- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Fresh Choice Restaurant
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11 am - 9 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
91 reviews for Fresh Choice Restaurant
Review Highlights
"We love going there just for the salad bar."
(in 21 reviews)
"...creamy soups, desserts, soft serve ice cream, soda, etc."
(in 5 reviews)
"...are also good (the Chicken Noodle soup was a good comfort..."
(in 6 reviews)
Loading...
91 reviews in English
-
Review from Heather K.
Half Moon Bay, CA
9/2/2011 2 Check-ins Here
When you're in this shopping center area in San Bruno and your choices are Red Lobster or Fresh Choice....you better come here.
I've always been a fan of Fresh Choice because of its variety. Plus, with a buffet kind of thing, you don't have to wait -- as soon as you pay, you can start shoveling food in your face.
The salad bar is great. There are a ton of extras that you don't normally see at other establishments -- stuff like shrimp, roasted vegetables, and even vegan bacon bits. Big points for also having a couple different nonfat salad dressings and posting the calorie content of everything in plain view.
In addition to the salad bar, the also have a selection of hot foods. There's a soup/chili station (I am so annoyed that the pho noodle soup is made with chicken broth....come on guys, use vegetable broth!!!!!!), a pasta spot (yay mac & cheese!), some vegetable mixes, pizzas, and those fucking ridiculously good square muffins they make. Oh! Their corn, blueberry, and chocolate muffins are all so good. There's also fresh fruit, lowfat frozen yogurt (or is it ice cream? it doesn't say), pudding, cookies, etc for dessert.
You can go back as much as you want after paying the flat fee (I can't remember what it costs per person -- but it's not bad). Soda costs extra of course.
Only complaint is the bathrooms. They're pretty gross. -
Review from Jeani L.
South San Francisco, CA
2/3/2012
If you've never been to a buffet like this, you might think it was good. But that's if you've never been to a buffet like this. I guess I'm a little biased, because I've been to Souplantation, and this place is like a really bad version of it.
Anyone who knows me knows I don't like veggies, but I wouldn't eat them here, anyway. The salad bar is messy and there's stuff all over the place. On a couple of occasions, I've seen the people behind the counter just scoop up whatever was around and guide it back into one of the containers. Gross.
Everything else is just not good. Pizza? Tastes like cardboard. Soup? Watery and/or over seasoned. Brownies and muffins? Dryyyyy. Plus the whole place just feels a little sad. I wouldn't recommend going here, but I mean... it's cheap if you want a quick meal and you're not picky. -
Review from Dave N.
San Francisco, CA
12/16/2011
Wow. This place is no sweet tomatoes....not by a country mile. I have to imagine that everyone in this place was a first time diner; who could eat here and choose to return?!
Staff was plenty friendly and attentive but the food was just plain horrible! -
Review from Matthew H.
San Bruno, CA
1/27/2012 1 Check-in Here
Same as every Fresh Choice
-
Review from Jessica S.
Santa Rosa, CA
12/20/2011
Feed this to your guinea pig if you want to kill it. This was the worst salad bar I've ever been too. I can't believe it was $9.99 for a plate of dry, wilted, sad little veggies. I didn't try anything else, the salad made me too sick. My boyfriend says he feels like he's about to puke.
-
Review from Emi H.
7/6/2011 1 Check-in Here
There is a joke in Hawaii that goes like this:
Q: What's Hawaii's favorite kind of food?
A: Buffet
This is not a joke. Local people love buffet. My family is Samoan so anytime someone wants to go out to eat, guess where they want to go?
All together now: TO A BUFFET!
I was headed out of San Francisco to go back home to Honolulu and met up briefly with my Samoan uncle who happens to live 10 minutes from SFO. I thought it would be nice to catch up for an hour over coffee but of course he drove me straight to a buffet. And that is how my Fresh Choice journey began...
