Life Alive

Very interesting experience! I don’t really think there’s a ton of consistency in quality or accuracy of orders between the Live Alive locations. At this location, the sesame tofu ramen soup wasn’t ramen noodles at all, but rather, udon noodles. But the broth was absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to try it again! The iced oat milk latte was mostly all ice, but tasted good (I just wish you could add comments or modifications in the online ordering system, like “light ice”). A bowl that we modified into a wrap frustratingly had one or two very small pieces of tofu inside, so there was barely any at all. And in one of the bowls we ordered, there was barely any sauce / dressing. You can’t ever reach them by phone and the menu isn’t explicitly clear about what is for sure vegan and what isn’t, but luckily they’re a very vegan-friendly spot with some really creative and nourishing options!

This is one of their newer restaurants. They did a great job of making it comfortable and inviting. The place has a good vibe and is not just another sterile, new restaurant. Like the Central Square place, there are lots of different comfy places to sit including a separate room where you can sit on the floor while eating. Most seating areas have power outlets so you can spend some time here and stay charged up. There are some menu choices here that you won't find at some of their other locations. And any place that has a smoothie called Blue Magic just has to be good- very tasty!

This place has a great vibe. It was comfortably busy, and has a fresh eclectic decor. The food came with minimal wait. Well, my wife's had a minimal wait (<10 min)--mine came about 10 minutes later, which was a bit of a miss on the service side. Good thing we like watching each other eat. I know it's a "vegan" place, but having some more soda's would be a nice improvement. Diet Coke, anyone? The bathroom needed toilet paper and a good cleaning. In the end, I will definitely be going back for one key reason: the food was absolutely delicious. They have a huge menu--if half of the dishes are as good as the swami I had, I'll be happy for a while. Eric, adding live music would be a great addition.

I don't know what happened to them. Life Alive used to be amazing, but the last three times I've been there it hasn't been so great. The first time, the website said they were open for takeout, so I assumed I could walk in and order. Apparently that was wrong, and I had to order online. Okay, no problem, I wasn't in a rush. So placed my order and waited outside... for a half an hour in 90° heat. I again assumed I would get a notification that my order was ready. I finally got tired of waiting and walked in Apparently my food had been sitting there for a while. Whatever, I guess I know for next time. The second time I ordered online again. Picking it up was fine, but when I unwrapped my food it was a pretty sad version of what I ordered. I get a swami wrap, which is supposed to have rice and cooked veggies with sauce. This time I got some large pieces of raw broccoli, a few raw veggies, and a tiny bit of rice, no sauce. Pretty unappetizing, but I ate it anyway. Then the third time I ordered for curbside pickup (at the Cambridge location). Probably my fault for assuming again, but I thought my food would be brought out to my car since I had to give a description of it. I sat and waited for another 30 minutes with no food, so I decided to walk inside. And there was my food just sitting there... Apparently you're supposed to call them and tell them you're outside, but nowhere in the ordering process does it tell you that. I used to love the food there. I was a regular ever since the Brookline location opened, but at this point I'm starting to think I should just go somewhere else.