Breakfast @ The Gallery, W Hotel, Boston

Update Reviews, December 2022 Visit

I generally stay at the W hotel in Boston twice a year - once in the summer and once in the winter, when I am on my way to visit family in New Hampshire.  Boston is always my starting point, and the W really has become my "home".  This isn't a hotel review blog, but, if you are looking for a hotel recommendation in Boston, I highly recommend it - great location, central to everything, incredible staff, comfortable rooms, excellent fitness center with sparkling water (flavored!) on tap, etc.  I'm a regular for a reason.

Although I have visited several times since my last review of their on-site restaurant, The Gallery, I didn't have any food at the property on those visits, but I really had fond memories of their breakfast before, so on this recent trip, I decided to check out the breakfast offerings again.  The menu had evolved somewhat in the past few years, but some staples, like the fresh baked muffins, remain.

I was at the W for 5 days, and had breakfast each morning, so I covered a considerable amount of the breakfast lineup.  I found some real hits (tres leches french toast! Liege waffles!), and was quite pleased with my breakfast most days.  I never went to eat in the restaurant itself, opting instead for takeout, so I can't comment on the service elements. I appreciated that I could order through the app as I groggily woke up, and just pick it up at the front desk once I pulled myself out of bed.  My orders were always ready within 20 minutes, and nicely packaged up.  One morning I did get room service.

Drinks

I'm not one for juices or smoothies, so I didn't pay much attention to that extensive part of the menu, besides to note that they really do have far more juices than average.  In the morning, I want only one thing: coffee.  Regular coffee.   Black.  And after that first cup, I want more, still black, but, decaf.

Coffee is not the W's strong point.  In the lobby, they have complimentary coffee for everyone (regular only, no decaf.  Hot only in winter, iced as well in summer), and I just never like it.  It always tastes like acid, or is highly bitter, etc.  In room, my suite always has a pod based maker, and I never like that either.  It makes me sad, because I really, really like my coffee as I roll out of bed.

Since the lobby coffee, and my in-room coffee kept majorly letting me down, I finally decided to splurge and order a french press at breakfast in the restaurant, to see if it was somehow better.

French Press. Decaf. Small. $7.

The french press (decaf) was indeed considerably better than the lobby coffee, and the in-room coffee.  I wouldn't call it *good* coffee, but, it wasn't horrible.  Passable.  No real depth nor complexity, but not too much acid or bitterness, and, it was freshly brewed, so that likely helped.

Was this little pot worth $7?  Well, no, but, I was a captive audience - it was crazy windy and pouring rain, so even running across the street to Dunkin' seemed out of the question.  ***.

The next morning I got it again (for takeout), again a small, which for takeout was a single cup of coffee.  It was slightly less good.  Higher acid that I recalled from the day before, but still much better than the lobby or in-room coffee.

French Press, Regular, Large. $10.
(2 Cups).

I was inspired to try the regular coffee too, opting for a large french press the next day.  Regular coffee.  Black.  Large meant two cups as it was takeout.

When I went to pick up my order, the coffee was not included.   I went back to ask about it, and had to wait to get the coffee.  When I was finally brought the coffee, it had cream and sugar added, which I didn't realize until I got back to my room.  Sigh.  I contacted them in the app, and they brought me fresh coffee a bit later.  It was much, much, much better than the in-room or lobby coffee, clearly fresh, nice and hot, not as much acid or "old" taste to it.  Worth $10?  Absolutely not.  Great coffee?  Absolutely not.  Better than Dunkin' or Panera literally across the street?  Probably not.  But, better than the other options on the property, certainly.

***.

Plates & Eggs

The main breakfast lineup is pretty standard: a selection of egg dishes (omelettes, benedicts, platters with eggs your way), a selection of sweet carbs (pancakes, french toast), and then some healthier options like a smoked salmon plate, fruit and yogurt, oatmeal, or granola.  Oh, and avocado toast, because that is still a trend in Boston it seems.  The only real interesting or creative dishes are those involving waffles - they don't have a regular waffle dish, but rather, use them with fried chicken (chicken and waffles) and as the makings for an egg sandwich.

Over the course of my 5 days, I tried 6 of the main dish options.  Nearly all of them I'd get again.

Peaches and Cream Pancakes. $18.

"Buttermilk pancakes, whipped cream."

I'm going to admit something silly.  I ordered the pancakes the first morning mostly because I wanted whipped cream to have on hand to use with dessert later in the day.  This was the easiest way I could think of to source great whipped cream in my hotel room (there aren't any nearby grocery stores, and I did check the convenience store!).  I asked for my toppings on the side, and extra whipped cream, to further my endeavors, and that request was honored (although I'm not sure how much whipped cream they normally give).

The pancakes themselves were pretty average, a stack of three large but thin pancakes.  Not really any buttermilk tang.  They were well cooked though, not rubbery nor tough, not burnt.  But average taste, and not particularly fluffy.  **+ pancakes.  They came with syrup on the side as well, seemed like pretty standard "breakfast syrup", not real maple syrup, as it was a bit too thick, and a touch cloying.

The other toppings though are where they shined.  I wasn't sure what to expect from peaches in December, and to be honest, kinda assumed it was an out of date summer menu and mine would come with something else, but, it did come with a peach topping, albeit not fresh sliced peaches.  The peaches were hard to describe, they weren't really like a peach pie filling with lots of goo, but there was some sweet syrup with them.  They weren't as cooked down as much as a compote either, still retaining more of a firm texture.   Definitely nothing like canned peaches.  I guess, stewed or poached sliced peaches?  I liked the texture, I liked the sweetness, and I liked the flavor.  No real spicing, but just really, well, peachy.  I think they would be great on yogurt with a sprinkle of granola for breakfast, or warmed and served with ice cream for dessert.  **** peaches.

And finally, the key element: the whipped cream!  It was everything I wanted it to be.  Lightly sweet, fluffy, and fairly stable, clearly not from a can, so it held up a few days for my assorted uses.  A++ would order pancakes again just to get more whipped cream.  ****+ whipped cream.

Overall, a fine dish, but I actually think the toppings were best for other uses.

Tres Leches French Toast. $20.
(Toppings on the side).

"Brioche, strawberries, bananas, dulce de leche."

I continued to make my way down the menu, moving on to the other sweet warm carb option: french toast.  Now, I don't generally care much for french toast, as I find it too eggy, and I'm not really in to soggy bread (which is strange, as I adore bread pudding), but, the previous versions of their french toast were soooo good that I really wanted to try it again.  But previously it was literally on the menu as "bread pudding french toast", and was a totally different style, truly, it was bread pudding.  Still, I had hope given how great their other french toast variations had been, and the use of brioche and dulce de leche topping of course.  I also was just interested in what tres leches would be like in french toast form ...

I asked for my toppings on the side, and when I opened my takeout containers, I'll admit I was let down.  It looked like, well, french toast.  It didn't look special in any way.  Just, french toast.  In the other container was fresh sliced banana and strawberries, along with a condiment container of breakfast syrup, one of dulce de leche, and one that I assume was extra tres leches soak.  

I half-heartedly picked up a piece of the french toast, and took a bite.  And ... wow, what?!  It might have looked like any old french toast, but it wasn't.  I think it had dulce de leche in the batter, as it was lightly caramelized and had bits of crispy caramel sorta hanging off.  You know how french toast often has some eggy legs hanging out the sides?  It was like that, but, crispy caramel instead of eggs.  OMG.  And the thing I don't like about most french toast, the eggy nature, was non-existent.  It was also very moist, clearly the tres leches soak helped with that, and the use of brioche meant it soaked up tons of the liquid.  So basically, it was super moist, reasonably thick caramelized toast, sorta like bread pudding in slice form.  It really didn't remind me of french toast at all, even though it sure looked like fairly regular french toast.

Given how moist and caramelized it was from the batter, I actually didn't really need much of the extra toppings, but the dulce de leche was sweet and delicious, and I was happy to use it for other things (drizzled over roasted plantains and ice cream the next night - yum!).  The breakfast syrup was the same as came with the pancakes, not real maple syrup, thick, just sweet, eh.  The banana was clearly sliced to order, fresh, not brown, and the berries were not particularly flavorful, and not particularly vibrant, but it was December after all, so I didn't expect otherwise.  The extra tres leches soak was essentially I think just sweetened condensed milk, which is never a bad thing, and it helped add moisture and additional sweetness to dish if I wanted it, but again, not really necessary.

Overall, an excellent dish, unlike any other french toast, and really a pleasant surprise.  I'd gladly get it again when craving sweet breakfast carbs, or even save it for a dessert later with a scoop of ice cream.  ****.

Fruit & Berries. $18.

"Wildflower honey mint yogurt."

Taking a break from just the unhealthy stuff, I opted for fruit & berries (alongside my pile of baked goods of course) one morning.  Since I'm allergic to melons, I asked specifically for no melons, assuming they might be included in the fruit mix.  I got a fairly substantial serving of rather unripe and uninspired pale yellow pineapple as my "fruit".  Previously they gave me banana and apple as well.

For berries, I got a small pile of blueberries, and reasonable piles of blackberries and sliced strawberries.  Berries weren't exactly in season (it was December) so their mediocre quality didn't surprise me, and they were fine for the time of year.  Generic, grocery store quality berries, but, clearly fresh.

I asked for the yogurt on the side, but I think it is usually just drizzled over as a garnish?  Also, note that there are two containers there - only one is yogurt, the other is the milk for my coffee (which confused me, as I had ordered it black).

$18 felt very pricy for essentially a big hunk of pineapple and small berry cup, with a thimble of yogurt.  *** quality, but, I kinda want a knock a star for the price.

Wildflower Mint Yogurt (with fruit)

"Wildflower honey mint yogurt."

When I had this dish several years ago, my order was initially missing the yogurt, and when I went back to get it, I seemed to be just plain yogurt.  I didn't taste the mint nor honey then.  This time, the mint was quite visible, and the yogurt did have a lovely sweetness.  It was otherwise fairly average, smooth, lightly runny and not thick like Greek yogurt, yogurt.  And just like before, the serving was just this tiny condiment container of yogurt, a single one.  It worked as a drizzle, but, this certainly was not a yogurt dish really (granted, the dish name is "fruit and berries", so, I guess that is ok).  

***+ yogurt, and I appreciated the mix-ins, even if I laughed at the portion size.

Waffle Sandwich. $23.
(Hollandaise on the side, sub spinach for bacon, sub American for muenster).

"Runny egg, bacon, Muenster cheese, Hollandaise sauce."

The next morning, I got experimental, opting for the waffle sandwich.

Ok, I have such mixed feels on this one.  If I had just read the menu, I likely would have easily looked over it, as I don't usually go for breakfast sandwiches, don't care for Muenster, and don't like generic waffles.  But I had seen photos of it, and knew it used liege waffles, not just regular American flabby breakfast waffles as the "bread".  I do adore liege waffles.  I also do love hollandaise, although I was curious about the use of hollandaise *in* the waffle sandwich as described.  This basically sounded like a breakfast bodega style sandwich, twisted with eggs benedict, and, um, with not one, but two full size liege waffles along for the ride.  Oh, and a pile of breakfast potatoes on the side, because, clearly, two eggs, bacon, cheese, hollandaise, and two full waffles isn't enough?

Still skeptical, I ordered it, with a few modifications, that were no problem, even through the app.  I asked for American instead of muenster, spinach instead of bacon (as I didn't care for the bacon the previous day), and hollandaise on the side.  I figured even if it didn't work well as a composed breakfast sandwich, I could essentially have eggs florentine smothered in hollandaise as my savory course, and waffles for breakfast-dessert.

The waffles were as I expected, given the photos I had seen - likely frozen and heated up, liege style waffles, that many hotels use, that I actually do quite like.   I had some a few months prior my last two mornings at Irmi at Le Meridien in Munich, and wished I had ordered them sooner, so I pushed my skepticism aside and ordered this my second day at the W, because if I loved the waffles, I knew I'd want more.  They weren't as crisp as at Irmi, and likely had gotten a bit soft under the room service dome with steam escaping in it, and due to the use in a sandwich with hot items on top of the bottom one, but otherwise, they were good, generic, liege waffles, lightly sweet.  ***+.

The egg component was not what I expected.  The menu said "runny egg", which I was looking forward to.  My sandwich had not one, but two eggs, and both were fully cooked fried eggs.  Not even a drop of runny yolk.   So, yay for *eggs*, not *egg*, but, boo for no runny yolk.  Otherwise they were pretty standard fried eggs, not too rubbery, but, no yolk porn glory.  **+.

Next up, the cheese.  I was glad I picked American instead of muenster, and it was perfectly melted inside.  American cheese has its place, and on a breakfast egg and cheese is one use I certainly approve of.  That said, the melty cheese got all over one of the waffles, and that was just a bit odd.  I'm all for sweet and savory, but, cheesy waffle wasn't quite what I was looking for.  Still, it did kinda work.  The spinach I subbed for bacon was sautéed, and not too greasy, and I was glad I opted for that lighter topping.  *** cheese and spinach.

