True Food Kitchen

True Food Kitchen
168 W Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91105
626-639-6818

True Food Kitchen is located in Old Town Pasadena, at a location where there is a revolving door for restaurants.  A quick search food three other restaurants at this location.  True Food Kitchen is a healthy chain restaurant.  They have vegan/vegetarian fare along with meat items.  Very much like Tender Greens. This is a huge location with seating in in the patio, a bar area, and a dining area.

We at inside the bar area, which was a bit noisy with music and a group of four couple celebrating a woman's birthday. 

Inside Out Quinoa Burger hummus, tzatziki, tomato, cucumber, red onion, avocado, feta- $14 with a side of kale salad.  This was an interesting take on a veggie burger.  The quinoa pattie was mushing and just not appetizing.  The other ingredients were very fresh.  But overall this quinoa burger just didn't mix well together!

Service was pretty good.  The server was nice and friendly.  But, he didn't ask if we needed refills on drinks and he didn't come around that often.

I would not go back to True Food Kitchen!  Tender Greens beats them by a country mile!

Pita Jungle

Pita Jungle
4340 E Indian School Rd
Phoenix, AZ 85018
602-955-7482

Pita Jungle is a chain in the Phoenix area that was started by three Arizona St. students.  There is a Pita Jungle in Newport Beach, CA.  They are planning to expand to other California cities.

This Pita Jungle location is huge, with about 30 tables in the restaurant.  The shopping center is a busy center with a Pei Wei, Starbucks, and other eateries.

Black bean burger, $8.69-homemade black bean patty formed with chipotle, jalapeno and bell peppers, carrots, corn, oats, garlic, onions, cilantro, cranberries, on a bun with chipotle hummus, baby arugula, hothouse tomatoes, red onions, sunflower sprouts with a side of lemon-cilantro mixed beans.

This was a very good burger.  The first thing I noticed was this burger fell apart.  Now some people may think that is a bad thing, but making a black bean burger it is a good thing.  Why?  Because you know it is made fresh and not a pre-made frozen burger.  While the burger patty fell apart, it was very flavorful, bold flavors from the chipotle hummus.   I did think the burger needed some ketchup or even a thousand island dressing, but overall a very good burger.

Service was very good, despite being very busy that night.  The server was very nice and prompt.

I would go back to Pita Jungle anytime!  Hopefully they will open more locations in California!

Real Food Daily

Real Food Daily
899 E Del Mar Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91106
626-844-8900

What a change for this location!  This used to be a Bob's Big Bob that I reviewed back in 2010.  I was told that Bob's didn't make it into 2011.  Real Food Daily then opened up and has been serving up vegan fare to Pasadena.

At night was you walk to the restaurant, it is very dark and unwelcoming. But, once inside, a tastefully decorated room with lots of seating and a counter for diners. 

THANKSGIVING TEASER Our famous faux turkey, corn-sage stuffing, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, roasted vegetables, cranberry sauce $18.

There was some very good items in this entree and there were some real bad items.  First, the good stuff.  Roasted garlic mashed potatoes- very creamy, smooth and full of flavor the mushroom gravy is awesome.  Stuffing-again good flavor, maybe a little too much sage, but overall a good dish.

The bad- faux turkey- dry, lacked texture and flavor.  Not a good dish.  Roasted vegetables were bitter, burnt, and not good at all.

Overall the dish wasn't worth the price.

Service was below average.  While the server was nice, she wasn't around that often.  Right after my friend and I got seated, I went to use the restroom.  During that time no server came to our table and took a drink order.  We waited at least another five minutes after I came back from the restaurant for a server to come by.  The place wasn't busy and there is no reason for that delay.

I wouldn't go back to Real Food Daily again.  High prices, poor food and poor service do not make a good combination!

Lemonade

Lemonade
146 S Lake Ave
Pasadena, CA 91101
626-304-7700

A few doors north of Veggie Grill is Lemonade-a fast casual, healthy food restaurant.  I first found out about Lemonade, after seeing their Larchmont Blvd. location across from Cafe Gratitude!  People have said Lemonade is better than Veggie Grill and Tender Greens.

