True Food Kitchen

When you walk into this place you have great expectations because the atmosphere is fantastic. Unfortunately the food is pretty bad. We ordered the $12 side of guacamole and chips and it literally came with 8 chips. See the attached picture. We asked for more chips and it was never brought. We again asked for more and they brought a tiny bowl with about 6 more chips. My heritage pepperoni pizza was sub par and bad. Everyone else that ordered was dissatisfied with the quality of their food.

This was our first time eating here. Food was interesting and unique. Our server did a great job helping us understand the menu and the ingredients. You could also tell that he truly believed in what True Food is trying to do with this particular concept . Overall good experience!

I've been going to True Food for over 7 years, and after my last meal, I just had to share how much I appreciate this place and the TF team. I always leave feeling nourished, and the staff is incredibly friendly and eager to accommodate my special requests. It's really nice knowing that they take pride in their sourcing and ingredients. I always have to have the charred cauliflower with the harissa dressing, pistachios, dates, and dill. You also can't go wrong with any of their cocktails.

This True Food Kitchen had always good food but recently the food has gotten beyond great in terms of quality, care, and consistency. You can really taste it. Just even the pizza has gotten so much better with the crust so fresh and that perfect density. I came here twice in one week last week and dragged my family here for Mother's Day brunch. Which was soooo goood! The "mom"-osa was so yummy and cute with flowers! Our servers are always so sweet and on it. It's great place to kick back and have amazing quality and tasting food in a cool casual environment.

Greetings to Everyone, today for the first time I tried True Food Kitchen LaJolla, the place is beautiful and the server JenAnn was nice. I ordered the Vegan cheese burger with kale salad, I couldn’t eat the kale the leaves they were so tough and the burger was literally burnt to a crisp (see photo). When the server asked if all was well I told her about the salad she offered to replace it with another salad but she charged me for the replacement also I asked for mustard they didn’t have any at All. The food I thought was a bit pricey considering it wasn’t Great. I’m disappointed the burger was about $20.00 then she charge me for the replacement😝☹️

Just a relaxing atmosphere. Highly recommend you to go there during happy hour. The place is a bit pricey but worth it.

If you’re gluten-free or have gluten-sensitivities this is the place to go. There are so many options on the menu. Jennan is a great server, she goes above-and-beyond.

The quality of the food is uneven. Sometimes great, sometimes it leaves a lot to be desired. On this last to go order (for example) I doubt if the pizza was even in the oven 2 minutes as the dough was still raw in the center. We literally had to recook our food from the restaurant to eat it. When done right, their food is very good. The employees there are always super friendly, and when eating in, the service is good and attentive and the atmosphere enjoyable. The restaurant is always very clean (including the rest rooms) and there’s plenty of seating. Note that this restaurant is part of UTC (northwest side of the mall), so you park in a paid parking garage, and have to walk to the location.

I've been going to True Food for over 7 years, and after my last meal, I just had to share how much I appreciate this place and the TF team. I always leave feeling nourished, and the staff is incredibly friendly and eager to accommodate my special requests. It's really nice knowing that they take pride in their sourcing and ingredients. I always have to have the charred cauliflower with the harissa dressing, pistachios, dates, and dill. You also can't go wrong with any of their cocktails.

The best service I have ever had! The service is immaculate. I would recommend our server Mia, who is attentive and gives great recommendations. She would go above and beyond to make me smile. AMAZING AND DIVINE FOOD!!!!! 1000/10 recommendation.

We had Gavin as our server and he was great. Amazing food and great vibes! I would highly recommend coming here!

1st time eating the new menu! It was outstanding! Had the Pot Roast Dip. The meat was tender and flavorful. The Parmesan au jus was perfect and the horseradish sauce added the right amount of kick. Started off with a Bright Eyes, it was so delicious I had two!!! I sat at the bar with friends and Jordan and Austin were our servers. They both were very knowledgeable about the menu and allergies in the food. I'm allergic to eggs. So that was super helpful. Service with a smile when making suggestions. Jill, the manager was also delightful checking in on us and our experience. I would definitely recommend this menu and this staff. The restaurant is open air, so you can sit inside with an outside feel as the doors and windows are open. Nice breeze coming through. Spent a lovely afternoon here. Top Notch place!