What didn't work was the hollandaise.  I'm glad I asked for it on the side.  It was fairly thick, slightly broken, and far, far too lemon heavy.  I'm one to smother things in hollandaise when given the chance, and was looking forward to pouring it all over my eggs, and dunking the potatoes in it, but, after a few bites with it, I pushed it sadly aside.  It just wasn't good hollandaise.  It also seemed really confused to have hollandaise and cheese on the eggs.  I'm not creamy fats averse, but, cheese and hollandaise, together?  They muddled each other.  I don't think muenster as per the menu would have helped.  * for that hollandaise.

The potatoes were crispy, kind greasy, breakfast potato chunks, a style I never like, so after trying one with hollandaise, I pushed them aside to save for my mom, who does like breakfast potatoes. **.

So overall, this was really just a mixed bag, and a dish that left me confused.  I was let down by the lack of runny yolk and sub par hollandaise, and felt the hollandaise and cheese didn't belong together.  I didn't actually want it as a breakfast sandwich, and the waffles on their own needed more sweetness, as there was no sweet element here besides a touch of pearl sugar in the waffles themselves.  I had syrup on hand leftover from my pancakes the day before, and I used that, and was glad I had kept it.  Even just a touch of maple in maple bacon or something would help, but I think they just use normal bacon.  Still, I appreciate the creative dish, particularly as hotel breakfast menus often have absolutely no flair.  I wished I could order just the waffles though, but alas, the waffles alone are not an item on the menu. *** overall.

At $23, this was a fairly pricey dish, but seems worth it - after all, there were two eggs, bacon/cheese/hollandaise, two full liege waffles, AND crispy potatoes with it.  

Eggs Benedict (Spinach). $24.
(Hollandaise and English Muffin on the side).

"North Country Ham, Smoked Salmon or Sauteed Baby Spinach, Hollandaise with Crispy Potatoes."

When I travel, eggs benedict is kinda my thing.  I don't normally like eggs that much in the US, but for some reason, when I travel internationally, I really, really like the eggs.  I think there is something different about the taste due to the way they are handled?  Or maybe it is my jetlag and wanting savory breakfast?  But eggs for breakfast, usually in poached form slathered in hollandaise, as just become my thing when I travel.  

Usually when I try eggs in the US while traveling domestically, I am let down, but I still try from time to time.  So, my last morning, it was time to finally try the benedict.  I again asked for the hollandaise on the side (and the English muffin on the side).

The potatoes were the same as in my previous egg dish, crispy little breakfast potatoes that are not my style, but my mom enjoyed my leftovers.  The spinach was also about the same, nicely sautéed spinach, not oily, and nice to have something a bit healthy and savory.  The english muffin was lightly warmed/toasted, seemed fresh enough, and didn't come buttered.  All basically average reasonable quality components.  ***.

The hollandaise I hoped would redeem itself today, I truly hoped it was just a mediocre batch the previous day, but alas, I still didn't care for it at all.  Far too strong in the lemon flavor, too thick.  I'm glad I asked for it on the side. *.

And finally, the eggs!  They were poached very nicely, the yolks just lightly set, yolk came oozing out everywhere when I cut in, and the whites were not rubbery but well set.  Pretty textbook.  And honestly, better than most US eggs, but not particularly noteworthy taste wise.  ***+.

I enjoyed my eggs and spinach drizzled with a little syrup, hot sauce (it came with a little bottle each of ketchup and hot sauce), and lots of salt and pepper, but alas, the hollandaise was not a winner.  I actually would have gotten this again had I tried it sooner during my stay, or if I had stayed longer.

Avocado Toast. $14.
(No Avocado).

"Multi-grain bread, pickled red onion, heirloom tomato, sunny side up egg."

I didn't actually order this, and I'm still a bit confused how it wound up in my takeout bag, but I didn't notice until I got back to my room that I had avocado-less avocado toast. They *do* know I'm allergic to avocado, so maybe they thought I wanted it this way? But I also didn't order it at all, so, again, confused.

Anyway, since I had opened it, I was told to keep it if I wanted. The toast was good, a thick slice of hearty multi-grain bread, toasted just right, not burnt. The tomato was pretty "meh", very much out of season, mid-December tomato, and it seems like they really should change up the toppings rather than serve such mediocre tomato. The pickled red onions were too harsh for me, but maybe they'd be ok with the creamy avocado and do a nice job cutting that fat? The egg was a nicely cooked sunny side up egg, lightly crispy around the edge, yolk just barely set.

I suspect that with the avocado, and in-season tomato, this could be quite a nice dish if its your sort of thing. I enjoyed the toast and runny egg though. ***.

Sides

On the side, you can opt for any of the breakfast meats (bacon, ham, pork or chicken sausage), breakfast potatoes, toast, yogurt, or fruit.  I tried several of the breakfast meats, as I had enjoyed them previously.

Applewood Smoked Bacon. $9.

One morning I was craving something a bit savory to go with my sweet breakfast, so I opted for a side of bacon.  I'm pretty fickle when it comes to bacon - I like bacon, but, I don't like it too flabby nor too crispy, and I don't like it too greasy.  I also thought it might be nice to toss into my salad at lunch if I didn't finish it with breakfast.

The bacon was fairly average bacon.  Not super crispy, not flabby, but also not that well cooked ... the fat not rendered particularly well.  It was very greasy.  Not really the kind of bacon I like, but the kind my mom always makes, and my dad enjoys.

**.

Chicken Sausage. $8.

I don't actually like chicken, but sometimes I like chicken sausage, and had read a very recent review of someone raving about the chicken sausage, claiming it was the best they ever had.

The sausage was decent - it was very shriveled up, but in a way that worked.  Nice snap to it.  It had great seasoning, a touch of some savory herb ... sage perhaps?  I liked it dunked in the syrup from my pancakes.  The serving of 3 for $8 was fairly reasonable.

I wouldn't get this again, but I enjoyed a sausage.  ***.

Pork Sausage. $8.

The next day, I got the pork sausage, the one I thought I'd like even more as I like pork and not chicken.  I had nearly liked this on prior visits, but it suffered from being far too greasy then.

These sausages also came as a trio, but were bigger and plumper.  They were pretty greasy, but not dripping in grease as they had been before.  That was all fine, but ... I really did not like the taste.  I'm not sure what it was, it really seemed that the base sausage just tasted off to me.  There was some herbs, but they weren't the problem.  The texture was also fairly grisly inside.  I was really not a fan, and after two bites, moved on to other things.

*.

Pastries

In addition to a lineup of toast, bagels, and english muffins, the Gallery has other baked goods (muffins, croissants), all baked fresh in house daily.  During my previous visits, I had found them to be above average, so I was happy to add one or two on to my order every morning, to enjoy a bit later in the day.

The pastries are all priced at $7 each, which is really quite steep.  $7 for a muffin or plain (regular sized) croissant?  Ooph.

Corn Muffin. $7.

The first day I went for what is usually my favorite type of muffin, a corn muffin.  I planned to try it, but mostly use it alongside my leftover roast pork and brussels sprouts with dinner (in the place of cornbread).

The muffin was ok.  It was clearly freshly baked, not stale, didn't taste loaded with preservatives, and I loved the crispy top.  Good grit to it.  That said, it was a bit over baked, you can see how dark the top is, and that made it a bit dry.  I wanted it to have a touch more sweetness or depth of flavor too.

It was served warm which was a nice bonus, and with regular butter on the side (honey butter would be great).  If this was baked just a few minutes less, it would be ***+, as it was though, just *** for freshness.  My least favorite of the muffins.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffin. $7.

The next morning I woke up craving a lemon poppyseed muffin.  I have no idea why, but, I woke up, and it was immediately what I wanted.  Luckily for me, they have lemon poppyseed on the lineup.

Much like the corn muffin the previous day, it seemed like it had been in the oven a few minutes too long.  It was still clearly very fresh, didn't taste preservative-full, was served warm, and had a great crunch from the poppyseeds and pleasant lemon flavor, but, it was just a bit dry, and borderline burnt on top.  I used copious amounts of butter and jam to moisten it up, and it was fine, but another victim of over-baking.  ***.  My second pick of muffins.

Chocolate Chunk GF Muffin.  $7.

The next morning, I wasn't craving a muffin given that I ordered the liege waffle sandwich, but still ordered one to enjoy later.  Since I was intending it to be dessert essentially, I went all in on the double chocolate chunk.  This one is gluten-free.

It was the first of the muffins that was not over-baked.  Like the others, it seemed quite fresh, was served warm, and had a nice crispy top.  It looked homemade, rather irregular, and I found its look charming.  It was fairly moist inside, and nicely chocolatey.   As for the gluten-free nature, I didn't detect anything odd about the texture, the crumb structure, the taste.  It tasted like a regular muffin to me.

I think this would be a nice breakfast treat if I was in the mood for a chocolately breakfast, and it made for a nice dessert too when I warmed it back up later and served with a scoop of ice cream and fresh strawberries.  My favorite of the muffins.  ***+.

Chocolate Chunk GF Muffin #2. $7.

Later in my stay, since I liked it before, I got another chocolate chunk muffin.

I again liked the crispy jagged top, and again it was properly baked unlike the others.  It was reasonably moist, and was pretty much just a decent, chocolatey muffin.  I still think best turned into dessert, warmed up with ice cream or whipped cream and fresh strawberries.  ***.

Blueberry Muffin. $7.

For completeness, since I had tried all the others, I got a blueberry muffin my last morning, intending to try it, and then surprise my Dad with his favorite muffin (just, uh, likely missing a bite).

Just like every other, besides the gluten-free one, it too was over-baked.  The top too dark, the entire thing a bit dry.  But it was clearly homemade, had funny pieces sticking out that made it charming, and was served warm.  It had a reasonable number of juicy berries, and a decent base taste.

A nice muffin, again, *** for freshness, but would easily be ***+ if baked a few mins less.  My second favorite.

This one did not come with any butter nor jam, so I was glad I had kept some from prior days.

Lemon Poppyseed & Blueberry Muffins #2. $7 each.

Later in my stay, I ordered more muffins, repeats of the lemon poppyseed and blueberry.  They actually were better baked this time, still dark, but not as dark.  I was amused by how much, um, "personality" these each had.  The lemon poppyseed in particular had all sorts of edges extending out over the base, and was considerably bigger than its blueberry friend.

Both better today, and I really do find the homemade look charming.  ***+.  

Croissant (Chocolate Hazelnut?). $6.

During my last stay, I discovered the off-menu chocolate croissant, which I think was actually a chocolate hazelnut cream croissant.  As you read about then, I wished I'd discovered it sooner, and also, I find it shocking that even 3 years later, they still haven't corrected the menu to include it?  Yet they make them every day, so some people must be ordering them ...

Anyway, the croissant wasn't as glorious as my memory.  While it did seem freshly baked, it lacked a strong buttery goodness, and wasn't particularly flaky.  It was still above average for a hotel croissant though, as it wasn't strangely spongy or stale. 

Inside was tasty, although confusing, much like the one I had the month before at Zutro in Houston.  There was a bit of what seemed like melty chocolate, but then, what seemed more like a pastry cream, and tasted strongly of Nutella.  On top was a bit of melty chocolate flakes.  I really did enjoy the filling, particularly with strawberries and whipped cream that I had on hand.  It was reasonably generously filled, although not evenly distributed.

So, better than average for a hotel, but not as good as my memory.  I did not find myself wanting another. ***.

Update Review, July 2019 Visit

It had been a few years since I stayed at The W hotel in Boston, but I had fond memories of their breakfast.  Well, in particular, of the baked goods (other things were fairly lackluster).  So on my visit to the Boston area in July 2019, I was excited to stay at the W again, not only to check out the newly renovated rooms, but also, to see what had changed with breakfast!

Breakfast (s) of Champions?

I tried items from nearly every section of the menu.  Some were not very good, many were average, and a few were shockingly delicious.

Menu.

The menu did change a fair amount since my previous stays, although retained much of the same format.

5 Spoons.  No forks or knives?

My orders were all for takeout, and were handed over relatively quickly the first day, but it took up to 40 minutes on other days.

The first day my order was lacking a component of one dish, and, um, I opened my bag to find 5 spoons.  No knives.  No forks.  Just spoons.  I had french toast and sausages, not exactly spoon food ...

The staff were always friendly though.

Drinks

I didn't order any drinks from the restaurant itself, as they were never good before, and opted to at least give the lobby coffee another try (although it had been horrible before too).  This is one area that continued to remain weak.

I returned to my room to brew coffee instead that day (Nespresso machine FTW!), I sought coffee elsewhere after that.

Hot Coffee.

The hot coffee (regular only) was strong and harsh, in the too concentrated, been sitting there too long kind of way.  It was pre-9am though, it couldn't have been that old.

Iced Coffee.

I give them credit for offering iced coffee as well, so very Boston of them.  It was better than the hot coffee, but not remarkable.  At least it was somewhat drinkable.

