Fresh Take Kitchen

Quite possibly the best lunch spot for the on-the-go lunch in Columbus. Fresh ingredients, always hot (or reasonably cold depending on what you are looking for), a great selection of different dishes and meals, and super quick to deliver food in a timely fashion. Even when I've ordered something I didn't end up preferring, it was still good quality! If you work downtown and need to be able to pick up lunch in a pinch, this is the right spot for you.

Awesome weekday lunch spot! I love that all of their soups are made in house and the fact that you can customize any menu item or build your own creation! Staff is always friendly— even during the crazy lunch rush 😊

Absolutely love this place! The staff and owner are so nice and friendly. The food is incredible as well. There is a wide range of options. They have soups, salads, pasta, mac & cheese, and so much more. Although there are lots of healthy options, I've been able to leave full and happy. I'm not hungry within an hour later like some health places. I do love how there are options for portions as well. It makes getting multiple things convenient and allows you to eat smaller if you are not as hungry. The inside has a wonderful atmosphere. You place your own order at the terminal but the staff is available and willing to answer any questions quickly. I often see the owner as well and she is willing and eager to help with anything. The place is always clean and well stocked. There is a cool little gizmo that shows their current likes on facebook. If you actually go on facebook and like them, you can watch the number adjust to show the new total before your very eyes. There is also outdoor seating in a cute little garden area. Of course you can take food to go as well. There are multiple entrances as well. There is a main door at the back of the building, the "front" entrance is a little harder as you have to walk down a hallway through the building (the building is shared by multiple small businesses), or my favorite is the "alley" entrance off the side of the building. The only complaint I could find would be that nutrition values are only provided for some menu items and not everything.

Ambience is minimalist, modern and kitchen serves healthy food that tastes good. Can get very busy between 11:30 and 13:00 hours. During these hours usually order the food online and pick it up in person. Or else the service is very quick. Personal favorite is the Mediterranean Veggie ~ Salad or the Grain Bowl 🥗

First time here and will definitely come back if I’m ever in the area. Service was absolutely great with helping me through the menu and ordering since it is a little different than normal. They have an awesome selection of healthier drink options. Always fun trying new things.

They vary their menu frequently. I love the falafel, salads, soups, and wraps. Unfortunately they are having an issue with the iPhone app and Apple Pay does not go through. This makes me waste my time and in the end I have to go in person and wait in line. I hope they resolve this soon.

Great new restaurant. The food is fresh and well prepared. The staff is super friendly. For every salad or grain bowl, you can entirely customize it. Great for plant based meals. They have tofu and falafel as protein choices, in addition to steak, chicken, pork and salmon. They also offer Taxman beer. Order online and they'll have it ready for you to pick up.

Got a bowl here. Good location, fast service but always extremely busy. I like how you can get adult beverages here especially after work if you want one to go with your salad.

Ironic name. It was ANYTHING BUT FRESH. Lettuce, strawberries, onion, etc. This is the FIRST time we have left below 4-5 stars on a review. They were out of lettuce at 2 pm so hubby got Romain mix of mostly nasty brown edged lettuce for his strawberry salad. My yogurt parfait had every now and then an "off"taste to it & at least 3 pieces of mushy fruit. It is also the only time Yelp reviews have not sent us to a great place. We would not ever eat here again. Who PUTS FROZEN STRAWBERRIES IN A SALAD???

Tried Fresh Take on the recommendation of the Visitor Center. Perfect choice as we were looking for salads. Park on Washington St. but look for the sign that takes you down the alley as they have a side entrance. This is a clean modern space and you order off screens and not with a person but staff is very helpful if you have questions. Plenty of healthy options including salads, bowls and wraps. I had the ancient grains bowl and it was excellent. Good sized bowl so plenty for 2 meals.

Healthy Lunch and awesome atmosphere. Really neat way to order. It's on a kiosk and you can pick and choose what you want on and off your salads.

Excellent lunch! Ordering was simple, food was fresh & very tasty! I needed a gluten free/dairy free option & they provided!

This was a good experience. It's nice to have a place serving something "different." The lady behind the counter was more than helpful. Extremely friendly and helped guide me thru the electronic ordering process. I got the vegetarian grain bowl and then added chicken. However, I was excited when I saw sesame chicken was an option! Unfortunately, that's where my excitement ended for the sesame chicken. It was a breaded, deep fried breast, cut up into chunks, and a little bit of flavorless sauce on it. I'd go here again and get the same thing, but with the shredded chicken instead. I never had the chicken, but would be interested in what it was like. The gluten free menu was a little thin, but at least they were nicely identified on the big menu. You're limited to basically salads and grain bowls. Solid place for lunch that I'd return to.

