The day has finally arrived!!!! After about a year of walking past this empty building off the Third Street Promenade with a “Coming Spring 2015” sign, waiting forlornly as spring 2015 came and went, then summer 2015, then fall…Lemonade Santa Monica is now open!!!
For those of you that don’t know, Lemonade is a mix between a farmer’s market, a cafeteria, a lemonade stand and every other vegetarian/vegan/farm-to-table LA restaurant. Their food is absolutely amazing, a bit pricey and incredibly in-demand.
The few Lemonade locations that exist are usually packed with people and cars and little to no parking. So it’s a hassle to go to Lemonade, but boy are your taste buds always happy you did.
I popped over to the new location for lunch and ordered the four portion plate from the Marketplace menu. The Marketplace is the cafeteria-like area full of cold vegetables, pastas and grains. The employees scoop out your portions into a container.
I ordered my two favorite dishes at Lemonade, the orecchiette pasta with tomato and perline mozzarella and the broccoli with champagne vinaigrette and ricotta cheese. These side dishes never disappoint and I crave them whenever I go to Lemonade.
Then I ordered two new seasonal dishes, the green lentil with wild rice, chickpeas, feta and zatar and the Moroccan couscous, served with roasted carrots and pomegranate seeds.
Everything was incredibly delicious and I was full within minutes. The four portions truly do last two meals.
You don’t have to order the cold dishes at Lemonade, though. They also offer hot dishes, sandwiches, pot roasts, sandwiches and”land and sea”. They also have soup, salads, breads and desserts.
I can’t wait to go back and try everything on the menu! As a vegetarian you don’t often have many options for food, but at Lemonade, almost everything is up for grabs. I can’t wait to try:
- Creamy mashed potatoes
- Roasted Brussels sprouts with caramelized onion and grape glaze
- Baked polenta “pizza” with provolone, caramelized onion and roasted corn
- Tomato, mozzarella and basil stack
- Caprese sandwich
- Grilled cheese sandwich
- Mac and cheese (and WHITE TRUFFLE mac and cheese)
- Vegetarian chili
You also can’t forget the lemonade when you visit! Far from ordinary, you can order fun flavors like coconut apple, guava limeade, watermelon rosemary, blood orange, Arnold Palmer and blueberry mint. The blood orange flavor is my personal favorite.