I've heard for years from Mainland friends about Fresh Choice and for those of you who have never been to one, it's essentially a Sizzler's except without the bottomless deep fried shrimp. Stuffing myself to the brim with mediocre food is no longer my favorite past time so I admit that I was not thrilled to walk through the doors of Fresh Choice. My uncle smiled and said "It's a healthy buffet!" I shook my head and said "There is no such thing." Fresh Choice with all its salad fixings might be healthy at the beginning but once you get to the end past the cashier you can easily see that it's full of unhealthy options. Pizza, pasta, creamy soups, desserts, soft serve ice cream, soda, etc.
I just got a small plate of salad to make my uncle happy and the lady at the cashier stand was nice enough to give me the early bird price of $6.99. Damn, California you are so much cheaper than Hawaii. Score! I definitely wouldn't mind having a Fresh Choice in Honolulu so that when my Samoan mama wants to buffet her brains out I can at least have a salad.
The final synopsis on Fresh Choice? Walk in with low expectations and you'll probably enjoy it. Be sure to come with a load of Samoan relatives and you'll definitely get your money's worth because we'll eat you out of house and home. -
Review from tammy w.
San Francisco, CA
12/3/2011
This place is affordable and quiet. Surprisingly, it's actually a great place for studying. AND YES, there IS WIFI! This needs to be updated. unlimited food and quiet setting for studying. it'd be nice if they had more outlets though but i guess Fresh Choice isn't made for studying. COME HERE TO STUDY AND EAT! WIFI WIFI WIFI :D
-
Review from Louise L.
San Francisco, CA
6/17/2011
Decent food for the price and the service is as good as you are at getting your own stuff you lazy lout. So if you want pampering go somewhere there are waiters. Here at Fresh Choice you are on your own. I kind of like hopping up to get something else, walking around and coming back for my next course.
First I make a mound of salad (I used to embarrass my mother doing this) with all the fixings I love, celery, egg, carrots, 'shrooms, corn and more. After I polish that off, I am up for my clam chowder and maybe a piece of bread. Next trip is for the dessert. I score a brownie and hit the soft serve ice cream to make a topping and top that with the strawberry sauce and some faux whipped cream.
Then I call 911 because I ate too much. lol -
Review from Michelle G.
San Mateo, CA
8/20/2011 1 Check-in Here
Nothing special but a good place to go if you want healthier options when you eat out.
I love their strawberry spinach salad, yum!
It's self serve as a buffet usually is and someone comes around to pick up your plate. Usually not too busy so you can easily find somewhere to sit. -
Review from Novalina N.
San Francisco, CA
4/21/2011
Buffet for $8??? Of course they're not gonna get everything right. Come on, guys! The decor looks like a cafetaria and they have a hugeee space.
I really enjoy the salad bar, without the dressings. They look kinda plasticky somehow. They have a wide variety of veggies and mixed salad (I love the broccoli + raisin one).
Don't eat the buffalo chicken (the one that you need to pay extra). It tastes pretty bad.
The soft serve + lentil soup + yams are good too.
Haven't tried anything else, but they're good for all the stuff I mentioned above.
Have been coming back a few times now. I'm pleased! -
Review from Emmalouise B.
San Mateo, CA
3/10/2011
**Review for take out**
I only really come here for the salad because it's always really fresh and tasty. Plus the take out box is huge!
For take out you go in and grab a tray with plastic takeout box and help yourself. Every time I manage to underestimate the size of the container and when I get to the end of the salad bar to pay it's still only half full so end up tacking back down the line again.
The bar regularly get's refilled and not once come across any empty container, plus the staff are always really friendly.
For $6.99 It's a great price seeing as I can't even make it for that price at home.
One of these day's I will go and dine in, not being a big eater I tend to steer clear of buffet places but for the price you can't go wrong.Listed in: A bit of Everything, Food To Go
-
Review from Matthew D.
Tempe, AZ
I thought that I had actually reviewed this Fresh Choice, but maybe it was another location.
