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Categories: American (New), Vegetarian [Edit]
2502 E Camelback Rd"I am a huge hater of chain restaurants. That said, I love this Houston's. I dated a girl for three years and had my very first date here.…" read more »
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Admittedly, I have a bias up front because I'm a Dr. Weil groupie, so I got the fangirl goggles coming into this place. My expectations were actually exceeded, and am SO happy to discover this restaurant because they have a plethora of dairy free and egg free options which is awesome for someone like me with the allergies.
The decor is bright and energetic. Our service was fantastic. I loved how they display bins of fresh fruits.
Over at my food blog, you can see pictures of the dishes we ate: 2 appetizers and 2 dishes, the teriyaki tofu brown rice and Roasted Autumn Vegetables. My favorite was the Edamame dumplings: http://bit.ly/aeZmin
The only reason I didn't give this place 5 stars is because I thought the pricing was a tad on the high side. I felt it was worth it, but this place is more of a treat than let's eat there twice a week kind of thing...at least for me.
Scale of 1-10 (single visit):
10 Food
9 Service
10 Atmosphere
8 Value
This food is great (had/tried the hummus appetizer, ricotta ravioli, spaghetti squash casserole, and flourless chocolate cake)!
Jannese, our server, was prompt, knowledgeable, friendly, and energetic.
The atmosphere is pretty damn kick ass. It's modern/contemporary, but also earthy (whereas modern is usually a colder, maybe steel look, so it's unique).
The food wasn't INexpensive, but it was very well priced for being organic and what I'll call artisan food. You'll get more food for your money at Chili's, but then you'll also be a fatass with factory-line food. True Food Kitchen has obviously put some TLC into their dishes and you just feel good about yourself while you're shoveling it into your face!
As an example, here's my bill:
$16 - 2 cocktails
$14 - 2 glasses of wine
$ 6 - 1 appetizer
$25 - 2 meals
$ 7 - 1 dessert
= $73 before tip
Apparently something is healthy if you can put the words "organic," "Wild," or Natural in front of each main ingredient. At least this is what True Food Kitchen would have you believe.
Naturally I went here with a good friend of mine for lunch. We had a short wait to sit on the patio. We started with the hummus appetizer. I was not impressed at all, granted I am a hummus snob (Go Sabra!). The Pita slices could have used a nice grilling, and the veggies were pedestrian.
For my meal I had the Ahi tuna sliders. It came with a sweet potato hash. The sliders were small and the ahi was a bit overdone for my tastes, the wasabi mayo covered the overdone nature of the Ahi. This is where I again question this healthy nature, copious amounts of mayo is not healthy when compared with the option of properly seared ahi. The sweet Potato hash was acceptable. The meal left me hungry however.
The Organic Service was sub par, and the exposed tattoos and odd hair colors of the wait staff seemed unbecoming of a place with prices this high.
Given a choice of Fox restaurant concepts this is not my first.
We have been to TFK several times. Service was excellent, we had the same waitress a couple of times, she was very nice and prompt.
I like the restaurant design, it's clean and simple.
Now, the food. There are some hit and misses. The onion tart, kale salad, hummus and farro are delicious. The honey lemonade is great, but with no refills it can get expensive.
The chicken, curry plate, spaghetti squash casserole were....ehhhh. Like they forgot to put flavor in them. It tasted like, well, chicken, curry, spaghetti squash. The plate looks great and you expect this explosion of flavors in your mouth. Once you taste it is like a firecracker that fizzles, disappointing.
Also, we had our son with us and ordered his vegetables to be cooked soft and in none of our visits they manage to do it right. They tried, but for some reason they couldn't?
I had dessert once, I think it was a banana chocolate tart. I know it had chocolate in it. It was good but nothing to write home about.
I guess I like to go to eat to TFK when we are out, it makes me feel healthy. Not satisfied but healthy nonetheless.
*3.5 stars*
I was lucky enough to dine at True Food as part of Arizona Restaurant Week. We went during the week, so it was full, but not too busy. This restaurant had to be one of the best deals for all of Restaurant Week. In addition to the three courses, we also received a hummus appetizer for the table and each of us received one of their Natural Refreshers. The hummus plate was delish; the refresher was okay . . . I liked my wine better. =) Our server was very nice and super knowledgeable without being pushy.
There were four of us at the table and we each ordered something different so everyone could try as much as possible. I am so glad we did this! My appetizer was the Smoked Salmon, which was great with the wasabi peas. The Summer Chopped Salad was delicious and so large it could have been a meal! I did not order the Edamame Dumplings because the description did not sound interesting to me, however when I tried them I was surprised at all of the flavor from one dumpling.
