Mendocino Farms (Los Angeles, CA)

Just before the Macklemore concert, we needed to grab a bite to eat! Having worked in the area, my guy thought we should hit FIGat7th for Mendocino Farms, especially since we would not have to brave the typically massive lunch crowd. Also, my guy is a sandwich aficionado so I trust his judgment. Many of our first dates were us chowing down on custom paninis!

Back to the restaurant! The sandwiches and the sides are fresh and they embrace the local, slow food movement. You can tell with the awesome flavor combinations! Although they definitely focus more on the sandwiches, the salads and sides are so delicious. Let’s take a peek!

The outside is your typical fast casual dining, which is well-suited to the throngs of office employees that grab their sandwiches for a yummy mid-day meal.

Source

We ordered our sandwiches and then they gave us the option to sample a few of the sides! I had the Curried Couscous and my guy ordered the Korean Style Potato Salad. Yum! By the way, we were eating with other people, so I couldn’t do my food blogger thing where I snap tons of photos. These will have to do for now!

I had the “Not So Fried” Chicken sandwich, which is one of their most popular. Here is the description:

Shaved, roasted free range chicken rolled in Mendo’s krispies with herb aioli, mustard pickle slaw, tomatoes, pickled red onions on toasted ciabatta with a side of chipotle BBQ sauce

It was really great and the “krispies” gave it just enough crunch! I enjoyed it with and without the BBQ sauce since the aioli and slaw were flavorful enough to carry the sandwich. 🙂

Now, you might be wondering about the first photo of that monstrous sandwich…

That delicious one was their special of the month, a steak sandwich on a pretzel bun. I LOVE a pretzel bun! As for what else was in it, I didn’t snap a photo of the menu, but you can just tell it was delicious…

Now, let’s talk ambiance. It’s called Mendocino Farms because of their commitment to locally farmed food, but… they bring it into the restaurant too! Their bottled water is in a chipped porcelain basin.

The walls are covered in chalkboard paint, with informative items like cuts of meat!

And of course, benches are covered in Astro-Turf. 🙂 There is also a foosball table, where the guys played around while we waited for food.

I totally recommend Mendocino Farms as a place to get a quick bite to eat, that is definitely better than your average deli sandwich spot. It’s not very often that you see a Wheatberry Salad or Spicy Lemongrass Steak Banh Mi at a drive through. That alone might be a reason to “forget” your lunch at home…

Besides, they were nice enough to have this yummy-sounding curried orzo on one of their walls. 😉 I might have to try it out soon!