If you dread eating salads but want to eat healthier or try vegetarian/vegan options, try Fresh Take! My boyfriend is a carnivore and even he loved his southwest rice bowl. Fresh Take gives tons of flavor, healthy portions (meaning plenty, not calorie-counting), and is a great local business. This would be excellent if you are in from out of town visiting the commons or if you have a business lunch and want to break free of McAllisters. The entry itself is down an alley, not facing the street, so look for the sidewalk signs to find where to turn. Somewhat limited hours but worth the effort to make a point to go.

Definitely won't return, except maybe for the iced tea which was great. Got a chicken teriyaki wrap, it was mainly rice that had a chicken wave to it from across the kitchen. Definitely not worth going back to.

Good food, but the price is rather high for the portion size. Salads are small and most anything you want to add is extra

If you are looking for real fresh salads and more, this is the place. The staff keeps this facility perfect. Love it!

We were traveling and decided to stop for lunch in Columbus (a wonderful town loaded with beautiful architecture) and found Fresh Take Kitchen. It was like a fast food place, but it was anything but fast food. You order food using a computer screen which was very easy to use. It was midafternoon so we were able to take our time to sort through the amazing list of choices. Finally, Kay decided on a build your own salad, which she really enjoyed and I did the same. I found my salad to be very fresh, tasty and well made. We both agreed it was the best salad we had eaten in a long time. We both look forward to returning our next time we pass through Columbus.

We had delicious Thai tofu wraps. Tofu was crispy and not greasy. Thai dressing was flavorful. Everything was fresh. Love how you can customize everything when you order online. So much easier than telling the cashier. Worth getting off I 65 for. Easy to hop back on. Cute downtown.

Great Mexican Corn Chowder. Just finished two bowls. Super friendly! Highly recommend for a healthy bite.

My wife and I decided to try this new restaurant in Columbus because we noticed it offered some "healthy" options. The restaurant is really unique in the world of soups, rice based dishes, and salads, but similar to those frozen yogurt places where you build from a basic starting point and then can add on as you like. The shop is located in the alley between 4th and 5th streets on Washington in Columbus. It's not a typical alley since this usually has some decoration and public art, so there is no creepy vibe. They have two steps into the side of the building (no railings or ramps available) which is wide and narrow. The area you step into is the dining area with mostly 4 top tables, though there are some 2 tops nestled along the half wall where the food prep takes place. To the left is where your called in meals can be picked up and a stand where you can get additional utensils, napkins, etc. On the left side of the half wall is an order counter, but don't expect human interaction unless you ask for help. We weren't greeted or offered any assistance though we stood there reading the menu boards over the counter for probably five minutes trying to decide. When we were ready to order, my wife used the touchscreen monitor to order a loaded baked potato and then the screens advanced to let her customize the items she wanted to include, including her beverage. Before she closed out, I touched the "add Item" and was able to order a "build your own" salad. I was able to choose which type of green I wanted (you can do this for rice based bowls as well). You can pick two bases. I then advanced through the screens, adding items like veggies, avocado, Granny Smith apple slices, and dried cranberries. I used the protein option to pick some grilled chicken (you can choose three different levels of protein quantity too). I also selected my salad dressing and opted for a small bowl of soup too. The thing is, you have to pay attention as you click. First, not everything is free in the cost of the salad. The protein added $2 for my small chicken. And the bowl you get only holds so much, so if you load it up, you are going to have a mess trying to mix the items since they are separated when they arrive at your table. They do include a plastic knife and fork (and spoon for my soup), but the bowl if very light weight and can easily tip over if you press down too hard on one of the sides while cutting your lettuce pieces into bite sized portions. I will say that the freshness and the flavor were really good. I would gladly recommend this to anyone who doesn't mind paying a bit more for a customized meal. Note that they also have some options that are pre-set combinations if you get overwhelmed by so many choices. They do have some alcoholic beverages and water is strictly sold by the bottle. If they can improve their social contact and maybe cut their pieces a little more bite sized, they could improve the customer experience. As it is, the experience was pleasant, but not anything to rave about. Review #1996

What a fun little lunch spot right in downtown Columbus. My colleagues and I were thrilled to find a restaurant with healthy options when we were in town for business purposes. I had the curried cauliflower soup. I wasn't sure what to expect as it didn't include much in the description, but it was very hearty and full of potatoes, cauliflower, and chickpeas. It came with a slice of soft homemade bread. I also ordered the small greek crunch salad, and I added falafel to it. Very satisfying and filling! My colleagues enjoyed their salads as well. The restaurant itself is very well-thought out. We loved being able to order from a tablet. They even offer facial recognition for frequent customers. Will definitely return here if we are in Columbus again!

