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I ordered the chef's seasonal plate with a salmon fillet.
- Lemonade is a California-based fast-casual chain.
- It's part of the "fast slow food" movement, which aims to serve up healthy fare quickly and relatively cheaply.
- During a recent trip to Los Angeles, I decided to try out Lemonade for myself.
Lemonade is trying to sweeten California's fast-casual dining scene.
The menu? "Seasonal Southern California comfort food." What that seems to mean is a lot of lean proteins, leafy salads, and entreés like poke made from seasonal produce. Oh, and fresh-pressed lemonade, of course.
The first store opened in 2008, and it has expanded slowly across Southern California and into Northern California as well. The expansion has been fueled by investments like a $22 million infusion from Butterfly in 2016 and an undisclosed amount from KKR in 2014. It now has 28 locations up and down the state.
Lemonade's food is served cafeteria-style, À la carte and complete with trays. Only some of the cooking is done on-site. Some items are finished in-store after being supplied by a central kitchen.
It's been a hit with Californians, so on a recent trip to Los Angeles, I decided I needed to try it myself. Here's what it was like: