Some people love salads and eating healthy. I am not one of those people. So when sweetgreen, known for their salads and grain bowls, opened their latest location at the Westfield Century City, I was a little hesitant to try it. However, my desire to try something new managed to overtake my reluctance to eat a healthy grain bowl (do the words “healthy grain bowl” even sound appetizing?).
Oddly enough, sweetgreen started in Washington D.C. (of all places), though they moved their headquarters to LA (Culver City, to be exact) – their salad/grain bowls being a perfect match for the health-conscious population of Los Angeles. With an emphasis on locally sourced ingredients, sweetgreen has a blackboard listing the farms supplying their produce. With the prep kitchen visible from the front of the restaurant, you can see how clean and spotless it is.
You can either choose to make your own bowl or one of the preselected warm bowls, salads or a handful of seasonal bowls – though you can always customize them further, excluding ingredients or swapping proteins.
Your bowl is assembled as you move through the line, though when you get to the end, the ingredients will get dumped in a larger bowl for tossing with either light, medium or heavy dressing. You’ll get the option of bread, and if you say yes, a single slice will be packed in the same bowl as your salad. Your order will then be placed be in a eco-friendly compostable bowl, for dining in or takeaway.
Speaking of takeaway, by ordering online, you can have your bowl available for pick up on the nifty rack they have out front. Since orders are prepaid, you can simply locate your food and not have to wait in line – a great feature for the busy office workers in the area.
The tofu had been roasted in sesame oil, making it more flavorful than just plain tofu cubes. The miso sesame dressing was rather tasty – the bowl probably could have used heavy dressing to offset the bitterness of the kale.
Between the two, I preferred the curry chickpea with baby spinach, quinoa, chickpeas, carrots, cabbage, cilantro, roasted chicken, raisins and almonds in a curry yogurt dressing. Since this was one of the warm bowls, the quinoa and chickpeas were both heated, offering a nice contrast to the coolness of the baby spinach. Even though the chicken used was breast meat, it was nice and moist.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that even though the bowls were healthy, they still were tasty and were quite filling. They didn’t even need my favorite part part of salads like croutons, fried tortilla strips of won ton crisps (though, to be honest, they would be a nice addition) .
If healthy eating is your mantra, then dining at sweetgreen will be heaven to you. If you’re more like me, dining at sweetgreen will make you feel like you’re doing something good for yourself and may help increase the amount of time before you go to heaven.
Location – Westfield Century City, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles 90067
Website – http://www.sweetgreen.com
Kid-Friendly – Yes, if your kid eats this sort of stuff (mine doesn’t).
Kid’s Menu – No
Vegetarian Friendly – Yes
Vegan Friendly – Yes
Gluten-Free Options – Yes
chowyum 