabike

Points +115

Vegan
16 Jan 2015

Delicious healthy food

Essene should be at the top of the listings for vegan restaurants. It is all vegan and uses the cleanest ingredients of anywhere. That would include whole grains, healthy oils and better sweeteners. It's a buffet so some of the hot food tends to be soft but there are many nice options including salads. I have been there many times over many years and it is usually excellent.

Pros: healthy, tasty, nice staff

Cons: a little pricey but understandable

Avatar cellobiker

cellobiker

Points +45

Mostly Veg
08 Apr 2011

The best!

When I die and go to heaven, their buffet is going to be the meal plan. :)

Pros: All

Cons: None

Avatar lfusfeld

lfusfeld

Points +268

Vegan
23 Mar 2010

Updated Review

I re-visited Essene again more recently and the buffet was much better than in my prior visits. Amazing vegan eggplant parm. I tend not to do a lot of shopping here, because the prices do tend to be higher. I noticed that they carry some things I can't find elsewhere, like bulk red quinoa, sweet & sara marshmallows and a couple other things. If they would make the store all vegan, I would definitely go to the extra expense and extra distance to do all my shopping here, but since they're still selling fish and animal products, I'll just stick with the buffet and a few goodies that I can't get elsewhere.

Pros: vegan buffet, sweet & sara!

Cons: a little pricey, produce could be fresher

Avatar Craig

Craig

Points +17

Vegetarian
09 Mar 2009

Fantastic

I read some of the reviews and they weren't stellar. My experience was wonderful. The food was great (I didn't care for a couple of the items), the staff was wonderful and the market was great. One stop shopping. I plan to go there agian when I'm in Philly and Ihave recommended it to friends.

Pros: Nice selction, Good soup

Cons: Little pricy

Avatar kindlizard

kindlizard

Points +1131

Vegan
06 Nov 2008

dig it

I ate a ton of food from their deli case and was well impressed by their layout of the store in general. I felt great leaving, and would encourage anyone to check this place out.

Pros: good vegan deli items

Avatar ·X·

·X·

Points +22294

Vegan
12 Jul 2008

Ehhhh

I did *try* to go here twice when I was in Philly; however, I must stay the food was buffet and it didn't look too appealing at all. And I believe they had one Seitan dish each time. Needless to say, I stopped in twice and the food didn't look appealing at all, so I never tried it, I just wanted to share my opinion. However, I will say they had a very nice co-op connected to it with excellent choices!

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