Lighter Side

I generally read right past the "lighter" sections of menus, and I did go right past the smoothies, oatmeal, and granola, but, one morning, I actually wanted some fruit.

Fruit and Berries / Wildflower Honey Mint Yogurt. $16.

The menu includes sides of fruit ($9) or berries (also $9), but I opted for the "Fruit and berries", not knowing exactly what it was, but, expecting a more substantial dish, particularly as it comes with yogurt (or, it is supposed to ...).  I did of course ask for no melon due to my allergy.

The fruit was ... well, very standard fruits.  The same berries I enjoyed on my fruit plate in my room (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries), all fine, ripe, and decent quality.  Sliced fruits, just banana, apple, and pineapple.

And that was it.  Just fruit.  No drizzle of anything, no garnish.  And, um, no yogurt, even though the menu said it would ave "wildflower honey mint yogurt".  This was a very expensive bowl of very generic fruit.

I did return to the restaurant to track down my yogurt.

Wildflower honey mint yogurt

.

Once I got my yogurt, it just came in tiny little condiment side containers, two of them.  

It was fairly average yogurt, thinner style, although it almost seemed like Greek yogurt, just, thinner.  I didn't taste the mint I was expecting given the description, but it really grew on me.  I had my own granola that it went really well with.  I was a bit surprised how much I ended up liking the yogurt.

I was also provided two small jars of honey, Dickinson's.  Plain honey.  Still not sure where the wildflower or mint were ...

Specialties

The "Specialties" were certainly the most exciting section of the menu for me, although I skipped right past the egg offerings (egg white omelets, eggs benny, classic eggs your way, etc), and past the healthy offerings (smoked salmon plate, avocado toast), and went right for the things I like most; breakfast carbs! I was trilled to see I had two options, both pancakes and french toast (so often places just have one of waffles/pancakes/french toast).

Cinnamon Bread Pudding French Toast. $17.

"Maple syrup, fresh berries."

My first morning, I went for the french toast, even though ... I'm not really into french toast.  Why?   Well, it was not just french toast, but, "bread pudding french toast", and I *do* love bread pudding.  They very careful reader might remember that I didn't like the previous version of french toast though, even though that too was "bread pudding" french toast.

Luckily for me, the dish was entirely different, and absolutely delicious.

Gone was the banana bread base, and in its place, a dense, rich, cinnamon studded bread.  Two huge thick slices, absolutely soaked in custard, and crazy crazy moist.  It really was bread pudding.  But also french toast.  I loved it.

It came with maple syrup (standard), butter (standard), and a scattering of berries (yup, standard).  I enjoyed it just with maple syrup, but I really wanted whipped cream with it, which I know sounds ridiculous given how heavy it is with the generous custard, but, I did.

Still, even sans whip, this was very tasty, and I really liked it.  I had a few bites cold the next morning, which was ok, but not great, and then heated up the remainder in a toaster oven (at a friend's house) and topped it with whipped cream and a drizzle of maple syrup, and it made a glorious dessert too.

So, protip, order it, and order other things, and only eat half with your breakfast, save the other half, heat it up, and enjoy as dessert!

Cinnamon Bread Pudding French Toast. $17.

I ordered it again a few days later, and it was again fairly spectacular.  The base was slightly different, not quite as custard-y, and there were more distinct chunks of bread, but, it was still good.

Buttermilk Pancakes. $16.

Eventually I decided to try the other hot breakfast carb, the pancakes.

They were ... mediocre.  A stack of 3, large size.  Not much buttermilk to them really though.  They were fine, not gummy or anything, but fairly ... average.

Still, I was excited mostly for the toppings that came with them.

Toppings.

"Burnt orange ricotta and Maine blueberry compote."

The toppings ...weren't quite what I expected.

First, the leftmost one ... pineapple compote?  Not on the menu with this dish, or any other.  It was fine, fruity, bits of pineapple, but not entirely sure where that came from.  

Next, blueberry compote.  This was fine, sweet, little berries, but there wasn't much of it, at least not really enough to load up a stack of pancakes.  It also ... made me want whipped cream.  Yes, there is a theme here.  In this case, I blame IHOP, they have made me always want whipped cream and blueberry compote together with pancakes.

And finally, the "burnt orange ricotta", that tasted nothing like orange, and was ... a *tiny* amount.  A dollop.  These were little condiment containers, and it wasn't even half full.  I was not impressed.

None of the toppings really helped elevate the pancakes in any way, nor did the maple syrup or butter I had from my french toast.

I wouldn't get these again.

Sides

The a la carte side menu is pretty standard: your choice of protein (bacon, smoked salmon, smoked ham, two kinds of sausage), veggies (crispy potatoes, spinach, wild mushrooms), and healthy (berries, fruit, yogurt).

Mostly not interesting to me, except that I do love a good breakfast sausage ...

Pork Sausage. $8.

I had the choice of chicken or pork, and went for the pork.  Sadly, both options were links, not patties (which I greatly prefer).

This was almost delicious.

The sausage had a great crisp exterior (maybe a bit too crisp, the ends were kinda dried out).  It was greasy in a kinda satisfying way (but a bit too greasy). It was porky.  Decently seasoned.

But ... I didn't love it.  I think it was just a bit too overcooked, a bit too greasy for me.  Best dunked into maple syrup.

Bakery

The "bakery" had been a highlight for me before, but, the lineup had changed.  Gone were croissants, and the varieties of muffins changed.  The new lineup was 4 types of muffins (one of which is gluten-free), bagels (4 kinds), toast, and english muffins.  Not the most exciting lineup.

Still, I gave the muffins a try, remembering their greatness.  Sadly they weren't as good as before.

I also eventually asked about other items, and was told ... they *do* have croissants, several kinds, they just aren't on the menu?!

Gluten Free Chocolate Chunk Muffin. $4.

I tried this because I wanted chocolate, and was actually expecting a plain muffin with chocolate chunks.  I don't mind that it was double chocolate, but that wasn't what I expected.  I was of course weary of the gluten-free nature.

It ... wasn't very good.  Strange texture, dry, just, not very good.  It didn't taste like chocolate, and the bits of chocolate in it were just tiny little chips, not the promised chunks.

Would not get again, least favorite.

Blueberry Muffin. $4.

I also tried the blueberry, remembering these were great before.

At first, I thought I was given the wrong muffin, as it looked like a dark bran muffin.  But it was the blueberry.  It had ... maybe 4 berries total inside?  Mostly plain.  And yes, very dark.

It was ... mediocre.  Kinda greasy/oily.  Very few berries.

Wouldn't get again.  Only moderately better than the GF Chocolate Chunk.

Blueberry Muffin. $4.

Ok, so I ordered it again, as my companion wanted a blueberry muffin.

It looked ... totally different?  This was just a few days later.

The top wasn't dark, and there were clearly tons of berries bursting out of it.  I didn't try it, but, I was pretty confused by the lack of consistency.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffin. $4.

I moved on to the lemon poppyseed muffin, which ... didn't win any beauty awards, heh, it had ... an arm?

I had zero hopes for this muffin, since I didn't like the blueberry or GF Chocolate Chunk, but ... it was actually really good.  Crispy top, moist inside, just like I like it.  Slight lemon flavor, tons of crunch from the poppyseeds.

I slathered the blueberry compote from the pancakes on it, and the lemon - blueberry combination was awesome.

Croissant. $4.

I did want to try the corn muffin, usually my favorite variety of muffin, but alas, they were out of them.  Since I had tried everything else, I opted for the off-menu croissant.

It was ... better than average.  Not a high end french patisserie quality croissant, but, clearly fresh, flaky exterior, moist inside.  It really was good.  Also, surprisingly served warm.

Just like the yogurt, served with jars of Dickinson's, strawberry preserves and concord grape jelly.

Chocolate Hazelnut Croissant.

I also ordered the off-menu chocolate hazelnut croissant.  Really a random order on my part, but I'm so glad I decided to just try it.

It was far, far better than I expected.

The top was crispy, it was well laminated and layered, buttery and moist inside, and, stuffed with gooey chocolate hazelnut spread.  I found myself devouring it, even though I had a pile of other things I thought I'd want more.  I really enjoyed it, and the fact that it too was served warm, with the perfectly warm, sorta melty chocolate hazelnut spread inside was a real bonus.

Besides the bread pudding french toast, my favorite item, and I wish I had discovered it sooner (and why, oh why, is it not on the menu?)

Update Review, December 2016 Visit

Start with my original review from July, where I discovered their fantastic baked goods, then, return here.

Banana Bread Pudding French Toast. $17.

"Vermont maple syrup and white chocolate. Served with fresh berries and banana."

On my previous visit, I didn't find the cooked food to be very good, and the menu then had nothing really all that appealing to me anyway (the only "breakfast carbs", besides the pastries, were some soggy Nutella pancakes).  However, this time ... a single new item was added to the menu: french toast!  And not just any french toast "bread pudding french toast".  Oh yes!  I ignored the fact that I'm not actually a fan of banana bread ...

My order arrived fairly quickly, 2 slices of french toast, made from banana bread as expected.  It was covered in shaved white chocolate and served with a little pot of maple syrup on the side and a pile of berries and bananas.

The fruit wasn't particularly good, just as my previous visit.  Not bad, but, it was December, and it certainly wasn't local or flavorful.

The white chocolate added a ton of sweetness, and melted in, and of course I liked that.

But the french toast itself ... that was kinda meh for me.  The crusts were hard, and it was, well, banana bread.  It was nicely moist and fairly fluffy though, I suspect this is what made it "bread pudding french toast"?  It was fine, but, it didn't scream "bread pudding" in the way I was hoping, and I wouldn't get it again.

Muffins (Banana-Nut, Blueberry, Bran), Pain au Chocolat. $6 each or 3 for $13.

After my lackluster french toast, and the uninspired breakfast menu, I went back to what I knew was good: the baked goods.  I got them as a "pastry basket", and took togo.  I opted for one of each of the three types of muffins, plus a pain au chocolat (other options for pastries are just a regular croissant or assorted bagels).  I enjoyed all of these during my last visit.

The bran muffin turned out to be my favorite this time.  Dense, loaded with plump raisins, hearty.  I had it at room temperature, but I think it would be great warmed, and even better buttered up and slathered in jam (they did provide me with Dickinson's grape jelly and strawberry preserves).

The blueberry was again loaded with blueberries, and I liked the flavor in the base.

Interestingly, the banana nut was my least favorite this time, even though I had liked it the most last time.  I really just wasn't into the banana flavor, not that I ever really am.  I did like the nuts.

As before, the baked goods are available for $6 each, or a "Pastry Basket" of 3 for $13.  I clearly got a pastry basket (one of each muffin!), but still had some allowance left on my daily breakfast, so I added in a pain au chocolate as well.

Pain au Chocolat: Inside.

I added the chocolate croissant, er, pain au chocolat, mostly because I had more $$ I could spend in my credits, but also because chocolate sounded really good at the time, and I knew they make a decent croissant.

Which, they did.  Look at the loft! The layers!  It really was nicely layered, crispy on the outside, moist on the inside.  But the pastry dough didn't have much flavor, and wasn't as buttery as I'd like.

The chocolate inside was good, but I lamented that there wasn't nearly as much as I wanted, just a single, rather than double, bar.

Individually for $6 this was very pricey, but if gotten as part of a pastry basket each item is $4.33, which is a little more reasonable?

Original Review, July 2016

When I travel, I most often stay at Starwood properties, as I somehow achieved Platinum status due to all my frequent travels.  As part of my status, I also can choose to receive free breakfast (or points, or a welcome amenity).  I'm a breakfast lover, so, I often pick breakfast, as you've probably noticed by now.

My travels took me to Boston this past year, to work from our Cambridge office for a few days before joining my family in New Hampshire.  I stayed at the W in Boston, a bit of a walk to the office, but, one I picked because it sounded like it would be much better than the closer options (plus, it was more affordable).  The hotel was quite nice, and I'd gladly stay again.

But back to the food.  Starwood hotels all choose to offer something different as part of the Platinum breakfast amenity.  Some will literally just have a little room on the side with 1-2 token pastries, warm juice, and coffee, even if they have a full restaurant (ahem, Le Meridien Delfina!).  Others give you access only to the continental buffet (like the SLS Beverley Hills, which has the most amazing continental buffet ever, with dessert-worthy yogurt parfaits and quality pastries).  Most commonly, you get access to a full buffet, generally including eggs cooked to order and a few hot items (like the extensive but not tasty Mosiac Restaurant at the Westin in Sydney).  For locations with executive lounges, you can also opt to take your breakfast from the buffets there (like the lackluster Westin Martin Place or amazing Sheraton on the Park in Sydney).  Properties without a lounge or restaurant, like Aloft, will give you a $10 credit to spend in their little convenience store (like I tried in Buffalo).  And then there are the cases where they have a restaurant, but not a buffet.  In these cases, you are usually given an credit to spend in the restaurant however you want.  While I do love buffets, as I love to try all the things, the a la carte breakfasts are quickly becoming my favorite (and, protip, sometimes, even if they have a buffet, you can opt for an a la carte allowance instead!)

