Greenleaf Chopshop

Costa Mesa, United States

3.8

Closed now

36 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 949-200-3950
Website:
www.greenleafchopshop.com
Address:
234 E 17th St, Costa Mesa, CA, 92627
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
1.5 miOCTA;UCI Express Shuttle
1.6 miOCTA;OCTA;UCI Express Shuttle
1.6 miOCTA
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
Yes
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Lunch
Parking
Valet, Street, Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Full Bar
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
Yes
Dogs Allowed
Yes
Waiter Service
No
Caters
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
No

Today

Today 10:30 am – 10:30 pm
Closed now
Local time (Costa Mesa) 02:28 Friday, 29 November 2024

Business hours

Monday 10:30 am – 10:30 pm
Tuesday 10:30 am – 10:30 pm
Wednesday 10:30 am – 10:30 pm
Thursday 10:30 am – 10:30 pm
Friday 10:30 am – 10:30 pm
Saturday 8:00 am – 10:30 pm
Sunday 8:00 am – 10:30 pm

Description

Specialties

Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop is the première fast-​casual concept in Orange County. We utilize our backgrounds as gourmet chefs to offer a simple, healthy menu of great food prepared fresh each day to our customers’ tastes, served quickly, in a cool atmosphere. Situated on the boarder of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, Greenleaf supports a healthy lifestyle while providing an affordable fast-​casual dining experience. Greenleaf serves much of the community in and around Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, as well as businesses throughout Orange County with their catering capabilities. And if you didn’t get the chance to join us for lunch, stop by during our daily happy hour to enjoy beer, wine, or hand-​crafted cocktails with your candle-​lit dinner!

History

Established in 2008.

Greenleaf Costa Mesa is the third location to open, but the first of two in Orange County. Since opening in April of 2012, Greenleaf has provided the community with a healthy, affordable, creative dining option in a relaxed environment. We are committed to using the finest ingredients combined with gourmet cooking techniques. We have designed countless entrees to suit every appetite, and come up with creative seasonal specials every month!

Meet the Business Owner

Jonathan R.

Business Owner

Born and raised in Pasadena, CA, Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop Owner/​Chef and «Commander-​in-​Leaf» Jonathan Rollo earned his Bachelor’s Degree at Vanderbilt University before training at the Culinary and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. He began his career as a prep cook with The Rosebud Group and eventually moved back to Los Angeles where he joined The Patina Group. It was here where he combined his love for food and music in one of the world’s most renowned settings, and took on the role of Assistant General Manager of The Patina Group at the Hollywood Bowl. In the spring of 2007, he left the group to bring his health-​driven, fast-​casual dining concept, Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop, to life with the opening of his first location in Beverly Hills. As «Commander in Leaf,» Rollo helps head up the kitchen to create and continually add to a fresh, seasonal menu that incorporates all natural and organic, local ingredients into salads and entrées that are delicious and wholesome.

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36 reviews of Greenleaf Chopshop

