Last Friday, Jen and I were out running errands and we were in need of a meal. Our last stop for the afternoon was a grocery trip to Trader Joe’s, and we originally planned to stop at a nearby Quizno’s. Then we remembered a new restaurant that had opened right next door to Trader Joe’s. The place is called Evos, and the company’s slogan (well, one of them) is, “Fast food, evolved.” We went inside, perused the restaurant’s menu and made some choices. When we got to the counter, the cashier asked if we had been there before, and since we hadn’t, he gave us an informative introduction to the company and some of its products. He explained that Evos “air cooks” everything, using convection ovens, as opposed to grilling or frying. The company claims that this method produces healthier food, and to emphasize this, our cashier called up for some samples of Evos’ “air fries,” which are french fries cooked using the air-bake method. (And they’re good, but more on that later.) I settled on a steakburger with a side of air fries, and Jen chose the troutburger also with a side of air fries. Evos offers several brewed teas to drink, along with a soda fountain, bottled water and other beverages. I decided to try the herbal raspberry tea over ice. Jen chose the black tea over ice.
My herbal raspberry tea.
As an aside, I’d like to mention that Evos is the first restaurant I’ve found with Coke Zero on the fountain, and Coke Zero is one of the bestt zero-calorie sodas.
After a short wait, our food was ready. And on the outside, it looked like pretty standard fast food fare:
But once we got the sandwiches unwrapped, we realized that this was no McMeal. They actually looked like food!
Jen’s troutburger.
My steakburger. Well, the top of it, anyway.
My steakburger was served on a fresh kaiser-style bun with lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, ketchup and cheddar cheese. All the stuff you need for a great burger. (I did give the tomatoes to Jen, though. But that’s just ’cause I don’t like tomatoes.) (Jen’s troutburger came pretty much the same way, except it had mayo instead of ketchup.) The burger was really good. The meat was thoroughly cooked, and had a good flavor to it. The toppings weren’t overused, so the burger didn’t turn into a pile of mush like a lot of fast food burgers tend to do. And the quality of the ingredients really came through, as the burger wasn’t heavily spiced or salted.
Evos’ air fries are surprisingly good. Just like with the burger, the fries aren’t heavily salted, so the natural flavor of the potatoes comes bursting through. The fries are served in little cardboard containers (see photo above) just like other fast food places. The difference is, once the containers are empty, they’re not overly stained with grease. Evos has a ketchup bar that features four different ketchups:
Unfortunately, I can’t remember the name of the ketchup I had, and the ketchups aren’t listed on Evos online menu. But it was good! Had a nice fire-roasted zing to it. Not super spicy, but it had more of a kick than regular ketchup.
With all of the hype Evos boasts about being healthier than a typical fast food franchise, I decided to compare the items I had against similar items from the Wendy’s menu. I used Wendy’s as a comparison because Evos’ steakburger seems pretty similar in terms of size/ingredients to Wendy’s Classic Single.
Evos Steakburger: 430 calories, 15 grams of fat
Wendy’s Classic Single: 430 calories, 20 total grams of fat
Regular Evos Air Fries: 230 calories, 8 total grams of fat
Small Wendy’s French Fries: 340 calories, 16 total grams of fat
Of course, there’s a lot more involved in nutrition than these two basic measurements. But most people who are considering healthy options usually look at calories and fat grams first. You can see that Evos’ steakburger has less fat than Wendy’s burger, but the overall calorie counts are the same. However, Evos’ fries only have about 2/3 of the calories of Wendy’s fries, and Evos’ fries have half the total fat of Wendy’s fries. I guess, when it all comes down to it, Evos is still fast food. Sure, it may be a healthy alternative to places like Wendy’s. But no one should be eating fast food every day.
You can see a few more photos from the restaurant here and you can hear Jen and I give the place a fairly extensive review here. We’re both looking forward to eating at Evos again. The place has a diverse menu, including salads, wraps and many meatless items. Lots of things worth checking out.
Tags: California, Evos, Flickr, food, San Luis Obispo, Trader Joe's, Wendy's
Posted in photo, text | 6 Comments »