On to the second course. The Gluten Free Spaghetti was good, as was the Tofu Curry. The Black Cod was all right too. My Steak Tacos, on the other hand, were fabulous! Steak was perfect; the beans that came with it were ok.
Dessert was the best! We tried four of them; my favorites (in order) were The Banana Chocolate Tart (very rich, must share), the Apple-Cranberry Crumble (the maple ice cream really makes the dish), the Lemon-Ginger Frozen Yogurt (sweet, tart, and cold), and the Lemon Olive Oil Cake (very light, fluffy, and delicious)!
Not sure how soon I will make it back as it is not an easy drive for me, however if someone else is planning an outing, I would love to go!
Of course, everyone was likely on their best behavior the night a friend and I tried True Food because Dr. Weil was sitting at the table next to us. So the service we experienced could not have been better...and I love it when food is served "complimentary." Love it.
To tell you the truth, I do not remember the prices, I remember the food. I loved that the meal and pairings choices were different, and I have never had better fish anywhere. It was so wonderfully flavorful!
The restaurant is clean and sparse, yet beautiful, and not pretentious by any means.
I will return!
This is tough because I really want this place to succeed, but ...
I've been there twice now. Both times, the service was terrible. The first time, the food (I ordered pasta, but its was so bland and so poorly cooked that it could have been anything) was inedible. The second time, I was able to finish about a third of my diner, but had no interest in taking the rest. I'd had enough.
I was with a friend and her food was no better. I really like everything that True Food wants to be ... but it's like the kid that wants to be president.
We can't all be the president.
Maybe True Food should just try to make GOOD food.
I would give their kale salad 5+ stars. Its amazing that they were able to find a way to make kale irresistible.
The drink menu also looked great. I had a really great green tea drink which I really enjoyed.
The reason for 4 stars?
My main dish, the green tea soba noodles, was pretty unimpressive. Also the service was pretty bad. They mean well but they just didn't have it together. Our food took forever to get out to us. We would have to ask 3+ times to get water, our check, etc.
I will most definitely return here. For the kale. Yum.
After enduring five visits with friends, chiding me for always ordering the teriyaki brown rice, I decided to branch out and have some variety. Today, I went for the quinoa salad and the pesto ravioli, then the pudding. All good decisions.
First, and maybe best, at TFK you can order half portions of any dish that doesn't have meat. So if your appetite is light, or you're in a sampling mood, go to town on their veggie dishes. Best of all, you don't get a "True" half-portion (pun intended), instead sometimes you'll get almost a full portion for half the price.
On to the food. The quinoa salad was the best I've had this side of Tel Aviv. Tasty, al dente, and with amazing beets. The beets had the consistency of ahi and the flavor of heaven. That was my first beet experience and I intend to have more. The ravioli were good too, but the garlic overpowered most of the flavor. Still good though.
Now the pudding. Wow. No dairy, no chocolate, all amazing. It tastes like chocolate and has the consistency of cake batter and is just good.
I'll still get the rice in the future, because that is a good dish too.
Being a newly christened vegan, my dining out choices are slightly limited to say the least. So when I heard about True Food, I got all kinds of ferklumped, especially when a few coworkers told me about how delicious it was. I bet they had the stuff with meat.
I don't think restaurants understand how important service is to the entire experience. I can have an amazing meal with the best food I've ever had, but if it takes 20 minutes for a server to come and just take my drink order, it's going to affect how much I enjoy said food. I am not one to nitpick since I used to be a server myself, and I know how hard it is, but 20 minutes is nothing short of ridiculous.
With that being said, I was expecting the food to make up for the service. Not so. I ordered the quinoa salad, which was actually pretty good, although the dressing had waaay too much acid. The beets were delicious. My entree, the roasted vegetables with farro and figs, sucked. 75% of the vegetables were so undercooked they crunched when I bit into them. Not cool. The farro and figs were decent, but were so overwhelmed by the poorly prepared vegetables that I couldn't enjoy them. My advice to them? Don't put a vegan entree on the menu unless it's going to stand up against the rest of the list. I'd rather eat my usual gathering of appetizers and sides.
Interesting concept. The menu was pretty diverse - lots of options for vegeatarians and meat eaters... a nice selection of salads and side dishes as well.
I very much enjoyed the hummus appetizer - it was very smooth (texture and taste) and the waiter brought us complimentary pita pieces when we ate all that came out the first time and still needed more.
Split the dinner portion of the ricotta raviloi and the turkey sammie. Both were good ... although the ravioli topper (spinach pesto) was a bit dry for my taste. The shining star for me was the sweet potatoe hash - excellent texture and nice healthy mild taste. Another bonus from the service - they split both dinner portions for us (in the kitchen) and served them on seperate plates for no charge.