No registration required
Place rating: 1
Newport Beach, CA
I have been going to this Greenleaf consistently for 2 years now and have been a member there as well so you can imagine my extreme disappointment when the service went from marginal to altogether awful. I love the food, but there is no consistency in the service. The management especially is the worse part. It went just down a bad road. I went on Sunday for breakfast and had to wait 10 minutes after my fiancé was served to get my food and then on top of that our coffees still hadn’t arrived. We had finished our whole meal before they came out and the place wasn’t even busy! To top it all off my order was wrong and after spending $ 5 on the coffee I wanted to make sure I got the right one. I went inside and told the manager what I had ordered to which she rudely went and dumped a few things in a cup and came back to give it to me. She was beyond rude and just plain unhappy. I will not be going back to this location again. The food is too pricey for bad service.
Place rating: 4
Costa Mesa, CA
I ordered the Hollywood salad. It was really good, but I wish they would’ve had a little more goat cheese on it. Pretty healthy though. There’s kale, arugala, grilled chicken, quinoa, beets, almonds, cranberries and goat cheese. I get the dressing on the side because Im not a big dressing person. They make the food right on the other side of the counter, so you know they’re using fresh ingredients.
Place rating: 4
Beaumont, CA
I really enjoyed my lunch. We had our lunch delivered from a 3rd party company, door dash (give them a try) The wait was about 30 min. I customized a salad which I loved! I really enjoyed having the option to choose what I wanted and how I wanted it prepped and made. very fresh taste and good quality for a great affordable price.
Place rating: 3
Gardena, CA
Way too fancy, hipster and trendy spot for my liking. The food was oookkkaayyyy.
Not with the price.
I ordered spinach artichoke dip and I literally got what I asked for. Hahha
Puréed spinach with some artichoke on top. Not the dip I was looking forward to.
I could of done this at home.
The quinoa was delicious though, along with the beet and veggies.
Place rating: 3
Newport Beach, CA
This review is for my visit Sunday in the late afternoon. Past visits have been better than this but Sunday was particularly average. On a positive note all employees were really pleasant and friendly. We had a number of of dishes arrive at our table that wasn’t ours and we sent it back. Finally they got it right. I ordered the specialty salad called Zorra the great and added chicken. The chicken seemed like kind of old leftovers with lots of fatty pieces. The flatbread chips that accompany the hummus never materialized. This makes the big scoop of (runny) hummus a salad mix in. It was otherwise fine, average. I do love the soda choices, my inner child loves a Shirley temple!
Place rating: 4
Huntington Beach, CA
I’ve been here several time for lunch and for a smoothie after a workout. The food is always good and I like the fountain soda (root beer and cherry). I like the outdoor area and the landscaping too. They also allow dogs outside too ! The only negative is the people that work there aren’t the friendliest
Place rating: 3
Fullerton, CA
I recently came here on a random monday and it was happy hour and realized that they changed all of their happy hour items! Nooo!!! They used to have this amazing mushroom pizza for half off during happy hour but they removed it and now they have mainly tapas for happy hour. The month of May is customer appreciation month so its happy hour all day and all month long. Drinks are good as usual but the happy hour deals kind of sucks now. Other then that they have the best gluten free cookies ever!!!
Place rating: 2
Costa Mesa, CA
$ 20+ salad with a tiny piece of overcooked fish, old kale, and a single slice of cucumber. But hey, the tables are made from recycled wood and there’s Icelandic folk bands playing on the sound system, so I guess it’s not all bad.
Super disappointed. Another in a long line of new mediocre at best restaurants out here trying to jump on the hip-​health bandwagon.
Place rating: 4
CORONA DL MAR, CA
So glad I finally checked this place out with my girlfriends this weekend. Love the atmosphere and vibe of this place. You can either order at the counter and your food is brought to you or sit on the bar side where they provide full service. We ended up on the bar side since we weren’t quite sure how the system worked. Next time I’d just order at the counter since we weren’t drinking.
As for lunch, we shared the lemongrass chicken salad, the pesto chicken panini, and the build your own entrée of grilled chicken breast, sweet potato fries, and the crispy green beans with shallots. I was very pleased with the size of the salad. The dressing was very light and flavorful, the chicken was tender and juicy and all of the other ingredients complimented the dish perfectly. The bread on the panini was fantastic and the creaminess of the avocado pesto really set this sandwich apart. The chicken entrée was also very satisfying. All in all a great meal. Will definitely return.
Place rating: 2
Long Beach, CA
This place looks amazing! Oh my gosh. It’s picture perfect. PICTURE. Perfect.
