Freshii offers healthful foods, attractive setting

• Hours: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

• Where: 910 N.E. Tenney Road, Suite 103, in Salmon Creek.

• Contact: 360-258-0338 or www.freshii.com

• Health score: Freshii has received a pre-opening inspection, for which a score is not available. The restaurant is scheduled to receive a routine inspection in the near future. Zero is a perfect score, and Clark County Public Health closes restaurants with a score of 100 or higher. For information, call 360-397-8428.

Why: Freshii is a Canadian-based franchise that focuses on providing healthful food that is affordable and convenient. The first store opened in 2005, and the company continues to grow in number, spanning 12 countries.

Vancouver’s first Freshii opened in the Grand Central Shopping Center in January 2014. The second location just opened in December in the Salmon Creek area and a third is scheduled to open in the summer in east Vancouver.

What I tried: I settled on the Pangoa bowl and my dining companion tried the Buddha’s Satay bowl. Both of us added chicken as a protein to our selection. I had the mint limeade to drink, and my dining companion had the Mighty Detox.

The Pangoa bowl is made with brown rice, sliced avocado, black beans, shredded aged cheddar cheese, corn, halved cherry tomatoes, cilantro, and a fiery barbecue sauce. It’s garnished with a lime wedge. A generous amount of rice filled the bottom of the bowl, and many of the other ingredients were arranged like a color wheel on top. The barbecue sauce was drizzled over it and the cilantro was sprinkled on top. It made for a colorful, appetizing presentation, and the individual flavors were all complementary to one another. The rice was hot and the rest of the ingredients were chilled, though there was little heat transfer from the rice to the other ingredients. The barbecue sauce was significantly spicy, but it didn’t interfere with the other flavors.

The Buddha’s Satay bowl begins with a rice noodle base tossed in a peanut sauce. To that, crispy wonton, shredded carrots, broccoli flowerets, shredded cabbage and sliced green onions are added. This bowl is not noted as spicy on the menu, so my dining companion was surprised with the spicy quality of the sauce and found it a bit too much. She asked for a different sauce that she could add to it to quench the heat. An Asian sesame dressing did the trick, and she was able to enjoy her meal.

Both the mint limeade (cucumber, apple, lime, mint, and ginger) and the Mighty Detox (pineapple, ginger, apple, celery, and cucumber) imparted the essence of their ingredients. We found them to be refreshing beverages to enjoy with a meal.

Menu highlights beyond what I tried: Breakfast is served until 11 a.m. and includes a Fiesta Classic grilled breakfast burrito made with eggs, avocado, black beans, aged cheddar, cilantro and pico de gallo. There is also a bacon, egg and cheese grilled egg pocket, which sounded delicious. For lighter appetites, blueberry crumble oatmeal or a Greek yogurt parfait may satisfy.

Lunch and dinner options include soups (Asian vegetable, Southwestern and spicy lemongrass), burritos, bowls, salads and wraps that incorporate fresh ingredients such as spinach, romaine lettuce, field greens, mangoes, carrots, edamame, tomatoes, avocados and cucumbers. Tofu, falafel, chicken, steak or shrimp may be added as a protein to any of the selections. Kale or quinoa may be substituted in place of a brown rice base, and burritos may be made with a green wrap.

Juices and smoothies come in refreshing flavors such as Green Energy, Red Energy, and Freshii Green. Banana nut crunch and a strawberry banana smoothie offer fruitier options.

If nothing on the menu really strikes your fancy, you may order a custom salad, wrap, bowl or soup from a long list of ingredients.

Frozen yogurt, with 10 toppings to choose from, covers dessert.

Atmosphere: The Salmon Creek store has a crisp, bright atmosphere that uses reclaimed, whitewashed brick, and light shades of wood surfaces are accented with bright metal. The wall art includes artificial boxwood greens and colorful photos of ingredients displayed to resemble an element chart. Seating included slatted wood booths and a few featherweight bistro seats. Four digital menu boards display choices above the order counter, and food and drink preparation may be viewed through a glass partition. Near the entrance a trash, condiment, and utensil station is set up for diners to conveniently help themselves.

Other observations: Service was very friendly and helpful.

I loved the look of the restaurant, except for one thing: the open trash cans are just below the condiments and utensils, which I did not find appetizing when retrieving the utensils I needed for my meal.

Cost: Salads and wraps cost $6.99 to $8.49. Bowls are $6.99 to $8.99. Soups are $6.99 and $7.29. Burritos cost $6.49 to $7.99. Juices and smoothies are all $5.99. Frozen yogurt is $4.99 with two toppings.