It's really about the salad here, and they have fairly good salad with lotsa of choices. I like the caesar with added egg and croutons. Everything else is mediocre, and sometimes on the bad side of it at that. Whenever I come here, I keep going back to the mac and cheese or the herb rice. I can never finish the mac because it's just kind of tasteless, even though I've sprinkled a mound of parmesan on it. The herb rice works if you slop on salt and butter. The pizza is probably the second best thing here, but it's nothing spectacular, and the clam chowder is pretty good.
Interestingly, the corn bread cakes they have here have more calories than their chocolate cake--I don't know what that's about.
Anyway--they'll fill you up okay on the salad. All the other food is hit or miss. Choose for yourself the hits and pass on the misses and you'll have a decent lunch. -
Review from Alicia W.
4/21/2011
Fresh choice is pretty amazing for its price... But don't think you can lose weight by eating here... unless you plan on not topping you salad with any dressings, cheese, or croutons.
The salad here are delicious, for lazy people like me, there are already-made salads available. So you can just scoop it onto your plate and move on to something else. And for those of you that likes to customize you food, there is a pretty large selections of veggie and dressing for you to choose from.
One thing that I do not like about this place... is the lack of meat. While I was getting salad, I noticed that there were pieces of chicken meat in a box and some cocktail shrimps. I was about to get it, UNTIL I realize they charge you extra for it! (it is before you get to the register) SO the only meat I got, was the small piece of meat on my pizza....
But anyways! the food here is good and they have the soft-serve ice cream machine here and muffins and brownies. ^___^ -
Review from Marilyn S.
Mountain View, CA
6/20/2011
I was taking my man to SFO and we needed to grab a really quick bite to eat. I figured this was a good choice as we wouldn't need to wait on anything (someone taking our order, waiting for our food to be prepared) before we started chowing down.
Immediately upon entering, there were the inevitable comparisons to another salad buffet place, of which we are fans. We were taken with the signs that boasted of the local and organic produce and veggies used. It was a slow period (about 2:30pm) and only one side of the salad bar was open. (Quick tip: Make sure to check that your plates and silverware are clean.) Offered were some "standard" salads (Caesar, Chinese Chicken Salad, Tuna Tarragon) and salad bar offerings (carrot sticks, cucumber slices, minced hard-boiled eggs, jicama sticks). I was intrigued by some offerings I'd never seen before (pickled cucumber salad, watermelon radish).
My first course was all salad-bar and I have to say the Caesar salad didn't pack as big a flavor wallop as "the other place" but the pickled cucumber salad was refreshingly not as salty as I thought it would be.
Next course: clam chowder with oyster crackers, spaghetti with meat sauce, and I sampled one each of the blueberry and cornbread muffins. The chowder was passable. The meat sauce was good but watery. I spread the muffins with honey butter (the butter display looked a little dry, especially the garlic-herb stuff). The blueberry was passable, but as another reviewer has previously stated, the cornbread was pretty dry. I'm also used to having actual corn kernels in my cornbread (like "the other place"), and I found a couple in my cornbread, but they were dry as well.
Final course: dessert. (Yes, I get my money's worth from buffets.) I took a small cake cone and filled it with chocolate-vanilla soft-serve and filled a small desert bowl with a crumbed topping that I can't remember right now, and dipped my cone in it as I went along.
All in all, it was ok; nothing really memorable about this place. We managed to get a full meal in, in about half an hour. Random: I waited while my man went to the bathroom before we left, and I was reading a company newsletter dated April 2010; ironic, considering the name of the place. -
Review from Brian B.
Daly City, CA
9/28/2011
This fresh choice was seriously the worst food I've ever eaten. The pizza was under the heat lamp for a day, the mac n cheese had no flavor, and all the rest of the food was just simply nasty. I will never eat here again!! This place should be call WORST CHOICE!!!!!
-
Review from Madam A.
El Granada, CA
8/13/2011
I haven't eaten at a FC in forever. We came for a late lunch after the gym today. I was pleasantly surprised at some of the changes-- some interesting new foods and calorie counting. Also listed items that were vegan. Decent salad bar, pizzas, soups, starches and some OK desserts. Everything was stocked and tasted fresh. Great value for the price so I'm sure we'll be coming more often!
-
Review from Jamie A.