I was a bit put off by the 'pushing' of the Dr. Weil menu... although it is a concept restaurant so I guess that's what I signed up for by walking in the door.
Nice prices (~$3 through ~ $18) for drinks and they were organized by price - interesting way to present the menu. It is a loud eating environment - be that good or bad...
Overall a 3.5.
We found our new favorite place to eat!
Now that we're in AZ, we have lots of culinary exploring to do. However since I'm not working at the moment, our "exploring" has been placed on a strict budget. No frills budget, must resort to cooking our own meals. Once in awhile, we can enjoy a meal out.
On our way to the AZ Science Center, we stopped by True Food Kitchen (okay we went out of our way by several miles). Generally I peruse the menu hoping to find an array of vegetarian dishes and/or healthy treats. I stumbled upon this diamond in the rough. I say, "rough" cause if you had to drive through some of the neighborhoods I had to in order to get there, you'd understand.
Lo and behold, in the Biltmore Shopping Center (Phoenix version of Rodeo Drive) sits this ah-mazing dining experience. Very natural aesthetics in a very sub-urban mall. The open kitchen with too many cooks and servers in such a small workspace brings a bit of chaos into the room but the rest of the ambiance is relaxed and filled with a delicious and healthy aroma.
Due to the location, the prices are a bit steep for the amount of food you find on your plate. But the quality is well worth it.
My boyfriend ordered the TLT (Tempeh, lettuce, tomato) with a side of the Kale salad, I went with the "Today's Raw Fish" which was Hamachi Sashimi (Mmmmm), and we split the hummus & pita appetizer. Good God the food was incredible! We ate everything, practically licked the plates clean. We were super-impressed with the entirety of the place. Definitely felt it was worth the drive.
We tore up our wallet on this one. But that's okay, it won't be a regular thing for us to drive up to the Biltmore shopping center for a meal but reserved for special date nights. Or until I am employed and able to spend serious cash.
Until then, I will continue dreaming of the next trip to TFK.
Just an update on this restaurant for my second trip to the Phoenix area. I'm still avoiding the healthy drinks on the menu. But the food is just too good that I'm updating my review to 5 stars. The Harvest salad is just as I remembered it and is still the best salad I've ever eaten. This time we had the Chicken Sausage pizza, which was pretty good, but I'm always impressed with the crust. This meal we had fish: the Black Cod in a miso broth was so sweet and tender. And the Arctic Char (seasonal) was cooked perfectly with a great kale salad on the side. And the service was very friendly and expeditious as usual.
A very nice concept for a restaurant chain that I would be excited for if it ever came to Chicago.… Read more »
This place has all the amazing potential in the world. It's a cool concept and I certainly appreciate the plethora of vegetarian and vegan options they have available, but I gotta say: bland, boring, blah.
The hummus was good, but certainly not the "best in the valley" as our waiter purported. I ended up adding salt.
My "LTL" (veggie version of the BLT) was very bland. I added salt and that didn't even help. My bread was slightly burned and the potato hash that they gave as a side was cold, limp and you could tell it was burned during the cooking process.
The vegan pizza was also pretty boring. It was a combo of olive oil and red sauce. They could have spruced it up with some spices and made it really flavorful, but it definitely left me wanting for more.
I appreciate the charcoal water filtration system that helps eliminate "water bottle waste" but I don't know that charging $2 for the table is necessary.
The honey lemonade was good but gave me a tummy ache, and the nojito just had way too much going on (honey, lime, ginger, soda water, etc).
Our service was good, if not a little overbearing, otherwise I would give this place 2 stars. The food is boring and extremely overpriced. Our casual lunch turned into $50, and there was no alcohol involved.
I am all for health and I support the cause, but they really need to do something about the taste of the dishes.
The food is good, but over priced. The staff is not knowledgeable and my server had a large tattoo on his neck and a biker mustache. He was just very dirty. TFK please hire a classier wait staff.
True Food is full of surprises to the five senses - and a little full of itself. I genuiinely like having such a distinctive menu in the neighborhood, but the food, service and entire operation can be uneven.
TASTE: the pan seared chicken with root vegetables is one of my favorite dishes in the Valley. It not only tastes good, my whole body feels better after I eat it. No zippy sauces, just simply and deliciously prepared. Other food, like pizzas, teriyaki bowls and their signature drinks, disappoint me as often as not.
HEARING: It can be loud as a bar inside - too loud for a concept restaurant focused on conversational food. Our waitress was also one of those softtalkers, so I caught a verb in the specials - and what I believe was a noun just before dessert.
