San Francisco’s Gracias Madre, Vegan Delicious, Making Mother Earth Proud

We should always be thankful to our mothers.

Everyday. All day.

They weaned us, prepared delicious meals, protected us from harm, taught us important values from the heart and often have made a great living to support us.

We should also thank our Mother Earth as well.

She is just as beautiful.

Mother Earth has provided us with fresh water, clean air, spiritual forests, majestic mountains, snow covered ski slopes and if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, the powerfully scenic and Zen like Pacific Ocean.

“Sooner or later, we will have to recognize that the Earth has rights, too, to live without pollution. What mankind must know is that human beings cannot live without Mother Earth, but the planet can live without humans.”…Evo Morales

There is a delicious vegan restaurant in San Francisco that pays homage to our mother earth and does so in a very tasteful way.

Check it out.

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At the informative wanderlust site thrillist.com they announce, “What started as Mexican meals Terces Engelhart cooked on the Be Love Farm for those around her morphed into Gracias Madre when she discovered there was nowhere in the Bay Area to consistently get vegan, non-GMO Mexican. Since that important realization, everyone vegan, vegetarian, and otherwise has flocked to the Mission eatery (which now has a SoCal outpost in West Hollywood as well) for her incredible plantain-filled empanadas, enchiladas con mole with cashew cheese, and pretty much everything else.”

Sounds unique with a relaxing and warm vision.

The visionaries at sfgate.com have something to add, “When you enter the 70-seat space in the Mission, with outdoor seating in front for 32, the room seems overly spacious, dominated by the large open kitchen in the back and a sea of communal tables and hardwood chairs, monastic in their uncomfortable pitch. Hardwood floors and colorful tile in the kitchen and facing the bar and dining counter complete the look.

Gracias Madre is the latest concept from Matthew and Terces Engelhart of Cafe Gratitude, who pioneered the art of affirmative names with such things as I Am Insightful (spring rolls), I Am Thriving (hot soup of the day) and I Am Dazzling (Caesar salad).”

Those were nice warm ups. Now we would like to meet the Gracias Madre team up close.

We start in Southern California where they blessed the region with their upscale style.

At graciasmadreweho.com, with cool L.A. suave they offer, “Our mission is to celebrate and serve the presence of the mother which resides above us, within our hearts, within the earth, and in all those who nurture us. We serve cuisine inspired by the kitchens of Mexico sourced from locally grown organic ingredients. Welcome to a seat at love's table.”

Sounds lovely. Is there more?

Of course. Good.

They continue, “We first conceived the idea of Gracias Madre while visiting the families of our employees in Mexico. We wanted to both; offer organic Mexican food to the communities we serve as well as honor the mothers who work tirelessly in the kitchens of Mexico and often live without their husbands and children while they work side by side with us in California. Inspired by some of the recipes of these families and the love of their mothers, Gracias Madre serves organic, farm fresh, locally sourced food, full of flavor and love.”

That is a really nice back story.

Now we desire to travel up North to the Mission District in San Francisco, take a seat and listen in as they add to their lore.

At their San Francisco site, gracias-madre.com, they expand, “Gracias Madre is truly an expression of who we are – it represents our deep love of and reverence for food, our commitment to health and sustainability, our unconditional love for our multicultural family and community, our devotion to the Earth and the divine feminine, and our commitment to raising consciousness on the planet.”

We love the feminine designation. Their approach is very divine. Please serve us more.

They oblige, “It is our intention that the emphasis we place on the sourcing of our food will bring consciousness in the community to the importance of sustainability and of buying and selling locally grown organic food.”

Okay, so how is that working out? We love the concepts. What are their customers saying?

When we need to get insightful reviews, we love peeking on the team at Trip Advisor to get the inside scoop. Here are a few reviews:

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First, “Wonderful place to eat, very healthy. Great environment and friendly service. Definitely come back on next visit. Margarita was great and Bowl Uno was healthy and tasty.”

Here is another, “Vegan Mexican is difficult to find, but this is perfect. Everything is made in-house. The food is great, the drinks are amazing, and the service is splendid. You often have to share the table (since it's not that large), but this rarely matters.”

We’ve done that before. Sharing tables at creative restaurants and meeting new interesting people can be enjoyable.

One more. “I was quite impressed by the scrumptious vegan Mexican fare on offer. While the chairs are hard and the service is somewhat slow, I loved the Bowl Uno which is chock full of Tempeh chorizo, black beans, guacamole, brown rice, pico de gallo, romaine lettuce...”

Sounds delicious and memorable.

Point well taken. Good vegan Mexican restaurants are unique and can be hard to find but seems like we’ve found a gem in Gracias Madre. It was worth the wait and the search.

Their menu is seasonal and determined by what is currently available at their Organic farm in Pleasant Valley, California, the Be Love Farm.

We took one look at the farm and fell in love with its earthly beauty and the owner’s unique concepts. https://www.belovefarm.com/

Their cheeses and milks are made using nuts. Tortillas and tamales are handmade from non-GMO Organic heirloom corn, some of which is grown on the farm as well.

Life can be full of sensational surprises if we keep our eyes and minds wide open. Here our taste buds too.

We should always be thankful to our mothers for endless reasons including guiding us to principled adventures.

We can be very thankful to our Mother Earth for blessing us with the ingredients to cultivate tasty and healthy foods like the dishes found at Gracias Madre.