Fine Food Fast – Fresh to Order

Disclaimer: Although I was provided a complimentary lunch at Fresh To Order, all opinions are my own. 

Mall Food.

I shudder just thinking about it. Greasy pizza, soggy subs, dry chicken and under-cooked french fries, or Chinese food that has been sitting under heat lamps for who knows how long. So not appetizing. But that was then…

I’ve discovered a new place in town and it’s making me rethink my distaste for mall food.

Introducing Fresh To Order!

Fresh To Order (F2O) founder and CEO Pierre Panos describes the Atlanta-based concept he created in 2006 as “Fast Fine… It’s nicer than fast casual, but not fine dining,” he says. “Fresh to Order is on a mission to provide an elevated level of service and menu options at a fast-casual price to guests across the country.”

When I was invited to this special tasting for bloggers at F2O I wasn’t sure I wanted to go. You read my stance above on mall food. So I headed over to the F2O website to check it out. While the website is lacking in detailed information about the restaurant concept, the photos of the food were enough to motivate me to say “YES!!”.

When I arrived at F2O my immediate thought was, “This isn’t your typical food court stop”. They serve entrees, paninis, soups and salads all made-to-order in less than 10 minutes for around $10. Yes! fine. food. fast. (and affordable, too!)

The Facility

The interior is decorated in warm earthy tones with bright pops of color, large photos of their offerings adorn the walls. With the sizable windows surrounding the restaurant there is plenty of natural light to add to the warm ambiance. I also LOVE how the kitchen area is open so you can see all the “behind the scenes” cooking.

You have many choices for seating inside the dining area, as well as a few tables in the mall corridor. Outside there is a small patio area with tables and big orange umbrellas to shade you from the sun.

Food and Drink

When I walked in I was handed a cup and directed to their fabulous drink bar. In addition to soft drinks, coffee and water, F2O has an amazing selection of house-made iced teas, lemonades and cucumber water. They have regular tea, as well as unusual flavors, such as Sweet Citrus Mint and Green Apple Cinnamon, along side outstanding lemonades F2O Vanilla Star Anise Mint and Raspberry Mojito.

As you can see by their menu below (click on the image to access a PDF file) they offer reasonably priced, made-from-scratch items, using quality, locally-sourced ingredients.

Our lunch started out with samples of three popular F2O’s appetizers… Blackened Lime Shrimp with Ginger Apricot Coleslaw (delish!), Ale Laced Chicken Tenders (probably the best chicken tenders I’ve ever eaten, so juicy inside and crunchy on the outside), and Almond Crusted Seared Tuna with the Ginger Apricot Coleslaw (my favorite of the three).

Next, they brought out a six small bowls of the restaurant’s soups: Wild Mushroom (vegetarian), Tomato Bisque (vegetarian), Corn Chowder (vegetarian), Lentil (vegan, gluten free, dairy free), Creamy Chicken Vegetable, Chicken Tortilla. Since there were six soups and three of us we each picked two. I tried the Chicken Tortilla and Creamy Chicken Vegetable, both were outstanding.

For our final sampler, we were presented with a selection of delectable salads, South West (Mixed Greens, Tomatoes, Cheese, Roasted Corn, Golden Raisins, Cranberries, Tortilla Crisps, Southwest Ranch), Mediterranean (Mixed Greens, Feta Cheese, Roasted Tomatoes, Olive Salad, Grilled Onions, Toasted Almonds, Herbs, Red Grapes, Ginger Apricot Vinaigrette), and the Club Salad (Mixed Greens, Toasted Almonds, Bacon, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Avocados, Cheese, Golden Raisins, Cranberries, Honey Mustard). All three were amazing.

And if that wasn’t enough, we also picked an entree to try. I’ve been drooling over the Bison Burger ever since I saw it on the F2O website so my choice was easy. From their “Better for you Burger” section, the Bison Burger is served on hand stretched whole wheat flat bread that is grilled with chili infused olive oil and topped with baby field greens, barbecue sauce, Blue Cheese crumbles (which I skipped, because eww!) and a horseradish aoli. It came with a side of Granny Smith apple slices. This burger was so amazingly good, I was sad that I couldn’t finish it. Tender, juicy and flavorful, what more could you ask for?!?

After trying ALL of the food, we were just too full for dessert. But for those of you who have a sweet tooth and didn’t stuff their face, F2O has a wonderful selection of pie, cupcakes, cookies, and Fudge Brownie 27 (named so because it was the 27th recipe chef tried before deciding it was perfect).

I want to thank F2O for such a scrumptious lunch. I enjoyed the food so much I brought my kids back a few days later. It was a HUGE hit.

You can’t beat the prices or selection for their kid’s meals. Check out what my 10 YO ordered… Grilled Steak Medallions and it was only $6! You can barely buy a Happy Meal for that and this is so much more healthy and delicious!

The choices for kid’s meals are amazing, grilled steak medallions, fresh seared salmon with wheat berry rice and carrot sticks, kids chicken Caesar salad, coconut chicken, with sweet mashed potatoes, just to name a few, and for the truly picky child they offer delicious chicken tenders and organic pb&j sandwiches!

There was six of us having lunch. We ordered 3 kid’s meals (mac ‘n cheese, steak medallions, chicken tenders), 2 entrees (bison burger, grilled salmon), and 2 appetizers (calamari, seared tuna) plus 3 drinks and the bill was under $58 (before tip). We would pay close to that at the drive through and the food is terrible!

I would highly recommend checking out Fresh To Order. You won’t regret it!

Find a Fresh To Order location near you. Currently they have locations in Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida.

Disclaimer: Although I was provided a complimentary lunch at Fresh To Order, all opinions are my own.