Just because the summer is over doesn’t mean your commitment to food and wellness should end with it. Whether you are trying to stay fit under all of that bulky clothing you will soon be wearing, or trying to jump-start a healthier way of life, CORE may be the perfect new spot for you.

Located at 7265 Buckley Road in Syracuse, approximately seven and a half miles from campus, CORE — a self-described “healthy eatery” — opened in May and is busier than ever. Set up similar to Chipotle, customers line up to choose which bases and toppings they’d like to add to their bowls. Unlike Chipotle, I left with no guilt. The tastes of CORE are worth the craving because the food is fresh and clean.

Offering a variety of green bowls, grain bowls, bone broth bowls and vegetable broth bowls, CORE’s goal is to provide nutritious, healthy and clean food. You can also create your own bowl for as low as $5.55. It’s fast and convenient — taking up to 10 minutes between walking in the door and getting your food. The meals are complete in themselves, made with ingredients free of trans fats, GMOs and artificial additives. In addition, their meats are sustainably raised and do not contain antibiotics or hormones.

 

I was anxious to try one of the bone broth bowls as I have never heard that term before. The spicy ginger steak & rice noodle bowl came with hearth bone broth, grilled steak, rice noodles, broccoli, carrots, scallions, slivered almonds, ginger, cilantro and Sriracha. All of the ingredients blended together nicely. The steak’s spice was just right. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this dish because I knew I wanted to eat healthy but didn’t expect the flavors to
taste as good as they did. It satisfied me without feeling like I overate and it motivated me to continue eating healthy and fresh food.

I also created my own salad, using mesclun greens as my base and added cherry tomatoes, celery, peppers and hard-boiled eggs. I had the carrot chili dressing to go with my salad, which was a fantastic choice. The carrot chili vinaigrette dressing is made from scratch with all fresh ingredients. In fact, CORE is the first restaurant I’ve known to actually juice the carrots and then create an insanely flavorful salad dressing. I thought that the dressing had a nice little kick to it. I could taste the garlic and ginger flavors and thought it was a delicious blend of ingredients.

I also tried both the cucumber basil lemonade and blueberry mint lemonade, which were refreshing and flavorful beverages. I liked the cucumber basil lemonade better because I thought that it tasted less sweet than the blueberry mint. Both drinks came from the self serve juice machines and do have sugar added to them. But, instead of drinking a fountain soda, it was nice to enjoy something healthier, made with real fruit. I thought both lemonades were sweet yet satisfying.

Located in strip mall, CORE has beautiful outdoor patio seating, making it is easy to spot. While CORE is right next door to an ice cream store I left feeling satisfied with my meal and did not crave the ice cream one bit.

CORE takes pride in weight loss success stories that may not be found in similar eateries. John Cavenny, operating manager at CORE, said that one of his customers has been eating at CORE regularly and lost over 30 pounds. CORE’s website has a blog where you can read about different weight loss stories. The blog also offers visitors the opportunity to share their stories.

The restaurant has become a hot spot for Syracuse University students. Word has spread quickly, as the eatery was filled with SU sorority girls during my visit this past Saturday. CORE can be reached at (315) 299-4451 and its website is http://eatatcore.com.

Published on August 30, 2015 at 8:44 pm

Contact Callie: caweinst@syr.edu