Roots Natural Kitchen

Can customize your salad/bowl of get the specials. I love that kids eat free!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Always good healthy food!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Ordered a choose-your-own green salad online and frustrated that I got rice instead of kale. The restaurant was not busy when i picked up, so not sure what went wrong. I guess I will only order in person in the future.

Food: 3

Service: 2

Roots Natural Kitchen >

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

So healthful and delicious! Quick service.

Vegetarian options: Marinated mushrooms and BBQ tofu are delish!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Cilantro Lime, Roasted, BBQ Tofu, Caesar Pesto Bowl

Generally, the food is good: fresh, tasty, decent serving size, good variety of options.
If you have any sensitivities to anything served here, I would suggest not risking it - even when it's not very busy, the food gets flung around into all the surrounding ingredients in the chaos. I have tried both tofu options a couple of times, so have friends, and we all find it quite a rubbery, unpleasant texture, but tasty. The chicken is usually really good though. There is no consistency to the size of the scoop (partly because half the scoop is lost on its way to your bowl, hence the gamble with ingredient allergens/sensitivities), but you won't go hungry.
Service always feels rushed, regardless of whether anyone else is in line. Very loud inside, especially when the grill is going, so you might need to yell your order. A good amount of seating inside and outside if you want to eat in.
Having said all this, Roots is an easy go-to for a quick, affordable and wholesome lunch or dinner, and I do recommend it as take-out for those reasons.

Vegetarian options: Tofu texture its not for me, but there are hot and cold tofu options or mushroom, egg for protein, plus legumes, etc.

Dietary restrictions: Most of the food gets thrown about in the cabinet so I would have very little (no) confidence that you won't find broccoli in your beans, etc

Parking: As with anywhere downtown, depends on the day and time as to whether you will find a park on the street nearby. A few paid garages nearby.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 2

Very good food and kids eat free.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Their salads are tasty, with plenty of options! It’s just that they don’t wash their greens well, theres always sand in their Arcadian mix and greens. I wish it was washed properly because everything else is good.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 5

The staff members were friendly and helpful. The amount of food was satisfactory. The ingredients were fresh and healthy. The price was acceptable.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Food here is fantastic, however one time I looked up at the ceiling and saw layers of dust and dirt accumulated on the lamps hanging ABOVE the food. Won't come back here again, that is a health hazard!

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 5

Service: 3

Lauren did an amazing job running the ship at Roots! She greeted me when I walked in the door, she had a smile on her face. Even though it was packed, she still made an effort to make a connection.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Service was exceptional, food tasted great, and overall great atmosphere! 10/10 would go again.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Balboa

I go to PSU and Roots is one of my favorite places to grab lunch! Addy helped me the other day and was super helpful and kind!

I was visiting the town for a college game and had to stop to get a bite to eat gotta say I had some amazing service might have to come back soon.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Stopped here while passing through State College for a quick and healthy dinner. It’s a counter service build-your-own bowl place. They have set bowls on the menu which you can customize or you can create your own from scratch. Very vegan friendly - there are 3 vegan proteins to choose from plus all the variety you can get from choosing different veggie toppings and sauces for your bowl. The prices are pretty fair.
I did a custom bowl with the red chili miso tofu. I was very happy with it! The tofu was really tasty and crispy and the salad/grain base also came out really good. I liked that a lot of the veggie ingredients are seasoned (for example, I could have just eaten the chickpeas and sweet potatoes on their own) unlike some salad places that only have plain raw veggies.
They only have disposable takeout bowls/cutlery even if you’re dining in, but the aesthetic of the place is kind of nice, and there’s also some patio seating.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5