b.good Restaurant Opens on Front Street East

Fast food is certainly convenient for working people, particularly when you have a short lunch hour and may want to squeeze in a gym visit, but nutrition is often traded for that convenience. Not so at the new b.good Restaurant, which opened its doors on Toronto’s Front Street East on February 6, 2015.

b.good’s motto is to make “fast food real by making it the way it should be… by people, not factories.” The restaurant is overseen by a general manager and dishes are executed by staff according to recipes that have been standardized at their U.S. locations. b.good also sources its ingredients from local farmers. In fact, there is a giant blackboard at the front of the restaurant that indicates which Ontario farmers have provided the restaurant’s food inputs such as beef, chicken, cheese and vegetables.

b.good also wants to give back to the community. The way it works is customers can become a member of the b.good family. Just sign up with your name and email at the counter and you’ll receive an email confirming that you are a member, plus you’ll be entitled to receive a free order of hand-cut fries. Benefits of being a member of the b.good family are spontaneous in that you never know when you’ll receive an email entitling you to a free meal. And these meals can be forwarded to a friend or donated to the Regent Park Community Food Centre, b.good’s designated charity. Plus members of the b.good “family” get invited to special events.

Considering b.good has only been open for a few days, I was surprised to see how busy it already is. We placed my order and my meal was ready within a few minutes.

I sampled the Beet Ginger Lemonade, $1.99, which is made with cane sugar. It is sweet, but not unbearably so.

I was curious to try the Kale Crush Smoothie, $6.49, with fresh kale, apple, pineapple, banana and pineapple juice. b.good’s Smoothie ingredients vary, depending on what produce is in season. The Kale Crush Smoothie was quite refreshing; the kale was balanced well by the banana and pineapple flavours. This smoothie is pretty thick though since it’s made with banana so you may not need to order food if you opt for the smoothie.

The artistry of the Curry and Grilled Avocado Kale and Quinoa Bowl, $10.99, was breathtaking. The bowl featured grilled avocado, finely-chopped kale, quinoa, almonds, cauliflower, peas, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, zucchini and a mint-yogourt dressing with mild curry seasoning. I defy anyone to finish this at lunch, the serving was so ample. And the ingredients were a symphony of flavours. I would definitely order the Curry and Grilled Avocado bowl the next time I visit b.good.

But the Adopted Luke Chicken Sandwich, $8.49, was decadent. (Sandwiches with burger, turkey or veggies are $7.49). The sandwich was made with all natural, hormone-free chicken, mushrooms, carmelized onions, smoked gouda and barbeque sauce. The sweet carmelized onion blended beautifully with the smoked gouda and the flavours were pulled together by the bbq sauce. A definite must order on the menu.

b.good restaurant is located at 100 Front Street East (at Jarvis Street), just across the street from St. Lawrence Market. Whether you’re working in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood or checking out the market, drop in to b.good for some delicious and healthy take out food.