I love this place until the following occurred: 1) Service has gotten long 2) They removed the Korean Noodle bowl (with the steak, it was the best thing on the menu btw) 3) Last 3 times I ate there with friends there was a mistake on an order. Time to shake up the place. Your customers are yours to lose.

My husband and I went to this restaurant countless times over the years but had a very bad visit recently and will not go back. The service was AWFUL and so was the food. 1. We reserved a table for a half booth and they gave us a small regular table in front of the cold patio with the door open. We asked for another table anywhere else, saying we would wait, but were told no. What is the point of making reservations then?? 2. It took FIFTEEN minutes to flag down a server to finally take our order. We sat there for a long time just waiting with no one coming over to even offer us a glass of water. 3. Our food took almost an hour to come out (2 dishes). When they did come out, my dish was cold and soppy. It didn't taste like anything and I couldn't eat it. It was a bunch of cold wet veggie noodles with tasteless tomato sauce on top and tasteless cold chicken. 4. I couldn't even ask our server to do anything about this because she never came by to check on us! She only came by when the check came. 5. And last but not least - the water glasses we got were dirty. They had little brown stains on them. After paying a $50 bill for a terrible dinner, we went home, I was hungry and had a frozen dinner to get full. It was a terrible time. No loyal customer should be treated that way. We will likely never return to ANY true food kitchen again.

True Food was an easy spot to stop for lunch on a nice day! We sat on their patio that provided lots of shade and our waitress was super kind. We really loved the steak tacos (which were on happy hour!) and the grilled chicken wrap. I would skip the spritzers and the kale salad. Both were kinda bland but they had lots of other good drink and side options. I appreciated that pretty much every menu item was healthy but didn't compromise on flavor and ingredients. Great spot for lunch or a quick bite!

Another visit and tried something new... - Hatch Green Chile Turkey Burger | The smoked Gouda and roasted chile are a match I didn't think would make sense. But, it does. And I'm shook. Arugula is thrown in, adding their signature peppery, earthy bitterness. Tomatoes bring acidic juiciness. The turkey patty is juicy and it surprisingly un-bland. I chose 1/2 kale salad and 1/2 sweet potato hash for the side dish. The kale salad was firm and leafy, while the sprinkled parmesan cheese and crouton crumbles added textural balance. The sweet potato is sweet and cooked to soft perfection.

Frequent diners at different locations. We make sure we do lunch or dinner at Lo Jolla every time we're in town. Enraptured with ancient grains bowls, spinach pizzas and matching cocktails of the day. They stay committed serving delicious diet and welcoming ambiance. Lauren was our server of the day. We continue to hold in high regard that TFK goes to great length of nutritious foods.

This True Food Kitchen had always good food but recently the food has gotten beyond great in terms of quality, care, and consistency. You can really taste it. Just even the pizza has gotten so much better with the crust so fresh and that perfect density. I came here twice in one week last week and dragged my family here for Mother's Day brunch. Which was soooo goood! The "mom"-osa was so yummy and cute with flowers! Our servers are always so sweet and on it. It's great place to kick back and have amazing quality and tasting food in a cool casual environment.

Great location, great ambiance, great for large party I had the meatloaf, very flavorful Got the apple cake and it was good. The service was great, they split checks which is nice.

This weekend was my first time and I already want to go back! I loved it so much. They have an amazing concept with fresh and healthy foods, and a very creative way to display it all. My friend and I split their seasonal tower, and all the foods were delicious, our favorites being the cauliflower and the butternut squash pizza, so creative and so yummy! I need to find a copy cat cause I'm craving it now. The restaurant is very open and airy, and it is a place that you want to be. I have seen a line out the door though. Staff is very friendly, want you to be satisfied, but are also overbooked... like all other restaurant staff. Ready to come back already!

