Choice Greens — Restaurant in Tucson

I don’t know about you guys, but my diet seems to shift a little bit with this heat. I mean, I suppose it makes sense from a scientific and evolutionary standpoint. I’m not an evolotionaritarian, but I have a feeling our ancestors cut out cheeseburgers and Weinerschnitzel just a little bit during the 100 plus degree days of unforgiving Summer. Something lighter to not weigh us down during those desert hunts. Now i’m not particularly a salad guy. My food pyramid is a picture of a giant steak holding a piece of pizza and then a guy taking a nap. But I keep meeting hot chicks who are quote on quote ‘vegan’ and ‘against murder’ and all that jazz. I figured what’s the harm in ‘trying out’ a salad. I could put chicken on my salad and then ween myself off to at least earn the ‘vegetarian’ title for a couple weeks or something. Long enough to hold the front. I’m not against a personal social experiment especially if it let’s me have a tinder date conversation with the girl going “I’m so glad you’re vegan too! That’s like, such a green flag” “totally! I’ve been plant-based for… a while now. Ever since that one Netflix documentary—Vegans: The Reckoning, or whatever it was called.” ”Wait, do you mean What the Health?” “Yeah sure that one. Ever since watching it, i’ve been eating air-fried... lentils….Or like, those little brown cubes. What are they called? Soy bricks?”

“Tempeh?” “Oh yeah, love that stuff. Had some this morning actually. With... oat yogurt and... flax vibes.” Then we make out over a quinoa-kale Buddha bowl.

I had to find somewhere to practice eating greens with a face of joy instead of disgust. So, per usual, I scoured the google webs for a salad centric business that could assist me in disgustingly narcissistic and hormone fueled journey. Of course there’s Sweet Tomatoes but the last time I went there I got kicked out for eating the Big Chunk Chicken Noodle soup out of that funny big spoon straight from the buffet. My mouth is clean, you freaks. And then there’s Salad and GO, but I always feel like they’re trying to rush me. Get your salad, and GO mister. Go on git! So I looked and looked until I found somewhere new and find it I did, indeed. CHOICE GREENS. Choice. Makes it sound premium. I saw one review from 7 years ago that said “The baked tofu is freaking amazing a bit salty but i don’t care! I could eat here every day”. I was disgusted and intrigued. And their website hook line said Fresh & Healthy Chopped Salads, Sandwiches, Panini, Grain Bowls, Soups & Much More. I was already intrigued about what this “much more” was all about. Did they sell furniture too? I was about to find out.

I walked into the well-lit, spacious salad-sphere of green delight and saw their build your own salad bar and panini station. I grabbed a bowl and stared at the array of lettuce varieties and then darted my gaze over to the ‘choppings' and every combination made my meat-eating soul shiver in horror. Would I choose broccoli, brussel sprouts, dried cranberry and cauliflower or broccoli, sun dried tomatoes, celery and chalk? I violently shook my head in despair and looked over to the professional employee and said “yo, if you were a hot chick” (he was a portly gentleman) “what combination would you be impressed with”? He then kept it simple and explained how there were already pre-made favorites but if I were going truly vegan I would have to skip the cheese, too. I laughed and said “screw that, i’ll die alone”. He looked like he wanted to laugh but was afraid I was going through a very sad chapter and asked if I wanted a braised beef plate instead that came with skin-on red garlic mashed potatoes and buttered roasted corn instead. I teared up and said “yes please and thank you”. I ate that plate like a horned up caveman at one of the booths next to two cougars pretending to enjoy a salad and at first they looked at me in disgust but then they wanted to sink their 401k claws into me when I finished my beef with my bare hands, burped and said “NOT SORRY”. Thanks for helping me stay true to...

They have a 2/$27 summer dinner deal. Great, right? Meh, not really.

It's great if you enjoy eating a salt bomb. SALT BOMB! If you're salt-sensitive, a person with working taste buds, or have blood pressure issues, you've been warned.

Since it's 3000 degrees here, instead of cooking we decided on takeout. They have additional menu items which include a hot entree.

Mistakenly, I thought that the Baked Tofu w/Gyoza Sauce would be a hearty, healthy option. First, if there were three brussels sprouts SPLIT IN HALF, that was a lot. In fact, the quality of the brussels sprouts are what garnered the one star for the food portion of this review: tender with a light sprinkling of salt, I would've appreciated a full portion which was pictured on their website instead of the paltry, 1/4 serving. The corn, obvs the cheapest part of the meal, was fine.

The tofu was the hot mess of the meal. Flavorful? I'm unsure because all I tasted was salt. The tofu was also still at that gelatinous texture as if it wasn't fully cooked. Edible at that texture, but unappealing.

Also, the website pictured a healthy portion (and people, tofu is cheap) but the quantity was the I've-been-on-a-hunger-strike portion.

No wonder when my Honey ordered the meal from Yulisa and remarked "No additional salt," she snickered. At that point, a customer-service oriented staff with half a brain would've asked "Would you like the sauce on the side?" or a "that dish is known to be a bit on the salty side, would you like to consider something else?"

But no, snickering was warranted but providing good service was not. REALLY?

Lastly, my Honey's Power Veggie bowl with tofu was also another salt bomb.

In total, a waste of gas and $27+ tax, and a stale chocolate chip cookie to boot.

When we first moved here, Choice Greens provided good customer service with ample portions at a decent price. Now apparently, salt IS the condiment on the menu, snark takes center stage, and the portions are paltry.

Hey Choice Greens owner: do better. Train your staff better. Assemble decent portions like the website instead of the bait-and-switch you're doing now. Do better or you'll continue to lose customers. I always default to shopping local but really? Do better and stop...

I love me some Choice Greens! Whenever I'm in town, I come here with my family at least once, but usually two or three times while staying.

It is such an underrated local establishment that honestly deserves to be bigger than it is! The exterior of the building is a little bland and unassuming, but the dining area inside is clean, bright, and very welcoming. It's kind of like a Chipotle or Which Wich where you can customize your salads and sandwiches or select some pre-made ones from the menu. The prices are very reasonable, especially if you don't go overboard with the toppings.

I usually keep my salads here pretty simple - in my opinion, simpler is better because they're so fresh, clean, and healthy! I do like to add avocado and sometimes a hard-boiled egg, though! I've found the salads here to be so unique - I just love the way that they chop it all up. It's so much more palatable and enjoyable to eat the way that it's prepared here. There's also mac n cheese that you can order here, which I have in the past, and found it to be very cheesy and delicious! Of course, I usually get one of the customizable salads, as that's what they're known for. The sandwiches are very good as well, though. I also love that they have several healthy but tasty juice and tea options available for drinks.

Service here is always very friendly, helpful and efficient. You order at the front before finding a seat. On more than one occasion they've been very helpful in providing me with some recommendations for customizing my salad!

My whole family loves Choice Greens! I highly recommend and as I already stated about coming every time I'm in Tucson -...