SIGHT - It's an attractive, contemporary space but not well lit, and for the first time in my life I couldnt read a printed menu. We were seated under a Bunyanesque dim sum steamer basket masquerading as an overhead light, so I walked under an actual lamp at the bar to read about these entrees they whisper of. My eyes arent the greatest, but I can drive without hitting brightly clad pedestrians, read pop up books and this here Yeip website, so for a place to be open over a year and be this opaque seems, well, opaque.
SMELL - There is a perfume of pretense. The small portions married with high prices, and the whole earnestly ballyhooed dietary concept whose taste and execution is hit and miss. I will say the servers have been uniformly nice, which goes a long way. They just forget things and dont seem to have the cadence and rhythm thing down too well for a vegetarian leaning Biltmore eatery charging an arm and a foot. (Steamers, upstairs, charges an arm and the full leg.)
TOUCH - there are some nice touches. the patio is a pleasant place to sit. They wrap up To Go orders really well. The people watching is good. And you can order things here you probably cant anywhere else. That's notable and fun.
But there's an oddness too. Nothing sinister or belligerent, just amateurish. I'll give you the silliest little example. You know how the top restaurants look like machines, with staff bustling to make it all work? Everyone gliding past one another, in a practiced, purposeful way? True Food is more an artist colony than a machine, defined by individual interpretation.
A young lady brought our To Go order to our table. It was in a heavy paper bag and she presented it with a big smile. It was perfect. But when she walked away, back towards the kitchen and bar area, I noticed she was wearing unusually high heels and could barely walk in them. Her job, or part of it, is to walk around - and I'm serious - she can barely balance herself and locomote in these things. I know that's a goofy little observation but it struck me as representative of an establishment too eager to make the wrong impression, and confused as to what really makes a fine restaurant.
I love eating here. I eat here all the time because it's near my work. It's so healthy. Everything on the menu is good for you, and they make popular comfort food dishes that are healthy. I think the food is consistently good since I eat here probably once every 2 weeks. I love the turkey burger and the salmon sandwich.
Let's start by saying that if it weren't for the high prices, I would happily give True Foods 5 happy stars. True Foods is wonderful. If they opened up shop on Beverly Blvd, La Brea, or 3rd street in LA they'd get my business all the time.
I was looking for something healthy that was gonna fill me up without weighing me down (was going to a wedding that night), and relatively fast. For some reason in America, this is a really tough thing to do. I opted for the spaghetti squash casserole with fresh mozzarella, organic tomatoes and zucchini ($13) and a New Dew drink (honeydew juice, mint, and lime). I was blown away by the casserole. Simple, tasty, really nice kick in the tomato sauce, and besides the fat in the cheese, made completely of vegetables. AWESOME. I mean, really really great. I'm gonna make the dish at home. The juice was good,although the honeydew wasn't super ripe like the ones they juice at Fred Segal in LA.
All that said, I was SUPER impressed with True Food kitchen. Someone there told me they're going to expand. I'd say bring the prices down a bit (I'd pay $10 for that casserole at lunch any day fo the week), and come expand to LA. You'll make a KILLING.
True Food Kitchen has good and healthy food. It's definitely not a place to go if you want a some "comfort" -- let's say...French Fries with your low-fat Turkey burger.
I ordered a cup of Miso soup ($3) and hummus as my main course ($8). Both were fantastic. My husband ordered Chicken Sausage Bolagnese ($14), which he loved. For desert, we shared an apple-cranberry crisp with dairy-free Maple-flavored ice cream ($6). We were both pleasantly full and happy after our meal.
They have a series of specialty drinks which the waiter pitched to us fervently with words like "you can't get this anywhere else in the world.." Ross tried "Andy's Elixer"and enjoyed it, but I was not impressed and thought it was a waste of $5 bucks.
We would visit again, but I imagine this isn't someplace that would elicit an: "I have a craving for True Foods Kitchen" statement. from my husband or I.
While I still mourn the passing of the most rad Coffee Plantation ever, its replacement, True Foods, is a quite acceptable substitute.
It's based on some cheesy anti-inflammatory diet by some doctor. Yeah - real helpful, I know. I'm sure there's plenty written about it, so why waste your time and mine rehashing it?
I have been to TF a few times. The decor is gorgeous, and I love the outdoor patio. I met a friend there the other night. He was late (tsk, tsk), leaving me sitting by my lonesome on the patio surrounded by cougars and Scottsdaleites. Some staff member - a supervisor, maybe, as he wasn't in uniform - took pity on me and brought a little kale salad for me to nibble on, gratis. How sweet, but..... kale? Um... OK... BUT... dressed in olive oil, lemon juice, toasted bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and chili flakes, kale is KILLER! Who knew? Fresh, clean, and delicious. I'm getting the big version next time.
Our server, like all servers I've had there, was genuine, helpful, and friendly. She brought us a bit of the wine we were interested in, an AZ blend, to sample before committing to a whole bottle. We proceeded to suck down the said bottle, without much further ado.
