Proper Food

Really good food. Ahi Tuna and Iced Tea.

Overpriced for measly salads and entrees. $ 12.95 for a pre-​packaged salad is just crazy and most things lack flavor or anything special. My office was greatly disappointed by this place. I didn’t care for my Winter Salad with Salmon as the fish was overcooked and dry and tasted weird. Others thought the portions were very small such as the Salmon and Soba entrée. I’m sure the readily available feature is a draw but we prefer to have all our food made fresh.

High quality, healthy, grab & go food.

I come here pretty often for lunch and breakfast. Proper foods is built upon the idea of quick and freshly prepared items. You walk in and there is an open fridge with many shelves with their food to choose from.
On any given day you can find breakfast burritos, salads, sandwiches, plate lunches, etc. All made the day of and packaged for a quick grab and go. Some of the items are meant to be warmed up as well which Proper takes care of as you pay. I’ve never had a bad item. Most items seem tasty and then I try them and they end up being very good. It’s averagely priced for the financial district but I’d rather pay the same amount for fresher and highly quality lunch items than a sandwich from Subway.
Main points: great for a quick lunch you can grab and go. Most items are very tasty so just pick what looks good and most likely it will be. Fresh items made daily. Don’t sleep on getting a Proper meal from Proper foods.

Too much is not always a good thing
Browsing through Proper Food’s menu online, I had a hard time picking a dish. I didn’t want any farro, quinoa, noodles, almonds… basically any carb or nut. And I don’t like savory and sweet mixed together. It proved to be a difficult feat when picking what I wanted for our office lunch last Friday, November 13^th.
*Fall salad with salmon: roasted fresh salmon, red leaf lettuce, romaine, pickled carrots, pecorino cheese, mint, bulls blood (microgreen), house-​made white balsamic vinaigrette, no poached pears, golden apples, zesty almonds ($ 11.95)
With all my modifications, I got the simpler salad that I wanted. The ingredients tasted fresh and I liked the lightness of the white balsamic. The salmon looked like a small serving, but it was actually a larger piece than I thought. Maybe because the salad was so big. Unfortunately, the salmon was a bit overcooked, so it was rather dry.
Proper Foods is a good option if you like fancy salads with a lot of ingredients. But for me, I prefer the simpler salads in life.

Sometimes you’re in a rush and need good food fast. If you are, look no further. This is not an airport Wolfgang Puck where the food is questionable, everything is made fresh from good ingredients. Because of this, they do charge more than you’d expect for a pre-​made, refrigerated meal. One major downside is that there is no way to sub one ingredient for another or to remove an ingredient from an item altogether (e.g. are you craving a breakfast burrito but you’re not a fan of sour cream… too bad.) Also, everything you order is cold — mind you they’ll gladly heat your burrito or sandwich in a small oven, but you generally end up with a partially reheated meal. The concept works well for salads. Service here is always friendly and most employees seem genuinely happy (which is a welcome relief in FiDi.) My favorite item thus fare is the Couscous & Spinach Salad with Honey-​Coriander Chicken — I’m not a salad person, but I genuinely crave this sometimes and it’s actually filling.
Overall, I can’t think of a restaurant that executes on the pre-​made concept any better than Proper Food. Is it pricey? Yes. But you get what you pay for — a solid portion of well made food with wholesome ingredients from happy employees, not a terrible trade-​off. If prices were 10−20% cheaper, I would swing by more often. Since they’re not, this spot serves its purpose of serving good (cold) food fast.

On my way to having another junk food lunch this place caught my attention as I walked passed the open doors. I turned around and walked in. I was looking to pick up something quick but healthy and filling. Everything looked good but one of the young ladies suggested the Vietnamese Wrap. It was just what I needed! It was a veggie wrap but the tempeh inside was so well seasoned that I did miss the meat. The wrap came with both a side cup of peanut sauce and Thai chili sauce. Both sauces were wonderful and the whole thing was very filling. I took the cashier’s advice to grab a fork and knife (BTW Compostable) because it did come apart toward the end. I look forward to going there again!

I had a yogurt parfait. It was way too sweet.

