The week before I traveled to Scotland, my friend, Michelle Alessandro, told me about a new place in the Baylor Student Union Building called Fresh.
She described it as sort of an all-inclusive fresh-vegetable spread at which bowls and smoothies could be assembled. At least that's how I think she described it (there have been a few pub nights between then and now, I must concede). From that description, I imagined the create-your-own-dish section of Whole Foods and set my expectations at that level.
Upon returning from Scotland, Michelle and I hit Fresh for lunch. It was not the Whole Foods-esque layout that I expected. It was more like if Chipotle and Souper Salad had a really healthy baby.
Also, I saw the sign and said, "Oh, it's not called 'Fresh,' it's called 'Fresh-ie.'" That's because I misread the Freshii sign, which I now understand to mean Fresh 2. Why do restaurants do this, btw? Just because you're a smaller version of another restaurant in a food court, there's no need to add a parenthetical designation. It's like when a hotel "Proudly serves Starbucks coffee." Is the intent to trick me into thinking I'm at a Starbucks while at the same time disclaiming that it's not a Starbucks?
Can I choose to some days where a name tag that says "Chad too" because I'm not quite feeling like my 100 percent self and don't want people to judge me based on that day?
Oh well, aside from the name and the misguided expectations, Freshii more or less hit the spot. The bowl of fresh and colorful nutrients that you see with this blog is a solid representation of what Freshii offers. Michelle had a bowl called the "Warrior" and I had what I think was called a "Tapanga." I thought it was supposed to have avocado on it, but it didn't.
I don't want this blog to seem too negative. I had a healthy lunch, which I don't have often enough. And we had interesting conversation, which I don't suppose really applies to the restaurant. I do like dining at the Baylor SUB, though, for what that's worth.
One more bite: There's always the question about whether or not something that appears at the SUB will soon be opening up elsewhere in town. As far as I can tell, there's no correlation. Einstein's didn't and Mooyah didn't.
