We doubt there are many restaurants that have mission statements.Grilla Bites on the Plaza in downtown Ashland has theirs clearlydisplayed for all to see: "Supporting our environment and community while maintaining a healthy responsibility to our customers through the food we serve."Grilla Bites is a franchise with four restaurants in NorthernCalifornia and Southern Oregon. In what may seem like a paradox in thisworld of fast food franchises, Grilla Bites strives to to purchase asmany of their products from local farmers and growers thus supportingour local economy and community. They also have a strong committment toproviding as much organic food as possible.Here is a franchise thatbases its philosophy on the writings of poet and grassroots activistWendell Berry who outlined in A Turn of the Crank the points needed for a community to flourish and last. These 17 points are listed on the back of the Grilla Bites menus.
We love the social and ethical principles and philosophy butthere's still one question that we needed answering: Is the food anygood? The Gooseberry Fools went incognito to find out.
GrillaBites is well-known for their "Grilla Sandwiches" and its impressiveorganic salad bar, which has to be one of the best in the valley. Thespace is light, airy and relaxed and most food is ordered at thecounter and brought to your table with the exception of the salad bar.We decided to share a salad and and get a couple of their signatureGrillas.
We were very impressed by the organic salad bar, which has a largeselection of salad items with everything from lettuce to baby spinach,olives to feta cheese, cranberries to edamame. You can basically makeany salad you can imagine! The salad bar is paid for by the pound, soproceed with a little restraint--we got carried away by so many greatchoices and ended up with a very heavy bowl. We topped offour multi-colored creation with an organic housemade vegan Caesardressing and headed to the counter to order our Grilla Sandwiches.
Ma Gooseberry ordered the Turkey, Soy Bacon and Avocado Grilla onorganic sourdough wheat while Pa Gooseberry ordered the Fire RoastedGreen Chilli Cheeseburger. Burgers and sandwiches at Grilla Bites comewith the choice of a side of chips or a side of organic vegetables andhummus. We chose the hummus, appreciating the healthy option. Our saladwas weighed and we headed off to the table to wait for the food to beserved.
The Grilla sandwich and burger arrived in a timely fashion.Ma'sTurkey Grilla sandwich was tasty and filling but not extraordinary,more on the healthy, hearty and wholesome side. Pa's Green ChilliBurger on the other hand was out of this world. An organic veggieburger topped with green chillis, grilled onions, mozzarella cheese andall the fixins imaginable made for a mouth watering and highlysatisfying meal. The salad was fresh and delicious, the perfectcompliment to our meal. We finished our meal by sharing an organicbrownie, which was a little on the dry side, slightly disappointing butnot a big deal because we were both so full from our meal.
We were impressed by the excellent selection of drinks from thecooler, the friendliness of the service, and the calm efficiency. It'sthe kind of place you can get a quick bite, or take your time to relaxand enjoy the cheerful ambience while you eat, all the while knowingthe food is healthy and our dollars spent support the local economy. Wewere also delighted to find out that our favorite Ashland band, TheNowhere Men, play at Grilla Bites on a regular basis. We'll be back forthose! And for other occasions, too, because we are big fans of GrillaBites, not only its food but its mission. This unusual idea of afranchise restaurant that focuses on local, fresh organic food isobviously working beautifully at Grilla Bites, and we hope it's a trendthat will continue to grow and become a viable alternative to what weusually think of as fast food chains.
