Verde

It's time to talk about the restaurant where I eat at least 30% of the meals that I don't make myself: Verde.

That's right. One out of every three meals I eat out ... Is at Verde. Funny, because I avoided eating at Verde for years because I didn't know "the situation" ( How to order, what to get, etc. ) So let's get that out of the way immediately:

If there is a line, just get in the back of it.
If there is miraculously NOT a line ( if anyone has been to a Verde and not had a line I'd love to know about it in the comments! ) you start at the end of the counter opposite of the cash register.
Choose to get your food in a bowl ( salad ), or a wrap.
You may order off of the menu of salads, or you may build your own ( which includes 4 toppings and no meat before they start charging you extra, but I find that 4 toppings is plenty ).
Pass on the bread -- it's not that great.
Pay at the end of the line, take your salad, and go eat somewhere else.

Of course, those last two are heavily editorialized. The bread isn't bad -- but it falls squarely into the category of "not worth the calories" for me, so I almost always pass on it. Yes, I realize the picture at the top of the post has bread in it... that actually isn't my salad. 🙂 If you feel the need to have some sort of bread in your salad, get the cornbread croutons: THOSE are delicious.

As for not eating in Verde -- there's nothing wrong with the building's atmosphere per se, but every location I've gone to has always been so busy that it's awkward to sit with a line wrapping around your table, including baby carriages filling entire pathways, and entire groups of people having conversations over your head while they continue to wait in line. But you don't go to Verde for the atmosphere.

You go for the salads. The delicious, delicious salads. I've had all of their menu salads ( Uh, like I said ... I go there a lot ... ), and they are all great, if the thought of making a minimum of 8 decisions to build your own salad makes you nervous. Those would be : Wrap or Salad, Chopped or Not, Four Toppings, Meat?, Bread or No Bread. I've found that building your own salad is usually a little more pricey, but for me, is a worthwhile splurge when I'm in the mood for something particular.

The one downside to Verde is that it really is just a salad ( okay okay and wrap ) place. For me, that's awesome. I've never NOT been able to have a fabulous meal there. However, it does mean that I 100% can never eat there with my husband, who does not eat lettuce. If they would just carry some plain rice, I could easily double my consumption of delicious Verde salads, as I could trick my husband into going to there and get a wrap or bowl filled with salad toppings over rice as a meal. Verde, if you're listening, this is my dream.

TL;DR:

A great place to pick up a huge but healthy lunch, with a wall of lettuce and a smorgasbord of salad topping options. Although I am completely in love with their salads, there is literally nothing on the menu my lettuce-hating husband can eat, so I never get to go for dinner.

Eat:

Mesa Verde, or build your own ( I'm partial to romaine, basil, hearts of palm, grapes, sunflower seeds, and shrimp, chopped, with champagne vinaigrette )

Drink:

I love the fresh juices but really a water will do you just fine.

Wear:

Spin-class casual

Locate:

They have several locations, and I've been to them all with some regularity, but my usual haunt these days is:
616-A Long Point Road
Mount Pleasant, SC