The menu has a lot of options - and that's coming from a vegetarian with a fungus-phobia. I've had something different every time I've gone, and each has been so very tasty. My favorite is the tofu and brown rice - simple, yet flavorful, and generously portioned, allowing for lunchtime leftovers. My companion got some pasta thing with ahi, maybe? Come on, I was drunk. But he seemed to like it just fine.
So, is True Foods just slightly self-righteous with its sparkly clean offerings and slick decor? Well, OK. Maybe. If you can get past this and the crappy parking situation, you are gold. Your liver might thank you for the healthy meal, but you can go ahead and shush it up with one or four of their signature cocktails. Tons of yum! I will be back.
This is my new favorite Phoenix restaurant. I'm not good at commitment (don't tell my wife), so I'm the guy who asks waitstaff for recommendations. When I couldn't decide, she offered me two half portions of a salad and some curry thing. Loved both! The lemonade is tasty too!
This is my first and probably last food review. I visited True Food today for the first time with a friend, and I have to say that after reading various reviews I was fairly skeptical. But since I had such a great experience there, I felt compelled to write this review. I eat a fairly clean diet (low sodium/ minimal sugar, raw foods blah blah), and I wanted to try a Good foods place. And this was it. We started out with the caramelized onion tart w/figs. So Good! Yum! My friend doesn't even like onions (I didn't realize at the time I ordered), but even she tried it , & loved it.
There was so much to choose from, so we were able to do 1/2 orders for our entrees. We both ordered the Kale salad- it's one of their signature salads. This salad, fantastic. Simple ingredients, that made the kale crisp and full of taste. The salad was not drenched in some processed heavy dressing, just lemon, olive oil, garlic,chile pepper and probably salt & pepper to taste. - I asked. My friend loved her Kale salad also.
Our entrees. She ordered the spaghetti squash with marinara etc, and I ordered teriyaki tofu w/brown rice. Basic, I know. Again, both dishes were flavorful. My dish had bok choy, french green beans (?) broccoli, and onions and they were all perfectly cooked so as they kept their crispness. They also put plenty of cubed tofu in the dish. The sauce was flavorful also. I don't know if the sauce was made in house, but I wouldn't think so. Still good. I don't expect much from teriyaki sauces here. My friend, again really enjoyed her spaghetti squash dish. I didn't taste it. I've been eating marinara for the last four days. I couldn't do another-not even a taste. My friend is a fellow foodie too, so I trusted her when she said, "Oh! This is really really good."
On to dessert. We ordered the dairy-free chocolate pudding and the lemon olive oil cake with Greek yogurt/strawberries. The Pudding was RICH, RICH, RICH! So decadent. As I'm writing this, remembering this dessert, I'm humming like children do when they eat something delicious. If you need a Chocolate fix, this is it! I would recommend that this dessert be shared. Too rich to eat alone. The lemon cake was perfect. It was lite and fresh and proportioned for one.
Some reviews felt like it was a bit steep in price. I didn't think so at all. Everything we ordered including drinks came to about 50 dollars. The food is Whole, and takes time to prepare. The portion size, is perfect- at 1/2 size for the salad and entrees.
I found the food to be rich, flavorful and not overrun with hidden processed flavoring of salt, sugar and fat that some 'whole' vegetarian restaurants use. Just because it's vegetarian/vegan doesn't mean it's whole. We ate a lot of food, and yet I didn't feel like I needed to be rolled out of the restaurant, simply because this was all 'Good' food. I'm not quite sure when some people say that 'there's no flavor', 'not enough flavor', 'needed to add more salt'. More Salt?! But, I guess we all have different taste buds.
The design and the restaurant itself are clean, simple and minimal. (I'm easy to please in this respect. I'm there for the food. I like 'Mom & Pop places', so as long as I don't see any cockroaches or mice "within view" or running across my feet, I'm good). The service was great. We were never left for long periods of time, and the staff was extremely nice, friendly and patient. We stayed there for about 2 1/2 -3 hours and did not feel rushed to leave even though it was during their lunch rush.
If you're looking for whole food that is flavorful without all of the processed 'flavorings and chemicals', try this place. Hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as we did. I know I'll be back.