The W Boston was the first time I was given an a la carte option at a Starwood property, as they do not have a buffet nor lounge, just a restaurant, "The Gallery".   Except, we weren't actually given an a la carte option, instead, we were told that we had the "Substance" breakfast: 2 eggs, crispy potatoes, toast, bacon/ham/sausage, juice, and coffee, normally $24.  I of course did my research and knew that I could opt for a $24 credit instead, and spend it as I pleased, since I didn't really want eggs and toast and um, they had pancakes and baked goods on the menu.

So, both Ojan and I were given an allowance of $24 to spend daily, and could choose to dine in, or, as I discovered a few days in, we could get it to go to enjoy either in the comfort of my room, or, on the walk in to the office.

I really appreciated how flexible the breakfast option was, and enjoyed trying several things on the menu.  Most of the a la carte food was pretty mediocre, but, the pastries were actually shockingly good, which is the opposite of what I've come to expect, as most places have really crappy baked goods.  Also, protip, you can get a lot of pastries for $48 ...

The Space

Interior.

The restaurant was fairly inoffensive but totally boring, decor-wise.  Brown, beige, and white, no real color anywhere.  The lighting, curtains, and accents at least made it not feel sterile, and were clearly done by a designer, but, still, not much zing to the place.

The room was made up of mostly tables for 2 or 4, generally chairs, although there were a few higher tables with stools and a few with bench seating.

Table.

Tables were wooden, had brownish placemats, and cloth napkins.  Coffee mugs, water cups, and juice glasses were all set on the tables, along with succulents in pots.

Condiments.

Each table also had an adorable mini ketchup, tabasco, honey, and two types of Dickenson's jams, along with salt and pepper shakers, and assorted sweeteners.

Menu.

The "Wake Up" menu, in addition to the "Substance" option they seemed to push everyone towards, was also broken into specialities, sides, and bakery, plus assorted beverages.

Beverages

For drinks, there is coffee by Fonte ($6 for drip, $7 for espresso drinks), tea by Tea Forte ($7), assorted juices not from concentrate ($6), milks ($6), and a smoothie ($9).

Decaf Americano. $7.

The first day, I opted for a simple decaf coffee.  It was poured out of a carafe, and it was rather awful.  I tried adding tons of sweetener, I tried thinning it down with water, it was just awful.  Nothing saved it.

The next day, I asked if they had french press decaf.  Nope.  So I went for a decaf Americano.  It was crazy strong, and not very hot, so I ordered extra hot water to add in, to both warm it up and thin it out.  It was better, but still not very good.

Finally, the last day, I decided to ditch the coffee, and go for a hot chocolate.  I hoped it would be made with milk, maybe topped with some whipped cream.  But ... it seemed to just be mix and water.  It wasn't rich, it wasn't chocolately, it wasn't good.  And $7??!!

Pineapple Juice. $6.

The juice selection is surprisingly extensive, ranging from classics like orange and apple, to pomegranate, pineapple, cranberry, grapefruit, and tomato.

Ojan went for a grapefruit juice one day.  It was fine, but, just juice, not fresh squeezed or anything.  I opted for pineapple juice a few days later, when I had a sore throat, and was really craving cold juice.  I actually liked it, it was crazy sweet, and fruity, and what I was in the mood for.

Egg Dishes

Egg dishes all come with crispy potatoes and toast.  Options aren't extensive or customizable really, only a single type of omelet (with manchego cheese and chorizo hash, $18), an egg white omelette (with broccolini and smoked gouda, $19), eggs benny (available 3 ways: tasso ham, smoked salmon, or sauteed baby kale with roasted red pepper hollandaise, all $20), and a frittata (wild mushroom, white truffle oil, smoked cheddar, $19).

Egg White Omelet / Broccolini / Smoked Gouda / Crispy Potatoes / Toast. Togo. $19.

One morning, I wasn't feeling well.  Pastries didn't sound good to me (I know, shocker.  But, it happens).  Pancakes didn't sound good to me.  Nothing sounded good.  I just wanted something simple and plain.  I actually wanted some fruit, but, the fruit plate was composed mostly of melons, plus apples which I don't really like, and since I'm allergic to melons, it wasn't really an option for me.

I decided to go out on a limb and get an omelet, even though I don't really like eggs very much.  I wasn't feeling the manchego in the regular omelet, so I opted for the egg white omelet, just because I wanted smoked gouda, not because I was trying in any way to be "healthy".

The toast I wasn't really planning to eat, but it came with the eggs, and I forgot to say I didn't want it. I think I was supposed to get to choose my type of bread, but I wasn't asked what kind, and I think I was given the multigrain.  The toast was just generic sliced bread, toasted.  It didn't seem to be buttered, nor was I provided any butter.  I wonder if that was because it was the healthy egg white omelet?  Or maybe they never butter it?  Or maybe they were supposed to give me butter?  Anyway, dry toast, even with some strawberry jam, was pretty boring, and I just nibbled a little.

The other side included with all egg dishes is "crispy potatoes".  They were not crispy.  They were soft and soggy and not really warm.  They weren't good, even when dunked into ketchup.  Did not like.

I got my breakfast to go, so I could go crawl back into my room, and my bag also contained one of the mini ketchups, a mini tabasco, and strawberry jam, along with plastic cutlery, salt, and pepper.  I appreciated that they included these.

Egg White Omelet: Inside.

As for the omelet, it was ... an omelet.  I don't know what I was thinking ordering it.  Egg whites, decently cooked I guess, but just egg whites.  The broccolini was literally just stuffed inside, not folded into the egg or anything.  It too was fine, but, just broccolini.  The smoked gouda was decent, smokey, flavorful, well melted.

So I guess it was exactly what it should have been, incredibly boring.  I wasn't really into it ... at all, but honestly, I don't know what I would have wanted given how sick I was feeling.

Specialties

The rest of the menu is the "Specialties", and isn't very extensive nor exciting: oatmeal ($11), granola with greek yogurt and fruit ($13), a fruit plate with yogurt ($16), and basic General Mills cereals (Cheerios, Fruit Loops, Frosted Flakes, Raisin Bran, $6).  Slightly more interesting is the bagel and smoked salmon plate, with herb whipped cream cheese, caper berries, pickled red onion ($16).

There was only one dish that falls into my favorite category, aka, breakfast carbs (things like pancakes, waffles, french toast, bread pudding): nutella pancakes, served with berries and maple syrup, $16.  I obviously order them one morning.

Granola Refresh. $13.

"Greek yogurt, banana, berries"

I woke up one morning feeling ... healthy.  I don't know what was wrong with me.  I didn't want pancakes.  I didn't want eggs slathered in hollandaise or cheese.  I didn't want another basket of pastries.  No, I wanted fruit, yogurt, and granola.  Really, I think I was somehow imagining that all hotel yogurt would be like the insanely ridiculously best yogurt of my life that I had at the SLS in Beverly Hills (no, seriously.  I'd go back to LA, just to go to that hotel restaurant, just to have that yogurt again.  Its mind blowing!).

So, I ordered the "granola refresh", along with a side of sausage (more on that to come), because, really, who are we kidding, no matter how healthy I feel, I'm not ever just going to get yogurt and granola!

It was ... well, yogurt and granola.  Very generic, thick, tangy Greek yogurt, likely Fage or similar.  Not sweetened, not whipped, not infused with vanilla, just straight from a container.  On top was standard granola, clearly not housemade.  Since the rest of the cereals are General Mills brand, I assume it was too.  No interesting seasoning, no clumps, just granola and hard-as-rock raisins.

The fruit was a mix of blueberries, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries, all incredibly lackluster, as it was the middle of winter.  Oh, and a sliced up half a banana.

I drizzled the honey from the table on top in hopes of improving things, but it didn't really help.  I ate the fruit, and I devoured my sausages, but the yogurt and granola really weren't for me.  If you like plain, basic yogurt and granola though, by all means, there was nothing wrong with it, it was just clearly not anything I ever should have ordered.

Nutella Pancakes / Mixed Berries / Maple Syrup. $16.

On my last day, I finally managed to order the pancakes.  I love my breakfast carbs, but didn't have time during the week to stop and have a slower paced pancake breakfast (besides the day I wasn't feeling good).  Plus, nutella isn't really my thing, so I wasn't super excited about the single pancake option.  And no whipped cream?  Boo.  But still, pancakes.

The fruit on the side was the same mix as served with the granola: blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and sliced banana.  It was the same level of not particularly good.

The pancakes were large, a stack of 3.  They were kinda gummy, kinda soggy, thin, and not particularly good.  I guess they did have some slight nutella flavor, and were dark brown, but, otherwise, not great.  I expected some Nutella spread on the side, or at least some whiped cream or something.

On the side I had a container with balls of butter and syrup.  I'm fairly certainly this was not real maple syrup, it was too sticky.  Not very good.

Overall, a disappointment, and besides the fruit, I didn't each much of it.  Luckily, Ojan opted for yet another "pastry basket" (more on that soon), so we had plenty of muffins to share.

Bakery

The "Bakery" section of the menu offers up $5 toast (and no, not the hip SF version, actually, just toast) and $6 bagels, pastries, and muffins.  The pastry selection is limited to only croissants (plain or chocolate).  The muffin line up features blueberry, raisin-bran, and a seasonal choice (banana nut at the time of my visit).

This was a pretty lackluster sounding "bakery" to me, as I was expecting to find scones and danishes, perhaps some cinnamon buns ...  But, given the low traffic the hotel sees for breakfast, and the lack of buffet, I guess I couldn't really expect them to have an extensive line up.

I didn't really expect that any of these "bakery" items would be great, but, you know me and baked goods, how could I resist?  Turns out, not resisting was a great move.

Also, I lied: there is one more bakery offering, the "Awake Pastry Basket" for $13,  made up of your selection of any 3 of the bakery items.  Since an individual pastry is $6, this is quite the bargain.  And, now that you know that Ojan and I had $48 per day to spend together, you can imagine just how many pastries we ordered (yes, we could get 10 per day!)  

Awake Pastry Basket To-Go: Raisin Bran Muffin, Blueberry Muffin, Pan au Chocolat. $13.

For my first pastry "basket", I opted for my first choice of pastries, the blueberry muffin.  I also selected a chocolate croissant, in order to mix it up in case the muffin wasn't very good.  Finally, I threw in one more selection, my last choice of muffin, raisin bran.

This may seem a bit odd, but it was very strategic.  Since a basket of 3 pastries was only $1 more than buying two individually, and I had the money included in my package, I went for the 3, obviously.  I was planning to get at least two (in case one wasn't good, plus, I like to try all the things).  I wanted to hedge my bets between the muffins and croissants.  And, still not expecting generic hotel pastries to be good, I threw in my last choice, just so I could try it, and get my curiosity out of the way.  Plus, I thought that maybe the basket was mini sizes rather than full, because really, what kind of breakfast is this?  Who orders a basket of these for breakfast?  As you can see, these weren't mini.

I laughed when I opened my bag to find my three, very large, pastries all smushed into the togo box together.  I wondered if when served at the restaurant they came in more of a "basket"?  I also thought "woah, what did you get yourself into, these are huge!"

I started with the blueberry muffin.  I took one bite, and stepped back, surprised.  Woah, where did this come from?  It was really, really good!  The top had a sweet streusel crumble.  I'm such a sucker for streusel.  It was crispy on top, just how I like.  Inside was moist and dense, although perhaps a little bit oily.  The blueberries inside were very flavorful, plump, and juicy, although there weren't tons of them.  Overall, really quite good, and they nailed the topping in particular (sure, it could have been less oily, and have more blueberries).

I quickly moved on to the raisin bran muffin.  It didn't have a streusel, but instead had an oat topping.  It too had a crispy top as I like, and was moist and dense inside, although again, a slightly too oily.  And, just like the blueberry muffin, the raisins were super plump, although again, like the blueberry, there weren't tons of them.  The base flavor had a complex sweetness to it, sorta like molasses.  Another quality muffin.

And finally, the pan au chocolat.  I'm not a huge fan of croissants, and always go for almond or otherwise filled, but again, I was just hedging my bets.  The croissant, like the muffins, was well executed.  The outside was crispy.  Inside was clearly defined layers, and it was moist.  It wasn't dried out at all.  The chocolate was quality dark chocolate, although, there wasn't tons of it.  Still, a good croissant.

Let's just say I was blown away.  These were all good, and clearly freshly baked.

Awake Pastry Basket To-Go: Raisin Bran Muffin, Blueberry Muffin, Banana Nut Muffin. $13.

The first day I got my pastry basket, Ojan went down on his own, and ordered just one muffin and one croissant.  Once I explained that for $1 more he could have a third item, and that it easily fit in our daily allowance, so the next day he opted to do so, and had me pick up his "basket" of muffins, along with a grapefruit juice.

