Au Naturale
Au Naturale is a new restaurant on the corner of 900 East and 2100 South. The goal of the restaurant is to serve healthy, delicious and affordable food quickly. No one said this would be easy, right?
And they really do try. I promise some of the friendliest, most out of their way helpful people work, own and run Au Naturale. I ordered the Ahi Tuna Sandwich expecting seared Ahi Tuna. What I got was grilled tuna that tasted so strongly of fish I was sure I had somehow ended up with salmon. Well, I was assured that I hadn't. But the woman I spoke with was very sweet and even let me have a free salmon sandwich so I would leave with a wonderful experience.
Actually, I kind of feel like an idiot. Really? I blog about food and I can't tell the difference between tuna and salmon. I need to eat more fish! I'm going to the ocean and eating nothing but fish someday.
Phew! Glad that's resolved. The edadmame were good, nice and salty with the shells still on. They were fun to eat, too. Judging from the way, Link's fan girl poked at her pulled pork sandwich the healthy part of barbecue wasn't very good.
The best dish of the night was the iced tea I had. Okay, I know it's not really a dish, but it deserves a mention. They were out of Pepsi and I had a caffeine headache (I know, but I'll die happy) so I chose the iced tea. It was Mango Citrus and it was delicious, just a squeeze of lemon and I could drink the whole thing.
My total came to about $17. Which is a little more than I would expect to spend on fast food, but about what I expect to spend on health food. So here's the deal, if I were very concerned with my health (say, to the point of never drinking caffeine) I would love Au Naturale. It would finally be a place where I could feel comfortable ordering from the whole menu. But I'm not and I also happen to like flavor and texture and getting my money's worth. So sadly unless I have a serious crazing for edadmame I will not be going back to Au Naturale.
For the rest of you, it really is worth the one time experience. If nothing else you actually get to see what they mean by their tag. Delicious healthy food. Fast. Yes it is food, yes it is healthy and yes, it is fast, but is it delicious? What do you think?
posted by Krista Smith @ 12:20 AM
5 Comments:
Well you know that I had some initial misgivings about the bun, but I think the worst part was the cole slaw. People, it lives on the SIDE dish for a reason!!
I went there with several of my vegetarian friends and we were excited to see a healthy fast food eatery with a decent vegetarian selection. We shared several entrees (veggie burger, oven fries, sweet potato fries, black bean burrito, and veggie wrap) and found them to be nothing more than mediocre. I was rather disappointed and probably won't eat there again.
Thanks for your comments likes_michael_better and anonymous. It really is disappointing to see a place with so much potential fall so flat. Perhaps over time they will improve.
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I have been to this place several times now. It has been interesting because I have watched as the business has matured with experience. Not only has the food gotten progressively better and consistent, but the business as a whole has begun to run with more efficiency, contributing to a more pleasurable experience.
I have had the chicken pot pie, which was very unique and not what I was expecting (as it was a bit of a baked soup almost) but filling and very delicious.
The pulled pork sandwich is amazing and I would recommend to anyone. Also, the tomato basil soup was delicious.
I didn't really like the Ahi tuna and avocado roll. It didn't taste like a traditional Japanese roll and was more along the lines of a roll you would buy at a grocery store.
I would recommended this place for sure. But I like very healthy, lean, and different foods. Also, for anyone not so concerned with health that may be tagging along with someone that is, they recently added a nice selection of beer and wine which pairs well with some of their dishes.
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