I used to enjoy eating here. The salads were pretty good. However, the other day was a disappointment. The salads we ordered each had brown, old lettuce that i had to pick out of the bowl. By the time I picked out all of the old and smelly lettuce, I was left with 1/3 of a salad. It appears that their salads are not made fresh but rather are pre-packaged and stored in a plastic container. If you are going to do this then there needs to be some kind of quality control to make sure that the food is not going to spoil before you serve it to a customer. As I said, this restaurant used to be really good and I remember they would make the food upon ordering it. Now they've changed their system, which I would assume makes their operations more efficient. However, the result is a not-so-fresh take on salads.

What a great concept for downtown Columbus. Quick ordering and service and everything is prepared fresh to order. Very clean and crisp interior and plenty of space to sit and eat. This visit I ordered the wild mushroom soup and it has a ton of flavors and one of the best soups I've had! The cantaloupe agua fresca is refreshing and just the right amount of sweetness. Fresh Take is doing things right!

I am changing my rating from two stars to five and it was long overdue. The food here is fresh, the employees are fun and the menu planner has made it easy to eat healthily so long as you do your part. The Greek salad is my go to and I love it. Craft sodas are delicious and I like they've added a hot sauce bar to spice it up before you grab your food and leave. Income here once a week now, at least, and i will be back.

Columbus has sorely needed somewhere like this for ages. It can be really difficult to find a reliable, healthy place for lunch in town, let alone somewhere with vegan and vegetarian options. I had a small Greek salad and added chicken. Most other places a regular salad is too big for me and I need the small. This small really was small, and I wish I'd ordered a large one. Nonetheless, the ingredients were super fresh and I really enjoyed my meal. A few things I loved: You place your order at a large kiosk with 3-4 computer screens. It is super easy and the line moves fast, but it is a little intimidating on first visit. You can completely customize your order when you place the order. Very easy and user friendly. It is really nice to be able to see all of the ingredients that go into the meal you are ordering. It's really fast! Whether you order online or at the kiosk, it moves very quickly. A few things I didn't love: I didn't see recycling bins anywhere. This was pretty disappointing to me since all of their food is served in take out containers. I think the bowls and plates are biodegradable, but the lids were plastic. I'm not sure what material the flatware was. Maybe the waste is sorted later. I'm not sure. They don't have water available at the drink station. You have to order a bottle of Dasani water when you order your food if you want water. The menu print is TINY. It's up on 3 large TV screens. They have a ton of awesome options, but I couldn't really read it all because the print was small and there was a big lunch rush, so I didn't want to dawdle. This isn't that big of a deal, though, because you can look at all of your options on the ordering screen. It was really really loud inside. They really are optimized to be a Fresh Take Kitchen. The seating area is small and during lunch it got really noisy with the hardwood floors and packed room. In the future, I would probably just grab and go.

This is a cool little place in Columbus, you can order online and pick up in a cubby. Or if you choose to order in he restaurant, you use a kiosk. There is no room for error in your order after you close the small learning curve on how to use the technology. The food is delicious, grain bowls, soups, salads with a variety of flavors and ingredients. This is a great healthy option for eating out in the area.

New spot in cbus. At least new to 2018. This restaurant is located in the former soups by design spot. What I like most is that you can order online and pick up in store and there are kiosks to order from in store. The series of order kiosk help manage the busy lunch flow. They have a lot of relatively healthy options which include soup, salad, lunch bowls, crêpes, and ice tea. Now this is my first time here and I wasn't super happy about my crêpe. My personal preference is a warm crêpe: this one is cold. Tasty but cold. I wish the cheese was melted but it was well paired with a side of salad. The unsweetened hibiscus tea was very refreshing. The brownie was delicious too. The salad my partner had was also delicious. Next time I'll try a salad or bowl.

Finally a place in Columbus where one gets a lot of vegetarian and vegan options. I love the way of ordering through the computer where one can customize not only the dressing that goes in the salad /bowl but also every component that goes into the salad/bowl . I love the way they use the bio degradable bowl instead of plastic ones. Their soups are delish too! Good portions size. One negative : no water is provided ! So don't forget to carry a bottle

Fresh Take Kitchen is my new, healthy addiction. I find myself there 3-4 days a week consuming their delicious salads, rice bowls and soups. My favorites include the Farmer's Market Salad with Chicken and the Mandarin Thai Salad. They have great iced tea selections, craft soda, and flavored waters. The innovative ordering kiosk is easy to use, and the food comes out fast thanks to the friendly staff. A pro tip is to order online before you come to avoid waiting as lines grow long during the lunch rush. All in all a great new option in downtown Columbus, especially if you are looking for a healthy lunch or light dinner.

