Roots Just Blew My Mind

Roots has been a corner staple for a while now and I had never been before this weekend. Preconceived notions about the food had kept me away from the longest time. I heard people rave constantly about how good it was and I simply assumed that they were getting excited about nothing. I only ever saw letter wearing sorority girls eating it and raving about the food so I assumed it was just another chipotle, which I think is extremely overrated. One of their main selling points is also how healthy the food is, which for me is always a red flag for being overpriced and tasting awful at the same time. I couldn't have been more wrong.

It took a friend actually buying the food for me and delivering it to me to actually give Roots a shot and I was amazed. All I could think about was how much of an idiot I had been for not trying it before then because I loved it. I don't know how they did it but they made healthy food also have lots of great flavor! The bowls seem like recipe for failure if you read the ingredient list. There is just so many different things that just don't sound like they would go together but magically do somehow.

I ordered the el Jefe and was skeptical to say the least when I saw Kale, Avocado, and goat cheese all in the same bowl. I had actually never had Kale before this Roots bowl and by itself, Kale is actually pretty awful. But the rest of the ingredients in the bowl married very well and masked the super food so I got the health benefits without that awful taste and texture. The rice was exceptionally well seasoned and the chicken was cooked to perfection, packing a lot of individual flavor that carried the dish. The addition of the goat cheese allowed for a sharp contrast to bite through the milder components of the dish and coupled with the avocado added a nice creamy finish to every bite. All that was missing was a satisfying crunch which was fortunately provided the red onion and pita chips. Nothing felt out of place, it all felt intentional and it worked phenomenally.

I fell prey to the age old adage, "Don't judge a book by its cover," and refused to try one of the corner's best food options simply because I thought it was over hyped basic white girl health food. I almost wish I had never tried it to be honest because now I'm going to be graduating in two weeks and may never get to enjoy it again. Learn from my mistakes, if you haven't tried Roots yet go out and change that. You won't regret it.