As a Los Angeles health nut, I am well versed in the art of salad selection. I have perused many a menu in search of appealing greenery, usually coming up short with only the ubiquitous Caesar or bland house salad to choose from. This was not the case with Tender Greens ““ a cafeteria-style eatery that proved to please even this salad snob’s palate.
While the words “cafeteria-style” and “fresh” may seem incongruous, Tender Greens uses the cafeteria-line method to its advantage. Your salad is chopped in front of you and speedily assembled by a crew of very capable, rapidly moving cooks ““ a far cry from the ornery lunch ladies of middle school. Rather than waiting half an hour for your steak at a sit-down restaurant, you wait less than 10 minutes to have juicy meat handed to you hot from the grill.
Like the cafeterias of childhood, there are bottled beverages and desserts to choose from as well, only the milk carton has been replaced by bottles of organic sodas and Mexican Coke, and the desserts are slightly more sophisticated. (Think toffee crunch devil’s food cupcake.)
Even better than the fast service and swanky beverages is the price range. Tender Greens offers Angus flank steak, fish and chicken plates for about $10 ““ a total meal that includes both salad and mashed potatoes. These are not measly L.A. portions that leave you more hungry than when you arrived, but are filling, generous helpings that may have you double-checking the price.
In addition to meals, the menu also includes a wide variety of “big” salads ““ everything from chipotle barbecue chicken to the Happy Vegan, a veggie-friendly option with hummus and vegan pasta pearls, perfect for even the pickiest, most ethical eater. While the salads cost as much as the steak, the cost is mostly justified by their size. “Big” is an understatement. Enormous, massive, monster salads might be more accurate titles.
I ordered the chicken cobb, a selection that, while a salad standard, requires the freshest ingredients to be palatable. (Think brown avocado or cold, dry chicken, and you will understand what I mean). Tender Greens’ rendition of this classic is the freshest, most flavorful salad I have ever eaten ““ despite the dangerously hard oversized croutons that come with it.
The secret is in the meat. I had almost forgotten that salad meat could have flavor, as opposed to being bland pieces of lifeless protein. The chicken was juicy without being saucy and gave a richer flavor to the salad overall. The use of crumbly chunks of Point Reyes blue cheese complemented the smoky chicken and applewood bacon pieces with tanginess. If it sounds decadent, that is because it is, but the fresh tomatoes and avocado help to cut the heaviness of the other ingredients.
While the atmosphere is relaxed and pleasant, and the food delicious, the downside to Tender Greens is its popularity. While the crowd was a testament to the quality of the food, sitting at a cramped outside table in a hard chair felt a little too much like the lunch days of old.
Gripes about patio seating aside, sitting down to a meal at Tender Greens is comparable to enjoying a home-cooked meal. If your idea of a home-cooked meal comes from a microwave, then all the better for you. Tender Greens is the perfect candidate to shake up your frozen food ritual ““ all the while keeping your waistline and your wallet in mind.
““ Shelley Brown
E-mail Brown at
sbrown@media.ucla.edu.