Noah’s Eat Review- Fresh Kitchen- Great. Food. Fast.
Being that local and national restaurant icons Hugo’s and Bern’s Steak House are located on Howard Ave in Tampa, when you choose to open your first restaurant on this same hallowed street, you better have your food act together! And when you aspire to healthy food, that tastes great, and is served fast? Well usually you pick two of those three! When Fresh Kitchen bought that hip building on Howard in 2012 and set up shop, they got all three right.
For starters, the building itself is very cool! The ordering process is cafeteria like, but most cafeterias don’t have food approaching this level of variety or flavor with a staff that’s totally engaged. You order your bowl, depending on size and how hungry you are, starting with Bases, which range from varieties of rice all the way to kale slaw. Next are the Roasted Veggies, from a local seasonal veggie to sesame green beans. Then, choose you protein (including tofu!), all hormone and anti-biotic free, varieties of chicken, tuna, steak. Lastly, Sauce It Up, from creamy white ginger to coconut sriracha. There is also an amazing variety of Add-Ons like bean and corn salsa and pesto tomato salad, along with a great selection of homemade teas and pressed juices.
I had a Six Bowl, 2 bases, 2 proteins, 2 veggies and one sauce. Going the lower carb route, I got the spinach salad, kale slaw, basil mushrooms, and bean and corn salsa. These all added to an amazingly complex flavor together in that bowl. The marinated herb grilled steak was both tender and delicious, and the grilled chicken had just the right amount braised BBQ flavor, complemented with the coconut sriracha sauce! My wife switched out the spinach for the Parmesan broccoli and the steak for the baked almond chicken. Halfway through we swapped bowls because they were both so off the chain delicious!
Lucky for everyone, Fresh Kitchen is now expanding through out Florida, reaching as far south as Boca now. FK really delivers on a promise of fresh, delicious, nutritious, imaginative and fast. Truly fast food re-imagined.