Of course, I may have "helped" him out with some of these.  The raisin bran muffin was about the same as the day before, still a little too oily, but otherwise had a great flavor, and nice plump raisins.  I didn't try the blueberry, as it is his favorite and I had it the previous day, and he gobbled it up.

The banana nut turned out to be my favorite, and I immediately planned to order it myself again the next day.  Moist, good banana flavor, crunchy nuts, crispy top.

And of course, I did order the banana nut again (and again, and again).  Definitely my favorite of the muffins.  Crispy top, coated with sugar, moist interior, lots of nuts, banana flavor not to overwhelming.  Hands down favorite.

Blueberry Muffin.

One morning, all of my muffins arrived cut in half.  I'm not sure why, but, it enabled me to take close-up photos of the interiors, before I devoured them.

The blueberry muffin was always my second choice; I loved the streusel, the crispy top, and the moist decent base.  As I said before, the blueberries were huge, plump, and quite tasty, but here you can see illustrated my complaint that there were not many blueberries inside.

Raisin Bran Muffin.

The raisin bran was always my third choice, but one I was happy to eat.  It always had the oats on top, a molasses flavor to it, and plenty of raisins.  I wished I had tasty jam to slather on it.

Banana Nut Muffin.

But my favorite was always the banana nut.  Sugar on top, super crispy on top, moist inside.  Loaded up with walnuts, for extra crunch, and the banana flavor was never too overwhelming.

Sides

The final section of the menu is sides, such as plain or greek yogurt ($8), smoked salmon ($8), bacon ($7), sausage ($8), ham ($6), and potatoes ($7).

Pork Sausage. $8.

So, little known fact.  I love sausage.  Ok, not all sausage.  In fact, I don't really like sausages like you'd eat for lunch in a bun with toppings, I only like breakfast sausage, or crumbled sausage in pasta or on pizza.  I prefer patties, but a thick link with a crispy outside can be good too.  And, I like pork sausage, even though I don't really like many other pork products (other than bacon, pork belly, and uh, mortadella).  Heh, we can't control what we like, can we?

Anyway, to hedge my bets with the yogurt/fruit/granola dish, and to spend my full $24 credit, I added a side of sausage.  I had no idea what to expect, as it could be anything from a single sausage patty on the side, to a pile of greasy thin links.  I was quite pleased my when side arrived, 2 large, glistening, crispy sausage links.

The sausages were quite tasty.  Super crispy on the outside, just how I like.  They were thick and juicy.  Breakfast sausage style, so mildly seasoned.  Very large.  The serving of 2 of these was bigger than a regular lunch sausage, and really should have been split with someone, but, uh, I really liked my sausage, and had no one to share with.  How could I let this deliciousness go to waste?

I really love breakfast sausage drizzled with maple syrup, but I didn't have any (it comes with pancakes, so I'm sure I could have ordered some, but that certainly would have broke the bank!)  It was fine on its own, and easily devoured, but some syrup would have pushed it over the top.

It wasn't without faults though, as the sausage really was way too greasy.

Applewood Smoked Bacon. $7.

After the success of the sausage, I decided to go for bacon the next day when I was ordering to go.  The portion was 5 strips, slightly more modest than the two large sausages.

It was crispy, decently cooked bacon, but pretty greasy.  It didn't seem to have been drained.  I liked the crispiness, I liked the salt level, but, it was just bacon, nothing earth shattering.

$7 price was slightly lower than the sausage, but a bit crazy if you think about it as just 5 strips of bacon.

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Sweetgreen

Prior to 2006, when people thought fast food, or fast casual, in the US, they didn't really think of salads.  Maybe Panera would come to mind for the soup/salad/sandwich lineup, but besides that, salads were not what people made a point to get while out and about.  And then ... Sweetgreen, and a few others, entered the scene.  They started in cities, aimed at office workers looking for a healthy and easy lunch option, and just exploded from there.  While you can't find Sweetgreen everywhere (in fact, they only have stores in 13 states), most US cities have them now, and my neighborhood in SF even has two, within a few blocks of each other.  Basically, where there is density of health conscious office workers with decent food budgets ... there is Sweetgreen.

Sweetgreen is a pretty simple concept, basically, salads.  They've expanded to do some "bowls" with grains as a base instead of salad greens, but besides that, they don't offer much else.  No extensive line up of sides nor desserts (a single dessert was just added to the menu in December 2022).  Salads are assembled to order, Chipotle style, or you can order in advance online or through their app.  A main focus of the business is fresh ingredients, and most everything is locally sourced, as they have strong partnerships with farmers.  Everything is prepped fresh at each location daily, including chopping veggies, roasting veggies, and making the slew of dressings.  The freshness and quality are evident.

I really wasn't a salad person until the past few years, but, I've turned into one, and Sweetgreen is a reliable, albeit pricey, excellent option.

Salad Bowls

Sweetgreen is, essentially, a salad shop.  If you want to make things easy on yourself, you can just order one of their predesigned bowls.  The menu features a number of regular salads, plus seasonal specials, and a handful of exclusive bowls for online orders only.  You can customize any of them (although there are limits on how much you can modify), or, just opt to build your own custom bowl entirely, which is what I do most often.

The format at Sweetgreen for bowls is pretty simple: select base, add regular toppings, optionally add premiums, and then dressing.  Salad bases are all the usual suspects: romaine, arugula, baby spinach, spring mix, or kale.   Regular toppings are a mix of raw veggies (carrots, cabbage, cucumber, beets, tomato, etc), cooked veggies (roasted sweet potato, spicy broccoli), fruits (apples, seasonal peaches), legumes (chickpeas, lentils), herbs, and crunchy things (sunflower seeds, toasted almonds, crispy rice, and more).  Premiums cost more, and include proteins (salmon, turkey meatballs, hummus, blackened or roasted chicken, tofu, hard boiled eggs), cheeses (blue, goat, parmesan, seasonal burrata), premium veggies (avocado, seasonal corn, seasonal heirloom tomatoes), and different seasonal roast veggies (brussels sprouts, curry roasted cauliflower).  The dressings are all homemade, and there are 15+ at a time, so I won't enumerate them here, but they range from creamy green goddess ranch to light vinaigrettes.  Every category, except the base greens themselves, have seasonal offerings that rotate through every few months.

The pricing model makes it very easy to create a $20+ salad, but if you stick to the pre-made bowls, you'll at least not be surprised at checkout (most are ~$15).

Custom Bowl:
Base: Baby Spinach / Kale.
Regular Ingredients: Spicy Broccoli, Red Onion, Tomato, Chopped Pickles (Seasonal).
Premium: Pickled Carrots & Celery ($1.25), Warm Portobello ($2), Miso Root Vegetables (Seasonal, $1.25).

My first bowl was a salad base, spinach and kale.  I also added 4 included regular ingredients, and splurged for 3 premiums.  The bowl was really loaded up.

In addition to a few menu staples (spicy broccoli, pickled carrots and celery), I picked a few winter seasonal items that were about to be removed from the menu (chopped pickles, miso root vegetables), and tried the warm portobello mix.  The juicy looking tomatoes also called out, I think I was craving them.

I was quite pleased with my pile of ingredients, not quite a "salad" but I didn't intend it to be.

Spicy Broccoli
"Broccoli, kale stems, sunflower oil, umami seasoning, crushed red pepper."

The spicy broccoli I enjoyed, although I didn't find it particularly spicy, and my scoop was *tiny*, like, really tiny.  That said, the broccoli was cooked nicely, not too soft and mushy, not too crisp, and, well, I was in the mood for broccoli.  It is served chilled, but sometimes I get it and warm it up to have alongside my dinner as a side vegetable, and it works well that way too.

I get this regularly, and usually go for a double scoop.  ****.

Red Onion

The image on the website shows rings of red onion, but instead, this was diced.  And there was little of it.  I'd leave it out in the future, just too minimal to be worth a topping slot. ***.

Tomato

The tomatoes were fine, grape tomatoes, cut in half.  They seemed quite vibrant for the time of year (March), and were kinda in a thing of water that I think made them look more juicy than they really were, but, they tasted fine actually.  Not mealy or anything. ***.

Chopped Pickles (Seasonal)

"Cucumbers, water, distilled vinegar, salt, garlic, black pepper, mustard seed, dill seed."

The chopped pickles were a winner.  Just classic dill style pickles, but I liked the large size chunks.  Also, I kinda adore pickles.  I'd get this again. ***+.

Pickled carrots + celery ($1.25)  
"Carrots, celery, salt, white wine vinegar."

The pickled carrots + celery were fine, a mix of equal parts crunchy carrot disks and celery.  Nice crunch and acidity, but still a bit more boring than it looks. **.

Miso Root Vegetables ($1.25, Seasonal).

"Carrots, winter squash, sunchokes, scallions, umami seasoning, miso sesame ginger vinaigrette."

I was really, really excited for the miso root vegetables.  I love root vegetables, particularly sunchokes and winter squash, which this had.  I love miso.

But I was pretty disappointed by my scoop.  It was *tiny*, and mostly carrots.  The miso flavor comes from their miso sesame ginger vinaigrette, which you can get anytime, and I mostly find ... unremarkable.  I don't like cooked carrots.  I did get a few pieces (2?) of sunchoke, but, eh.  Same with the single piece of squash.  Eh.  I wouldn't get this again. *+.

Warm Portobello Mix ($2)

"Portobello mushrooms, button mushrooms, sunflower oil, umami seasoning."

And finally, the mushroom mix, served warm.  A huge splurge, at $2 additional.

I *hated* it!  It was just hunks of really, um, mushroom-y mushroom?  Yeah, I know, lame description, but I just truly did not care for this in any way.  Would not get again. *.

Super Green Goddess. $9.95.

"Black lentils, chickpeas, roasted sweet potatoes, raw carrots, spicy broccoli, shredded cabbage, raw beets, roasted almonds, baby spinach, shredded kale, green goddess ranch."

Next I tried one of their curated bowls, the "Super" Green Goddess.  This is the only Green Goddess on the menu, but I think the "super" may refer to all the protein toppings?  Anyway.  I left this bowl entirely unmodified, to try out their recipe, as this is one of their top sellers.

The base was good, fresh crisp kale and baby spinach.  Shredded carrots and cabbage were standard, a good quantity of each provided.  I liked the roasted almonds for crunch. ***+ for all of these.

I'm not really one for beets, but I at least appreciated the raw sliced beets from crunch and vibrant color. ***.  I adore the spicy broccoli, but sadly this bowl had just a small portion, mostly stems.  I had exactly 2 florets.  Tasty, but, far too little. ***+.

But the rest of the toppings ... just totally not for me.  The chickpeas were, well, cooked chickpeas.  The only time I tolerate chickpeas is when roasted and crispy, or when made into hummus or falafel, and even then, only sometimes.  The lentils were hard and dry, and, well, lentils.  I hate lentils.  Sweet potato I don't hate, but I've had Sweetgreen's version before, and I just don't care for them.  Cooked, soft, sliced thin, but, meh. **.

And finally, the dressing, I've had it before, it is herby, very, uh, "herb forward".  I really like it for dunking baby carrots, and with any other fresh veggies.  It was good as a dressing too, but I might even prefer it as a dip.  ***+.

Overall, not a bowl I'd get again, but I do understand how it is a crowd pleaser for those who like protein and want a vegetarian option.  ***.

Super Green Goddess (Modified). $9.95.

"Black lentils, chickpeas, roasted sweet potatoes, raw carrots, spicy broccoli, shredded cabbage, raw beets, roasted almonds, baby spinach, shredded kale, green goddess ranch."

What did I say about not getting the Super Green Goddess again?  Yeah, I did.  Except, I modified it:

• -lentils, -roasted sweet potato, -chickpeas
• +crispy rice x2, +extra raw beet
• +hot sauce, remoulade, lemon.

Ok, why did I do this?  Because I discovered something interesting.

If I create my own bowl, for $9.95, I get my choice of base + 4 toppings (non-premium) + up to 3 dressings.  So to get the above salad, my modified goddess, since it has 8 toppings, I'd pay $0.50 for each of the extra 4 toppings, pricing it at $11.95.

If instead I pick one of the cheapest composed bowls on the menu, such as the Super Green Goddess, it is the same base $9.95 price, but includes 8 toppings, rather than 4.  You can make 7 modifications to a pre-assembled bowl.  So ... you can essentially swap out 3 toppings (each removal and add is a modification) and add an extra dressing, same price.  So, same bowl, $2 less, just less flexibility.  Being a frugal girl, I accepted these limitations, and shaved $2 off my bowl price!

Since the Super Green Goddess had the base I was already planning to get (kale and spinach), and two toppings I was planning to get (raw beets, spicy broccoli), this meant I could double up the beets as I planned anyway, add my crispy rice that I adore - double!, remove the few toppings I didn't want (lentils, chickpeas, sweet potato), and then get a few extra toppings I didn't mind (carrots, cabbage, almonds) as bonus?  Um, yes?  Same price, double the toppings.  Not entirely flexible, but, a good tradeoff.