The only proper thing about this place is the workers — they are genuinely friendly, and have good coffee for a reasonable price.
But the food? So bland it was almost inedible. I got the egg white frittata and the texture was off-​putting and the dish had zero flavor. Felt like rubber in my mouth and the amount of vegetables compared to egg was pathetic.

Let’s face it: Proper Food is improperly priced for the FiDi working drone unless you’re the C-​suite type which means your admin is getting the food anyway, so what are you whining about? This is their second location, and I was somewhat underwhelmed by my experience at their other spot at the 100 1^st Street. There was a lot of empty space on those shelves and even more apathy when I came in to buy a late lunch at half past one. So when I heard they opened on Montgomery in a sea of self-​absorbed suits and geeks, I was initially hesitant.
But I sharpened up this time and decided I’d go before the lunch rush at a little past 11AM. What a difference a couple of hours made as the shelves were fully stocked and the staff was perky and attentive. Choice was actually hard this time, but I decided to get the $ 13.95 Kale Salad with Achiote-​Poached Prawns. What the hell is achiote? I didn’t know, but I’ve been in a kale mood lately, so why not. Besides, I got seven of those suckers, somewhat congealed though the salad had a nice crunch thanks to the radish, jicama and toasted almonds.
The kale was mixed with romaine, charred avocado and cotija cheese to make it a hearty portion, and the whole creation was tossed in a house-​made lime vinaigrette. (photo:
). That’s a lot of fancy ingredients, so maybe the price wasn’t too bad. Understand I’m usually satisfied with shards of iceberg lettuce and a splooge of 1,000 island dressing. Soup sounded good, but Proper Food can’t just serve chicken noodle soup, it has to be Chicken Bone Broth Noodle Soup for $ 5.25 (photo:
). Call me a barbarian but I could have used more noodles in my cup.
FOOD — 3 stars… high-​end food with prices to match… I still don’t know what achiote is
AMBIANCE — 2.5 stars… very sterile-looking…no warmth
SERVICE — 3.5 stars… better here than on 1^st
TOTAL — 3 stars… it’s proper food alright but I may have fallen out of their target demo

Steak breakfast burrito! Spinach flour tortilla, steak, eggs, pico de gallo, avocado, cheese, and crème fraîche. Have them toast it up and enjoy! It’s not a dinky breakfast burrito like Café Venue, although the higher price tag reflects that at $ 7.95 before tax. It’s quite filling. I actually skipped lunch and just had a soup later in the day. They do run out of stuff around 10:30am so go early for breakfast.
Have not tried their other food, but they do offer sandwiches and salads along with fresh juices. Quick, convenient, and the staff is really friendly.

My lunch of sliced steak with beans and rice and avocado (not the burrito, the dish) left me completely full, all day at work. I love that I wasn’t snacking at 5pm to supplement all those boring sandwiches and salads that seem to plague the typical lunch hour. Very flavorful as well and full of the right ingredients, as most of their dishes are, for anyone who is trying to eat healthier.
Definitely coming back, even though it’s quite a trek from the office for me.

*This review is mainly for the Red Beets & Quinoa salad ($ 8.50) (because it’s that damn good)
Modern, clean, and simple takeout concept meant to be quick and revolving around food that is good, and good for you (hence, ‘Proper Food!’) I love this place. if they would knock a dollar or two off their prices I’d probably come ALL the time but yes, it is kinda pricey.
I’ve been working in the FIDI for FOREVER and am always scoping out new options.
I’ve only tried the Red Beet & Quinoa salad thus far (and it’s only because I read about it in a 7×7 article) and it’s freaking. everything and more. I don’t even care for beets that much (I only eat it because it’s healthy) but they cut it extremely thinly, you don’t even know it’s there. Just. try it! It doesn’t look like much but it’s actually a hefty amount of quinoa and it will keep you full.
Definitely going to be one of my regular food items in my lunch rotation now. YAY!
Lunch options range from $ 8 – 13 — I don’t think I’ll try much else except their version of a PB&J ($ 6 – 7??) *which is made of coconut butter wuuut* and maybe their carne asada or breakfast burrito. Their other salads seem enticing, but again, on the pricey side. maybe when I feel like splurging that day.
OH YEAH, and come EARLY if you have a specific item you want. I came around 1 on Monday and they sold out of quite a few items :(:(