The night went like this: Ate a good quality, delicious meat pie at Pie-​Not, and while my other half and I were still hungry, we walked across the street to this amazingly open and well presented restaurant. At the register we decided on the veggie and goat cheese flat bread pizza. How amazing that none of the veggies were not on my don’t-do list. It had sweet taters, yellow and green squash, red onion, eggplant and spinach; drizzled with balsamic and goat cheese pieces.
I’ll start with the good then lead to the bad. The balsamic vinegar was delicious. It had a serious kick and the thick texture was awesome. Spinach was good.
The bad: Those vegetables were old. And when I say old, I mean they were cooked possibly in the morning and sat for the day. Not even while being heated, just sitting. These were the worst veggies I’ve ever tasted. They were not fully cooked. The texture was hard and the cool temperature was gross. Even the goat cheese pieces were dry and lacking in quality. This is the strongest I’ve felt about a meal in a long, long time.
To try and save the night, we decided on a ginger cookie sandwiched with orange frosting. My other half: «the cookies were not made today, but the frosting is good.» To me, I got a ‘previously frozen’ taste. I would put money on that.
This place is adorable, but I’ll never get that meal out of my nightmares. Wine on the patio might be the furthest I would try to remedy my feelings.
Place rating: 1
San Francisco, CA
This restaurant is all that is wrong with the faux health culture of orange county. My boyfriend and I ate here for the first time today. The name of the restaurant & all the chalkboard comments on healthy eating were misleading to say the least. So much bacon on the menu, not exactly healthy.
We both ordered the vegan burger. It was extremely dry and I counted 3 gnats crawling through my arugula side salad. If the salad had been good I probably would have been even more bummed.
Every one working there seemed depressed and I felt bad for these poor high school kids as they were berated by the manager. Never coming back.
Place rating: 5
Glendale, CA
I don’t live in the area but happen to be working out nearby. But I’m so glad I came across this place on Unilocal solely based on its reviews. It was absolutely delicious and the service was fast. The restaurant is huge inside, super cute and simple with lots of seating inside and some outside as well. If you are a salad freak like me, you’ll be able to get any kind of greens you want at this place.
I ordered the Lemongrass chicken salad from their menu and it is one of the best salads I have ever tasted. Lots of flavor and barely needed any dressing.
You can also build your own salad as well. I saw sandwiches and other plates on their menu which I’m sure is just as good. But I’ll be back for sure whenever I’m in the area again.
Place rating: 3
Irvine, CA
I’ve come to this location a few times and I do enjoy the food. My problem is that it usually comes out cold.
Greenleaf can be very healthy or you can make it indulgent. I choose to go healthy. I’ve had their burgers, sandwiches, sweet potato fries (better with ketchup than the guac that it comes with). My last visit was for brunch. I chose a breakfast my way, which was two eggs over hard, turkey sausage, toast and yams. The yams were a bit undercooked, the turkey sausage had a fennel coating so it had a spice to it. The eggs were good. The toast was toast, but the jelly was not great.
My bf had eggs as well (I believe an omelet) with a bloody mary. The Bloody Mary is a make your own and it was a cute set up. I stole a couple pickles from his drink. The bacon for the drink was very candied, as an FYI. The fruit on his omelette platter looked delicious (very much like some of the posted pics).
Food does take a while to come to the table so be aware. Parking was easy for brunch but can be difficult for dinner. It is not cheap either, about $ 30 for us both.
Place rating: 5
Irvine, CA
Who gets an angus burger at a place called Greenleaf? This guy! And who does it on his wife’s 29th birthday, sitting at a table with a red velvet bundt cake in the background? This guy!
Not gonna lie — I thought it would be weird getting a burger here. Although it was angus beef, it actually tasted pretty light and healthy (is that even possible?!?). The meat was so juicy and perfectly cooked and the condiments complemented each other very nicely. Best of all, I did not feel overly full afterwards. And the service at this place is very good. I just wish this place had more non-​valet parking!
Place rating: 5
Costa Mesa, CA
Greenleaf is amazing! I’ve been here 3 times this past month because I am so hooked on their salads!
I’ve had the «Zorra the Great» salad with tofu, the «Mexplosion» and the grilled vegetable scramble– all were fresh and really tasty.
The restaurant décor and layout are really cute. They have both indoor and outdoor seating that can seat plenty of people.
They also have curbside service and they’ll bring your food right out to your car.
Highly recommended if you like healthy fresh food.
Place rating: 4
Anaheim, CA
Good food! Service could’ve been better. It’s an «order at the front and take a number to your table» type of place. hidden behind the citi bank. If you were to drive down 17th, you would probably miss it if you didn’t know of it already or have the directions.