Daly City, CA
I won't compare this to Sweet Tomatoes because that wouldn't be fair so I'll compare it other Fresh Choice restaurants and hands down, this is the worst Fresh Choice location I've ever been to.
There are 2 things I always get at Fresh Choice and that's the chicken noodle soup and corn bread. Both were horrible last night. The soup had so much salt, it literally tasted like someone dumped a can of salt into a pot of boiling water! At first, I thought maybe that pot of soup was over salted by accident so I tried the clear pho broth. That was the exact same thing. Salty water. NASTY!
And the corn bread was so hard and dry that if I threw it at someone's head, they would get concussion. By that point, I was so annoyed I smashed the corn bread (it broke into a million dry crumbs) and uploaded a pic on Yelp to show how dry it was.
And finally, the meal came up to $26.83 for two people and we hardly ate anything. Totally jipped. -
Review from John L.
San Francisco, CA
1/17/2011
Decent, inexpensive salad buffet place for a quick lunch or dinner. The salad selection is very good, lots of produce from local farms. Chicken noodle soup and clam chowder soup is always tasty. baked potato bar and baked sweet potato. hand-made pizza and baked goods made fresh. also has a limited selection of generic mac-n-cheese and pastas. has a small dessert selection but includes soft-serve ice cream - I usually take one of their baked brownies in a bowl and make a make-shift sundae on top.
plenty of seating and parking. bathrooms are clean. kid friendly. food quality is pretty consistent -
Review from Glenn H.
11/17/2010 2 Check-ins Here
I'm a regular here when I feel like eating out but want a healthier choice.
The salads are actually very good and well-tended so that the greens stay fresh and crisp. They are pretty creative as to new salads and combinations of flavors.
I am a big fan of their soups. Flavors are almost always excellent, especially the squash soups and the New England Style Clam chowder (although the latter has more potatoes in it than I'd like).
Even their pizzas are not to bad if you get them fresh.
Also this Fresh Choice is clean, with service that varies from no one ever clearing your table to them clearing it even before you are done. It depends on how badly the busing staff want that tip from you. -
Review from Wesley L.
San Bruno, CA
12/12/2010
My family had a tradition of going to Fresh Choice every Sunday when I was a kid for like 5 years. I don't know if it's nostalgia, or if they had better chefs, but this place has crappy food now. I remember the clam chowder had more clam, and the pizzas had more zest (BBQ Pizza was the best!). But unfortunately the food took a beating as of late.
Recently, my siblings decided to frequent here a couple times and I had to drive them so I sat down for a meal or two as well. My siblings really enjoy the place, but for the totally wrong reasons. Unfortunately, the unlimited supply of muffins and ice cream wins the heart of fat kids all over America.
Here's what I liked though:
-The salads are alright though (not that it's hard to make good salads).
-Soups are also good (the Chicken Noodle soup was a good comfort food)
-Pizza has no sauce.. or it's just dried on top from being out too long.
-Clean bathrooms
-Clean eating areas
-I'm guessing they bake cookies now because twice a worker was passing out cookies. A more personal approach to getting to know the customers maybe? Since y'know they can just put it next to the muffins at the dessert bar.
What I didn't like:
-Dry food
-Mostly meat-less (Fresh, not vegan choice)
-Bland selection
-Good variety of healthy choices but also camouflaged with many other unhealthy choices.
Review Breakdown:
Pricing (No Star): prices used to be good, I guess they raised it since recession times.
Food (No Star): It was filling because it was a buffet, but I ended up getting hungry later since the food had no substance. Plus it didn't even taste that great.
Cleanliness (Star): Workers kept my table clean and the area in general was clean. Bathroom was nice, didn't stink like most buffets.
Atmosphere (Star): Good atmosphere, kid-friendly and had soothing music in the background
Service (Star): Kept table clean, free cookies...what's not to love?
A solid 3-star. It would have been 4-stars if they had the food I remembered though. -
Review from Gwen H.
