Ripe Juice Bar and Grill

[rating:3] For now.

 Ripe Juice Bar and Grill on Foodio54

If you go to the website for this business, it lists what the boundaries for delivery are.  The furthermost point uptown says “Union Turnpike”, which is pretty much my hood.  So, I went through the process of creating an account, setting everything up, looking through the menu, and then placing an order.  When trying to save and continue the system says to me “We do not deliver to that zip code”, huh, this is a Union Turnpike vicinity zip code. So I’m hungry, looking for something healthy and now I’m flustered.  If you know me, I’m short tempered when hungry. So I call the place up and ask about this, the girl on the phone was very sweet, sympathetic to my “dilemma” and told me I could order and pick up. I thanked the sweet girl, and then we hung up.

I immediately wrote a letter to the management that their website was misleading and I set to write a review bashing these guys, you know, because I was hungry and they screwed my plans. I then thought about it.  This would be highly unfair and unethical to do, considering I hadn’t eaten there and my review would be based on my frustration about the misunderstanding.  So I didn’t feel that was a good thing to do. I got dressed, walked to the train, and caught a ride out to Forest Hills, I wanted to write a fair complete review.  As this site gets more and more exposure, and I as a journalist get more and more exposure, I am less and less inclined to act on impulse and take unfair action.

So upon arriving at the restaurant I introduced myself, they knew of me as I had called ahead to place my order.  Everyone there was kind and sweet to me and invited me to sit down and wait for my food.  The food was promptly delivered to me.  The place looks quite clean and gives a nice first impression, the staff is nice which also adds to the ambiance and feel of the place.

I had a caesar salad, which was quite good I might add, the vegetables were fresh and crunchy and it had some thin cuts of turkey bacon for good measure.  Very good salad.

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As a main course I had the tilapia and brown  rice with mixed vegetables.

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The main dish was what one would expect from a health spot, it didn’t taste amazing, but the fish didn’t taste “fishy” or bad. The rice and vegetables were plain, bordering bland, didn’t really have any flavor, but again, this is expected considering how food usually taste at places like this.  I did expect the tilapia to have a bit more flavor to it and the fact it was also slightly bland was a let down.

I had a “pina colada” made with healthy stuff and it was really good. I enjoyed that drink along with the salad the most.  I’ll definitely try the place again and give their other items a shot.  I wish they delivered here because then I’d eat their food more often.  At the end of my meal I was presented with a ratings card, and I rated them honestly in line with my experience.  The part I rated most lacking was the main dish in the flavor department. I gave their drinks, sides, staff and location a great rating because it was good.

I’m sure that I’ll eat here again and hopefully I’ll have better luck with the items I order when it comes down to flavoring. I understand that when we eat healthy, less salt is used, and so on, but places like Dig Inn, Muscle Maker Grill, and the Original Pump used to make it work.  Fuel, Energy Kitchen, and now Ripe are hit or miss.  The main course was “ehhhh”, but that caesar and the drink were outstanding.  I look forward to eating here again and giving it another try.

So this is my honest, unbiased review.  🙂  Hey, I’m all for self improvement, and ranting without merit is just not fair.

Read my update on another main dish I tried. 360 degree difference!

Ripe Juice Bar & Grill on Urbanspoon

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