First time at this True Food location in UTC Westfield (normally gone to the one in Santa Monica). It was Black Friday and thus the whole mall was packed and although I am not an organic food crazy, I did not want to wait 30 minutes for anything. We were a party of 8 and amazingly the place was not packed and there were plenty of tables for 8 inside but they said they had to sit us outside under the heat lamps which was fine and we had a great waitress (Australian). That said we still had to wait 10 minutes to be seated and those tables inside never filled. I fortunately sat under the heat lamp but later some people un my group said they were cold. I had the wild Tuna poke over quinoa which was okay. My nephew really liked it. He pretty much finished everyone's dish. Like I mentioned, not my normal genre of food but when I am with healthy eaters and they want to eat clean healthy food, then I go with the flow. PS - I do own a pair of True Foods t-shirts. Shine on!

I first visited TFK in Los Angeles years back. Decided to visit this one while browsing UTC so we dined here on Black Friday 2023. I called them at 3:07 pm when they shared that they don't have a wait time. Arrived at 3:13 pm to be told that they have a 20-25 minute wait which was shocking! The hosts said that they JUST had a few groups arrive.. no apology given! More of a "oh well, too bad" attitude which we did not appreciate. Hoped the service + food would be better so we waited. Finally went in around 3:35 pm. Food/drink 3/5 Ordered Peruvian burger ($19.5) and ancient grains bowl ($17), added chicken ($7) to the bowl. The burger was decent. The bowl was not good at all given that I was paying $24 for it! The piece of chicken was so small for $7. Both foods came out warm which was disappointing given how long we had waited. The matcha horchata ($6.5) was awful! I LOVE matcha and I love horchata but this combo was not it. The color of the drink looked nasty in itself so I threw it out halfway full after leaving the restaurant. They offered dessert so we ordered the flourless chocolate cake that comes with vanilla ice cream. Took a total of 3 bites to add to our disappointment. The vanilla ice cream didn't taste like anything and the cake was way too moist. Service 2.5/5 Service was SLOW! The entire place was empty with less than 10 tables filled and yet our server took forever to take our order. It took 30+ minutes for 2 entrees. Our server also had an attitude. After ordering the matcha horchata, I ran up to her to ask for the matcha horchata to come at the end and explained I want it as take out. Her response was "oh okay let me tell them because they're making it right now!!" with a face of "ugh, this is annoying". Then, she proceeded to bring out the matcha shortly after which left me confused but I didn't say anything. The service was so slow that the manager came to apologize and offer us free dessert. Price 2.5/5 Prices are high especially for what you're getting. I'm not questioning the quality but the flavors were not there. Paid about $60 before tip for a very disappointing meal. Ambiance 4/5 Don't have much too say but the decor was nice Overall 2/5 I would not recommend coming here during their slow, transitional hours. They were very short staffed and it affected the entire experience.

Had some out of town guests and we had a hard time deciding where to have a late lunch at UTC/ Westfield, until we found ourselves near True Food. It's great to be able to have an outdoor seating option since we're in a Mediterranean climate and I knew we would get good quality food there. Two of us ordered the Lasagna made with chicken sausage, my other friend ordered the salmon dish. She was happy. The Lasagna was delicious. Moist, with fresh basil, lots of stringy mozzarella, a lovely tomato sauce and the pasta wasn't soggy or overcooked like in most restaurants. Perfect. The only downside was that it wasn't piping hot, so I asked for them to heat it up a bit in a microwave. I was told they didn't have microwave ovens and that it would take a bit longer, which actually resulted in me being impressed and happy. I don't use a microwave, I feel it negatively affects food quality. I respect restaurants and cafés that act in accordance with their stated values. What good is " sustainable coffee" or an "organic matcha" or an " organic quinoa salad" in a throw-away cup or plate which releases chemicals and pollutes the environment? It's a contradiction.True Food is one of those rare places that walks the talk, gives their customers real plates , glasses, cups, cutlery, not throw away. And slow , good quality food. Thank you for providing quality along with real concern for environmental impact.

This place is amazing for anyone who is looking for a refreshing healthy meal. I really enjoyed their kale solid here as it's so light and refreshing. I would also recommend getting sweet potato fries as they are so perfectly made here. The service here was also excellent as the servers made sure we had everything we need. Also the place is really big so there is plenty of space in the event. You come here on a weekend and you're looking for a bite.

The meatloaf is good. The burger is my favorite. I get it with the chopped salad. The fake mojito was foot but not with the price. Get the peach ice tea instead. The squash pie is excellent but the apple cobbler with ice cream is even better!

