Garden Bar Salad Co.

2045 SE Division St.

gardenbarpdx.com

503.719.5924

Open daily 10:30 am – 9 pm

In the evolution of Division Street the new restaurants have enticed local diners with all sorts of different culinary delights. So what hasn’t been done? Ana Choud and Chris Handford, owners of Garden Bar at 2045 SE Division, bring something different to the table. They have created a salad-based restaurant that offers delicious and nutritious greens plus a variety of toppings and dressings ensuring a new taste every time.

Ana and Chris came to Portland from different parts of the country but serendipity brought them together. Ana had a management consulting firm in San Francisco and Chris worked as a fine dining chef in Washington D.C. In order to survive in Portland, people often need to reinvent themselves to figure out what’s next. Ana’s interest and study of nutrition, her friendship with Chris’s wife Molly and his talent as a chef started the wheels in motion for Garden Bar. “I knew I wanted to do something that combined nutrition with a business,” Ana said. “The Garden Bar is the result.”

Ready to serve
Ready to serve

The reason raw, leafy greens are such an energizing and satisfying food source is because they are rich in fiber, low in calories and depending on the type of green, high in vitamin and mineral content. Add to this the myriad of choices of locally-sourced vegetables and fruits, grains and légumes, fresh meats and cheeses, and you have everything needed to keep you body fueled and satisfied.

“A lot of people just see salads as a side so they are not very big,” Ana said. At Garden Bar the portions are large. “By the time you have finished eating one of our salads you are full and because of the long digestive process you will stay that way for hours.” They are big and delicious, it took two sittings to finish the delicious Northwest Bowl sampled by The Southeast Examiner that included diced kale, raw beets, tempeh, quinoa, carrots, hemp seeds, dried NW cherries, hazelnuts, chevre and green goddess dressing.

“We try to source as much as we can locally, but the growing season in the Northwest is short and our ingredients are varied so we can’t always shop local,” Chris said. Considering the medley of ingredients to choose from for a customized salad that’s understandable. Their specialty salads sound mouth watering and use interesting ingredients like those in Cowboy Up – romaine, arugula, roasted steak, red onion, toasted chick peas, roasted potatoes, blue cheese dressing, chimichurri. All bowls are put together behind the counter by the resident chef at the time of ordering and can be eaten in the restaurant or made to go.

Greens are the main attraction at Garden Bar but they also offer seasonal soup, Pearl Bakery bread, Jacobsen Oregon sea salt bagel chips, raw desserts, local beverages and other delectables.

The process usually goes pretty fast but if you just want to grab and go you can order online and they will have it ready and waiting for you to pick up on your lunch hour, going home from work or anytime you want to refresh and rejuvenate your body with live food.

Garden Bar Salad Co.

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