Can I Handle A Healthy Lunch from Pure Fare?

Pure Fare is not really my kind of restaurant in theory. It is all about healthy and calorie counting. Scary!  But I shouldn’t judge a restaurant by their calorie count. Besides, focusing on detox might not be the worst idea after St. Patty’s Day weekend.

The inviting space has seating in the middle surrounded by a juice counter on one end, the breakfast and soup counter on the other, and 3 shelving units that house the salads, sandwiches, snacks, and entrees.

Sandwiches and salads are mostly $6-8 and appear on the small side. Though some of the sandwiches included turkey or chicken, they appeared small and I wasn’t sure if they would do it for me.  Instead I picked one of the prepared entrees sans meat, the $8 lentil loaf with side salad.  The Pure Fare website makes available the ingredient list  and calorie count of every item on their menu. The 418 calorie loaf is made of brown rice, lentils, spinach, corn, herbs and cheese. It tasted like a veggie filled quiche. I was surprised that I actually enjoyed it. It didn’t taste particularly seasoned, but the freshness of the vegetables, particularly sweet corn and earthy spinach, made that fact irrelevant. I could have used a 2nd loaf.  The arugula, cucumber, and tomato side salad was about as fresh as you can get coming from a prepared food shelf.

From the juice bar I created an orange, carrot, basil drink. Delicious. But my cup was really small for $4. I finished it in a few sips.

Pure Fare boasts desserts with as much natural ingredients as possible, including the “Twix” bar that I picked up, made with date caramel. The obviously high quality chocolate was smooth and rich. I could eat these regularly when a chocolate craving hits, but at $3 per mini bar, this is more of a splurge than an everyday pick up.

What I consumed at Pure Fare exceeded my expectations, but the price tag relative to the size prevents a whole hearted recommendation.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

  • Healthy sandwiches, salads, juices, and desserts
  • Natural, organic, and gluten free and vegetarian friendly foods

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

  • Really on the expensive side for what you get

Pure Fare, 119 S 21st St (btw.Walnut and Sansom St), 267 318 7441

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