MyWellness RD

According to Wikipedia: A fast casual restaurant, found primarily in the United States, does not offer full table service, but promises higher quality food than other fast food restaurants (with fewer frozen or processed ingredients).

As far as I know, Bolay was one of the first fast-casual concepts to hit the South Florida area that instituted a create-your-own bowl style of service (other than chipolte). I visited their wellington location last year. Now, Bolay has made it’s way to Boca Raton with plans to open up other locations around Florida.

The customizable aspect  gives consumers tasty (and for the most part nutritious) options to choose from. For the base, one can choose a whole-grain low-carb noodles, just greens or all three! Grain bowls are a thing, too.

All images appearing in this post photographed by Holli Lapes, property of My Wellness RD, LLC

1) Be Bold at Bolay Boca Raton

BBQ Chicken & Spicy Thai Shrimp

Miso Glazed Tofu, & Spicy Thai Shrimp

Bolay also offers tea, cold-pressed juices and a couple of desserts. See my previous post about them for more details.

2) Give a FK at Fresh Kitchen Boca Raton

Another newcomer to the South Florida area is Fresh Kitchen whose flagship location is in Tampa is also located in Boca Raton, just down the road from Bolay Boca. This is a 100% gluten-free establishment and dairy-free unless indicated. All of the meats used are hormone and antibiotic free.

Sweet Potato Noodles, Sweet Potato Mash, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Herb Grilled Steak, Citrus Avocado, Coconut Sriracha & Holy Kale Sauces

The sweet potato noodles are pretty interesting – they don’t actually taste like sweet potato but are good. Speaking of good and flavorful – the sauces were very good. I like that they went heavy on the lemon in the avocado. The steak was tender and happened to be cooked to my liking.

Aside from this Almond mylk, Fresh Kitchen decided not to offer cold-pressed juices at this location because of the close proximity of their neighbors Raw Juce.

3) Think inside the bowl at Beehive Kitchen Ft. Lauderdale

The most recent addition to the scene is Beehive Kitchen. They are last, but certainly not least! Here are some highlights from the hormone free, gluten friendly & antibiotic free menu:

Baked Almond Crusted Chicken with Lemon Basil Quinoa and Parmesean Roasted Broccoli

East Meets West – whole grain brown rice sweet potato glass noodles szechuan green beans ahi tuna poke citrus marinated avocado thai coconut curry

This one was one of the pre-fixed options (aka buzz bowls) that are available if you don’t want to build your own bowl. The sweet potato glass noodles made an appearance here again. I love the flavor profile on the green beans. This has definitely become a go-to dish for me.

MIAMI VICE – pineapple green apple strawberry orange and ginger, MOO BEE – h2o almond honey vanilla dates cinnamon sea salt

The miami vice was too sweet for me, maybe it needs more ginger or some lemon.

(Right) The Honey Pot – honey cake spiced pecans sweet buttercream (Left) The Honey Bee – chocolate cake honey buttercream

These were pretty darn delicious, actually. They tasted pretty rich, I wonder how many calories they are. The portion is small though, which is good since they seemed like they might be calorie dense. Just enough to satisfy your sweet tooth!

Other bowl crazes happening in the area include Poke Bowls and Acai Bowls. Leave a comment with your favorite bowl and where we can find it!

All images appearing in this post photographed by Holli Lapes, property of My Wellness RD, LLC

Holli Lapes, RD, LD/N is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist in South Florida. Holli is the founder of The South Florida Sage (http://thesoflasage.com/) a food & drink blog featuring culinary experiences from the Miami, Broward and Palm Beach area.

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Disclaimer: I received a complimentary tasting at Bolay, Fresh Kitchen, and Beehive Kitchen.