I've got mixed feelings about this place. While I do appreciate the health smart attitude and natural ingredients, the entree menu is a little bland. They have a few options for vegans and vegetarians, but it's from the perspective of a meat eater with dull taste buds. My boyfriend and I had the same meal of the miso soup appetizer and teriyaki brown rice with tofu. We both agreed the two were just way too salty. Is it the climate out in AZ that dries up the tongue? The miso soup had awesome chunks of shitake mushrooms and tofu, but could have used a little more green onion to cut through the overwhelming saltiness of the broth. The teriyaki rice was tasty but very one dimensional. All I could taste was a little subtle sweetness in the sauce and tons of soy sauce. It was missing the authenticity of real asian cuisine. The cilantro and avocado did add a nice touch of freshness, but overall it was just too damn salty. The plus side is it really eats like a meal with all the tofu chunks they toss in (hence the meat eater's perspective). They don't mess around with portions. After a meal like that, I need to check my blood pressure.
The service is great and I love the unique cocktails and beverages on the menu. It's definitely something to look forward to after eating a block of salt. I know I'm being harsh, however I still recommend this place if you're in the area and want an alternative to the various chain restaurants and Subway (there's, like, one every mile or so).
Good Food, Shit Service. I'm not sure what to give them...I feel like the service should be up to par with the food to make my whole dinning experience enjoyable. I've eaten here 3 times and had the same reaction. I'm on the fence till they step it up! half way there guys.
We (the hubs and my GF) stopped into TFK yesterday to do some noshing after a day of shopping. This was all of our first time at this restaurant and from the minute we walked in, the experience was lovely.
The atmosphere and ambiance was perfect. Clean, modern, organic...LOVE it. Our seating hostess was really nice as was our waitress Irene. What a GREAT waitress. SUPER knowledgeable, helpful and attentive! She offered suggestions, checked back regularly and made sure to keep our water glasses filled. When I go back I sure hope to get Irene as a waitress again!
As far as the food...FABULOUS. We started with a pomegrante sparkler. Then I had the Medicine Man, the hubs had the Green Arnie and my GF the Cucumber Refresher. ALL were REALLY good. Our meals consisted of the Harvest Chopped Salad, Spaghetti Puttanesca, Shrimp teriyaki and Chicken Sausage pizza. Oh my gosh they were all FABULOUS. Lots of flavor and everything is SO fresh. I will say that the puttanesca is VERY salty. But its supposed to be so keep that in mind when ordering.
I went into the experience of dining at this restaurant thinking it was going to be great with delicious food. I honestly can say that I was NOT let down. My ONLY regret is that there isn't one in the WEST valley so we don't have to drive so far to enjoy their wonderful food!
So I had no idea about this place before I showed up, other than it's my Phoenix based friend's *favorite* place and she's willing to drive an hour to get to it.
I love healthy eating, and was intrigued by the lunch menu, which ranged from really different salads (I live in the mountains - kale & lemon is decidedly exotic). The plates that came out all looked so appetizing, and slightly higher end cuisine than the health food I'm accustomed to seeing. My friend is a kale addict, so we had the kale salad and the kale & roast garlic pizza. The salad was terrific, much better than my lame attempts at taming raw lacinato kale.
Our server must have been new (or frazzled) for we never received the 'Andrew Weil' card about the philosophy of the place. The only reason I figured out he was involved was when I saw him sitting not 10 feet from me at a booth across the aisle, chatting amiably with his table mates, in a white apron. Phoenix celebrity sighting!
Overall I really liked the concept of the place, and while one lunch there doesn't give me a full picture, it, more than anything else I experienced in this city, would encourage me to come back to the desert. For someone who loathes temperatures above 70 degrees, that should be considered high praise.
This is why I typically wait until I've been to a restaurant more than once to write a review. Consistency means a lot - I don't care if the service is consistent, but the food should be. Especially if you're trying to sport a "healthy eco-friendly" image capable of reaching naysayer-veggie-haters that have only had bad experiences with healthy cuisine. My experience would certainly not have convinced any timid diners that they should try new foods. Which is unfortunate and makes me sad as a healthy food lover.
My first experience in February was absolutely lovely. Went for a friend's birthday and had the private room in the back. I ordered the green tea soba noodles with tofu and extra veggies - simply delicious. Everything I wanted...light, healthy, flavorful and a good glass of wine to boot. Service was spectacular and dessert was delightful.
My second experience really let me down. Fine if the service wasn't outstanding, I can get over my awkward waitress. The wine was fine. The food was not. I ordered the roasted vegetables with farro. Both the veggies and farro were undercooked and barely lukewarm. I don't like mushy vegetables, but al dente would be nicer to my jaw. And PS - those weren't figs. Definitely not figs.
I'd like to go back and try something else on the menu to see if this was just an off night, so for the time being I will deposit this mediocre review in hopes to have my confidence restored next time.
Amazing... nuff said. I love local, organic food and this has a great vibe to go along with the healthy cooking.
I'm a big eater and the portions could be bigger (I got a pizza), but maybe that's why it's a healthy place.
What happened to this place? The first time I went about a year ago, both the food and service were great.