San Francisco, CA
3/27/2010
Great place to "eat your veggies" as your Mom and slaves of the Food Pyramid all keep harping on. Awesome salad bar, with three pre-made mixed salads to scoop up, or you make your own with the 30 to 40 bowls of different stuff. I like to put one or two premixed salads on, then start loading on the greens.
I try to stay away from the pizza/potato/muffin counter. Try is the operative word, sometimes I am more bad than others. I like the price as I usually get the tap water, or when I am spendy, I will get the iced tea. -
Review from Dan B.
San Francisco, CA
11/10/2008
The holiday season is rapidly approaching and I'm wanting to be proactive about my diet now so I can be bad down the road.
So for the next couple weeks, I'm striving to eat a little better -- and by better, I mean more salads and greens.
The problem is the salad and veggies I bring home end up turning brown in the fridge. And you're not suppose to eat it when it gets that color right?
What's a temporarily semi-health conscious guy to do?
Fresh Choice to the rescue.
I figure it's worth paying for and eating salad and stuff now as opposed to buying it at Trader Joe's and pretending to eat it later.
There's a decent selection of salads, the soups are bland (so I can only assume good for you), and the pizza bread edible.
I can't vouch for the overall freshness of the salads but as long they're not brown, I'm good.
My lone down fall to the healthy eats is their desserts.
I usually get at soup bowl, coat the bottom with a little caramel, then place a brownie in the middle, and finally pile on as much chocolate vanilla fro yo as I can.
Well, since I didn't have a serving of deep fried food, I deserved it.
Oh well, more good for you reviews to follow.
I hope. -
Review from Victoria T.
San Francisco, CA
7/20/2011 8 photos
-a pretty quiet restaurant, especially for a buffet
-REALLY GREAT + FRESH SALAD!!
-love their SELF-SERVE ICE CREAM!
-clam chowder is not bad either, not the best, but still pretty good
better than the daly city location, but not as good as the one in san jose!
coming back? probably! -
Review from Caroline C.
San Francisco, CA
10/1/2007 ROTD 11/25/2007
This place is GREAT birth control! Screaming kids, running around, crashing into you, almost making you fall and drop your tray of "fresh" salad, toppings, dressing, red bean soup, baked potato with cheese and sour cream, self serve frozen yogurt with rainbow sprinkles, bread(for the husband, I'm on a gluten free diet)...UGH!!!
Note to self: Do not have any kids anytime soon.... -
Review from Stephen D.
San Bruno, CA
6/9/2009
Before I start I want to ask: "WHO THE HELL HAS A FAT PARTY OF LOUD, OBNOXIOUS TEENS AT FRESH CHOICE?!?"
"HEY LORI!!! COME OVER HERE!! BRETT KEEPS TOUCHING MEEE!"
"HAHAHA BREEETTTT!!!"
*I look up angrily and take another bite of Strawberry Fields salad*
Sheesh. Okay. Now to the review.
Fresh Choice. A healthy person's consummate example of a "safe" place to eat out.....OR IS IT???
As much as I'd like to pretend that I'm a health nut for going here, I'm going to admit that I usually hit up the pizza, pasta, and muffin areas. Not gonna lie, it's not that hard to make UNfresh choices here.
Although Fresh has a really huge salad bar that provides a healthy variety of vegetables that give you the whole "color rainbow of health" deal, the other sections are a little lacking in comparison to other buffet chains.
After I ate my self-obligatory salad I went to the bakery section to find that 5 of their 10 items ceased production because there was only one guy working. *Frown. When this failed me I headed over to the Mac n Cheese. When this was watery, I moved over to the frozen yogurt machine. The ice cream or "frozen yogurt" was ALSO super watery.
I went back to my booth to sit down and contemplate why I had come to this place.
"Guys, why are we here again?"
"Because we're poor and this place is only $10 for a trough of healthy food.... and because we went jogging for 3 hours and will eat lots of... anything."
"Oh, right. Well said."
SUMMARY: Okay quality for 10 dollars, just don't expect the greatest eats in town. Sometimes they stop making things, so you'll only have 3-4 things to choose from in the Bakery and Soup section. Also, bringing groups of 30+ annoying ass kids here for a party is a bad idea.
