Zoe’s Kitchen a Win for Healthy But Flavorful Food
By BLAKE AUSTYN
Contributing Editor
Zoe’s Kitchen boasts a handful of greater Tulsa locations, with four Tulsa-area restaurants, including Tulsa Hills and south Tulsa, and a fifth in Broken Arrow.
Its menu consists of a variety of healthy, fresh mediterranean items of starters, bowls, salads, pitas, kabobs, sandwiches and more in a fast-casual dining setting. Zoe’s began in Alabama over 20 years ago and is currently in 20 states throughout the country.
A friend and I recently visited Zoe’s Brookside location at 3629 S. Peoria Ave.
Its interior is bright with plentiful seating located in a convenient spot along Peoria Avenue.
My party began with the Pesto Basil Hummus, which comes with the dipping choice of cucumbers, pita bread, or both. I enjoyed the bright pesto basil flavor, which is a bit of an untraditional hummus flavor. Other hummus options are Classic and Harissa Red Pepper.
For our entrees, we chose the Mediterranean Salad Trio Bowl with Baked Falafel added for an additional dollar. Grilled Chicken, Lamb Kafta and Harissa Salmon are also available as add-on proteins for an additional charge. Like so many of Zoe’s dishes, it was flavorful and fresh. The dish is a combo of pesto farro, quinoa, and cauliflower rice with house-made Greek tzatziki, Italian salsa verde, feta, cucumbers and fresh dill. At first, I figured that it would be fairly dry, but the tzatziki, salsa and feta added the needed moistness.
Our other main dish was the Spinach and Mushroom Piadina—a flatbread sandwich with mushrooms, spinach, feta, parmesan and mozzarella—and our chosen side of marinated slaw. Other side options include roasted vegetables, fresh fruit, pita chips, pasta salad and baked falafel.
This sandwich was suggested as a favorite of the server who took our order at the front counter. Its most noticeable flavors were mushrooms and spinach, which I love. The other flavors served as side notes. So, if you aren’t into mushrooms and spinach, unless you’re trying to be, choose another sandwich.
Regarding the marinated slaw, while I love cole slaw (and was expecting a version of that), this proved to be simply cabbage with feta cheese. Though the feta proved to be a welcome added flavor to the cabbage, most people would find it to be bland. While I appreciated the healthiness of the side dish, I too found it to be a bit too bland for my liking.
We selected, as our dessert, the pre-boxed chocolate cake, which sits in the grab-and-go area and is a great value—a nice gooey slice of chocolate cake for under $3. And it is delicious!
As I prepared to order, an older man walked up to the counter—a “regular” by the way that he was greeted—and purchased two cake slices to go.
The grab-and-go area also features various snack boxes and salads.
More information about Zoe’s menu and its locations can be found at zoeskitchen.com. Depending on the locaation, Zoe’s is open approximately 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