Terrible slow service, absolutely useless servers and managers, have no idea how to run restaurant properly

This is one of my new favorite places to eat. I really love how there are so many healthy options! I hosted a MeetUp event here for my Fun Diego Ladies group and we all enjoyed the food! I ordered a chopped salad with grilled chicken. The veggies were very fresh and crisp. The chicken breast was moist and flavorful. The vinaigrette was the perfect touch to this very enjoyable salad! For dessert, I shared a Pink Lime Tart with my friend. It was perfect for sharing! I loved how the ube lime tart was extra tart and my friend loved the sweetness of the crust that was made with marcona almond-date and coconut. Or server was very pleasant and took excellent care of us! We will for sure be back!

My wife and I were looking for a dog friendly restaurant with Vegetarian options and True Food Kitchen was the perfect place. It's located closer to Nordstrom in the mall. Our server loves dogs, also, and had wonderful customer service and very knowledgeable about the menu. We started with a couple O.G. beverages with ginger , honey and lime...it was so refreshing. My wife is vegetarian and ordered the Garden Pesto Pizza which has cilantro pumpkin seed pesto, zucchini, organic tomato, red onion, organic arugula, mozzarella. Tasty! I also had the Lasagna Bolognese with fennel chicken sausage, mushroom, organic spinach, ricotta, basil. The server assured me it was a nice portion size and she was spot on! Not too heavy and not too light. For dessert, I really enjoyed the Squash Pie with a graham cracker crust, coconut whipped cream. The place had a cool and modern vibe and we would love to return to try more dishes:)

LOVE!!!!! The food was absolutely delicious + amazing service= recipe for a perfect restaurant. Our server Gavin was so attentive and kind. I had the italian meatball sub and the pineapple margaritas... so yummy!!! 10/10

Always love coming to this restaurant. This is the first time coming to the location at the UTC mall. The staff is very attentive and the restaurant is clean. My daughter loves their Margherita pizza. They have vegan/vegetarian options. I like how they change their menu but we were sad when the brussels sprouts appetizer was off the menu. My kids really loved it.

Fantastic food and wonderful service. GG was amazing!! Kindest waitress I've ever been served by at any restaurant!!

So many of my friends LOVE this place. I don't hate it, but I sure don't LOVE it. Quality/Quantity - Vegan Peruvian Burger with Kale - The reason one of my friends loves this place. Peruvian Grass Fed Burger - I prefer cow meat. Korean Noodle Bowl - I like this dish also, but I can make it better. Spicy Panang Curry Bowl - Nice medium kick. Could use some noodles in this dish. Forbidden Poke Bowl - If you are following, you KNOW I can make this better! Large Borgo Scopeto "Chianti Classico" - This was good, I don't think there was a discount for buying the large, maybe give $1 off? My friend got the regular size, what does this say about me? Other drinks we got, sorry did not take pics: Jasmine Pearl. Green Tea. Tulsi Tea. Atmosphere - See pictures. Open kitchen. Clean large bathrooms. Cool decor. Indoor, outdoor seating. Self service water while waiting for a table outside. Service - Good. Price - $170 + generous tip. Owner Comment - Congrats on all your success and continued growth. I like your concept and goals and I look forward to my family and I eating healthier.

My bartenders Gigi and Anya had such great energy and were very attentive for my night out with friends!! Will definitely be coming back, food is delicious and is great quality

The service was good. My pizza was cold and they remade it for me. I loved the horchata matcha and recommend it.

Really enjoyed this location. We tried True Food Kitchen for the first time here a few months ago. We ordered the OG Grass Fed Burger with fingerling potatoes and the Peruvian Grass Fed Burger with kale salad. The OG Burger was our favorite! The patty was very meaty with a nice crust. Seasoning was very flavorful. The arugula is fresh and the grilled onions add a hint of sweetness as well. The mushrooms added extra depth to the entire burger. The fingerling potatoes were standard, not too memorable. As for the Peruvian Burger, not our favorite. We're just not big fans of blue cheese which was a very prominent flavor in this burger. The fried egg was my favorite. It was very nice and runny. The kale salad it came with was very refreshing. Overall experience here was good. The staff were nice and our server was attentive towards us. The food here is really good especially the OG Burger. Also, the patio is pet friendly!