**service
Cashier didn’t smile once! I asked for a different type of dressing for my salad since I disliked the one that I had from one of the servers and The server never came back with it, so I had to go to the front and ask for it myself. I went back to the front to get a to-​go container, all of the workers in the front didn’t acknowledge my presence. One worker who was walking back from the dining area ended up getting me what I needed. At least someone realized that I wasn’t just standing there to admire the food line.
**food
I built my own salad. A ton of toppings to choose from! I LOVED my salad! I got the avocado citrus dressing on the side (hated it) so I switched it to a garlic herb dressing instead (Loved it)
Tomato basil soup tasted like spaghetti-​OHs but good! Haha!
Angus burger was tastey! Came with a side of arugula salad.
**Ambiance
Awesome! Dogs are allowed on the patio, the place was busy. You can tell It was built for volume! Very open area, cool feel to it. And I didn’t check out the bar to the right but I did see it. We’ll have to check it out upon next visit.
Place rating: 3
Lake Forest, CA
I wanted to like you, Greenleaf. Honest. Your concept supports everything I love about farm to table, healthy, organic eating. But I have had better (Tender Greens, Urban Plates) and for less cost.
The steak you put on my salad that I ordered medium was completely, and I mean completely, raw. You know, the type of raw that is cold, and slimy, and to me, inedible.
If I am ever in this area of Costa Mesa I might try you again. But, with Costa Mesa’s plethora of great dining choices, I don’t really have any reason to go out of my way to do so.
Sorry, babes!
Place rating: 5
Costa Mesa, CA
Always good food. Parking can be a bit tough at lunch time but worth the hassle. Great place.
Place rating: 5
Orange, CA
First time here, I ordered the half chicken pesto sandwich and bean with turkey bacon soup. The soup was good and hot, kind of a minestrone with white beans and thin strips of the bacon. Soooo good! The panini sandwich was awesome, full of avocado and the pesto was not overpowering. I will be back !
Place rating: 4
Huntington Beach, CA
Great food and great service. I really liked everything I got! I love how they make healthy a good thing! The sweet potato fries are good because of the guacamole dip, but a little over priced. I got the salmon and it was amazing!!!
Place rating: 5
Newport Beach, CA
Remember how mom used to bring you soup in bed when you had a cold?
Well, I got that cold/​flu virus and could not go out. Greenleaf acted like mom would have acted: they delivered my soup to my door along with carrot juice and Pinakaloda and sweet potato fries. Oh, how sweet it is, especially when you are feeling down and sick.
Place rating: 5
Huntington Beach, CA
so good :)!!!
Thank you Michael Brandt for introducing me to my new favorite restaurant.
Place rating: 4
Costa Mesa, CA
If you’re itching for something healthy (or are forced into it), Greenleaf Chopshop has it all! With a diverse menu and good variety of proteins (steak, chicken, fish), complex/“good” carbs (kale, quinoa, sweet potato fries, salads, and breakfast items, you are sure to find something to your taste bud’s likings.
I ordered the almond crusted chicken with sweet potato fries and a kale salad. While I wish I tried other side dishes in stead, the almond crusted chicken was pretty good, especially for healthy. My sweet potato fries were a little on the soft and soggy side (I prefer Red Robin’s over this), and my kale salad was a little blah, but I did like whatever my friend chose as his side dishes. His sauteed vegetables were pretty good, lightly seasoned and perfectly cooked. I think next time I’ll try out the sauteed vegetables and quinoa, despite the some of the complaints that it’s bland.
The ambiance here is very chill and casual. It’s good for a night with a friend or more or even a health-​conscious date. The outside is a huge draw. I’ll definitely need to hit this place up in the spring or summer when it warms up a bit more. The variety here will keep you coming back for more, if not the beer selection.
Definitely a must-​try if you like to eat out but want to keep the calories and muffin top to a minimum.
Place rating: 5
Costa Mesa, CA
One of my favorite restaurants. Consistently great, healthy food, affordable yet mostly organic and local. My favorite is the lemon grass chicken salad! The bar area, newly renovated, is also cool and hip and their updated happy hour menu is full of great options that are reminiscent of typical bar fare, but with a healthy twist (Vegan artichoke cashew cheese dip?). And I think they have a contract with a male modeling agency because all the servers are super handsome AND friendly, what a combo! I have been to both Costa Mesa locations, breakfast, lunch and dinner, its all good! Enjoy!
Place rating: 5
Newport Beach, CA
My office caters from here for breakfast occasionally and I love it. This was my first time actually eating here and WOW! They have so many choices and all of it is healthy (so you don’t feel as guilty =)). I enjoyed a breakfast burrito with bottomless mimosas. My friends made their own scrambles which also looked amazing! The next thing I must try are their pizzas and sandwiches! The food was brought out promptly and they constantly refilled our mimosas, which we all know I love!
