Found A New Place To Eat - Zoë's Kitchen

There's a new restaurant that just opened up where the old Wendy's was in the Beechwood area. It's a Zoë's Kitchen! I've never been to one of these places before, but it's fantastic! I loved the colors and atmosphere in the restaurant. Plus, the food was perfection!

If you haven't heard of Zoë's kitchen, it's a chain that serves Mediterranean dishes that opened up in 1995 in Alabama. They now have 71 locations spread across 12 states.The food is made fresh every day and includes various sandwiches, soups and salads. Their menu contains dishes for vegans, vegetarians, gluten free items and some selections for meat eaters, such as myself.

This is a place that has a little bit of something for everyone. I can take my vegetarian friends there and enjoy dishes with meat if I so choose. No one has to feel left out if we're going to a fast food place. That brings up another point. This is a fast food restaurant that actually serves healthy food. It's such a strange concept in the fast food industry, I know. Seriously though, name one fast food joint that serves actual healthy food and has the option of gluten free dishes. You can't. They don't exist.

Not only are these dishes conveniently served fresh daily and with a quickness, but the prices are awesome too. I paid around $10 for my lunch, which is around the same amount I pay for a trip to Taco Bell or Burger King. It may be a couple dollars more than McDonald's, but my body thanks me for not eating something that takes years to digest.

Let's talk about my lunch for a moment. Here's a picture of what I ate:

What you see here are the chicken roll-ups for $7.79. I grabbed a side of potato salad made with baby reds for $2.09 which is both vegan and gluten free. I could tell immediately that the salsa was handmade. It was amazing and really spicy. I'm a lightweight when it comes to spice, but I could handle this level. The chicken wraps themselves were deliciously filled with feta, lettuce, tomato, caramelized onions, and wrapped with tortilla. The tortilla wasn't deep fried which was really nice. My meal was light and didn't leave me feeling shame afterwards which is always refreshing. I felt confident and ready to face the rest of the day. Yeah, food can do that. 

Here's what my friend got. It's the chicken pita pizza. He let me try a couple bites. My mouth exploded with flavor! He also had a side of beans, but I'm allergic so I didn't try it. My friend raved about the beans though, so I'm going to have to trust him. This pizza has mozzarella, feta, fresh basil, and marinara. I loved the basil. It really popped! 

Zoë's Kitchen also serves beer and wine, which I didn't realize until after reading through the menu again to see if they had some fresh lemonade, which they do. They also cater and have family meals for around the $30 range. If each meal comes to around $10 per person, then you'll save about $10 with their Dinners for Four deals. 

If you haven't been yet, I definitely recommend that you do. If you're after a healthy meal in a great, friendly atmosphere for a reasonable price then this is the perfect place to go! Tell your friends.