Fresh Kitchen — Restaurant in Tampa

EDIT 8/14/23: I meant to add this edit in at some point, but I will no longer be ordering for delivery. I would strongly advise against placing an order for delivery as the last time I went to place my order, the cost had gone from ~$27 to $32+ both w/ delivery fees. Combined with the portion variations I have seen over the years despite my order remaining basically the same, I am not comfortable paying $32+ for my order to come from just 5-10 min away when I already have to pay for “extra” portions in hopes of getting at least a decent portion some times. I ended up cancelling my last order before I paid and went to PDQ where I was able to order enough for two people for about $25. I’m sad that I have to drop one of my favorite takeout/“treat lunch” places as I’m unable to make it over there to assemble my order most of the time, but $32+ for questionable portions and a $7 delivery fee when I’m not $7 away has really discouraged me from wanting to eat here. The food really is great but the prices are now borderline “night at the diner” for just a satisfying, feel good single lunch.

The food itself is very good. Very fresh tasting and definitely not reheated/defrosted. However, I have had a handful of instances now where the portions have been ridiculously small, almost the size of a Four bowl as opposed to a Six (what I get). In some cases when family or friends of “larger” or taller build have ordered my meal for me, the portions are notably larger. It seems a bit unfair to that my portion is being based on my “size” so to speak; I am an athlete, so the smaller portions have not been enough to satisfy me. I also notice that as of recent, there has been a “forced tip” added to online orders. I have no issues with tipping for good service or good food, but to effectively snatch a couple extra bucks for zero service/human interaction seems awkward. What if the food I receive is a lesser portion than paid for? What if the food is not good quality (which it usually is)? It’s like tipping an Uber driver before you even get into the car, only to find out they drive irresponsibly.

3/5 for good food but forced tips + weird portion...

This place always has delicious food. It can be a bit on the salty side for my taste, but it's not super salty over all. The four and six bowls are popular. If you're super hungry definitely go for the six bowl. The four bowl let's you have two bases, one veggie and one protein. The six bowl is 2 bases, 2 veggies and 2 proteins. I know you can trade out a veggie, I believe, and get an extra base, but I never do. My favorite bases are the sweet potato noodles and the kale slaw. It does not have a mayo based dressing on the slaw, so it goes well with the noodles. I live the citrus chicken and herbed steak. They have almond coated chicken tenders, bbq chicken and salmon as well. The bbq chicken is really good too! They might have another protein but I mainly stick with the citrus chicken, steak and bbq chicken. My favorite veggies are the colorful cauliflower, the parmesan broccoli and the spiced chick peas. The chick peas taste more Indian inspired and is not spicy at all. They are absolutely delicious. They do have mushrooms and roasted sweet potatoes bites. I love the toppings you can choose from as well. I mainly get the pico de gallo and citrus avocado. The citrus avocado can be a bit salty too but it's still delicious! They have a bunch of sauces to put on top or on the side. I absolutely love the creamy white ginger; have only deviated once from this sauce. The chocolate chip almond cookies are my favorite dessert from there too. They put three in a container but it is enough. Also, they have different drinks to choose from that isnt you typical soda fountain. My favorite is the strawberry green tea. The only downside to this place is the parking; not a lot of spaces, especially when it is the lunch time. However, it is definitely a place to get...

The music was so incredibly loud inside that I couldn’t hear the employee asking me what I wanted to order. It’s hard enough understanding others while wearing masks (I have nothing against masks) but I just don’t see the need to make it even MORE difficult to hear one another by blasting loud music in a highly reverberant space especially when there are no customers dining indoors due to social distancing right now. When I attempted to place my order, the employee kept getting frustrated with me because I could not understand what she was asking me and it seemed like she could not understand what I was trying to order either judging by the fact that I requested that my vegetable be the broccoli and she immediately scooped a heaping pile of mushrooms into my bowl. When I tried to politely tell her that she misheard my order, she got even more frustrated and just rolled her eyes and passed on my bowl to the next employee in the line....... I tried to explain to the next employee about the mix up that happened but we couldn’t hear each other either over the music and other people talking around us. I ended up getting stuff in my bowl that I did not want, but I gave up on trying to talk to the employees. When we went outside to eat our food, the outdoor seating around smelt like a rotting dumpster because there was literally a bunch of trash cans/trash bags sitting on the curb 5 feet away, it was putrid. Very frustrating and unpleasant experience. I can’t imagine how much difficulty someone with hearing impairment would experience while trying...