My creation was great, and the extra goodies I did actually like to have. ****.

Veggie Ceasar. $10.95.
(Online Exclusive).

"Roasted sweet potatoes, spicy broccoli, tomatoes, raw beets, shaved parmesan, parmesan crisps, shredded kale, chopped romaine, lime squeeze, caesar dressing."

The Sweetgreen menu has two ceasar salads on it - the "kale caesar" (which actually is a mix of kale and romaine), and this one, the "Veggie Caesar", available only if you order online.  Both have the same kale/romaine base, along with tomatoes, shaved parmesan, parmesan crisps, caesar dressing, and lime squeeze, but the regular version also includes roasted chicken, and the veggie version adds raw beets, roasted sweet potato, and spicy broccoli.  Since I don't like chicken, and adore the spicy broccoli, this was an easy choice.  Plus, it is "exclusive" and that clearly means better right?

I liked the kale and romaine mix for the base, each had a clear purpose, and since I like kale, this was a good base for me.  The tomatoes were fresh and juicy, good.  Raw beets I'm not that excited by, but I liked the crunch they provided.  Of course I liked my spicy broccoli, although I did feel it kinda clashed with the rest of the caesar ingredients, as it has the umami seasoning and red pepper in it.  The roasted sweet potatoes I disliked, as I had before, and I'll certainly leave off in the future.

The stars of this bowl for me were the large parmesan shreds, good quality nutty parmesan, and, the glorious, glorious parmesan crisps.  I loved these things, both for crunch and taste.  The parmesan flavor was soooo strong, and it was really just fabulous.

Caesar dressing completed the deal, and I appreciate that they have real caesar, with anchovies.

Overall, a good caesar salad with a bit of flair, although I'd leave off the sweet potatoes and likely add something in their place in the future.  ****.

Garden Cobb. $13.95.
(Modified).

"Avocado, hard boiled egg, roasted sweet potatoes, tomatoes, red onions, blue cheese, roasted almonds, spring mix, chopped romaine, balsamic vinaigrette."

This wasn't my order, but I share here just for visual review.  My dining companion opted to modify the garden cobb fairly heavily, as follows:

- spring mix

- tomatoes

- red onion

+ extra almonds

+ chickpeas

+ spicy broccoli

+ spicy cashew dressing

She liked it, and I tried a few bites, but, not really much here I like - I hate chickpeas (and the were just cooked chickpeas), I'm allergic to avocado, and dislike the roasted sweet potatoes from Sweetgreen.  She did add the spicy broccoli, crispy rice, and the spicy cashew dressing at my recommendation though!

Custom Bowl. $8.95 base + $10 (!) extras = $18.95.

Another day, another custom bowl from me.  I went back to fairly reliable items, plus got a chance to try one new seasonal addition.

My lineup:

• Base: Kale, arugula
• Toppings: Spicy broccoli, shredded cabbage, red onion, raw beet (not pictured: crispy rice, spicy sunflower seeds, $0.50 each).
• Premiums: Roasted brussels sprouts ($1.50), curry roasted cauliflower ($1.50), 
• Pickled carrots + celery ($1.50), roasted steelhead ($4.50).
• Dressing: (Not Pictured) Green goddess ranch + SG hot sauce.

Total:  $18.95!  Yes, this was a pricy salad. It was reasonably filling though, 695 cals including dressing, 460 without.  I asked to have the crispy toppings on the side, so that they wouldn't get soggy, as I wasn't eating it right away.  This was easily accommodated, just like the dressings on the side (default if you are getting togo anyway).

Since I've reviewed most of these elements before, no real need to comment, besides that the raw veggies were all fresh and crisp, I liked all my different bits of texture, and although my premium toppings and extra crunch added up ($10 in just those!), they all really elevated this from "just a salad" to a very enjoyable meal.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts (Seasonal)

This was my first time trying the seasonal brussels sprouts, and as a brussels sprouts lover, I was thrilled to see them on the menu.  I do like biting into a full or half sprout, and the mostly shaved form here lost that aspect, and I definitely prefer my sprouts warm/grilled even when in salads (I roast up big batches and throw into my panini press to grill them while I'm making a salad!), so, the cold form here wasn't what I'd prefer.  Still, I was glad to have them.  They were lightly seasoned with the signature umami seasoning.  ****.

Curry Roasted Cauliflower (Seasonal)

My second time having the cauliflower, which is seasoned with both the umami seasoning and additional curry powder.  Previously I had it as a side dish (one of the only sides offered by SG!), so this was my first time adding to a bowl, but, I eat roasted cauliflower in salads quite regularly (although, much like brussels sprouts, I prefer to toss them into the panini press to serve warm).  Unlike the brussels though, the cauliflower worked equally well cold.  The curry seasoning is great when I had it as a side dish, but did conflict a bit with my other flavors and dressings, since, well, curry is a pretty aggressive spice.  Still, glad I got it.  ****.

Roasted Steelhead

I know I've had lackluster reviews of the steelhead before, but, I do need protein, and I dislike chicken, and don't care for their tofu, so, fish it is.  I really wish they'd offer shrimp or cheeses like halloumi or paneer ...  

Anyway, the slice of fish broke in half as my server was picking it up, and she kinda just dumped the other half into the corner of the bowl, as pictured here.  Not exactly the best presentation, but, hey, its a salad bowl after all.  The fish was fine, kinda dried out, but, nice flavor.  ***.

Create Your Own. $8.95 base + $9.50 extras =  $18.45

Another day, another custom bowl.  I went back to fairly reliable items, and double/tripled up on ones I knew I wanted more of.

My lineup:

• Base: Baby spinach + arugula
• Toppings: Spicy broccoli x3, shredded cabbage, raw beet x3, tomato ($0.50 for the extras).
• Premiums: Roasted brussels sprouts x2 ($1.50 each), roasted steelhead ($4.50).
• Dressing: (Not Pictured) Green goddess ranch + SG hot sauce, fresh lemon.

This bowl was a strategic order from me - not intended to be eaten as a salad right then, hence why I went a bit crazy on the double/triple toppings, and why I didn't include any crispy things, even though I adore those.  The steelhead and spicy broccoli I planned to have with a few other leftovers for a warm dinner, along with the lemon to drizzle over.  3 scoops of spicy broccoli makes sense in that context!

The brussels sprouts I also planned to use with another dinner, shepherd's pie leftovers, so I could have some veggie additions to it.  Again, 2x makes sense in this case.

The rest I did use as a salad, along with a bunch of ingredients I had at home (carrots, radishes, onion, roasted squash, prosciutto, etc).  See, it makes sense now!  Sweetgreen for me is more than just a salad shop ... its an ingredient shop, great for easy meal prep.

Everything was fresh and good, and I've reviewed all these components before, nothing new to say.  I was pleased with my order, but, $18.45 really is pricy for a salad ... good thing for me it was a salad AND a dinner!

**** overall, all reliable ingredients I'd get again.

Peach & Burrata (add blackened chicken, $3). $13.95.
(Summer Seasonal 2021).

"Peaches, burrata, tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, mint, roasted almonds, spring mix, shredded kale, balsamic vinaigrette."

Sweetgreen adds seasonal specials several times a year, and in the summer, the special bowl features all the great abundance of summer, including local fresh peaches, which is a great treat in the SF area.

The base recipe for the seasonal Peach and Burrata salad uses kale and spring mix blend, topped with cucumbers, tomatoes, basil, mint, DOUBLE peaches, plus a mound of burrata and tub of roasted almonds.  So many good things.

This is a very good salad.  Thought was put into the base recipe, and it needed no modification, even from picky me.

I love that it includes basil and mint, both wonderful pairings with both burrata and peaches, and they added a lot to the salad, even if "just" herbs.   They just accented all the other wondrous ingredients.  The star attractions, the peaches and burrata, actually blew me away - both were perfectly ripe, the peaches juicy and flavorful, the burrata creamy and luxurious.  Quality bar was high. **** for all of this.

While tomatoes may seem a bit odd, I've had very successful caprese salads before with tomatoes and peaches, so this didn't scare me away at all.  In this case, I sorta wished they weren't there, but the double peaches mostly overwhelmed them anyway, so, it was not an issue.  Kudos for having a base recipe with double peaches too!

The toasted almonds were great for crunch as always.

I don't normally want balsamic vinaigrette, but this was an exception to my standard: clearly, a heavy creamy dressing like ranch would have no place here, and balsamic truly is the right thing to pair with burrata, and with tomatoes, and, yes, with peaches.

Overall, just a winning salad, and I'd gladly get it again.

****.

Warm Bowls

While most people think of Sweetgreen as a salad shop, they also offer up a handful of warm bowls, using warm grains (quinoa or wild rice) in the base rather than just salad greens.  These bowls often have warm veggie or protein toppings as well, but the toppings are all the same as those you can get for a salad, as are the dressings.  So really, the only difference is the warm grains as part of the base, and a few specially curated bowls that are designed to eat a bit more like a hearty meal rather than salad.  They also experimented with cauliflower rice as a base, but somehow that trend didn't stick, even though other places, like Trader Joes, went all in on the cauliflower bases.

I've tried several of these bowls, but, given that I don't really care for grain bases, these aren't for me.  

 Crispy Rice Bowl. $13.45.

"Blackened chicken, raw carrots, shredded cabbage, cucumbers, cilantro, roasted almonds, crispy rice, warm wild rice, arugula, lime squeeze, spicy cashew dressing."

This is the first non-salad bowl I tried, although the base is arugula, it is considered a "warm bowl" as it has a scoop of warm wild rice on it.  Or, well, it is *supposed* to have a scoop of warm wild rice.  I'm not sure why mine did not.  And mine came with a bonus scoop of regular roast chicken, which I think was added instead of the rice?  I think a mistake was made here, but I didn't notice until I had left.

The arugula base was good, crispy, peppery, fresh.  But just arugula for a base is a bit too strong, I would have preferred to mix in another fresher juicier green, but the wild rice was supposed to count for the second base.  Oh well.

The carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, cilantro were all standard, fresh, good quantity provided.  The "lime squeeze" made me laugh, as actually an entire half a lime was provided, so I could squeeze myself.

The crispy toppings are what made this bowl, the roasted almonds were fine, but the crispy rice is what took it over the top.  Love that crispy rice.

The standard dressing for this is my favorite, the spicy cashew, and I adored it as always.

Overall, a fine bowl, but I'd rather customize something a bit more to my liking (and I still wonder what the wild rice would have added to it ...).

***.

Fish Taco.  $14.45.
(Sub wild rice for quinoa, sub carrots for cabbage).

"Roasted steelhead, avocado, shredded cabbage, cilantro, tortilla chips, warm quinoa, arugula, sweetgreen hot sauce, lime cilantro jalapeño vinaigrette."

My second non-salad bowl, picked because I was really craving salmon, even though I had had the roasted steelhead previously, and not really cared for it (that was on the east coast, I thought it might be different), was the "fish taco".

The arugula base was perfect for the taco salad vibes, adding pepperiness.  I swapped in carrots for the cabbage, just because I was really in the mood for carrots, and had kinda over dosed on cabbage recently, and it worked well too.  I swapped out the normally included quinoa for wild rice, hoping I'd like it more than quinoa, but alas, I wasn't really into it.  It was prepared fine, not mushy or anything, but I'm just not one for rice.  It was colorful though, and a nice assortment of grains.

The tortilla chips were crumbled, and fairly standard, but they helped complete the "taco" vibe.  They were however a bit soft/soggy.  I asked for no avocado, as I'm allergic, but somehow it wound up in my bowl anyway.  Avocado is not an addition to this bowl, it comes standard, hence the higher price.  It was a full half an avocado, sliced, not brown, clearly fresh.  

Finally, the thing I was after: the fish!  Alas, it was just like before ... a decent sized filet, but, cold, cooked salmon just is not my thing.  Alas.

The included lime cilantro jalapeño vinaigrette was zesty, cilantro forward, and, if you like vinaigrette, likely a great pairing.  I ended up using my favorite salsa, hot sauce, and sour cream, instead.  I also subbed in refried beans at home, as I didn't care for the steelhead.

Anyway, clearly not something I'd get again, but I did enjoy my final creation.  **+ as is, though.

Custom Bowl:
Base: Wild Rice, Cauliflower Rice.
Regular Ingredients: Spicy Broccoli, Corn, 
Spicy Sunflower Seed, Crispy Rice (on side to stay crispy)
Premiums: Pickled Carrots + Celery, Kale-Cabbage Slaw, Roasted Steelhead.

You can also customize hot bowls, which I did one day.

First, my bases.  Rather than a salad, as I always do, I went for hot grains.  I really did want to try the cauliflower rice (now discontinued), and went for wild rice too in case I disliked it.  I'll admit, this was my first time having cauliflower rice, despite the fairly ridiculous uptick in places offering it (I've had my share of cauliflower mash, and have been generally annoyed by it, as I really just want regular mashed potatoes, and I haven't really been a fan of cauliflower gnocchi, cauliflower thins, etc either).  I do like my legit carbs.  But, I really have been thinking about trying cauliflower rice, and this seemed like a good place to give it a try.

