We are thrilled to welcome Fork & Salad to the mainland! This Hawaii-inspired eatery is serving Old Towne Orange salads, sandwiches, and bowls with an array of colorful and refreshing ingredients. Last weekend, Fork & Salad held its grand opening celebration which was full of yummy food and Hawaiian culture!
Before any food was served, Hawaiian cultural practitioner, Kimokeo Kapahulehua led a traditional Hawaiian blessing.
He was so sweet! We had to grab a quick family pic with him before we went inside.
Our mayor Mark Murphy and the owners of Fork & Salad were lei’d to celebrate the grand opening! When we went back to Fork & Salad a few days later (oops, it was so yummy we had to go again) their leis were tied on the door handles.
Now onto our official I Heart OTO review! Warning, we are hardcore crushing over this new restaurant!
PARKING
Thankfully Fork & Salad is located on the corner of Lemon St. and Chapman Ave., right across the way from the new and usually pretty empty parking structure! Which means no driving around the Plaza looking for a parking spot (celebrate the small victories ladies and gents!)
THE LINE
We went back to Fork & Salad for lunch last Sunday and to our surprise, we really didn’t wait too long to create our bowls. As soon as you enter the line you’ll see a giant poster hanging on the wall explaining how to make the perfect bowl for yourself! If anything, we spent more time trying to decide what to order rather than waiting in line, but we think that has a lot to do with their service.
THE SERVICE
Oh my word, their employees were so helpful! Even though this is their first location on the mainland, we really felt the aloha spirit when ordering our food. As soon as I ordered the Maui Goddess signature salad, I was immediately informed that I could substitute any ingredients if I preferred something else in my salad. They walked us through each step of ordering and made us feel incredibly informed!
THE FOOD
Ooooo ok, on to food, this is our favorite part (duh!) We ordered two of their signature salads and substituted a few ingredients as we went along. First, we ordered a Super Salad which had kale, spinach, purple sweet potatoes, raw beets, spicy Brussels sprouts, raw corn, almonds, avocado-lime dressing, and we added chicken. There were so many different textures in this salad, but we must say the purple potatoes stole the show (in the best way possible!)
The second salad we ordered was the Maui Goddess, not going to lie we were really attracted to this salad because of the name! Since Fork & Salad hails from Maui, we wanted to make sure we got a taste of the islands. This salad was exactly what we were hoping for! The Maui Goddess comes with romaine, apples, strawberries, purple sweet potatoes, cashews, curry golden raisins, bleu cheese, and green goddess dressing, but we subbed out the blue cheese for goat cheese and the green goddess dressing for avocado lime (a perfect example of the customizability Fork & Salad offers). This salad was very tart because of the apples, strawberries, and dressing so the cashews and purple potatoes balanced very nicely. Each salad also comes with a complimentary piece of bread! We dipped ours in the avocado lime dressing in between bites of the salads, so yummy!
We also have to mention their unique and amazing drink options! We tried their Blueberry Cherry and Cucumber Lime Lemonades. The Blueberry Cherry Lemonade was very tart so we would advise extreme lemonade lovers to try this one. The Cucumber Lime Lemonade was the perfect amount of sweet and refreshing for us, probably our fave out of the two. We cannot wait to try all of the different flavors.
THE OFFICIAL OTO RATING
After both our visits to Fork & Salad our rating is crystal clear. This restaurant definitely deserves a perfect 5 out of 5! Fork & Salad joins the ranking of other build-your-own meals in OTO, but stands alone when it comes to health. After finishing our bowls, we felt refreshed and ready to take on the rest of our days! The huge portions left us feeling full, which is rare when eating salads. The fantastic atmosphere, food, and service had us smiling ear-to-ear as we enjoyed the outdoor seating and sipped on our tart lemonades. No matter your dietary preferences, everyone will be able to enjoy this new eatery and feel great after finishing your meal (or asking for a to-go box because the portions are gigantic!)