Airy and modern interior with friendly service. I wasn't expecting their dishes to be this delicious !! I've been to other True Food Kitchen stores, but this time was exceptionally good. Edamame guacamole was great to share (caution: it's quite garlicky). Edamame dumpling..!!! Omg, this was the MVP of today's dinner. Soft, creamy, and tasty edamame stuffing inside the freshly made / chewy shells. I asked the server what's inside it, and she was very knowledgeable about all the ingredients. We also had a Korean Steak with forbidden rice (black rice). This tastes more like Thai cuisine than Korean to me but was delicious anyways.

Good, healthy food. Pricing is fair for the most part, a little on the high side, but the quality is good. I usually order the salmon, which tastes good but leaves me hungry afterwards. Servers are friendly, but the seating area is so huge, it takes them a while to get to me sometimes.

We sat at the bar & the server was so lovely. We ordered the steak and they split it for us even without asking which we loved. The mule was delicious and came quickly. Amber our sever had such a great genuine energy and was very attentive. The vegetables were delicious!!! There's on we made it a 4 is the steak was chewy and could have been better if it was a better cut.of meat. I recommend this place for sure.

My experience at this True Food Kitchen was spectacular! Not only was the food delicious but the staff were amazing and so attentive to us the whole time. I didn't see a michelada on the menu but when I asked the manager if they could make me one, she was so happy to accommodate and it was DELICIOUS. The service here is immaculate and the manager Priscilla really went out of her way to make sure that our dining experience here was top notch! 10/10 definitely recommend if you want delicious food, tasty drinks and beautiful customer service!!

AMBIANCE True Food Kitchen is a restaurant serving health conscious, flavorful food and drink in their spacious, chic space in UTC located near the intersection of Genesee and La Jolla Village Dr. I really dig the vibe of the place. FOOD -5/5 Korean Noodle Bowl: sweet potato glass noodle, pickled shiitake, organic spinach, carrot, bean sprout, umami powder. This was served piping hot, and all the ingredients tasted super fresh and melded deliciously together. There's a little kick of heat in this. -4.5/5 Charred Cauliflower: harissa tahini, medjool date, dill, mint, pistachio. The cauliflower had more of a steamed taste rather than charred. The accompanying ingredients go well together in every bite rather than when I tasted each ingredient on their own. SERVICE 5/5 staff were attentive, friendly, knowledgeable, helpful PARKING 4/5 Plenty of parking with the first two hours free and charges thereafter

Went here with a group of friends for a birthday. The server Maddie was so sweet and even brought out a delicious chocolate cake at the end to celebrate. Always love the food here and everyone is so friendly! Thank you TfK!

I've been to this location a number of times and have never had a negative experience with Amber, one of their amazing bartenders! She's so knowledgeable and you can hear her genuine kindness with every guest she interacts with! Will be coming back and can only hope I'll run into Amber again.

This restaurant is incredible. Not only is the food amazing but the service is just as great. The restaurant is such a cute vibe and ambiance and always love coming here. I Definitely recommend to anyone to come to True Food.

Hands down my favorite dish is the ancient grain bowl. It's packed with flavor and absolutely delicious. Service is great.

*Sensitive Celiac* It's not often I find a restaurant that takes food allergies seriously as well as having an excellent menu! True Food Kitchen has all that and more! Sorry no pictures, I dug in too fast lol ‍ Heres what I had today: App: Roasted Brussel sprouts-charred to perfection! Entree: Hawaiian Fried Rice- Light and filling with perfect portions of ham, pineapple and the eggs on top were perfect! Beverage: The OG spritzer which is ginger, honey & lime-so good! Make sure to notify your server right away of your restrictions. Our server was Amber-She's amazing! Manager was Kit-He's incredibly knowledgeable about food safety and puts customer care above everything else! Someone should consider cloning him ‍ We also saw Jill floating around working hard, she's another trusted AGM at this location.

Ordered take out. Food was promptly ready, I grabbed our closed bag off the shelf and left. We were charged a 3rd party fee?!?!? Umm we ordered, we picked up, and not a single person helped. There was no utensils, napkins, or condiments for our burgers and they were soooo dry. The patty was super salty and the gluten free bun was dry (this is an abnormal thing these days with the progress of gluten free foods) Each burger was was $25. My husband nor I could stomach finishing it. Do not recommend the food!