Place rating: 4
Huntington Beach, CA
Burn, baby, burn! Loved their bloody Mary! Hit the spot right on, just what I needed! Peppery, spicy, felt the smooth burn even a while after finishing my drink! Pretty good for a second choice after walking away from Plums, not willing to wait 30 minutes. No wait here.
Not a fan of turkey but with their limited menu, I went ahead and ordered their eggs Benedict which includes turkey, truffle spinach, an egg of course and other stuff. I was really blown away by how tasty this was! Wasn’t paying too much attention to all the ingredients but when it turned out to be on a pretzel bread, SCORE!!! I liked that very much as opposed to the usual muffin. One was actually very filling.
Also liked their French toast. It wasn’t fried, greasy, drenched with the usual syrup and such, just had a sweet, berry spread on it. But the bread had a tasty thickness and flavor packed with the spread. I loved it! These all tasted great even hours later as leftovers.
Hubby had the turkey burger which he said was ok.
Cute, comfy place. My only complaint is the order at the counter setup. I know more places are doing this but it doesn’t feel right to me, spending $ 40, ordering alqui and it feel like a fast food establishment in that I ordered and paid at the counter. No, I’m not adding tip to the receipt at the counter when service hasn’t been rendered yet. Not sure how the cashier looks at people who do that but I’ll leave tip (or not) when I’m done.
Place rating: 4
Harbor Gateway, Los Angeles, CA
We ate on the quick casual side. Found solid, clean eating here. Most of the food is certified organic, and/​or locally sourced, according to the staff. The prices are fair considering that fact.
Plenty here for everyone– carnivores, vegetarians, vegans, gluten-​avoiders– everyone can find plenty of choices.
I had the grilled vegetable salad. Highly recommended.
Knocked off one star b/​c our sweet potato fries came out cold, but they quickly came back with a fresh hot batch.
Place rating: 2
Newport Beach, CA
My wife and I have given this place several tries since it opened and we always seemed to have an issue. From poor quality sweet potato fries to burnt a panini to them not allowing me to get a cheese-​less pizza, there has been problems. After this past Monday we are done, the person taking our order seemed more interested in something else because she got our order wrong and then came the worst batch of sweet potato fries ever. My wife returned them and then we got the rest of our food. We were still waiting for the fries when we asked for them and they brought us out another batch and they were worse than the first batch! Just poor service and a weak attempt at quality healthy food.
Place rating: 5
Costa Mesa, CA
One of my neighborhood spots and go-​to for breakfast. Love the «cheap and easy» breakfast sandwich which is waistline friendly as it includes egg whites, turkey bacon and swiss cheese on a whole wheat English muffin. Great organic coffee and would highly recommend the ABC Protein shake as well. Service is always great and you can enjoy an earthy and freshly decorated atmosphere. This location recently opened the bar area as well, and I am anxious to try it for a girls night soon, as Greenleaf has yet to disappoint!
Place rating: 3
Dublin, CA
My girlfriends and I had lunch on the outdoor patio. The décor is modern rustic. They serve organic salads, sandwiches, pizza, soups, sides and drinks including shakes, juice bar, wine and beer. I had the grilled chicken panini with avocado pesto, grilled tomatoes & arugula and a side kale salad with lemon & olive oil dressing and parmesan cheese. The kale salad was okay and was way too tangy, but the panini was good. My GF shared her sweet potato fries with avocado pesto which the fries were served room temp and not hot.
Place rating: 3
Fountain Valley, CA
IG-​friendly/​hipsters’ galore! The decorations, the seating, everything about this place was – BASICally hipster… since it’s near my boyfriend’s place, I joked that I would bring my meals here to take photos for the ‘gram. Or maybe I was a bit serious about bringing food here for pictures :3
FOOD:
— chop chop salad 11.99 l 5: recommend! What is this secret, or maybe not-​so-​secret nonna sauce? It’s so good! Other than that, it’s your simple, but not so simple salad! Simple as in you can probably make it at home, but not so simple because it has a large variety of ingredients. Good amount of tender, but under seasoned chicken breast
— lemongrass salad 11.99 l 3: the name of lemongrass chicken was reminiscent of my undergrad years of the best lemongrass chicken bowl ever, BUT the salad fell short of my expectations. I wish the nuts were crushed because they kept cutting the roof of my mouth. and I wasn’t a huge fan of the sweet mangoes and pineapples in the salad. Should’ve read the ingredients, my bad.
— ceviche 9 Regular/​6 HH l 0: It’s your go-​to place for some fancy shmancy salad. With that said, they have the WORST CEVICHE EVER! What were we thinking? Getting ceviche at a non-​Mexican restaurant?! After living in San Diego for so many years, we were spoiled with delicious Mexican cuisine! There was definitely not enough seasoning and sour flavor with the lemon/​lime the shrimp should’ve been soaked in. Poor shrimp/​tomato ratio. Avocado was not ripe. 10⁄10 would NOT RECOMMEND the ceviche, even with the happy hour pricing.
