By Charly SHELTON

Eating healthy is always a smart move but more often than not, it is too difficult. The drive-thru at Jack in the Box is easier for a quick lunch than Whole Foods, not only because it is faster but easier on the mind to just get something premade and not worry about it. And while Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop still requires one to get out of the car, this counter service restaurant will get good-for-you food, fast. They offer organic, local, all-natural ingredients in just about every way you can think of.

I was invited to the media event to taste some of Greenleaf’s specialties, like the Antioxidant Orchard salad with fruits, vegetables and blue cheese atop a bed of baby greens, the Buffalo “Wangs,” an almond crusted chicken nugget with chipotle orange bbq sauce, and the Filet Mignon slider, a thin slice of filet mignon steak served as a burger with garlic aioli, micro wasabi, caramelized onion and blue cheese.

Greenleaf offer salads, pizzas, burgers, sandwiches, tacos, snacks and appetizers, a juice bar, protein shakes, pastas, grilled salmon, stir fry and a build-your-own salad bar, as well as beer and wine, and a cocktail program. That is a lot to try to fit on one menu with any coherence. And while the food is good enough, the whole place lacks coherence and character. It just seems like any old place nowadays, with polished wood tables and floors, white tiles all the way around with black trim, an exposed kitchen, recessed lighting and Edison bulbs hanging above the tables for accents, barrels placed around the floor as condiment stations and little tables, and food is served in quaint wire baskets with wax paper. There isn’t much that sets this place apart from any other generic restaurant that has opened in the last few years.

The food is good enough, nothing to write home about but a satisfying meal. I feel like this is more a safe option than a destination. You come here because you know everyone will find something, rather than a specific food that is great but polarizing. This is the place you go when you ask your girlfriend what she wants for dinner and she says “I don’t care, anything is fine.” As I have learned, ‘anything is fine’ means there is only one right answer and I need to psychically divine what that is. So you go to Greenleaf, because no matter what that right answer is, they probably offer it.

For more information, visit greenleafchopshop.com. Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop is located at 252 S. Brand Blvd in Glendale.

  Charly Shelton