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| - Stopped in on a Wednesday at 1 p.m. and the place was full of nine to fiver's on lunch break and families or moms with their kids. Upon entry, a rack of four menus are labeled and organized into columns; gluten free, vegan/ vegetarian, everything and wine/ beer.
For someone who is used to having a few vegan options on a regular menu, an entire veggie menu took a few minutes to take in. It was so busy I assured a handful of hungry regulars looking to pass by I was not in line yet. I narrowed it down to the vegan kale Caesar salad with Gardein chick'n strips and the tofu tacos... the chipotle aioli and marinated tofu steered me to the tacos.
I placed my order of tacos and my date had to clarify the non-vegan nature of his order because the cashier assumed he was vegan too. We added the chunky guacamole, a vanilla milkshake and lemonade. I asked for water as well, but my date observed the self serve H20 station after we had sat down. There were water options as well; room temperature, cold and sparkling.
We walked outside and the misters were in full mist mode. Yellow umbrellas provided shade and complimented the bright nature of the decor. The guacamole came to the table on a wooden serving plate with house baked tortillas. It was good, but nothing special. My date found it bland.
Our beverages came shortly after. The milkshake was more of a smoothie concoction, it contained bananas, soy milk and dates. Again, it was good but not special. The lemonade was delicious, it simply tasted like lemon.
The entrees arrived and the reality of the calorie and sodium counts on the menu set in. For those watching their calorie intake, two tacos and a side salad for less than 500 calories is great but I feel the price should be lower for the amount of food on the plate.
The tacos were filled with a variety of crisp veggies, aioli, tofu and avocado. In that order. They were fresh and filling, but the tofu was a bit bland and the overall combination of ingredients was not memorable.
I will try this place again though. It has a cool ambiance, immaculate cleanliness and the fact that every dish is less than 600 calories is impressive. That vegan kale chick'n Caesar is calling me.
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