Lemonade is cafeteria style setting.  Paper plates and plastic silverware.  You start at the first section which is called Market Place- You can get your salads by portions, $2.75 per portion.  As you move along there is Hot Market Veggies-mashed potatoes, roasted veggies etc.  Land/Sea- fish, chicken, and beef options.  Braises-meat options like BBQ brisket and lemongrass chicken , sandwiches, and hot portions-soups, mac and cheese, and chili including a vegetarian option.  Finally at the end of the line you can order drinks and of course pay. 

Edamame, Snap Pea, Carrots, Breakfast Radish, $2.75.  I really liked this salad-very fresh and refreshing.

Israeli Couscous, Wild Mushroom, Parmesan, Lemon Truffle, $2.75. A very good dish with flavorful mushrooms and perfectly cooked and seasoned couscous!

Spicy Crab and Avocado Salad Stuffed Vine Ripe Tomato- $6.50.  Not a fan.  The crab was mushy and very bland-not spicy at all.  The tomato wasn't ripe, a very sour taste.  I should have stuck with my first choice a citrus salmon. 

Mac and cheese, $3.75. This mac and cheese was horrible!  So dry and bland!  There wasn't enough cheese sauce and the little sauce was flavorless!  Good thing the macaroni was cooked right.

Service is good.  All workers on the line were nice and friendly.

I liked my salads but the proteins and mac and cheese were not good at all.  I would go back and give Lemonade another chance, but I was disappointed with the food in my first visit.

Veggie Grill-Updated Review

Veggie Grill
200 S Lake
Pasadena, CA 91101
626-535-9561

A couple doors down from Dupar's Restaurant, which used to be Hamburger Hamlet, is Veggie Grill.  Veggie Grill is a chain plant based restaurant.  There is no meat products in their food.  You can enter Veggie Grill from the back parking lot or from Lake Ave.  It's a good sized restaurant with a long section of tables for two, as you enter from the back and tables that can seat larger groups in the front.  You order at the counter and your food is brought to you.

Crab cake sandwich, $9.95, Crispy ''crab'' cake, spiced tartar sauce, pickles, tomato, lettuce, red onion on a whole wheat bun, with a a choice of side, I got the tomato basil soup, which was more appealing than Yukon gold fries or cole slaw.

The crab cake is made with a soy protein and was indeed very crispy, with good flavor.  Of course, it didn't have the same texture as a crab cake made with real crab, but this was good.  But, they could have put more tartar sauce on the sandwich, it was fairly dry.

The tomato basil soup was seasoned perfectly and creamy. 

Mac and cheese, $4.45.  The macaroni was cooked perfectly.  But, the "cheese" sauce was so chalky and dry.  Not good at all.  Portion size was very small and not worth the high price.

Service was good.  I got my order quickly.

Veggie Grill is pretty good in my book.  I won't rush back, but I wouldn't rule out going there if in the area.  Though, I would not order the mac and cheese again.

Update August 22, 2017:

Beyond Burger, $12.95. Burger by Beyond Meat, American "cheese", grilled onions, house made sauce, tomato, iceberg lettuce, sesame buns.  Beyond Meat is a 100% plant based, non GMO, veggie patty.  In other words it's a better veggie burger than that genetically modified Impossible Burger from Umami!  Veggie Grill has carried the Beyond Burger for about six months and is such a great seller, it now has a permanent place on their menu!!

This was very tasty, full of flavor, well seasoned veggie burger.  The toppings were fresh.  I really liked the thousand island house made sauce.   It was so good, I almost ordered another burger!!  It's a steal at $12.95 with your choice of fries or the soup.

Service was good.  But, for whatever after I ordered they suddenly got a rush of people.  They didn't handle it well, as some people were waiting a long time for their orders.  Maybe somebody called in sick, but it seemed as though they were understaffed.