Second time, last May, I ordered the same dish and it was horrible. Drowning in sauce. But, at least the service was decent.
Just went a third time and it will be my last. Both the food and service were horrible. Went for lunch, sat inside and it wasn't very busy. Our waiter was totally out of it and only had 4 tables and hardly paid any attention to us and kept forgetting things, like taking our order to start.
Then, even the food runner forgot to bring me half my meal after I asked her for it. In the meantime, I counted at least 17 staff member hanging out in the kitchen area, which is open, so you can see them and half of them were folding napkins.
My food was not very good and actually made me a little sick. This is a shame, especially because there aren't many places in Phx that have vegan choices, but for the price you pay, I would expect a lot more.
Boooooooring. What a disappointment! I'm all about healthy, organic food. The meals here did not wow our tastebuds at all. The reason most people shy away from healthier fare.
We asked the waitress a question that she clearly did not know the answer to but attempted to come across as knowledgeable. If I remember what it was, I will repost.
It has been several months, but it was definitely un remarkable. He had a boring pizza with the most boring of crusts. And I had the Goat Cheese ravioli. It was like eating sterile food for someone with health issues. Bland and forgettable. Healthy doesn't have to be boring.
And who cares that Andrew Weil had any hand in this place. Am I the only one who doesn't see why we should not be taking healthy eating advice from this overweight M.D.?
We may try it out one more time to be sure, but I'm in no rush to go back.
8/14
Came in for a late lunch. Place was like a can of sardines, with a line that would've formed outside the door had it not been so hot. Instead, we all clustered around the host's podium. Surprise, I was seated almost immediately. See, there are advantages to dining solo.
Had questions for the server, who had to go back to find out the answers, but at least she did try and was friendly about it. I asked about the separate dining area at the back. Don't quote me on this, but I think she said that the room can be reserved for a minimum of $100 expenditure for lunch and $200 for dinner (significance of info will be revealed shortly).
Ordered the onion tart, which was comprised of smoky garlic, succulent figs, and pungent gorgonzola, which paired well with the star of the show- you guessed it- caramelized onions. Loved the thin crust, which was made of spelt and flax flour- great ingredients for those who aren't allergic. (I'm allergic to many wholesome LDL-reducing, high-fiber, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant enriched foods, but I will gladly suffer a few hours of pain and other discomforts for another TFK onion tart!)
Does this place ever slow down? 'Cause that's the only time I'll stop by for another bite to eat. It was VERY noisy in here, and the nervous energy was at odds with the forest and water moodscape that surrounded me. BTW, the clip board holding the receipt was a cute touch. Too bad I spied (well, it really wasn't spying since they were right there in the open!) the kitchen staff stuffing cut veggies into ziploc sandwich bags...
My wife wanted to go here a few weeks back for her birthday so we went on a Saturday afternoon. Parking was easy to find and there was no wait to get a table. Wish it had been a touch cooler, but it wasn't so we decided to eat indoors.
Had a little snafu with our servers where someone who was not our waiter took our drink orders, but it was straightened out pretty quickly. We each ordered one of the signature drinks, the wife got cucumber lemonade (I think) and I got a green arnold palmer. I liked the g.a.p. For the meal, don't remember what the wife had, I got the chicken sausage pizza. It was fine, nothing out of the ordinary.
Basically, that's how the whole meal was, okay, but didn't blow me away (not that I'm a huge healthy/organic foodie kind of guy though). I guess I'd go here again, but I probably wouldn't suggest it. (I did think the music was a little loud...)
With my new vegetarian diet, I can no longer get the turkey bolognese that I had previously raved about. I ended up here last week and decided on the tofu curry and it was totally a win. I barely even missed the previously favorite meat dish! Everything from my previous review still applies.
True Food has grown on me. The first time I went there, I wasn't in love. It was a three star, for… Read more »
I've been here now not once, or twice, but thrice. My first impression is still correct: I love True Food Kitchen.
After the first time I went, I came home to Yelp about it, read some other reviews and hesitated, thinking that perhaps I had overlooked things. So I went back. I still loved it. But then I went again just to make sure. And, yup, still delicious.
The pita and hummus was simply amazing. I'm kind of a hummus snob and was surprised how much I liked it. I liked the pizza with shrimp on it. I liked the beef tacos. I liked the salmon sandwich, I liked the turkey wrap, I liked how the kitchen seemed to spill over into the dining room. I loved how open and airy it felt. Like other people have said, it did feel like L.A. But that's not always a bad thing. In the three times that I've gone I thought there was both image and substance.
