Sonya Hu
Solid Mediterranean bowls, salads, and pitas topped with a variety of fresh ingredients and perfect for a relatively tasty, quick, and affordable meal. The concept is pretty similar to CAVA -- you can either build your own by choosing a base, main, and toppings, or you can pick from one of their chef-curated options. I usually opt to build my own with their salmon fillet or roasted butternut squash over kale, and topped with all the veggies and hummus. All of their veggies are super fresh, and their sauces all pack a ton of flavor (watch out for the spicy ones -- they actually are quite spicy). Their salmon fillets tend to be very small and a touch dry, as I assume they've been sitting under the heat lamp for a while, but they still pack a good flavor.
Although the food is solid, it's generally not my first choice for fast-casual Mediterranean fare, as (1) they're not always aware of which allergens are in their food, and (2) despite being a fast-casual spot, service can often be quite delayed.
Starting with the first -- the staff is wonderful at handling dietary restrictions; they'll put on new gloves, make sure your order is on a clean service (i.e., new foil or bowl), and avoid working on other orders at the same time as yours. However, I'm worried they haven't been told what all the allergens are in all of their ingredients. For example, I've received their gluten-free falafel pita box at several catered office lunches, and, unfortunately, ended up feeling pretty sick afterwards. Although I appreciate that they have a gluten-free pita (although it does taste pretty dismal) and that they have gluten-free options for desserts and sides, I don't believe their falafel is gluten-free (or maybe it's something in the rice or one of the toppings...I'm not entirely sure what it is or if there's just some cross-contamination, but something in those boxes definitely isn't sitting right with me).
Beyond dietary restrictions, the only other drawback to Roti is that it's not always as speedy as advertised, which is not at all the fault of the employees. Every time I go in, there are usually only 1-2 people working the entire restaurant, fielding a slew of both in-person and mobile orders. This naturally creates a delay in getting out all orders; for example, I'll sometimes wait upwards of 30+ min. for a line of five or so in-person customers because the staff is so swamped with mobile orders. On the flip side, if you get a mobile order, definitely go to pick it up instead of using their delivery service (which includes third-party apps like UberEats, as Roti opts to use their own drivers for those services). I usually have to wait over 45 min. for a delivery order, despite the quoted wait time of 15 min. and that my apartment is less than 2 miles away from the restaurant.
All in all, I think Roti is a solid place for fresh, flavor-packed Mediterranean bowls, salads, and pitas. However, I would recommend caution if you have dietary restrictions or if you're in a huge rush.
100% Dedicated Gluten-Free