I loved the Beyond Meat burger and I like Veggie Grill, so I'll return soon!

Tender Greens

Tender Greens
621 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91101
626-405-1511

Having gone to Citrus Kitchen, I decided to go to the Tender Greens in Pasadena.  I had gone to the Tender Greens in Santa Monica and was impressed with the food.

Tender Greens is basically the chain version of Citrus Kitchen.  The Pasadena location is huge, while ample seating.  It's a cafeteria style order system.

Mac and cheese, $5.  Very good, but the macaroni was a bit undercooked.  The cheese sauce was great, nice and creamy.  It would have been a great dish if the macaroni was cooked properly!

Herb brushed albacore, butter lettuce salad with taragon dressing, yukon gold mashed potatoes, $11.50.  The salad was very fresh and tasty.  It was all green butter lettuce, not a mix of red butter lettuce, but it was good.  Taragon dressing had a slight tang to it, adding flavor but not overpowering the salad.

Yukon gold potatoes were perfect!  Nice and creamy and very good flavor.

The herb brushed albacore was cooked rare and seasoned very well.  Fresh fish and great flavor.

Service was good and bad.  The two people, one for food and the other for drinks, taking my order were nice, friendly and helpful.  The cashier was terrible!  She didn't bother saying thank you, she was too busy talking to her coworkers and being a robot-"You ordered the albacore, with mac and cheese.  Your total is $20."  After getting our food, I went to get silverware and they only had one fork left in the container.  I went back to the cashier and told them very nicely that there were no more forks.  She seemed to be bothered by the fact that she had to do more work!!  The cashier had little customer service skills!

Tender Greens has good food, but the prices are high for the portion size and aren't a good value. 

Citrus Kitchen

Citrus Kitchen
10431 Lemon Ave Suite H
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91737
909-941-1444

David Allen reviewed Citrus Kitchen back in September 2014, and it's been on my bucket list of places to try.   I finally went to Citrus Kitchen and felt I was going Back to the Future!!  Why?  Because this restaurant used to be Chef Tim's and Gerald Willhite's Spices BBQ.  I understand after Chef Tim's the location was a Chinese restaurant and at one time used to be an Indian restaurant.  I found it interesting that there are two pizza places in this shopping center, a national chain and a mom and pop's.  On a side note, this is the second time this year I went Back to the Future!  The first time was Jay's Pizza, which used to be Joe's Pizza.

Citrus Kitchen is a small place, with a two tables and two sets of counter seating, one facing the window, another facing the prep area!!  It was fairly busy on a Saturday night.  

The ordering system at Citrus Kitchen is choice of protein, then one side with a snack portion, or two sides with a meal portion.  Then a choice of sauce.  Seafood and beef items are about 50 cents higher for the snack portion.  I got two snack portions and two different sides to get a variety.  I got my order to go.  While waiting for my order, a woman, who was dining in, asked for a plate.  The guy behind the counter said they do not have any plates!!  Now, I'm not sure if that means they ran out of plates or no longer serve food on plates!  In the pictures from David Allen's review, the food was served on plates.

Blackened salmon, $7.99.  Perfectly cooked, but lacked flavor!!  Very little spices and seasonings! 

Citrus shrimp, $7.99.  Very well cooked and seasoned!!  Didn't even need the limes!  I would order this again!

Vegan black beans.  A very good sided portion for a side!  Beans were cooked perfectly and they were full of flavor with a nice kick.  Though I'm not sure what spice they used to get that heat.

Mac and cheese.  As well cooked as the black beans were, the macaroni was undercooked!!  But, the cheese was great; lots of it, creamy and nice flavor.  If the macaroni was cooked properly this would have been great!!

Service was friendly.  The order took about ten minutes to prepare, which is fine.  But, I got my order to go, and they didn't put napkins or utensils in the bag!

I was disappointed in Citrus Kitchen.  I thought the food, especially the salmon, was going to be much better.