Very friendly service. Love to eat in there. Reasonable prices. Good food with a lot of varieties. Sad to see it closed down. Hope is temporary.

UPDATE on 1/2/25: Sweet Veggie announced on their FB page that this location was going to shut down on 12/29/24. I will definitely try to support whatever location they find next. As far as to my knowledge, this is the largest Sweet Veggie out of a mini chain of smaller locations in LA county that serves Taiwanese vegetarian food. As my family and I really enjoy going to a Sweet Veggie location on Nogales St. as well as a former location in Walnut so visiting the larger El Monte location felt inevitable. The location itself feels like it used to be a larger dim sum restaurant and to be frank, it does not feel completely refurbished - the carpet looks old and the walls feel like a need a newer paint job. If anything, it feels like Sweet Veggie moved right in after this building was in a period of disuse for a couple of years. But there are rules here that keep this location neat and orderly, which include minimizing noise and keeping your hands clean in the buffet area. Service here is minimal, you pay and just go. That being said, there's no doubt you will be hard pressed to find a larger variety of tasty vegetarian food anywhere around as well as a larger buffet space for it too. I really enjoyed everything - the salads, unlimited teas, veggie meats, curry on rice, noodles, multitude of soups, and desserts were all great comfort food. Regarding the latter, who is going to say no to a shaved ice machine? The bonus is that the Sweet Veggies also double as a small market for vegetarian goods to be bought and it goes without saying this location has a particularly larger market due to its size. Parking felt ample and for $18 bucks an adult, I definitely had more than my fair share of food. If you're a vegetarian, or have a meatless day on the calendar, and most importantly, you're super hungry, this is the place to go!

Sadly, Sweet Veggie will be closing for good on December 29. Really going to miss talking to their manager, Kitty, and, of course, all the great food. I wish them all well. Rent was going up in the New Year is the reason for shutting down this location.

This is a fun vegetarian buffet that is part market and part Buddhist contemplative practice space. When getting food, be mindful about your portions and don't even think about talking to your friends until you sit down. My eyes are always bigger than my stomach, which I need to work on being more careful about. I thankfully ate everything I put on my plate, but I am trying to eat enough to not be hungry rather than eat to feel full. This is adulting. This is a self service buffet, but the cashier at the front was very friendly. I really liked the drink options: different kinds of tea. It's nice to eat here once in a while, especially before driving to LAX.

Best vegan buffet around. Doesn't feel it's vegan. With the all you can drink boba options is awesome.

Came here with a friend who is vegetarian and I'm always open to having a meatless meal. This place is AYCE and offers both vegetarian and vegan options. They serve eggs but will let people know if a dish is vegan. What makes me give this place 5-stars is because this place is a non-profit and they donate uneaten food every night. You also don't need to tip but they ask that you bus your own tables. It's a very low key establishment with ample seating and ample food options. They have a Chinese porridge section, stir fry dishes, salad bar, shaved ice, soups, and even a taco bar. Great hot tea and drink options too. You can stay the full 3 hours that they are open for dinner so no rush like other AYCE places. They even have a small grocery store inside but didn't have time to shop. Check out my food pics!

I am so glad my friend introduced me to this place. After he brought me here, I liked it so much I came back again with my family within the same week. I came here for lunch on a weekday and also on a weekend, and the food selection was slightly different. If you like vegetarian Taiwanese or Chinese food, and porridge, then this is the place for you. The porridge was great. There is a salad bar, a soup bar with noodles during the week day. There are also fried rice, fried noodles, and fried rice cakes. The shaved ice bar is amazing! I love the toppings they had: taro, boba, grass jelly, yellow jelly, condensed milk, red beans and green beans. Lastly, there is even a vegetarian taco bar! There are hot coffee, hot tea, ice black tea and winter melon tea offered for beverages. The inside is simple and a bit dated. You need to bus your own plates. I didn't mind that at all. You pay at the counter when you walk in and then they will assign you seating. I love the grocery store they have inside the restaurant located to the side. Many of the items they carry I have not seen at a Chinese grocery store. Plus, their prices are better!

Sweet Veggie is an awesome find for Vegetarian (and Vegan). The casual venue is part eatery/part market located in an unkempt strip-mall setting. This restaurant looks out of place but don't let the exterior fool your experience. Due to the pandemic, buffets seem harder to find so it's so wonderful to find on catered toward plant-based buffet style. I had a blasted sitting, eating and watching the crowd come through to support the business. Westminster entered paying and walked toward the three islands - cold food with all you can drink beverages (e.g., milk tea, winter melon tea, tea), hot food of mock-meat variations tied to common Chinese entrees and appetizers including a soup bar. The hot food trays are so flavorful--fried eggplants, fried mushrooms, ma po tofu, several style of braised tofu, including fried man toa (buns) where you can get a side of condensed milk as dipping sauce. This is dangerously bad and addictive!!!! The eating hall is a large room and interestingly is assigned table broken from section A-E (see your receipt). To manage staff resources, all patrons are asked to clean up after yourself, including sorting your used plates/utensils, in assigned buckets. I love this "community" effort and saves on tipping too. (wink, wink) Sweet Veggie also offers cooking classes, as well as health seminars at the restaurant to further promote its message and mission. The message along with class offers are posted on the tables. Without a doubt, I'll be coming back in the coming weeks when I get another opportunity to visit SGV.

After coming back from a trip to Taiwan, I was craving vegetarian breakfast. Sweet Veggies has been on my radar for sometime and we finally decided to try it. The location itself doesn't get a lot of foot traffic, which makes this the perfect hidden gem. You pay first and your receipt tells you your table number. The lady working the front explained to us that everything is self served including the drinks, no tip is required, but please put away the dirty utensils in the corresponding bins when you're done with the plates. This place reminded me a lot of Taiwan, where people are respectful of each other and there is an emphasis on compassion and respect. There are little stories at each table that teach moral lessons and signs around the food area saying "Do not speak around food area" to reduce contamination of the food. The food selection was tasty, lots of different vegetarian dishes. Vegetarian food can be pretty expensive, but this place makes it affordable and gives you plenty of variety. They have a salad section, a dessert section, porridge section, taco section, soup section, drink section, veggie section, and carbs section. I loved the porridge selection! The drinks were also tasty. Despite eating a lot, it was generally healthy since I limited my carbs and red meat intake. They also have a small market on the side with different vegetarian and Taiwanese products. You can also make a bento box to go for $7, it is pretty reasonable. All in all, I'm glad I finally tried this place and can't wait to bring my health conscious family here!