Ben Stiller and Daughter Ella Spotted Dining at Popular Vegan Restaurant in Cambridge, Mass.

"It was really exciting having him here and so cool that he was just as approachable and nice as he could have been," PlantPub co-owner Pat McAuley tells PEOPLE

Photo: Ella Olivia Stiller

Ben Stiller followed his daughter Ella's lead while in Cambridge, Mass. on Sunday, eating dinner at the popular vegan eatery PlantPub.

Co-owner Pat McAuley tells PEOPLE that he spotted the father-daughter duo at his restaurant and inquired if they follow a plant-based diet. As McAuley was clearing their table, Ben, 56, pointed to his 19-year-old daughter.

"[Ella] told me that she was vegan and said, 'This is like vegan heaven'," McAuley recalls. "They both said they enjoyed the food very much."

(Ben also shares son Quinlin Dempsey, 16, with his wife Christine Taylor. The couple recently rekindled their marriage after separating nearly five years ago.)

Ben Stiller and daughter Ella. Kena Betancur/Showtime/PictureGroup/Shutterstock

Ben and Ella, who said they were in town just for the day, ordered pub fries, a Buffalo chicken Caesar wrap, a Margherita pizza, and an Impossible burger (hold the pickles). He had the burger, she had the wrap, and they split the pizza and fries. They both ordered an organic Main Root root beer and Ella also had an Oreo frappe.

When they arrived, there were no open tables, so Ben and his daughter ordered the food to go. But when a table opened, they decided to stay and dine at the restaurant.

Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor pose alongside their children Ella Olivia and Quinlin while visiting Andy Karl, and Orfeh backstage at Pretty Woman: The Musical. Bruce Glikas/WireImage

"It was really exciting having him here and so cool that he was just as approachable and nice as he could have been," says McAuley, who posed for a picture with the veteran filmmaker. "When we were about to take the picture, he suggested we move to a spot where there was better lighting. He was just incredibly nice."

And a good tipper: The actor left a $30 tip for a $73 check.

McAuley says that patrons "clearly" recognized Ben "but were being respectful" and didn't disturb him when he was eating dinner with his daughter. McAuley says that one customer, a man in his 20s, was picking up a to-go order when he spotted the Zoolander star seated at a nearby table.

"He asked him to take a selfie and [Ben] was really, really good about that," McAuley says.

This isn't the first time that the vegan restaurant has attracted celebrities. Last month, Zendaya, who is in Boston filming a movie called Challengers (co-starring Mike Faist and Josh O'Connor), dined at PlantPub with her dad, brother, and dog, Noon. They ate pepperoni pizza, nachos, pub fries, a burger, and a fried chicken sandwich – and, like Ben and Ella, washed it down with root beer and a frappe.

The Euphoria star was spotted just days later in the Back Bay section of Boston with her actor boyfriend Tom Holland and her pet pooch, shopping and drinking a beverage at Tatte Bakery & Café.

McAuley, who co-owns PlantPub with award-winning chef Mary Dumont and celebrity vegan chef-entrepreneur Matthew Kenney, says he is thrilled that the word is getting out about the restaurant, which opened just six months ago, and that A-listers are making a point of dining there.

"I think we'll see a lot more famous faces when a second [and larger] PlantPub opens in a more mainstream location," he says of the new PlantPub Fenway, an 8,000-square-foot eatery opening in May across the street from historic Fenway Park. "There's a growing awareness with people, no matter who they are, that they can have pizza, a burger, a beer … and that it can be plant-based."