Flower Child ~ national chain : Gilbert, Arizona

First time tried: Nov 2022 (Gilbert, AZ)

Locations: Flower Child has locations spotted around the country. Mostly in areas that show "blue" on a political map. There's two in Colorado, one in Denver and the other in - oh c'mon guess - Boulder. No way in Colorado Springs. They are in DFW as well, but you can predict they aren't in NE Tarrant. They are owned by Fox Restaurants who have many similar conceptual places, including Culinary Dropout (lol) which some of our team went out to that evening.

We're back at the office, and after a full morning of rehearsals, it's showtime. But first - lunch. Yaay! Our gracious hosts sure know how to cater food. First in Chicago, and now here in Phoenix. Like with The Habit, I'd somehow gotten this far in life without ever hearing of a restaurant called Flower Child. Not that I would seek out such a place. Perhaps I should! If there's a restaurant that screams virtue signaling, check out this blurb from their website: "At Flower Child, we make every last bite from scratch, using fresh ingredients from close to home and serving healthy food that takes you to a happy place. That’s our promise to you, whether you’re vegetarian, vegan, paleo, or just hungry. And just because we can do sugar-free, dairy-free and gluten-free doesn’t mean we do flavor-free… because where’s the happy in that?" Well... they addressed my cynical side ("taste free") and they backed it up too with excellent food. Damn them - it used to be easy to make fun of these places. They were uniformly expensive, and the food blew. No more - except maybe the price point. But hell, everyone is too expensive these days, other than In-N-Out Burger perhaps. Did you see how I weaved the burger chain in here? Not sure why though...

This is not a vegetarian place - and I have to say the chicken and rare steak were delicious. Mrs. RJG would not have liked the steak though. Fresh crisp lettuce, though they forgot to give us the Caesar dressing, so that was a bummer. What did I like best? Their Gluten Free Mac & Cheese. It's better than any Gluten Full Mac and Cheese I've ever had! It may have been the best mac and cheese I've ever had period. I felt compelled to go back and get more of that and some protein too.  You guys win - the RJG has converted to healthy food alternatives! OK, maybe not, but nice to know this place exists. In general I work with more women than men - and not to profile - but let's be honest, Flower Child is received more favorably.

Since this was catered I can't comment on the location itself. But I'll try to seek a Flower Child out next time I have the chance for further observation.

11/8/22 (new entry)