Upon walking into Grabbagreen, CityScape’s new health food and juice establishment, I was struck by the lime-green walls and pop music casually playing in the background. The upbeat atmosphere and colorfully modern decor was welcoming and almost playful.
Grabbagreen looks to please “The Health Freak In You,” according to their website. This is the third Arizona installment of the Grabbagreen brand, with two stores in Scottsdale. The concept was started by Kelley Bird and Keely Newman in an attempt to create a convenient and family-friendly way of healthy eating. As a fanatic of fruity-blended beverages, I was excited to grab a Grabbagreen smoothie and one of their nutritious food items for lunch.
The store was packed with professionally dressed people, who I assumed were grabbing a quick bite to eat on their lunch breaks. Despite the hustle and bustle (which started to calm down just before 1 p.m., supporting my lunch-rush theory), I made my way to the register almost immediately after entering the store.
To my delight, I realized why there was such a short wait after placing my order at the register. The menu items are simple with catchy names, making ordering quick and easy. And in a world as busy as ours, isn’t that what we want? (Customers can also have Grabbagreen delivered or ordered online to pick up in-store.)
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My order consisted of a Fab & Fruity smoothie, which is made up of banana, strawberry, mango, coconut water and agave. I gravitated toward the smoothie because anything with strawberry in it is usually a winner in my book, but no food items stood out to me because they all contained a myriad of healthy sounding ingredients I wasn’t too familiar with. I decided to pick one at random, which landed me at the Florentine breakfast sandwich.
Healthy food is notoriously pricey, and Grabbagreen is no exception. Both the smoothie and the sandwich were $7 each, bringing my total to $15.16 with tax. Upon receiving my order at the Starbucks-style waiting area off to the side of the register, I could almost justify the $7 smoothie, as it would probably be equivalent to a “large” at any other restaurant.
All Grabbagreen smoothies are one size, which helps eliminate the indecision that comes with trying to choose how much you want. Soon afterward, I was handed a small brown box that contained my mystery food choice. It felt almost like Christmas — that is, if Santa put gluten-free health food and detox juices under the tree.
After opening the box, I was greeted with a McMuffin-size sandwich with egg, spinach and chimichurri between two quinoa cakes. This bread substitute almost looked like a hash brown, but the taste wasn’t like a slab of salty fried potatoes. It was basically like eating an egg sandwich wrapped in rice.
It was almost bland, but the smooth egg whites and crisp green spinach made it a nice lunch. The quality of ingredients and lack of grease and salt made me feel like I was doing something good for my body, which I suppose is the exact aim of eating establishments like Grabbagreen.
The smoothie was delicious, its coral-pink color packing tons of fruity flavor into the epitome of a strawberry-banana smoothie. Plus, it was large enough that I sipped it over the course of my walk back home. Regardless, I probably wouldn’t stop by to pick up a Fab & Fruity very frequently, as the $7 price tag is still a little too extravagant for my budget-conscious tastes.
Grabbagreen is a nice nutritious break from traditional, grease-packed on-the-go meals. Words on the store wall boast of offering many gluten-free and vegetarian options. I do not eat purely gluten-free or vegetarian foods, but if you do, then Grabbagreen gives you a variety of options.
I consider myself a pretty healthy eater — soda never enters my body, and I would always go for an apple over potato chips. However, I found myself having to Google the ingredients I was unfamiliar with, most notably the chimichurri (a green sauce made with a variety of spices) on my sandwich and the agave in my smoothie. You might also want to know that “quinoa” is pronounced “keen-wah,” not “kinn-oh-uh.” This knowledge isn’t necessary for a trip to Grabbagreen, but it may make you feel more on-par with your inner health freak, which the restaurant strives to help you channel.
Grabbagreen is located at CityScape on First and Washington streets, and it’s open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. On Sundays, the health freak in you can visit Grabbagreen from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Location: 50 W. Jefferson St., Suite 120, in the heart of CityScape
Star rating (0-5): ★★★½
Contact the reporter at lallnatt@asu.edu