Kudos to this new eatery in Columbus! The fresh ingerdients, ability to easily customize your order, and, and a bright sylish eating area make this a healthy and fun eating stop. Also props on supporting local businesses with their products. I hope to see more of these in the future....

A great place for a quick, healthful lunch! Located in Friendship Alley. I had a mushroom soup, crepe with asparagus, mushrooms and swiss cheese and a tea. The salads and grain bowls looked good too. The kiosk ordering was really easy too. The area is bright and very clean. I look forward to ordering online also.

Thank you for providing a great healthy option in downtown. I had the Santa Fe Salad with extra dressing, but dressing portion good enough that I didn't need it. The salad was great - tasty and fresh. Service was super quick, I was able to walk there, order, take it to-go, and eat my salad within the 30 mins I had between meetings. I plan on eating here often.

Love this place! Very clean and pretty. Excellent customer service. I'm happy there are more vegetarian and vegan options in town. I will definitely return!

For our sisters outing to Columbus, we took the docent's recommendation to try FTK. HUGE menu of soups, salads, grain bowls and a great variety of drinks including beer and wine

I really like this place. So many options and you can't beat the price! Thanks for making healthy eating affordable. Hours could use some work!

Good food and nice staff. Hard to find since this cute little restaurant in down an alley. Be sure to hit this place up if you are looking for something light for lunch.

I was so pleasantly surprised when this place popped up on Yelp during a day trip to Columbus. I was really in the mood for something fresh and healthy and this place was just what I needed. You order from a kiosk which is pretty straight forward but if you've not been there before there is someone to walk you through it. From there you order either a signature grain or salad bowl or create your own. Of course you can make any modifications to their signature bowls and add protein ranging from falafel to steak. I opted for falafel balls and I thought it was really cool that you could choose light, regular, or heavy as an option. Also, they have full on high chairs for littles, equipped with a table not just the chair. I have not seen that before so that was a major bonus for me. My only knock here is that they don't have an option to eat it there. I'm rather green and don't love that everything is disposable. Bonus for the earth friendly bowls but that's about where it ends. I did ask if there was an option for there and they just said that you can eat it there but no they don't have bowls or utensils to do so. Oh and that's another thing everyone there is SO friendly. I always can tell so much about an establishment by how happy their employees are.

Tried this place out for the first time last night and was not disappointed! Definitely more of a lunch spot than dinner spot but the food is awesome! I had the southwest grain bowl and my husband had the buffalo chicken salad and a cup of the broccoli cheddar soup. Everything tasted great and I will definitely re-order in the future! Sat out on the patio which is tucked to the side of the building. Plenty of seating both outside and inside. It looks like they have a great system for online orders and for people with repeat orders. They have a small selection of alcoholic drinks as well- particularly local beer from Taxman which we love! They also have wine available. If you are downtown for lunch you need to get here!

Great to have a place with vegan options for my husband. Today I ordered a non vegan broccoli soup. I wanted to check it out before bringing him. The soup was really thick. Mashed potatoes type of consistency. I feel this is a preference rating to people... some like thin, thick, or in the middle. I am a middle person. I wanted a tomato soup consistency, not thicker than bisquits and gravy. It was a great size (I ordered online and to-go) and came with bread, cookie, and drink. The place was very clean, new, cozy, bright, fresh looking. Its tucked away in an alley. I drove around looking and looking lol and finally parked and walked to find it. The menu has great fresh options. I needed that! I've been traveling for years and am sick of the same menu, of the same options, that are the same gordan foods heart attack food. So, if your in town go try it. I want to go back and get a salad. Oh and the wait staff is helpful, they put To-go online orders in a cubbie so you can get in and get out.

I would eat here every day, honestly. Their fire roasted Caesar salad is amazing, and the Greens & Grains salad is also delicious. I work downtown, and being able to order it in the morning, then just walk down and pick it up form the order shelf when it's ready is great. Their sodas and agua frescas are also delicious!

Fresh take has quickly become one of my favorite places in town. If your vegan, vegetarian, or just looking for amazing healthy food this is the place for you! Amazing build your own options with plenty of vegan add ins to make any meal wholesome and tasty.

A little pricey for the portion sizes, but it's a healthy eating place, so that's to be expected I guess. Lots of flavorful options, very customizable, and mobile ordering makes it a quick in-and-out. I don't have a go-to here yet, since I've tried something new every time I've come so far.