ENDING ON A GOOD NOTE: The Strawberry Fields Salad was really good, then again everything tasted a little better than usual because I had just jogged and hadn't eaten anything since the early morning. Without the external factors, I probably would have bestowed Fresh a 2 stars. Wait, that's still not a good note.Listed in: Cheap Eats
-
Review from emily g.
San Francisco, CA
3/9/2010 4 Check-ins Here
If you have vegan Buddhist parents like me, every family outing would consist of the copious trips to Fresh Choice. If you can get over the mean cashier lady and the pestering little kids (ohhh those wretched little things), the cheap fresh meal at Fresh Choice is more than a bargain. I like to take the little kid trays because they are cut into sections. I am not a big fan of the hot foods but the "pho" is sooooo good. (think salty soup with bell peppers and cilantro over cheap thick rice noodles) YUMM-O!
I am a true sucker for buffets with togo ice cream. After my healthy leafy meal with the folks, I would usually ruin it by getting a togo cone of ice cream with tons sugary sauces and sprinkles. No judging. -
Review from Liz S.
South San Francisco, CA
10/20/2011
In the past my "go" to place for healthy eating was Fresh Choice. I always felt their prices were reasonable and their establishment was always really clean. Let me tell you, everything has changed. I first notice the quality of the food had gone down enormously. Everything seemed to look like left overs. The pizza was stale and burnt, the soup was cold and it tasted horrible. I thought to myself, " OK I'll stick with salad." That's when I realized something was not right. I had their Cesar salad and it was so watery and nasty.. even their plain salad was like eating tasteless grass. I was so upset I called the waitress over, I politely said to her. "What happened with the food, why does it taste so bad?" She replied, "I know, I'm sorry. Everyone has been saying the same thing. It's because they don't want to spend money on good quality produce." That's when I asked to speak to the manager. He took his sweet time to talk to us and gave us no solution. His response was that all products like the pizza are frozen foods. I was so angry that I wanted my money back. I hadn't even ate one plate of food and he only offered to give me half back of my money. I took it and ran, but realize I will never go back to that place:(
-
Review from Michelle B.
Concord, CA
1/8/2008
I'm generally not a health freak so Fresh Choice was not in my top places to go for lunch. . Until my coworkers bribed me into their BROWNIE AND ICE CREAM BAR.
The idea of me crawling out of my carnivorous blanket felt so awkward. The warmth of the place and the nice greeting from the staff made my first veggie experience a lot more gulpable.
I had my tray - stared and looked at each salad - and decided to finally try the Chicken Asian Salad. (It had to have some meat in it!) I grabbed a lot of eggs, oh and Croutons!) and that was my salad fix.
I dived into the Chicken Noodle Soup. I've been coming back for the soup Since. So hearty. Always tastes right to me. Just make sure you mix the pot before you serve so you get meat!!
The pizza is okay and so are the DIY Baked Potatoes. The Cornbread is TO DIE FOR. Especially smother that with some Honey Butter. Finger Licking Good. That and some Soup. YUM-O!
What keeps me coming back to this place IS THE BROWNIE AND THE ICE CREAM BAR.
My Fix: Grab one of the Soup Bowls. Bring it to the Pastry and place brownie in bowl. Get a fork and mash the brownie to cover the whole base of the bowl. Bring it over to the Ice Cream Machine. Cover with Ice Cream. Cover with Fudge/ Strawberry / Caramel - Whatever tickles your pickle. Top with the fun toppings. Sound good? Guess what. You can eat your heart out. I usually have at least two of these creations.
Before you go, make sure you stop by their website. They usually have coupons!!
I love my coworkers. They know the quickest way to my heaven. -
Review from Richelle Mae R.
San Francisco, CA
6/9/2007
Ahhh, yes... the salad bar... located in a maze designed where you cant go back to help yourself more of the fresh greens and delectable dressings... Whoever thought about this floor plan? You're a genius!!!
