Perhaps as a counterbalance to all the specialty cup-cake and patisserie shops opening everywhere, establishments serving healthful food like veggie wraps, fresh juices and smoothies are catching up. Evolution Fresh on Fillmore Street is one of the City’s newest additions. The store offers fresh-squeezed and pressed fruit and vegetable juices and smoothies, along with a small menu of prepared and made-to-order sandwiches, salads, wraps, and bowls featuring organic, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. And guess what? Evolution Fresh is owned by
… Starbucks.
What? Yes, last year the coffee giant acquired Evolution Fresh, a juice company that uses high-pressure processing to produce cold-bottled, ready-to-drink fruit and veggie juices and smoothies available in grocery stories and some Starbucks locations. Now the company is slowly rolling out retail stores in Seattle and California.
Evolution Fresh on Fillmore has an airy, clean feel, enhanced by soft overhead lights and blond wood counters and window-side tables, all Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified. What the shop is calling an “interactive” wall is a cold case displaying a colorful variety of bottled juices, smoothies and a selection of grab-and-go food items.
While fresh juices are the main draw — including such concoctions as Sweet Beet, Coconut Zen, Field of Greens, and Pineapple Passion — the smoothies are equally creative, blending ingredients like strawberries, bananas, blueberries, carrots, and mangoes. And you can also get a healthful and tasty meal
or snack.
There are two hot scrambles featuring eggs, greens, quinoa or wild rice, and sauce, and three signature bowls with sauce: one with buckwheat noodles and vegetables; one with lentils, wild rice, and kale; and one with quinoa, kale and butternut squash.
There are two salads: black beans and greens, and a Farmer’s Garden. Small-batch soups range from tomato, cannellini-kale, spiced carrot, and French lentil, to simple stock. Sandwich offerings are turkey with caramelized onions, grilled chicken breast, and cinnamon apple and almond butter on sprouted wheat bread.
You can also find collard-green wraps with fillings of tuna, roasted-red-pepper hummus or ancho-chile chicken. Grilled chicken breast can be added to salads or bowls, and extra sauce choices are roast garlic balsamic, mild harissa, lemon tahini, and tamari five spice.
The grab-and-go sections feature small bites, like boiled eggs, seeded wheat
rolls, and yogurt; and sweet selections in-clude Belgian chocolate granola bars, chocolate-coconut mousse, and delicious cinnamon-raisin oatmeal cookies, all wrapped up and ready to go.
The nutritional value for each serving size of every item is clearly listed on the wall behind the counter and in countertop flyers.
If you’re looking for a quick, nutritious lunch or healthy snack, stop by Evolution Fresh. Just don’t ask for a large latte!
Evolution Fresh: 2201 Fillmore Street, 415-922-1751, www.evolutionfresh
.com, Monday–Friday 7 a.m.–9 p.m., Saturday–Sunday 8 a.m.–9 p.m.