I liked the concept and options available. Thankfully I was in their when a health inspector was there. Turns out they don't have water because they are afraid ppl will steal drinks. The reason because previous employees of Panera told them so. I had ordered a vegetarian salad with falafel and cauliflower soup. Falafel was cold and soup was smelling and tasting like it had gone bad. Disappointing to say least

First the good...lots of customizable and flavorful bowl and salad options. I have tried the santa fe and greek crunch salads with roasted tofu, which were very good. The frustrating part is the kiosks and lack of drinking water available. The kiosks seems to slow down the line at lunch rush and do not provide any food allergy info. there is no human to ask questions, and no way to even notify prep staff. I feel this defeats the purpose of providing customized gluten free dishes as advertised, esp when a big chunk of bread is dumped into a bag with your utensils. Second, I always use a refillable water bottle, but you are forced to buy plastic here. I would probably be in here all the time otherwise.

Columbus has needed a healthy spot to eat for some time now and I'm thrilled with Fresh Take Kitchen! I've had their grain bowls a couple times and the curry cauliflower soup - all delicious. I am in love with their falafels - could eat those everyday with a little green goddess dressing. Yum!

First time going there...warm, welcoming and friendly staff. Easy to order. Amazing food and quick service!! New favorite lunch spot!!!

First visit. Like salad. Gave 4 starts because there is no butter for the slice of bread.

Delicious and fresh! Everything about it is great except the bed of greens. Why 4 stars instead of 5?? For a large salad, I expect double the amount of greens. The toppings are perfect; I wouldn't want the serving size to change there at all. But the bed of greens is just too small for the price. Surely, that's the most inexpensive ingredient in the salad!

Meh. Although it's nice to have quick food of this variety, the sauces aren't that tasty (in particular the buffalo chicken sauce really turned us off) and the portions are small. And everything is served in to go packaging but there's no recycling bins on site.

This place is great but now that they close at 4:00, and we aren't able to get there. Such a shame. Hoping these are just summer hours and they will go back to serving dinner.

It's a decent restaurant. You can order ahead, but it's a little finicky being online instead of using an app. I like the electronic self-checkout registers to keep things moving. However, the salad bowls are pretty pricy because if you add any kind of meat to the bowls, suddenly your meal is $13-$14. I really like the

Had the small roasted vegetable salad with basil balsamic vinaigrette dressing and a cup of curried cauliflower soup. No tap or fountain water available, so had to add a $1 bottle as well. The food was fantastic, and included some fresh baked bread to dip in the soup. Total was over $10 with tax included, but the portion of salad was generous. I'll be back for sure...

Second time here.. Very good and satisfying-- not to mention a great healthy option. Just wish they might have the calorie count available.

Incredible options for an incredibly fair price. Lots of different base options with many delicious customizations, it's the perfect spot in downtown Columbus for a fast, affordable, delicious bite to eat! I had the Farmers Market Salad with chicken added on, and you could taste how fresh all the ingredients were. Will definitely be stopping in for a lunch break again soon!

First visit, rushed in the door at 2:40PM thinking I was too late! Not at all, they said and help me place my order. Chicken soup for my momma (not too spicy) and cauliflower soup for me. I was blown away at how fresh and tasty both soups were. The cauliflower soup was insanely good and I have returned for more. The salads are fresh and fun and the staff is helpful. We needed this and they have provided and more. Prices are spot on and we will be returning often.

I have to agree with the 2 star reviewer from 4/7, but I'll be a bit more generous because my grain bowl was tasty and I enjoyed it. The cons: definitely OVERPRICED. This alone is going to keep me from revisiting, unless I decide to opt for a dish with no meat. I ordered a Thai grain bowl with salmon--$10.50. I wouldn't object to paying that once in awhile IF the portions were generous--in my opinion, they are decidedly not. As mentioned by another reviewer, you cannot ask for a cup of water. You must pay for a bottle of water. This on top of the price of the entree rubbed me the wrong way. I liked the ordering process at the screen-it was simple. An employee was standing there to assist if needed. There was almost no interaction with employees, however. You don't talk to a live person when you order and you go up to get your order when your number is called; your order is handed to you with your utensils, napkins and a hunk of white bread in a brown paper sack. The person I went to lunch with has celiac disease, and we decided to go try it out partly because gluten free has been touted in the press releases we've seen. There was no way for her to ask for no bread with her salad, so she had to take the sack back to the counter to ask for utensils and napkins "uncontaminated" by the bread.There were also no gluten free options for dessert--not that we wanted to buy a dessert with the prices for the entrees. The restaurant is attractive and clean, and we enjoyed the outdoor eating area. If there are some alterations to the prices I would be interested in returning.