PROS:
— recommend chop chop
CONS:
— DO NOT recommend ceviche
TIPS:
— happy hour 3−6P every day
Place rating: 4
Costa Mesa, CA
This is a great place to get a healthy and fresh meal!
This location is pretty big with seating outside and inside. I got the Zora the Great salad with grilled chicken which was made with fresh crispy ingredients and was delicious. You can also build your own entrée (my friend did this) which looked really good. Hers came with grilled chicken, grilled veggies, and fresh fruit.
They have tons of options for meat eaters and vegetarians.
Definitely recommend!
Place rating: 3
Laguna Hills, CA
This is the place you come to when you want healthy and good-​tasting food. I’m a big fan of their chicken and avocado panini or one of their giant salads. I’d recommend the sweet potato fries and the chicken tortilla soup (it has one of the spiciest kicks! Super good). When this place first opened, I came here regularly, especially for their happy hour (½ off appetizers). However, since then, the happy hour has changed and it’s not as good anymore.
I still haven’t found that I enjoy any of their main dishes or salads as much as say, True Food Kitchen. They haven’t mastered the strength of flavor that True Food has.
It’s a great place to go with friends, feel good after a meal, but it doesn’t offer anything out of the box or extraordinary.
Place rating: 5
Orange County, CA
I absolutely love this place! The ambiance is trendy, intimate, and far from your average hipster-​ridden eatery. I’ve had their breakfast and lunch catered several times but I think it’s worth going to the actual location to sit and enjoy a meal.
I ordered the smaller portion of the Buffalo «Wangs» salad which was mixed green, almond crusted chicken, little bacon bits, carrots, and celery tossed in a chipotle orange bbq sauce. The sauce was slightly sweet with just the right amount of heat. I really loved the almond crusted chicken– it was cooked perfectly and had the right ratio of almond crust to chicken.
My friend had the «Mexplosion» which was equally delicious. The salad was inside a tortilla with baby greens, black beans, avocado, tortilla strips, and a little cheese. It was tossed in a really good vinaigrette. Although there was no protein, it was extremely tasty.
I definitely recommend this place for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There’s a TON of vegetarian options and plenty of interesting sides/​drinks to choose from, including shirley temple soda and jalapeño margaritas. I’ll definitely be back for happy hour!
Place rating: 1
Santa Ana, CA
Not a fan! The food is waaaay over priced!
Came here one night for quick grub and it was rather disappointing. I got the antioxidant salad with chicken which came out to be $ 15.50. The salad came out and it was a rather small size with super dried piece of chicken breast that was chewy and had a burnt taste to it. The dressing was also very sugary and for a health restaurant, that was not expected.
Tender greens charges much less for a much bigger salad that tastes much better.
Place rating: 4
Orange County, CA
Green leaf Chopshop puts together fresh and tasty salads that keep your heath in mind.
I have made it a point to start eating healthier fare during the work week in order to break up the « Unilocal Curse». In doing so I ran across several reviews for Greenleaf Chopshop by many of my favorite Unilocalers and realized there were polarizing opinions across the board. With that in mind I walked through Greenleaf’s open and airy doors with an open mind.
The feel of the restaurant is fun. A welcoming fast casual with really friendly employees and a menu loaded with greens and lean proteins. Imagine if True Food Kitchen and Native Foods had a child out of wedlock; something akin to that. A huge patio area begs you to dine al fresco and fresh Squeezed Lemonade closes that deal in earnest on any warm Costa Mesa day.
I decided to start with the Hummus plate which was a wonderful mash up of chickpeas and artichokes with roasted garlic drizzled with olive oil and served with pita chips. Unilocaler beware: you will most certainly battle the dragon (garlic breath) for the remainder of the afternoon that no gum will ever overcome. If you have interviews or a meeting, well… you have been advised. It was delicious though.
For the entrée I chose to go with the unfortunately named «Zorra the Great» which is a über fresh mix of romaine, baby arugula, tomatoes, cucumber, ricotta salata, olives, red onion, fresh herbs that is tossed in Joey’s garlic herb vinaigrette; whoever the hell Joey is. The greens all had the farm fresh snap and flavor I yearn for in a quality salad and the vinaigrette gave a nice tangy zip in the flavor profile. I thoroughly enjoyed this salad! Rejoice!
Truth be told, I do not get to the 17th Street section of Costa Mesa often and with its traffic and parking situation, I aim to keep it that way which is a shame in a way because I was really picking up what Greenleaf Chopshop was putting down. A certain 4 star experience all day, every day.