The Kitchen

Excellent fast casual. Very friendly and knowledgable staff about gluten free.

Great food - a favorite place for ladies’ brunch or dinner out. I love that it is counter service. They have a few gluten free options that are delicious. It’s harder to find dairy free options, but the vegetarian options are marked on the menu.

To sum up this place: it's an upscale cafeteria. And in this instance, that’s a good thing. They serve quality food in a non-pretentious, yet slightly pretentious way. What do I mean? Let me break it down. For starters, you seat yourself in a dining environment that offers both indoor and outdoor seating. The indoor dining area is lined with large windows that let in plenty of natural light. The chairs and tables are slightly upscale, with wood accents, as opposed to the plastic seating you’d find in a traditional cafeteria. The outdoor patio mimics the indoors, with plenty of gas warmers and a modern-style accent fireplace wall. Again, not pretentious, but pretentious. The food menu is what you’d expect from any slightly upscale dining spot. The options are large and plentiful, but not so much so that it’s overwhelming (aka The Cheesecake Factory). Items like chorizo queso, lobster tostada, and truffle mac & cheese make up the appetizers (they call them "Beginnings" here). Blackened redfish, beef & lamb bolognese, and fried chicken & waffles are just a few of the "Kitchen Plates." They stick with the cafeteria theme in concept, but the offerings could just as easily be found on a fine dining menu in an upscale restaurant. Add a full wine menu, craft beers, specialty burgers with a gluten-free bread option, and you start to really understand this place. I had the build-your-own plate option, which included black pepper salmon with chipotle butter, steamed broccoli, and a mixed greens side salad splashed with what I assumed was balsamic vinaigrette dressing. A Shiner Blonde Light from the ice trough topped it off nicely. My take: I would definitely go back. We went for lunch, but I'm eager to try the breakfast offerings. This is the place you go when you're in your daytime best casualwear, want to grab some great food, and still catch a good buzz. No waiters constantly asking if you need anything. Just an eclectic crowd of both business folks working on laptops and suburban Houstonians enjoying their day in The Woodlands.