Wild Rice 
The wild rice, my backup plan, was ... meh.  I mean, it was just, uh, wild rice?  Moderately warm. I forgot I had tried it before and not really cared for it.  Definitely not my thing, but if you are a healthy rice eater, and want a warm grain bowl, go for it.  190 calories per scoop, adds 4g protein.

Cauliflower Rice.
"Riced cauliflower, kale stems, red onion, garlic, salt, evoo, sunflower oil."

But I didn't need that wild rice backup plan anyway.  Because the cauliflower rice was awesome!  Yes, it is trendy these days, but whatever.  I loved it.  I'm in.  Too bad Sweetgreen ditched it.

And yes, this really was just riced cauliflower, tiny little chunks, that result in a texture like ... crumbled falafel?  I liked it though.  The flavor, although clearly cauliflower, definitely isn't as intense as eating cauliflower florets, or a cauliflower steak.  Definitely more muted.  The seasoning was good too.  It really, well, it ate well?  Nice texture, nice flavors, and, if you can imagine enjoying warm crumbled up falafel that doesn't taste like chickpeas but tastes like cauliflower instead, that is what this was for me.

I really liked, and would gladly get it again (not as a salad bowl, and not mixed into my salad, but as a side on an entree plate).  I see why people like it for health reasons, the scoop is only 55 calories, although not that much protein to it either.

[ Update Review: I had it again, only a few days later, and really wasn't into it.  Was just like, "meh, cauliflower". Will need to try again to see what I think the 3rd time ... ]

For regular ingredients, I skipped all the standard raw veggies of which there were many (I'll spare you the details), and went just for the special seasonal corn, and the only real interesting sounding veggie: the spicy broccoli.  I also skipped the legumes, fruits (although the strawberries did look ripe and decent), and opted for some fun crispy toppings, which I had on the side (more on those soon).  The za'atar breadcrumbs looked great too, but alas, I had to narrow down *some* choices!

Spicy Broccoli
"Broccoli, kale stems, sunflower oil, umami seasoning, crushed red pepper."

One I was fairly excited to try, not that I like broccoli much, but, I do like broccoli salads (hello, Whole Foods broccoli crunch!), and this sounded potentially fun.

I liked it.  It wasn't actually very spicy, but, the addition of kale stems, along with the stems of the broccoli, gave it great textures.  I liked the mix of florets and stems. Good crunch.  Another one that "ate well".

So not spicy, but still flavorful, and enjoyable to eat.  I'd get it again, maybe double portion.  ***+.

Corn
The corn was just corn, but, it was at its prime.  Very, very good, sweet juicy corn kernels.  Definitely worth getting.  ****.

And lastly, the fun category, where Sweetgreen gets dangerous: the Premiums.  I didn't want any of the cheeses, so that was easy to rule out, nor most of the proteins (cuz, eh, chicken, tofu, egg), but I wanted many others.  I settled for 3: two chilled veggies and a warm protein.  I really did want to try the warm portobello mix too though .....

Pickled carrots + celery  
"Carrots, celery, salt, white wine vinegar."

This was fine.  Lightly pickled carrots and celery.  Mostly celery.  Nice crunch, touch of acidity. ***+.

Kale-cabbage Slaw
"Kale, cabbage, carrots, green goddess ranch, lemon juice."

I quite liked this, and then laughed when I saw what it was made of.  Literally all just ingredients from the menu, just combined.  In fact, you could literally design a salad that is this, just, full size (e.g. kale base, cabbage/carrots as the only ingredients, and green goddess ranch and lemon squeeze as your dressings).

Also strange is that I didn't care for the green goddess ranch dressing at first, but liked this.  Huh.

Anyway, yes, it is just a slaw, but it was fresh, crisp, and flavorful.  I wanted more, I wanted a giant scoop of slaw, really, I wanted a side dish of slaw, and would gladly get 2x-3x portion of this.  Or, you know, design a whole bowl that is just the slaw.  ****.

Roasted Steelhead
"Steelhead, oil, and umami seasoning."

I was skeptical about this one, as I generally do not like cooked salmon (or steelhead).  I like it raw, I love a beautiful mid-rare king salmon, but a pretty generic, even well prepared, standard cooked salmon just isn't my fish of choice.  And what did I expect from this pre-made one?

I did expect it to be warm, and it wasn't?  Is that normal?  It was stone cold.  I wasn't expecting that, although cold salmon on salads is a thing.

It was fine, for what it was.  A decent sized piece, although definitely not what you'd think of as a salmon entree or anything.  A compliment to your bowl, but not the real main dish.  Seasoning was nice.  Cooked well.  Not too fishy.  Flaked nicely.  ***.

But it was still fully cooked salmon, and just not my thing really.  But, besides being cold, really nothing I can say bad about it.  Average piece is 150 calories, 21 grams protein, for 86 g piece (3 ounces).

Elote Bowl (modified). $13.95.
Summer 2022 Seasonal.

"Warm quinoa, arugula, cilantro, shredded cabbage, tortilla chips, sunflower seeds, goat cheese, roasted corn + peppers, heirloom cherry tomatoes, lime cilantro jalapeno vinaigrette."

In the summer of 2022, Sweetgreen ran a promotion to encourage people to order the seasonal Elote bowl.  Order it during a specified week, and you'd get a $7 credit on your next order, basically, making it half-price.  I can't resist a good deal, so I went for the Elote bowl, even though I never would have ordered it normally.  That said, of course I modified it, keeping within the regular parameters of no more than 5 modifications and swapping like for like, so it wouldn't have any additional charge.  

This is supposed to be a warm bowl with a quinoa and arugula base, but, I didn't actually want any grains, just a salad, so I asked to have kale instead of quinoa.  No problem.  I really do like the Sweetgreen curly kale, always very consistent.  Together with the arugula it creates a hearty, peppery base.  **** and my favorite base combo most of the time (unless I want juicy romaine, in which case, romaine and kale it is).

I kept the shredded cabbage, but asked to sub out the other regular veggie topping, cilantro, for the spicy broccoli.  I don't hate cilantro, but I certainly don't love it, and I do love their spicy broccoli.  Both the cabbage and broccoli were good, as always, and nice for additional crunch.  ****.

I also kept the other regular priced crispy toppings, the sunflower seeds and tortilla chips (the later I asked to have on the side so they wouldn't get soggy), although I would have preferred others like the crispy rice or toasted almonds, but, I didn't want additional charge, so left those alone. *** for these, not my favorites, but I knew they wouldn't be.

Finally, the premium toppings, I left the included seasonal roasted corn + peppers and heirloom cherry tomatoes, but removed the goat cheese, as I really don't like it.  I got an extra scoop of the corn + peppers instead.  The heirloom tomatoes were a noticeable improvement over the regular tomatoes, they were considerably juicier, and far more vibrant, assorted colors of red, orange, and yellow, rather than just red.  When tomatoes are in season, these are worth springing for the premium price.  As always, I appreciate that Sweetgreen cuts the tomatoes in half for easy eating.  The corn + pepper mix was a first for me, and I was thrilled with it.  I mean, I love summer corn in general, and this was just roasted corn, with a few bits of roasted red pepper and the signature umami seasoning on it, but, it was very satisfying.  I'd definitely get this again too.  **** for both these toppings.

Oh, and I ditched the lime cilantro jalapeno vinaigrette, as I'm more a creamy dressing girl, and got the goddess and caesar, both of which I really like.

Overall, I liked my bowl quite a bit, but, it really wasn't the Elote bowl at this point. ****.

Crispy Toppings

If you know me, you know I'm all about crispy toppings on things.  I always add crispy toppings to salads at lunch, to curries or warm bowls at dinner, and to every dessert.  I like the crunch and texture, and of course, chance to add a complimentary flavor.  Sweetgreen offers up a handful of crispy toppings, but they are usually added right in to the bowls, so unless you are eating your bowl immediately, they do get soft.  I try to ask for them on the side whenever I order in person, but that still isn't possible through the app.  

I've tried all but the za'atar breadcrumbs, and really, really love the crispy rice.

Spicy Sunflower Seeds

"Sunflower seeds, sunflower oil, umami seasoning, crushed red pepper, cumin, oregano, paprika, mushrooms, tomato, sumac, cracked black pepper, crystalized lime."

These sounded like something I'd love, great ingredients, spicy, flavorful, seeds.  I always add seasoned seeds onto my bowls and salads (for crunch and protein).

But I really, really didn't like them.  They were exactly the style of sunflower seed I dislike, too ... um, strongly sunflower seed flavor (if that makes any sense whatsoever ...).

So sadly a loser for me, and I was glad they were on the side.  I gave them to my mom when I saw her the next day.

**.

Crispy Rice (on the side)

"Crisp rice, crisp sorghum, umami seasoning, garlic, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, shallots, chilil powder, palm sugar, sunflower oil, coconut oil."

w00t Sweetgreen, w00t.  I *loved* these, and definitely not what I expected from "crispy rice" before I read the ingredients.  I thought it would just be, um, crispy rice?

It was more like rice crispies cereal (with sorghum too), but, savory flavored.  They are crispy and crunchy, and are loaded with flavor. 

I got them on the side so they would stay crispy, which I think was a great move, and found them really delicious just to even snack on.  I could barely wait to add it to my bowl.  Could I get a base of this, rather than greens or grains?

A+, highly recommend.  *****.

Update: These are now a staple of my order.  I love them.  Sometimes I even get 3 scoops, so I can save some for later.  They are delicious to just snack on, are obviously great on salads, and my recent discovery, I think are great sprinkled on top of chowder or potato leek soup, or used on a savory yogurt bowl.  So much flavor, so great crunch.  Love this stuff, and wish I could buy it individually.  *****.

Tortilla Chips.

When I got a seasonal special, the Elote bowl, it came with tortilla chips, I asked to have them on the side so they wouldn't get soggy.  This time, I was given a cardboard container with a giant scoop, rather than just a small condiment container.  The tortilla chips are actually locally made, with different ingredients in each market (for example, in Boston, New York, LA, and a few others, they have a "trace of lime", but in SF, we are lime-less).

They were, well, tortilla chips.  They tasted like any other corn tortilla chips to me, which isn't something I'm really ever into, and these were no different. **+.

Dressing

In addition to having amazing ingredients, one reason people love Sweetgreen is the housemade dressings.  Unlike most places, you can pick 3 by default, no charge, and if you want more, you just ask, and they are always happy to provide.  Pre-COVID days, you could say if you wanted your dressing mixed in or not, and they'd do it to order, and you can actually combine 3 dressing if you wish, and just specify ratios.  Now, they are always on the side, which is great, because, uh, yeah, I'm addicted to some of these, and I love having them on hand at home.  If and when Sweetgreen decides to expand in another way, I could totally imagine them bringing their salad dressings packaged for retail to a grocery store near you.

I've tried many of them, and really do love some of them.  The hype for these is valid.

Spicy Cashew Dressing.

"Sunflower oil, EVOO, sesame oil, apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar, basil, cilantro, garlic, umami seasoning, cashew butter, maple syrup, young ginger, crushed red pepper, lime juice."

Um, wow.  Wow, wow, wow. 

I know people rave about this dressing, but it took me a while to try it.  It didn't seem like something I'd be that excited about.  But, um, wow.  Its perhaps ... the best salad dressing I've ever had in my whole life?  Seriously.  Wow.

It is creamy.  It is spicy.  It has depth.  It somehow has ... everything going on.  I don't even understand.  I just know its insanely delicious, and after I tasted it that first time, all I could think about was epic salad bowls for days, because I just wanted *more* excuses to have that dressing.  I'm not joking.  It ... is life changing.

So what is in it?  It doesn't even sound that special.  The base is grapeseed oil, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and agave nectar.  The sesame oil in particular I think gives it a nice depth, and yes, it has added sugar.  Cashew butter brings in the cashew element and creaminess, lime juice provides acidity, and red pepper flakes bring on the spice.  Ginger, cilantro, and garlic give it more depth.  And of course, their signature "umami seasoning" adds a punch of onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, nutritional yeast, and salt.

Just get this dressing.  Try it.  It is ... just life changing.  No more to say.  Best salad dressing ever. ****.

Update Reviews: I've had this over and over.  Seriously, this dressing is life changing.  I actually mix it with soy sauce and ume plum vinegar, and just *adore* it even more that way. ****.

Peppercorn Tahini Dressing.
(Spring Seasonal).

I'm not entirely sure why I decided to try the peppercorn tahini dressing, a spring seasonal dressing.  I ... don't really like tahini.  Nor cumin (which is dominant).  Nor Mediterranean flavors really ...  but hey, why not try something different I guess?  That is the beauty of being able to pick 3 dressing at a time, you can always get the spicy cashew that is certain to be great, and give some others a whirl as a "risk".