Fresh Choice 101: For those who haven't been there...
Step 1: Grab a tray, plate and utensils.
Step 2: Pile up your plate a mountainous serving of salad (because once you get to the register, you can never go back!)
Step 3: Pay.
Step 4: Choose a table to sit.
Step 5: You'll see those funny cards (it maybe a muffin- or strawberry-shaped) on top of it, one side says, I'll be back and the other side says All done! Flip it to "I'll be back" and browse through their all-you-can-eat Salad/Bread/Pasta bar.
Step 6: Enjoy!
I love their soup; scoop up a serving in bowl that looks like a water dipper. BUT please spare your taste buds and appetite: Don't get the Pho. For pasta, sometimes they're good sometimes they're blah, make sure that they haven't been sitting there for a while or you'll be eating gummy penne. Their baked stuff is okay too, but nothing special about them. You might get disappointed with some of their items but I don't really care about their side item bars because their salad rocks!
Oh and before I forget, save room for desserts! They always have fresh fruits, puddings, jellos and soft ice creams and the fun part is, you can put as much rainbow sprinkle as you want! -
Review from Maria L.
Kailua, HI
8/31/2009
My little girl loves it and that's good enough reason for me to give this place a good review. She's as picky an eater as anyone who is terribly two. Fresh Choice gives her a plethora of healthy finger food options and what makes it better yet is their rolling high chairs. They are so super convenient when you're strolling through the salad line and already have your hands full.
It's guilt free eating. The soups, pastas and other hot foods are not loaded with salt for those who are health conscious.
There is also a Fresh Choice in Daly City, but the one in San Bruno is by far much cleaner, less crowded and the food is "fresher". -
Review from Jeremy D.
San Mateo, CA
2/10/2010
This is the place I love to go when I am trying to be one healthy mofo. I load up on as many greens as I can, get variety without making my taste buds go 'Tilt'. I then load up on protein with the hard boiled eggs & nuts, get some raisins too. I will then get all the fruits I can stand, and then I am said, healthy mofo. At least for this one meal I am trying to eat healthy.
There are not too many joints that you can go to and get so much variety for so little money. I plan to eat at a Fresh Choice of my choice at least once a month. Maybe next year I can bump that up to twice a month, but for now I am going for monthly.
Now for the second part of the equation of a healthy body, exercise. -
Review from Ken B.
San Francisco, CA
8/28/2010 1 Check-in Here
We come here a lot for lunch. Use your AAA card or sign up on their site and get a free drink (or something.)
The food is generally pretty good, and they do a great job keeping the place clean and the presentation attractive.
If you come for a healthy lunch, choose wisely. As with any buffet, the creamy soups, greasy pizza and heavy dressings can spoil your diet ;-)
That said, the pizza IS tasty, and my secret dessert is to grab a soup bowl and squish a chocolate brownie in it, then put some fro'yo on it. MMM. Brownie sundae. -
Review from Judy K.
San Francisco, CA
8/26/2007
I have 3 boys- all with very different tastes. When I dare ask the questions, "OK, boys, what do you want for dinner tonight???" It usually ends up in a fight. That is why Fresh Choice is so great! There is something for each of us.
I admit, I usually skip the salad bar and head straight for the Chicken Noodle Soup- sprinkle it with some bacon bits (from the baked potato bar), and top it off with Tabasco sauce.
Their brownies are just the way that I like it! Light, chewy, warm...they are baked in little muffin tins, so sometimes I eat just the top (or a FEW tops, actually). -
Review from Leslie C.
Millbrae, CA
5/17/2010
Fresh Choice provides a salad bar, pizza and bread counter with baked potatoes, cookies and muffins counter, soups counter, macaroni and cheese, and a soft ice cream with tons of sprinkle options counter.
The fresh part of the Fresh Choice is very accurate. They change out the greens, fixings and toppings on a regular basis. The carb counters not quite so much. When they are busy everything gets changed because the human locusts eat it all up. Years ago I was teased for piling up my plate to the point of overflowing, so I don't do that half as much as I used to, but sometimes I want stuff and my plate is mostly full, so I add in what I want. Think leaning tower of Pisa, and you get the picture.
