Whenever I travel for business, I try to go to a vegetarian restaurant every time. I like to find unique and local vegetarian cuisine. This time, I selected Spread in San Diego, California. I’ve categorized my feedback into chucks for you…
FOOD:
All their food is from local farmers markets and such, much of which is organic. love the concept and idea that everything is local/organic/etc. And I love that the menu changes with the seasons. They had a reasonable selection of both vegetarian and vegan options.
They have very ‘gourmet’ sounding items on the menu. They explained that one of the items was a mushroom that only grows on corn once a year. That evening, they were putting it into their “Quesaditas”. I ordered one of those.
I also ordered a watermelon basil fresca drink. It was AMAZING. Loved it! It was a watermelon fresca with slivers of fresh basil. Sweet enough, but not too sweet.
I also got their arugula salad. It had a goat cheese feta, watermelon cubes, raisins, blanched almonds, and a light creamy dressing It was fabulous. But, I think they put a pretty generous sprinkle of sea salt over the top, so some bites were a little over the top with salt flavor.
My Quesaditas arrived – 4 little corn tortillas folded over into little quesadilla style pieces that were filled with cheese and this special mushroom. It came with a side of avocado slices (with more of that sea salt – I think they must be enthralled with the sea salt right now) and a shot glass of a delicious salsa. It was all very good – especially when combining all the flavors together.
I’ll say this about the food, however. The menu uses a lot of gourmet and exotic names/flavors. I’m not sure if the flavor of the food matches quite the ‘gourmet’ sound of the menu. To be honest, I felt a little underwhelmed when the food arrived. I had such high expectations after the servers and the chalk board talked it up so much.
I was slightly disappointed that they only had one dessert option. They were serving one of their “spreads” – cookies and cream – fondue style with fruits. It didn’t interest me, so I declined and went to Extraordinary Desserts instead. (best decision ever – go try that place!)
The food is plated nicely with flowers and petals, etc. The presentation is done nicely. It’s nice to have a bit of a more “upscale” vegetarian feel to a restaurant.
Their name is based off these nut “spreads” that they make and sell. I didn’t see any for sale, however. I was sort of hoping to at least see and browse their options.
PRICE:
The prices were “ok”. Kinda high for the size of the plates, but not too outrageous either. The salad was about $9 and the quesaditas were $13. I was surprisingly full after eating my two plates. I’d probably go again, but not soon, necessarily. I’d probably browse other veg restaurants in the area before coming back to this one. I’ll save my $ for another place.
LOCATION/ATMOSPHERE:
Tucked in next to a theater in the North Park area of San Diego, the place was decorated nicely with modern, clean lines. There were bits of neon an primary colors splashed about over a black and white base. But my main complaint is that the place was DIRTY! I went at opening time, when I would expect it to be spic and span, ready for the evening crowd. But, alas, this was not the case.
The bathrooms were kinda gross, and one of the decorative tables next to me was filled with dust and specs of I-don’t-know-what. The front windows and glass around the storefront was very dirty and could use a good scrub. It does make me wonder what their kitchen’s like.
SERVICE:
I walked in right at opening – 6pm. They were still writing up the menu on the little chalk board. This chalk board is their only menu and the servers walk it around the room one table at a time for you to make your selection. I can imagine if there are a lot of people dining, this process could take a LONG time to take that board around to each table and let them make their selections. I had to wait a bit and I was the 2nd person there out of only 3 tables filled on a Sunday evening.
They also looked at me slightly funny since I was there alone. According to the website, their food should be a “social” experience with sharing. I didn’t have anyone to go with, so I went alone and I felt that from them.
The workers were pretty helpful, but seemed a wee bit snobby. I wondered if I wasn’t “cool” enough. They oozed a bit of that superficial “cool” vibe that I don’t actually consider to be all that “cool”. There was a photo book with snapshots of the owner with celebrities. It seems like they are more interested in being famous than really providing a great dining experience. It’s all about the “cool” factor.
