CoreLife Eatery — Restaurant in Town of Watertown

Full disclosure: I have only been here once but I am a bit loathe to give it a second shot if it's bound to be as bad as the first.

The biggest takeaway that I have for folks wanting to go to Core Life is that if you're an eater with one or more food sensitivities as I am, then this isn't the place for you. It may seem like it, but there are some things they don't get right. Let me explain.

What struck me upon first stepping up to the counter were the sheer number of ingredients and how few of them were labeled. Of the toppings, none were identified for the consumer, so you had to ask what things were. I imagine this really slows down the line when it's busy. It was also exciting: getting to try new things is great!

I chose to get a custom bowl, as I have food sensitivities to onion and garlic, with a base of wild rice and spinach; carrots, cucumbers, avocado, hard boiled egg, and sprouts as toppings. I originally chose raw ahi tuna as my meat, but this is where the problems began: the tuna is pre-dressed with a miso dressing loaded with garlic.

After a bit of discussion with the employees, I found that all of their meats are pre-dressed, and all of them are loaded with garlic. The only solution was to get chicken that had yet to be dressed as that was the only one they had. I went along with it and got raspberry vinaigrette (one of only two options without garlic) and some cilantro on top.

Upon taking the first bite of the bowl, the first thing I noticed was the the dressing was almost non-existent. There was enough on the bowl, but it had such a weak flavor of raspberry or vinegar that all I could taste was the oil, which almost tasted rancid to me. It was not particularly pleasant. The chicken was also overcooked to the point of almost being inedible.

Some of this I can excuse as the store being new and still tweaking things, but some of it is just a poor decision on the part of the company. Pre-dressing meats makes it very difficult for anyone with a sensitive diet to choose something they can eat. How hard is it to keep the raw tuna plain and let the customer dress it as they please? Season your meats simply with salt, pepper and maybe a little spicy pepper or herbs, things that will be less likely to bother folks. If you're aiming for a truly customizable eatery, then allow the customer to choose their flavors rather than picking beforehand.

TLDR: Decent place to eat for non-sensitive eaters; avoid the vinaigrettes, they're nasty; chicken is overcooked; ingredients are fresh and tasty...

I’ve been to Corelife regularly in Syracuse and to many other locations due to work travel so I have a good bit of experience with the chain. You can definitely feel the newness of this chain and the need for more training with the food prep team. If you go to this location after 7pm on more than a few occasions the front bins are out of stuff or low they won’t refill it and will short change you on some items. Some of the people prepping the meals won’t even say they are short changing you hoping you don’t know any better or haven’t been to other locations. On one of my purchases they asked would you like all the standard items that come with the bowl I ordered and I stated yes , when I opened my bowl and it was missing three of the items and had no dressing on it when I specifically asked for dressing. I would highly suggest keeping the front end stocked or giving a discount to customers when they aren’t receiving the items that come with the bowls they’ve purchased. Additionally, when someone tells you they don’t eat meat of any kind and asks for tofu and you proceed to put meat on their food and act like you are confused and say “oh should I fix this? Or like pull the meat off?” I would say additional training is needed ASAP. Other than that the food is good and this is a great spot for this chain to expand and I am sure this will all get...

Edit: Went more recently. They seem to have cleaned up their act somewhat. We went when the flies would have been dead for the winter. Will have to try again summer season.

I wanted to wait until it had been some time. The food is amazing... BUT. We were told there was nothing they could do for the copious amounts of flies. There were several things. Cambros with lids to hold the food? Look at places like subway and take notes! Better trash/dish management? Better disposal for the meat products? Better cleanliness around the drink station? It makes me really sad because I don't have the means to drive to Syracuse where I'm told the kitchen is much cleaner. I hope this place doesn't turn people away from core life. The franchiser really needs to re-evaluate how this location is being ran.

I think the lady I spoke to was the location's manager. There needs to be an earnest acknowledgement on the need for things to improve. Customers aren't stupid and a coupon for a free larvae infested meal isn't going to ease their concerns. I might check things out again now that winter is here and most flies are dead but I can't say I'm confident in the state of things since the lady I spoke to seemed adamant that their rampant fly problem was "out of their control" and therefore not a...