Three weeks ago, GDS installed a Farmer’s Fridge vending machine in the internet cafe. The fridge offers salads, breakfast items, bowls, sandwiches, snacks and proteins. The new vending machine is a closer and quicker option for healthy food compared to other restaurants in Tenleytown. This week, we rated four popular meals from the fridge, focusing on their price, taste and quantity.
Green goddess salad: 6/10
The green goddess salad offered a nice balance of tangy and sweet flavors with ingredients such as feta cheese, pickled onions, chickpeas and lettuce. This was one of the larger salads, and without tax, the salad cost $8.49. While the green goddess salad was good, it wasn’t as filling as some of the other options, and although the container was bigger, the salad consisted mostly of lettuce, and the lettuce lost a lot of its volume once you combined all the ingredients. We did like that the dressing came in its own container, ensuring that the salad didn’t get soggy before you ate it. We found that the ingredients weren’t incredibly fresh, but that was expected since the salad was from a vending machine. For the price, the portion was a bit small and left us feeling hungry by the end of the day. We would buy the green goddess salad again if we needed lunch, but the salad wouldn’t be our first choice from the vending machine.
Baja bowl: 7.5/10
The Baja bowl was the first item we tried from the Farmer’s Fridge, and the taste did not disappoint. Filled with potatoes, quinoa, corn, tortilla strips and more, the Baja bowl reminded us of something we could buy at Chipotle. We wished the bowl had more sauce because at times the food tasted bland. Our biggest critique of the bowl was the price. The Baja bowl cost $7.50 without tax, and the bowl was not filling enough for the price. When you can easily walk to Pete’s Pizza and buy a slice of pizza for $3.50-$4.50, it is hard to justify paying more money for a less substantial meal.
Baja chicken burrito: 8/10
The Baja chicken burrito was one of the better items we tried. The burrito cost $8.99 and was very similar to the Baja bowl, just with the addition of chicken and a tortilla wrapping the ingredients together. The combination of the crunchy lettuce, celery and red cabbage and the soft tortilla and tangy sauce made for a delightful meal. The burrito kept us full for longer than the bowl did, and we found that the seasoning in the burrito was stronger than the other items we tried. However, the burrito was a bit small, and although it was very good, we would have loved the burrito if we got more bang for our buck.
Southwest chicken salad: 9/10
The southwest chicken salad was a filling and flavorful meal. The chipotle ranch dressing is a key ingredient that adds zest to an already flavor packed meal. The chicken slices were the perfect size and had just the right tenderness to them. The addition of the tortilla chips added a nice crunch that the lettuce in the salad lacked. There was just enough food to keep us full, which the other meals did not do. Our biggest critique is the price, as the salad cost $10.00 without tax. Other salads without meat cost about $1.50-$2.00 less than this salad with chicken. If you don’t mind not having the extra protein from the chicken, paying the extra cost of this salad may not be worth it.
Our meals from the Farmer’s Fridge were okay, but we would have liked them more if the portions were bigger. We noticed that a lot of the meals have similar prices to other meals from restaurants in the Tenleytown area, but a lot of the dishes from other restaurants are larger and keep us satisfied for longer. However, when in a pinch, we think Farmer’s Fridge is a great option to get a quick and delicious bite to eat!