Sunday, May 6, 2012

Review of Mrs Winston's Green Grocery


I gave Mrs Winston's Green Grocery an overall score of 3.6, or 4 stars, based on the following 7 categories:
number of visits1 of 5, Once was enough.
price range4 of 5, I only have a $20.
family friendly?2 of 5, You're cramping my style.
% menu vegan5 of 5, No worries.
quality of service3 of 5, Didn't notice.
quality of food4 of 5, Happy tongue.
local mainstay?2 of 5, Fresh paint, but it's a good color.

Comments:
Mrs Winston’s is a great little salad shop and green grocery, the type that I wish was on every corner. The Water Garden is a blight on Santa Monica. Mix the 2, and you get GW Bush at a Kanye West show.
For our first venture to The Water Garden, we entered the central area, made our way along the vacated ponds and streams to Mrs Winston’s, found a nice outdoor table next to the water, and leaned our bikes on each other, next to the table. The landscape was serene but very sterile and manufactured; think poorly funded Disney or a suburbia park that’s struggling to pull off the wealthy community feel. It seems extremely out of place in Santa Monica.
Mrs Winston’s has a solid, but not large, salad bar; eclipsed by Whole Foods up the street if you don’t mind the lack of intimacy. Additionally, they have a lot of green grocery merchandise that is packed into this very small space. It’s a fun store with plenty for vegans and greenies, and cheaper than you would expect for a corner grocer. However, they do not have “for here” plates and utensils, which is a big strike in my book.
Once we paid for our food and returned to our table and bikes, we realized that Gestapo had locked the bikes together. It turns out that The Water Gardens frowns on anything that takes away from their crappy, sterile look. They “prefer” that bikes get parked underground in the subterranean car parking structure. This was strike 2. I didn’t ask directly, but I would guess that they also prefer no facial hair or unescorted women.
Mrs Winston’s is a great little green grocer corner store with a good salad bar. For some strange reason, they chose to put one in The Water Garden. Which brings me to strike 3, there’s another Mrs Winston’s within 2 miles on Ocean Park. If you want to try this place out, ride another few minutes and avoid the juxtaposed suburbia at all costs.
Additional Info
Address: 2450 Colorado Ave, 90407
Area: Mid City
Reviewed Meal: Lunch
Ethnicity: American
Click for more info.