True Food Kitchen Offers A Delicious, Seasonal, And Healthy Menu

Full disclosure: I was invited to True Food Kitchen for a tasting of their menu. Any opinions displayed are my own and do not represent the restaurant.

I visited Midtown Tampa about two weeks for a moonlight farmer's market and noticed a restaurant packed with customers called True Food Kitchen. I was curious what all the hype was about and then realized I had an unread e-mail in my inbox with a press release about the new healthy and seasonal concept, so I booked a visit. The restaurant opened on February 28th.

True Food Kitchen says they "believe in food that works for you, to nourish you as healthfully as possible…without sacrificing flavor." They follow the anti-inflammatory food pyramid from their founder Dr. Andrew Weil. What you'll find on the menu when you go is a variety of salads, pizzas, tacos, and sides all focused on fresh ingredients. There are seasonal items that rotate (the next rotation is coming in April) and also mainstay menu items. During my visit, I tried a variety of both.

On the seasonal front, my favorite item was the Butternut Squash Pizza with caramelized onion, roasted garlic, organic kale, house-made vegan almond ricotta, dried cranberry, and sage. The crust was perfectly made and every ingredient complemented itself well. I admit, I've never really thought of making a pizza with butternut squash, but it turned out to be really appetizing.

The Korean Noodle Bowl and the Chopped Salad were both mainstay items that I think would be good lunch options or a good side during dinner. Both were very filling, the Korean Noodle Bowl is better with an add-on, we went with salmon. The salmon complemented it well.

The starters at True Food Kitchen were quite impressive. I am not normally a huge fan of cauliflower, it is something I try to force myself into as a healthy choice, but the Charred Cauliflower with harissa tahini, medjool date, dill, mint, and pistachio was so tasty that I could not stop biting into it. Consider me converted. The Roasted Brussel Sprouts with mushroom, miso sesame vinaigrette, and a chili thread were also good, but more of a side dish than a starter to me.

On the cocktail side things are not too imaginative, but there is an obvious focus on low-calorie options and fresh ingredients. The Citrus Skinny Margarita tastes straight up like a mojito with tequila and it works. Between the Common Bond and Beach Party, I would choose the Beach Party most days. It's their take on a Pina Colada without the overbearing sweetness. The Common Bond is similar to an Old Fashioned, but to me I'd rather just drink bourbon straight in most instances.

I feel like there is more room for growth both on the cocktail side and also in the beer list, which was surprisingly short. Tampa has over 100 breweries, so I would hope that True Food Kitchen would look into expanding their craft beer list and maybe even partnering with local beer brands for some special releases. Tampeños love a good, local craft beer list.

We were entirely too full to dive into the entrees list or sandwiches, but the Vegan Burger was actually really interesting and may need to be tried in a future visit. I appreciate that they actually use vegetables to make their burger and don't rely on Beyond or Impossible Meat to serve fresh vegan food.

The dessert menu had a few rock stars that we tried, the favorite to me was the Squash Pie, a seasonal option that tasted almost like pumpkin pie, but butter. You could taste the nutmeg in each bite. The Flourless Chocolate Cake was also great and decadent as expected, without all the messiness. Usually I'm too full for dessert, but I recommend making an exception if you dine here.

The staff was friendly and the manager seemed well-experienced from discussions. The tables filled for dinner and moved quickly. The bathroom was clean. There was plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, which is great considering the pandemic.

I would recommend True Food Kitchen and look forward to returning again in the future.

Carlos Hernandez is a food writer with over 10 years of experience in the industry. He writes the food blog Carlos Eats (http://www.carloseats.com) and also contributes to several newspapers and magazines with food-related blogs and articles.