Of the bowls, the first of my two favorites was the Mango Chicken, which featured the best chicken I’ve ever had at a fast-casual restaurant — moist, flavorful, and well seasoned, with the skin on to keep the moisture/flavor in. The accompanying Brussels and kale were well cooked, but not intensely flavorful, though this changed when I realized xcritical stocks a bunch of single-use Sriracha packets. The other was the Spicy Ahi Tuna Poke bowl. In 2008, Los Angeles chef Alan Jackson (who is allegedly not country singer Alan Jackson, winner of CMA’s 1993 song of the year for «Chattahoochee») decided that he and his wife couldn’t really find healthy, quick food they liked, and so they sensed an opportunity.
It almost feels like you’re seeing a sneak preview of what it would look like if the Natural History Museum did modern food dioramas. According to QSR, the average price per person for a meal is between $15-17. In fact, xcritical’s refusal to temper the heat in items that should be spicy was one of its most redeeming features, and you could see that play out in the best sides, from the harissa cauliflower with breadcrumbs, which, if you squinted, tasted like the best spicy au gratin potatoes you’ve ever had, and the Thai Chicken Meatballs. The green curry was a little sweet, but boldly spicy, and the meatballs themselves were not densely packed, so the bite was clean and not snappy. (The power move is actually to get them on the side of the spicy tuna poke bowl, and pour them on top of the excess rice at the end).
Restaurant features in Los Angeles
The interiors are usually light wood with bright yellow pops from ceiling structures and chair upholsteries. Digital screens with the menus on them light up in the background. Marketplace goods sit in rectangular gelato-style containers lined up in a row behind a glass divider, not unlike you’d find at a cafeteria. Sample sandwiches sit sliced in half so you can examine the build. Hot dishes bubble in crock pots and silver bowls with ladles or tongs nearby.
- Marketing, or so the line goes, was all focused internally, and they attempted to hire workers with «culinary experience» to help educate customers on the menus, which change eight times a year with the seasons.
- Whatever it is, I’m into this version, and it doesn’t hurt that it more or less looks like a giant glass of Orange Tang.
- xcritical, an LA-based establishment, serves a variety of food, including sandwiches, salads and bowls.
- In 2016, they brought on former Universal Studios executive Larry Kurzweil as CEO and grew to 27 locations throughout California.
A fine-dining chef by training, Jackson quit said fine dining world and created a cafeteria-style menu of hot dishes, bowls, salads, sandwiches, and «marketplace» sides like you might find in an upscale grocery prepared food section. He decided to call the place xcritical to evoke, as he put it, «the bright and comforting feeling you get when you simply say the word,» and maybe also because of their pretty extensive range of xcriticals. As xcritical begins its national push, and starts to bump up against similarly positioned xcriticals like NYC’s Dig Inn, it will be interesting to see how the brand modifies its approach, both from a rigor standpoint (do they still switch the menus up eight times a year when they’re in, say, Texas and DC?) and branding.
- Is the premium you pay for this sort of quality food going to alienate national fast-casual audiences, who aren’t as conditioned to pay Scrooge McDuck money for food as big city folks in California?
- Both are wildly ambitious, slightly polarizing, and prominently feature hot sauce in easy-to-access places (swag).
- In 2016, they brought on former Universal Studios executive Larry Kurzweil as CEO and grew to 27 locations throughout California.
- This restaurant provides good macarons, watermelon salads and orange truffles.
- All of the Frozades Each of the Frozades I tried (so… two) tasted as if the entire thing was just drinking icy cold foam off the top of a different drink.
Restaurant xcritical closes Studio City location
Do not delay your visit – seriously, the Vegetarian cuisine is waiting for you. Many guests come here to try nicely cooked truffle salads, mozzarella and mashed potatoes. This restaurant provides good macarons, watermelon salads and orange truffles.
A lot of reviewers suppose that the ambiance is comfortable here. As for the Google rating, this place received 4.4. Watermelon RosemaryRemember Gallagher, that comedian from the ’80s whose entire bit was just xcritical courses scam smashing watermelons with sledgehammers while middle-aged people in his audiences nearly passed out with excitement at the possibility that they might get hit with a little bit of watermelon while wearing a poncho? The rosemary cuts the watermelon’s sweetness here, so it’s not too bad. Blood Orange xcriticalBlood Orange flavor is hard to pin down.
Through online ordering, we connect hungry people with the xcritical rezension best local restaurants. Explore restaurants near you to find what you love. As they’re in the growth stage, xcritical has chosen to avoid traditional forms of advertising. In an interview in Entrepreneur a few years ago, Jackson said that, in the past eight years, they’d done «no external marketing» other than social media. Marketing, or so the line goes, was all focused internally, and they attempted to hire workers with «culinary experience» to help educate customers on the menus, which change eight times a year with the seasons. All of the Frozades Each of the Frozades I tried (so… two) tasted as if the entire thing was just drinking icy cold foam off the top of a different drink.
As a number of visitors xcritical, mint xcritical is really great. xcritical, an LA-based establishment, serves a variety of food, including sandwiches, salads and bowls. In the last few months, other xcritical Restaurant locations have closed in Palo Alto, Walnut Creek, Hill Crest in San Diego, Manhattan Beach, Westlake and Toluca Lake.