The base here is entirely different from the spicy cashew: extra virgin olive oil (rather than grapeseed and sesame), apple cider vinegar (rather than rice vinegar), and lemon juice (rather than lime) for the acidity.  Dijon provides a slight zing, garlic a bit of something, but otherwise, that is it besides the cumin, salt, and pepper.

It ... well, tastes like tahini?  If you like tahini, I'm sure it is good.  It made me think of falafel, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  Which is not what I was having.  It probably would go well with feta too.  Just, not the things I tend to go for.

A fine dressing, don't get me wrong, but, not the style I wanted.  **.

Caesar.

"Plain yogurt, mayo, anchovies, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, garlic, salt, cracked black pepper, sunflower oil."

Real anchovies!  Yes!  Honestly, I get a bit ... um, grumpy, tbh, at places that call dressing sans anchovy "caesar".  Caesar dressing has anchovies. That is all.

This is a good, slightly lighter style, caesar.  Still plenty creamy from both mayo and yogurt, and decent amount of cheese.  Not quite as thick as I prefer, but not a thin style either.  Well rounded flavor, decent saltiness, decent anchovy level.

It is a good legit caesar, that won't scare too many people away basically.  Its like a decent red table wine.  Sure, you want it to have more complexity, but they don't cut any major corners here.  Very inoffensive, and I gladly get it regularly.

***+.

Green Goddess Ranch.

"Mayo, plain yogurt, dill, red onion, basil, cilantro, parsley, lemon juice, white wine vin, sweetgreen hot sauce, salt, garlic, pepper."

I expected great things from this one, as I do sometimes like ranch, and the herb mix and hot sauce sounded like they'd round this out great, but ... I didn't love it the first time I had it.  Didn't even really ... like it?  It had a strange, dominant taste that I couldn't pinpoint.

At least, at first.  I saved it, and tried it again later, and actually liked it.  Very herb forward and quite enjoyable.  Great paired with things like broccoli and carrots.  I'm not sure why I wasn't into it the first time.  ***.

Update: I've gotten it several times since, and always really loved it.  It is great to save the extra and use as a dip for veggie sticks. ****.

Pesto Vinaigrette / Spicy Cashew Pesto.

Pesto Vinaigrette:
"Sunflower oil, evoo, apple cider vinegar, basil, garlic, umami seasoning."

I struggled with this one.  I wanted it to be pesto.  Not pesto vinaigrette, but pesto.  The flavor was decent, although I like even stronger basil, but, it was a dressing, and thus a true vinaigrette, so it was oily, not thick, and not as intense in the pesto department.  Fine if you like vinaigrette, and fine if you want a salad dressing (which, yes, is what most people are getting it for after all), but I wanted a pesto *sauce* to drizzle over things.

It went well with the cauliflower rice from a warm bowl, and I did later use some on a baguette melt with tomatoes and melted fresh mozzarella, really quite successfully!  I've also enjoyed it drizzled over roast salmon.  ***.

Spicy Cashew Pesto: 
"Sunflower oil, evoo, sesame oil, apple cider vin, rice vin, basil, cilantro, garlic, umami seasoning, cashew butter, maple syrup, young ginger, crushed red pepper, lime juice."

I hoped the spicy cashew pesto would be closer to a real pesto, as not dubbed a vinaigrette.  As you can see from ingredient list, it also had a lot more going on, in addition to the cashew butter, it had all the spices (cilantro, crushed red pepper, young ginger, it seemed), and the maple syrup to round it out.

The cashew butter did thicken it up a touch too, but, with a base of all the oil and vinegar ... yup, it too was a dressing, not a sauce.  By design, I know.  It had a bit of kick to it, and really, it seemed like the lovechild of the pesto vinaigrette and the spicy cashew dressing I so adore (which, I think it basically was - if you merge the ingredients of both, you get nearly exactly this - only missing sesame oil).  So, pesto flavor, and cashew flavor, and a bit of heat.

It really grew on me, and I think in the end I really liked it.  But they have so many great dressings ... ***.

Spicy Cashew Pesto (2020).

When I had the spicy cashew pesto another time it was ... um, entirely different?  

It was thin.  Watery.  Had chunks floating in it (ginger?).  Was really tangy (too much lime?).

I just really didn't care for it at all.  Not sure what was up here ... **.

Hot Sauce.

"fresno chili pepper, apple cider vin, onion, bell pepper, carrot, tomato paste, nutritional yeast."

Sweetgreen has a signature hot sauce.  It is ... hot sauce.

It tastes ... like hot sauce?  Yeah.  Not sure what else there is to say.  Tastes sorta like any generic hot sauce, fairly heavy in the tomato and bell pepper flavors.  It is fine to add a bit of heat as you please, and I do enjoy having it for a bit of zing.

***+.

Miso sesame ginger vinaigrette.

"Sunflower oil, rice vinegar, miso paste, young ginger, tamari, maple syrup, garlic, umami seasoning, crushed red pepper, sesame oil."

I lost my notes on this one, but I think I recall it being a bit sweet, likely from the maple syrup.  I don't remember a great miso flavor, which is what I was really seeking out. ***.

Remoulade.
(Winter 2021 Seasonal).

The remoulade is made from a blend of mayo and yogurt for a creamy base (yogurt to make a bit healthier, like many of their dressings), their own hot sauce for kick, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar for acid, honey for a touch of sweetness, and then their signature umami seasoning, pepper, and garlic. No, um, pickles, or things I really think of as "remoulade".

It is ... fine?  But doesn't quite taste like remoulade to me, I can't imagine it with seafood for example.  More like ... a generic "special sauce" with less ketchup?  ***.

Sauces

In addition to all the regular dressings, Sweetgreen has a few sauces.  Sauces were added to the menu at the time that plates and sides were added.  These are thicker, drizzle/dipping style sauces, not originally designed for salads or grain bowl, but, you know I still wanted to try them all.  I was able to try the 2 they added for the plates.

Hot Honey Mustard.

First up, hot honey mustard.

This was ... not what I was expecting.  Introduced as part of the Hot Honey Chicken plate, normally served with roast chicken, sweet potatoes, quinoa, etc.  I was given a sample when multiple staff members asked if I'd tried it yet, and really really wanted me to try.  They all love this one.

It was *incredibly* sweet.  I know it wasn't made as a dressing, but I have a hard time imagining dipping chicken in it, even though I used to love dipping chicken nuggets in honey even.  A tiny dot of this went a long way.

I did find the underlying flavor interesting (there was a touch of spice there), but, wow, so incredibly sweet.  I used it up by using a dot of it (literally), mixed with things to dilute it, with tomatoes and sprouts and loved that pairing.

I wouldn't get it again, and I'm surprised the staff all love it so much. **.

Chimichurri Sauce.

"Sunflower oil, apple cider vin, garlic, red onion, jalapeno, parsley, oregano, cumin, salt."

The chimichurri was also added to the menu for the plates, another chicken one, the Chicken Chimichurri.

I really liked it the first time I had it, but for some reason, I found myself disliking it later.  In particular, I definitely don't really recommend saving any extra and using it later (unless literally within a day or two), as it got quite ... punchy, fast, and I'm not sure what in the ingredient list would cause that. ***.

Sides

Sweetgreen does not have much in the way of side dishes.  Bowls come with an optional slice of complimentary bread, and beyond that, you can order a slice of focaccia, or sometimes a seasonal roast vegetable (sweet potatoes, cauliflower, etc) with a specific sauce drizzle and crunchy topping.  The breads are sourced locally, so if you visit a Sweetgreen in New York, you'll get different bread than in San Francisco.  The roast veggies are the same ones used as seasonal ingredients in the bowls, just packaged differently.

As a primary lunch spot, I find it interesting that they don't offer probably the most common lunch side out there: chips.  However, that is very on brand.

Bread. Complimentary.

Bread is always offered, optionally, complimentary, on the side.  

I don't normally get it, as I'm not really a bread girl, but I was randomly craving PB&J, and figured I could take the bread home to make a PB&J later in the day.

My order came with two slices of sourdough wheat bread.

The bread was good quality, seemed fresh, had a nice crust to it, and was very soft inside.  However ... it had a sourdough quality to it, which I don't care for.

Just bread, but, fresh and quality.

***.

Update: I've ordered it several more times, and, well, yeah, it really tastes like sourdough.  It is still nice bread, but just not for me at all.

Cashew Pesto Sweet Potatoes. $3.95.

"Hot roasted sweet potatoes, spicy cashew pesto."

Well ... these were sweet potatoes.  Just a side of sweet potatoes, the same used in the bowls.  

Assorted colors, different sizes, skin on, soft.  Not a crispy style roast.

They were ... fine?  Not much to say about some sweet potatoes.

The dipping sauce they came with is the same spicy cashew pesto I had tried before, although it seemed thinner (see above).  There is no option when ordering online to change the dipping sauce, but I was able to ask for another in-store.

Overall, nothing wrong with these but not really an interesting item.

***.

Buffalo Cauliflower. $4.95.
Fall 2021 Seasonal.

"Curry roasted cauliflower, crispy rice, caesar dressing, sweetgreen hot sauce."

The sides at Sweetgreen rarely change, but finally, finally, in the fall of 2021, they introduced a new one: Buffalo Cauliflower.  It is just 3 scoops of the curry roasted cauliflower used in the seasonal salad, served with the regular hot sauce and caesar dressing, along with the crispy rice topping from the regular menu, but, hey, it was something new to try in this form, and I do love those crispies and the hot sauce in particular.

The rice is usually sprinkled on top, but I asked for it on the side so as to not get soggy, which was easily accommodated.  The crispy rice was, as usual, very flavorful.  I didn't really want it with the cauliflower, but I gladly used it on salads later.

Now, for the cauliflower.  First, a warning.  This dish is served cold.  I've had many other buffalo cauliflower dishes, usually lightly fried or tempura cauliflower, dunked in hot sauce, but this was the chilled roasted cauliflower they use on the salad.  So, if you are expecting hot cauliflower, this is not it.

The cauliflower was good though, very well roasted, some char bits.  Covered in curry powder, so quite flavorful, but again, nothing like what I'd expect from a buffalo cauliflower dish.  Served chilled, I think it would work great on a salad, but the side was a bit odd like this.

I brought it home, threw it in the air fryer/toaster oven, alongside some leftover cooked brussels sprouts, onion, and green beans, and made a platter with warmed babaganoush, toasted pita bread, and fresh arugula and tomato, and quite enjoyed my mediteranean-ish platter, but, clearly, I didn't eat the dish the way it was intended.

***+, as it was flavorful, I used it well, and I did love the crispy rice and hot sauce as usual.

Buffalo Cauliflower (unmodified). $4.95.

I got the Buffalo Cauliflower again a few weeks later when I was craving cauliflower, and this time, let it unmodified since I ordered online and there was no way to ask for the crispy rice on the side.

I think I got far more crispy rice this way, it seemed like 2 big scoops vs the 1 that was put on the side for me before.  Other than that, this was as before, and now that I knew not to expect fried cauliflower, I enjoyed it as is, thrown into a salad later at home (with some lovely roast maple bourbon brussels sprouts!).

***+.

Buffalo Cauliflower (unmodified). $4.95.

Another few weeks passed, and I again wanted to stock up on some buffalo cauliflower to add to my own salads at home.  I was in a rush so I ordered online, so again, no way to ask for the crispy rice on the side (grr!).

This one came with the crispy rice both on top and throughout, a very generous portion, but, alas, since I wasn't eating it right away, this meant it was nearly impossible to pick out and save it from getting soft.  But everything was as expected, I really like to grill the cauliflower and throw onto my salads, the crispies are so flavorful, and yay to sauces.

***+.

Roast Steelhead. $4.50.

This isn't technically a side dish offered by Sweetgreen, but one day I was really craving fish, but didn't need salad ingredients, and was walking by on my way home from work and thinking about what to have for dinner, so, I asked if I could literally just order a side of fish.  It was no problem, and I was charged the same as if I had added it on to a bowl ($4.50).

It was very fully cooked, and fishy, but, I was in the mood, and it hit the spot, making for an easy dinner with some roasted green beans and mashed potatoes I have leftover at home.

***.

Drinks

Sweetgreen has an ... interesting drink lineup.  No standard soft drinks, the closest thing to those are Spindrift seltzers in a few flavors.  They also offer aluminum bottled water (still and sparkling), a few varities of bottled kambucha, and their own bottled iced teas.

Hibiscus Clover Tea. $3.50.

"A refreshing blend with crimson clover, mixed berries and hibiscus."

Since I try not to have caffeine in the afternoon, I had one choice for iced tea, Hibiscus Clover tea, not something I'd normally go for.

And ... yeah.  Not my thing.  It was far too fruity for my tastes, and, well, didn't taste like tea.  I used to love peach ice tea, so fruity tea isn't that foreign to me, but, I found myself really wanting the depth of black tea to balance out the fruit.

**.

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