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| - I'll say it now, I really want to come back here; I've only been here once, and when I walked in the entire cozy restaurant smelled like a greasy, meaty heaven. Alas, I could not try one of their appetizing looking sandwiches or get a big pile of fries that particular day - not unless I wanted to be up and sick as a dog all night. So I had to go the healthy route, and ordered a salad instead.
Let it be known that Hello Bistro really must be good if I don't have any regrets or resentment since I more or less was required to eat salad for dinner - health reasons and whatnot always get in my way, it seems. But I was happy to find that their Mediterranean salad is a delicious and a great alternative to a greasy burger or whatnot. It was just a big bowl filled with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, olives, feta cheese, and dressing, but the simplicity really didn't matter considering how fresh the greens were. It had the fresh taste and crisp crunch that you'd expect from a good salad. The portion sizing was a bit over the top, but these guys do have the sense to serve their giant salads in plastic bowls that just need a lid and are ready to go home with you. It's so simple, but I really like the fact that we didn't have to wait after eating to get another container and pack up my food. Really, my only complaint about my meal was that the salad had waaaay too many olives, but now I know better for future reference.
Keeping me from giving the place 5 stars is the simple fact that I really don't find this place super exceptional; it's a great cheap-eats spot that's pretty darn popular because it's cheap-eats. But the food isn't the best thing ever. It IS, however, better than what you'll find in a lot of other Oakland cheap-eat spots, which is probably why so many students pop in here so often.
On a final note, my friend definitely loved his sandwich as much as I enjoyed my salad, so next time, I'm planning ahead, not coming here after I eat too much in advance, and giving myself the chance to try some of what smelled so darn good when I walked in here!
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