There were a few items on the menu that I had no clue what they were. I had to ask. The portions are not huge, but I found them to be quite filling. I always get one of the delicious and refreshing drinks too. I like the one made from the blood orange and the one with lots of ginger in it. There was not a hint of chemicals or fake sugar in them, just natural food, the way I like it. Refills would be nice though.
The prices were a little higher, but not bad. I thought the food was flavorful and delicious. I would take people I like here. Heck, I'd even take people I don't like here.
I really like fresh and healthy food so I was glad we were nearby and hungry. The wait was nice and short even though the place was super busy. Then we were seated. This is the part I don't understand and it's why I gave True Food 4 not 5 stars. The waiter asked us if we've been there before and I said no so he went into a spiel about their concept and went on to talk about some doctor who lost weight only by eating healthy and he didn't even exercise!! WTF? He kept repeating this point over and over making sure we understood. Do I look like I need to lose weight? I'm already sitting here waiting to order, do I really need to be given a sales pitch? So annoying!!!!!!!!! Why not just ask me if I have any questions and go from there?
Anyways, the food was delicious. The service was good (except for the before mentioned spiel). We split the ahi sliders with the kale salad and a sashimi salad. Yes, we're big fish fans. I had the honey dew melon drink and the BF had the honey lemonade. Everything was really tasty and that's why I will be going back.
What a disaster. For an organic restaurant the staff had no clue...couldn't even answer simple questions about the ingredients. I have never rejected a bottle of wine untile the waitress tried to serve us a corked bottle of wine...she seemed suprised that we would not accept the bottle...
If you want to eat in a real locally sourced/organic restaurant try Quiessence.
From a girl who was born and raised in sunny SoCal, when I walked into True Food Kitchen, I thought to myself, "Wow...this place is so LA." Minimalist (yet natural) design, hip waitstaff...it would fit right into Los Angeles. However, True Food is a little too LA: it's all looks but no substance.
True Food Kitchen cooks with a very literal defintion of vegetarian/vegan food in mind, which results in overly bland foods. Probably healthy, but still overly bland.
The brother and I split the carmelized onion tart to start, and I ordered the spaghetti squash casserole as my main entree. To call the onion tart a tart is misleading - It should be described as more of a flatbread pizza (or, in our case, a very charred flatbread pizza), with gorgonzola cheese, figs and onions as toppings. The figs were slightly burnt as was the bottom of the bread, so the taste of onions and cheese was masked by the taste of charred food.
The spaghetti squash casserole was exactly what it was described to be: spaghetti squash with mozzarella, tomatoes and zucchini. It tasted like squash and zucchini mixed with marinara sauce and baked with cheese on top. Nothing more. The first couple of bites were fine, but I got sick of it halfway through.
If you're into very simplistic, healthy food, True Food might be right up your alley. But, it just lacks the flavor and depth of other vegetarian restaurants I've been to and overall, I just wasn't impressed by anything I tried.
I went here with a couple of friends during Restaurant Week, and I have to say that I didn't LOVE it. The menu was impressive with its edamame dumplings and teriyaki brown rice with tofu, but the food itself wasn't AWESOME. It was kind of like, Ok. I tried the place, but I'm in no rush to return anytime soon. I also wasn't particularly impressed by our waitress. She was a bit too perky and a bit too in-your-face about the greatness of True Food. I love everything that True Food stands for, but there was something that was a bit snooty about the environment. There was so much emphasis on the greatness of True Food that I was kind of turned off by it.
I will say, though, that the natural refresher drinks are really good. I had the cucumber refresher with cucumber and honey lemonade. Highly recommend. Not too much cucumber taste and just enough honey lemonade that it wasn't too sweet. Here's my overall rating:
Food: Meh.
Price: Not awesome, but tolerable.
Parking: No problem.
Service: Not impressed.
Ambience: A bit too trendy.
Chefs: Cute.
Also particularly questionable to me was: who the hell is Dr. Weil? Where I come from, he's a foot doctor. Apparently around these parts, he's some bigger dude that is qualified to discuss healthy living. Hm...
True Foods has a great concept but in all honesty I believe it's overrated. I have dinned with them on several occasions - last night for a friend's birthday - and each time thought it was okay but not fantastic. The menu dinners range from $15-30, but are not worth that much (for example there was bones in my fish and our desert oil cake was a bit stale). However, they are a good place if you want to feel like you are "eating healthy" because of the organic/gluten free dishes. The service was very good - Damien was our very attentive waiter.
This place is awesome. The best freshest, organic food you'll find in/near Scottsdale and Phoenix. It's yummy and so good for you!
Happy Hour
Scottsdale, AZ
Discounts
Phoenix, AZ
Tempe, AZ
Category: Vegetarian
Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix, AZ
Category: Chinese
Scottsdale, AZ
Category: Restaurants
Phoenix, AZ
Category: American (New)
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