Absolutely my favorite place ever! We come here for every special event! Sit with Kenny or Alyssa !! I love the music and vibes! The best ever!!

A bit pricey but the food was good. Ordered the market salmon plate and tomato soup. Portion was normal. Not big but not small. The atmosphere seems really cute here. We got to go so I didn't experience it first hand but seems like a nice place. Food was good and seems healthy enough. They have some interesting things on the menu and well. Just wish it was a little less expensive.

I had a very good experience here! Our server Angelina was very kind and knowledgeable about the menu. She answered any questions that we had and was attentive. I had the garden pesto pizza and really enjoyed it!

Great healthy food option tucked away in a corner of UTC. Lots of space and ample outdoor/indoor seating makes it easier to get a table with relatively little wait most of the time. Had the charred cauliflower and the Korean steak, all amazing and well-seasoned! Great selection of fruit-based cocktails and mocktails as well. Note that when they say they specialize in health foods, they mean it! After the meal my friend and I felt like we simply had to stop by McDonalds on the way home to truly satisfy our comfort food craving because somehow we were still hungry after our dining experience at True Food. This place still gets 5 stars though because the french fry craving was our fault, not theirs

I always love coming to true food for their delightful atmosphere and their yummy organic options! One of my favorite restaurants. Went to celebrate new career path and Hugo made our dinner so amazing!!! He went above and beyond with his service and recommendations he had such a great personality and was very personable! Made our celebration so much better bringing out the carrot cake was just the cherry on top to a very wonderful night! Thank you Hugo I hope I spelt ur name right we will be back to the very nice UTC location.

Food was tasty. I had the tuna and avocado tostadas as an appetizer and it was flavorful. The salmon with bok choy was cooked perfectly MR and I liked the broth that it was served in. The blueberry crisp dessert with ice cream was a nice finish. Service was uninspiring. Not bad just not good enough to garner that fifth star. I had to send the salmon back when the server brought it out with my appetizer about five minutes after I ordered it all. It's a cool space with an open view to the kitchen. Outdoor seating would have been nice but the hostess said they had an attack of gnats just before I got there so they moved folks inside. I'd come back for sure.

BOMB food and so healthy the staff treated us like queens!! i can't wait to come back!

The food was expensive but was pretty unique. Not a very large serving size but I enjoyed it. The problem was they left a part of the meal of the plate, a large piece of avocado. We asked the waitress if they would bring it out and they left to check with the kitchen. We waited about 10 minutes, someone different came out to check on us and we politely inquired about the avocado again. She also agreed and left, and then we saw no other wait staff for the rest of the meal. We finished our meals and waited another period of time to try and flag down the check, but no one came into our section. I ended up having to go inside to ask for the check and the bartender was very helpful. He printed the check and I went to the register to pay but once again, no wait staff in sight! The bartender hustled over to let us pay and it seemed like he was the only one who cared in the building. I probably wouldn't come again because it made me feel like an inconvenience!

Great lunch place with huge variety of healthy choices! Burrito salad is my favorite. Nice outside patio.

Waited to be seated.. the check in process wasn't clear..felt like the hostess could be more attentive.never offered to validate parking either Food was ok.. never checked on my staff.. no salt, pepper, ketchup was provided for the potatoes.. Meh... to much hype for the price

Ordered food and waited an hour. Waiter kept leading us on about our food. The place wasn't busy so there should be no excuse for 2 burgers and 1 dessert to take an hour.

True Food Kitchen is the perfect place for a work dinner or for a large group of friends. With a highly accommodating menu for people with a variety of food restrictions, True Foods Kitchen is the way to go. However, for someone who loves their protein, I personally wouldn't find myself coming to this restaurant unless someone else wanted to go. My favorite item on the menu was the Roasted Acorn Squash Flatbread. My least favorite had to be the cookies and ice cream. I just did not like the banana base they used for the cookies nor the texture of the cookie. I appreciate how they change their menu during the seasons so there is always a new item to order. Definitely feel very healthy eating here. Great service as well.