I have eaten a lot of Niçoise salads, and the one I just had from Proper Foods has to be the best. Wonderful lemony Dijon dressing, perfectly cooked hard-​boiled eggs, rare Ahi tuna, crisp green beans, Yukon Gold potatoes, kalamata olives, roasted tomatoes, fresh chives, and, wait for it, fried capers. Yummy, and a generous portion! I will certainly be back to try more of the many many choices they offer!

Before 8:30.
Go. Or no breakfast for you —
slim pickins after.
Kudos for giving
all leftovers to food banks
on nightly basis.

Proper patience.
Four stars at the original location:
Passed by the new second location and discovered the existence of a carne asada tofu burrito. All the seasoning. None of the meat. They were out. Planned to return.
Returned the next day to see if this unique creation with rice, black beans, cheese, crème fraîche, avocado and lettuce in a flour tortilla was as amazing as it sounded.
It was just OK. Seasoning was great but there seemed to be more rice than anything else and iceberg as the greens was a little disappointing. Especially for $ 8.95.
Should have exhibited more patience in coming back.
Properly three stars.

Honestly, I’m dreading the day when, in a month, this place is packed full of people.
I bought the breakfast burrito with steak, egg white frittata, and Greek yogurt parfait. The prices are reasonable — maybe a dollar or two cheaper than other places around the downtown area. Though the quality of the food is worth the price.
Their food is really well prepared. You can tell when you get a REEEAAALLLY good, greasy, cheesey breakfast burrito. And this was not one of those. It had a completely unique taste and the quality of the food shone through. I’m really excited to see their selection expand.
They also play Nina Simone and Ray Charles in the morning, so major bonus points there

I love salads but I’m very opposed to paying $ 10 for a boring spring salad or chopped salad in FiDi, with protein as an add-​on for another $ 2 – 3, when I could easily make the same salad at home for a tiny fraction of that price.
Proper Food, on the other hand, has much more interesting grab-​and-​go lunch options. They’ve still got some of your standard salads, but then they’ve got salads like the octopus + farro, tandoori chicken + asparagus and seared ahi tuna. They may end up being a little more expensive than salads elsewhere, ranging mostly from $ 12 – 14, but at least they aren’t $ 12 for just a plain salad with chicken.
They also have Vietnamese spring rolls, sandwiches, burritos/​wraps and soup, all of which are less than $ 10.
I stopped by for a really late lunch (4pm.) and there weren’t as many options left. I would’ve wanted to try their Ahi Tuna Sandwich or Charbroiled Flank Steak Bowl, but ended up going with the Citrus-​Braised Octopus & Farro Salad. Ingredients were fresh and portion-​size was average for FiDi.
TL;DR — solid place for a grab-​and-​go lunch. Prices are on par with the area but their food options are much more unique.
====================
–CITRUS-​BRAISED OCTOPUS & FARRO SALAD ($ 12.50)
[wild fresh octopus, grilled corn, farro, blistered cherry tomatoes, frisee, glazed almonds, yuzu, house-​made champagne vinaigrette]
Rather bitter overall, with the smokey grilled octopus, the frisee and the farro, but the almonds and corn add some sweetness and contrast. There’s a reasonable portion of octopus, which had a good texture but didn’t have much of that citrus flavor. Lots of farro, so it’s reasonably filling. My only problem is that they’re really heavy-​handed with the vinaigrette. I know olive oil is supposed to be healthy, but the entire salad felt rather oily and there was a HUGE pool of olive oil sitting at the bottom. Probably at least a tablespoon’s worth. Personally, not sure I’d get this again, but it’s definitely pretty unique.

Salmon soba noodle salad. Guava lemonade. Chicken beet quinoa. Oh, just do it.

I have been wanting to go for years. I am so glad I did. The «Sweet Potato Egg Muffin Nest with Bacon» heated up is a primal eater’s dream. Perfect size and perfectly delicious.