I usually over-eat at this place and my belly aches a bit when I waddle out the door. Luckily I only eat at Fresh Choice every 4 to 6 weeks. -
Review from Ithaca B.
Burlingame, CA
6/15/2010
This is a great alternative to fast food if you are just too bushed to make a meal, and the kids are being a particular pain in the rear, and you have (some) standards as far as nutrition goes.
We come here as a treat for ourselves, and because the food is so varied everyone gets what they want. I insist the kids eat some greens and fixings, and after that they can eat what they want. So, usually there is some grumping about the veggies and greens, but once those are eaten, the table perks up.
The final treat is the soft ice cream machine, with all sorts of mad toppings to delight anyone. We hit this place about once every 6 weeks. So it stays "fresh" and new each time we come. -
Review from Susie N.
San Francisco, CA
12/29/2009
I've got to hand it to Fresh Choice for providing vegan food. I mean, their food isn't the best or anything but hey, at least they tried! It's a really good place for vegetarians and vegans because of their large salad selection and soups. THEY EVEN HAVE VEGAN SOUP. OMG. WHAT KIND OF BUFFET HAS THAT?!?! But they don't have the best.... service. It actually kind of sucks. They're slow and not always the friendliest. I guess you get what you pay for.
Also, If you're going to go to a Fresh Choice, I recommend this one because the other one in Daly City is too small. -
Review from Jay S.
Daly City, CA
6/22/2011
Mixed salads are good, although slightly over-dressed. I usually add plain romaine in to dilute the dressing. This is a fairly big restaurant, so there's usually adequate seating. Most of their produce is organic and grown by their farms, which is really cool. I think they just acquired a farm recently, so this is all fairly new.
-
Review from Michael M.
San Francisco, CA
1/10/2007
The best thing about this place is the potato bar. I can put that garlic butter spread, cheese, BACON, and green onion ... no sour cream.
Other than that, it's just a salad place, and I am not too sure how fresh the veggies are anyway. My only problem is I tend to pile my salads pretty high, and there is never enough room. I usually get three kinds ... Chinese Chicken Salad, Cesar, and just a hodge-podge of stuff for the third part. Either I need another plate, or take less.
Pastas are a disappointment ... the sauces are usually runny, and need more seasoning. The mac and cheese was a let down.
The bread sticks are OK, but I like to get some marinara sauce for dunking.
You'll enjoy it if you don't expect too much. -
Review from Tiffany V.
San Francisco, CA
3/12/2009
Anybody who knows me will tell you that I am a Fresh Choice fanatic. Everybody calls/texts me when they're there, just to tell me that they're eating there! Haha.
I've been to my fair share of Fresh Choice's and this one is the best. It has the freshest food and it always has everything listed on their online menu. It's ridiculously cheap for a buffet and its super healthy too.
I've been to Fresh Choice frequently enough to know what's good there. I could eat 10 of their desserts which is what I usually do. They turned me into a bread pudding fan and so far, I have yet to try bread pudding as good as theirs. I stay away from their hot foods section and I've heard their mac and cheese is disgusting which I'm sure it is. I never eat the premade salads either, I just create my own. They have the most delicious tofu! It's super firm and almost cheese like.
There isn't much meat here which is fine by me since I'm a vegetarian. I also love how they list all the calorie and nutrition information for each food.Listed in: American Pie, Bread Pudding Bread Pudding…
-
Review from Miss C.
San Francisco, CA
2/21/2010 1 Check-in Here
I give it a 3.5
I go here to gorge on veggies, beans, seeds, and fruits! it's so cheap too! $10/person for the buffet! they also have a cute little sections for soup, pasta, and dessert.
it's very family-like which is kinda cute. You have to go in HUNGRY for greens! or basic American food (pizza, soup, bread, BOMB mac & cheese)
The family that I went with were crazy for the Pho soup. Aunt and Uncle had 4 bowls! LOL
