Thursday, October 21, 2010

Weekday Lunch: Tender Greens, Hollywood


 

I first tried Tender Greens a couple of years ago when it first opened in Culver City and fell in love with the concept of fresh salads and proteins prepared right in front of your eyes. I was happy when one opened up near my office, and yesterday my friend Dmitri and I decided to go for lunch.

The place was packed at 12:45pm, and it's easy to see why- Tender Greens is a mecca of healthy, delicious options that are all reasonably priced. I opted for something I get often- The Happy Vegan- not because I'm vegan, but because it's damned good and I'm a whore for hummus...a Hummus Whore, if you will. For around $10 you get a gigantic green salad dressed with a sherry vinagrette, a scoop of edamame hummus, another of tabbouleh, yet another of red quinoa and yet another (I know, wow right?) of a particularly delcious farro salad with toasted hazelnuts and dried cranberries. It's always way too much for me to finish but I love the different flavors and textures this dish offers. Too bad I didn't lift up the green salad veil to reveal all of the elements on my plate...but you get the idea. Actually, here is a better photo from another blog.


My not-so-great pic of the Happy Vegan!
Dmitri made me remember why I created a rule called If Cheeks Are On A Menu I Must Order Them which I broke when choosing the vegan plate; luckily he was wise and got the Braised Lamb Cheek Sandwich from the specials board. For those of you who know the heaven that are beef cheeks, halibut cheeks or any cheeks you know his sandwich was slammin' because honestly, the meat off the head of most animals is the most delcious part. Really. Although I was perfectly happy with my hummus I would be lying if I didn't say one whiff of that gorgeous sandwich didn't give me a tinge of regret. I mean, just look at this thing:

This might be the World's Most Perfect Sandwich
At least I can take heart in knowing that I'll be returning to Tender Greens many more times and will have another opportunity to get that sandwich. Actually there are quite a few things I've yet to sample so I'm looking forward to my next visit.

Want a cookie the size of my head to totally take the "healthy" out of that salad?
Tender Greens Hollywood
6290 West Sunset Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) 382-0380

2 comments:

eastside food bites said...

It's hard to eat a vegan plate with pork in front of your face, but still that hummus looks pretty delish.

Anne said...

EFB: Yeah, for sure, but I do love me some hummus. My only complaint is that it comes with a slice of ciabatta instead of some warm pita, which would be nice to scoop up all of the other salads!