1. Different than other fast casual restaurants
Especially living in DC, I am sure you have been to plenty of fast casual restaurants – from Cava to Sweetgreen to Beefsteak. But Honeygrow turns their fast casual restaurant into a whole different experience.
2. They hire some of the friendliest staff
As soon as you walk in the staff is super friendly. Greeted with a warm “Welcome to Honeygrow!” They make sure you feel comfortable ordering and know what you are doing.
Each employee is trained with a virtual reality (VR) program so they can see what it looks like. By the time they go through training they have already heard all about the company from a virtual picture of the real founder and CEO Justin Rosenberg and seen how to prepare the food. Virtual reality training, thats how to keep it fun, engaging and real – way to go.
3. Honest eating and locally grown food
Honest eating and locally grown food. Honestly grown. Honeygrow. All ingredients are fresh. You won’t find a freezer in the stores. If they can buy it locally, they do. One of my favorite things about Honeygrow is that they have a special dish designed for the part of the region the restaurant is in. Our DC, and Baltimore area has Chesapeake Crab stir fry with real, fresh lump crab meat on top.
Other cities have dishes catered to their signature food also. Honeygrow’s hometown city turns the famous Roast Pork Sandwich into a pork stir-fry. Chicago Honeygrow’s carry a nice Italian style stir fry. And Boston has that juicy Maine lobster.
4. The are sleek and speedy
Their modern take on ordering food allows you to customize your dish exactly how you like it. You place your order on a Kiosk with big bright circles. It’s easy to read, and easy to use. You can choose from their signature dishes and substitute items or add ingredients to your liking. The whole restaurant is designed to make it a easy and refreshing process. The menu lists the ingredients along with the names of area farms whose products are used. You can watch each cook prepare your food with fresh ingredients right before your eyes.
5. They have created an iPhone game
Honeygrow has an app that allows you to order online, set up your pick up time and looks just like the in-store Kiosks. The best part of the app is that they have created a game on the app that you can play while you wait for your food (or really anytime you’re bored). In addition to earning 100 points every $1 you spend anyway, on the game you win points that you can use toward your next order. And it’s really fun!
6. They make all their own homemade dressing
The wide range of suggested salads or create your own salad option all contain a homemade dressing option. The Kiosk allows you to choose your dressing type whether you want to add more, add less or the option for on the side. Each salad is carefully crafted using the freshest ingredients: local and seasonal vegetables and proteins. Each season there is a rotational seasonal salad. This seasons summer salad is the freshest summer salad I have ever had – creamy cilantro lime dressing, chopped romaine, black beans, grape tomatoes, roasted corn, red onion, huge avocado lumps and cotija cheese is the perfect topping. It was awesome.
7. Not your stereotypical stir-fry
Typically when you hear the word stir-fry you think of a noodle and vegetable dish cooked with Soy Sauce for that Asian stir-fry taste. Honeygrow shows that stir-fry is just the method of cooking using a big wok to mix ingredients over hot heat. Honeygrows stir-frys have incredible flavors beyond Asian inspired dishes. If you don’t believe me, go and try each and every stir-fry for a very different and delicious flavor.
8. They actually have good tasting juices
Everyone wants to like healthy juices, because, you know, they are healthy. But sometimes they just don’t taste good. Honeygrows three juices are actually tasty. Better Off Red, Green Is Good, Orange You Thirsty – clever and delicious.
9. They have a unique dessert that could also be a meal
Honeygrow has a honey bar that lets you create your own dessert or snack using fresh fruit and local honey (or maple syrup) ranging from wildflower, buckwheat or clover. You get a cup of fresh fruit of your choosing and the option to add housemade whipped cream and garnishes including coconut flakes, granola, dark chocolate chips and more. It looks like a small cup of dessert, but it is not. It is like a marry poppins bag, it feels like it just keeps going and never going away. I could also eat it for breakfast every morning if I could.
10. It’s really good
You could come to Honeygrow every day or multiple times a day and it doesn’t get old. They have so many options it is very hard to get sick of the food. You could go for lunch and have a salad and go back for dinner and have a stir-fry and no one would judge. They plan to open many locations in other cities and expand past the two locations in DC. Head over to Pentagon City or Chinatown to try Honeygrow ASAP!