Move over Take It Away and Bodo’s, there is a new kid on the block, and they are definitely here to stay. Roots Natural Kitchen, or Roots as the locals call it, opened this past June and is cranking out affordable, healthy food.
Located between Fig and Café Caturra, Roots’s prime location on The Corner means great things for UVa students and faculty alike. With an awesome assortment of fresh produce and proteins, Roots aims to please with speedy service and great food.
PSA: The images in this post are going to make you crave a salad. Yes…I said it. A salad.
1. The staff is incredibly friendly.
Honestly, the amount of time they have to stand there, tongs in hand, waiting for you to decide what to order must be innumerable. But, somehow, they still couldn’t be nicer.
2. You can design your own salad or bowl.
After choosing your base ingredient or ingredients of greens, grains and/or legumes, you can top your salad with five of twenty vegetable, fruit, cheese and nut options including, but not limited to, roasted sweet potatoes and broccoli, lime-pickled onions and dried cranberries.
Then, the wonderful Roots staff will ask you for your choice of eight dressings, which they will perfectly toss into your salad. Finally, you can top your salad with an item from the grill: BBQ tofu, Adobo chicken or mushrooms.
As you can see, the possibilities are endless. Obviously just another reason to go everyday to try as many combinations as possible…
3. Or…you can pick from one of the signature salads and bowls.
If the pressure of designing your own bears too much, you can skip the pressure of deciding on the perfect ingredient and order a professionally designed salad or bowl.
Looking for a recommendation? The Cobb and the Roots Bowl are particularly amazing (along with the rest of the menu).
4. The owners of another awesome C’ville restaurant opened Roots.
Chefs Ivan Rekosh and Andrew Silver opened ZoCaLo, the tasty Latin American restaurant located in the center of Charlotteville’s Downtown Mall, in 2003. After more than ten years of success, Rekosh and Silver decided, with the help of some brilliant UVa students, to open roots.
Best. Idea. Ever.
5. Roots is fast AND healthy.
Even though the line is usually out the door, you can still be in-and-out of Roots in 15 minutes with a salad in your hands and a smile on your face. No student has time to stand around and wait to be healthy. Roots works at the speed of fast food joints, but delivers better results.
What more could you ask for?
6. Everything is affordable.
For under $10, you can get a HUGE, healthy salad, which can sometimes last for two meals.
But, I’ll bet you that you’ll finish the whole bowl in one sitting because these salads are just that good.
7. Roots is obviously the place to be.
If you aren’t already running to The Corner to get in line for your very own salad or bowl, you should. Roots offers a variety of awesome healthy options in an incredibly convenient location.
After looking at all of these salad pics, I am sure you’re craving a salad by now. So treat yo’self and go check out Roots.