Three years ago, the first time I went to Agra Culture Kitchen & Press, I had no idea that it would become my favorite restaurant of all time. Now it's hard to imagine the Twin Cities restaurant scene (or my life for that matter) without Agra Culture. One thing's for sure, Agra Culture certainly has made going out to eat on a paleo diet a million times easier and tastier.
If you've never heard of Agra Culture, it is a casual dining restaurant where you order your food at the counter and then you're given a number and they deliver your food to you. Their menu is both diverse and customizable. In addition, each item on the menu is labeled if it's vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy free, or paleo, eliminating the need to ask loads of questions about things you can and can't eat. For breakfast they offer everything from bowls, to sandwiches, to hot cereals, and baked goods. For lunch & dinner they offer sandwiches, salads, flatbreads, soups, entrees and customizable bowls. Yes, you read that right- customizable bowls! Customization, one of my absolute favorite things a restaurant can offer! If nothing on the menu is catching your eye, or if you have dietary restrictions that prevent you from ordering something on the menu, creating your own agra-bowl is the perfect solution.
Agra Bowl
How it works is you pick your protein (choice of tofu, all-natural chicken, sautéed shrimp, sautéed steak, chilled-seared tuna, or seared salmon) and then you pick a sauce to accompany the protein (choice of romesco, chimichurri, thai, kale-pesto, or ginger miso) and then you can choose as many hot or cold sides as you would like. Side options include things like stir-fried vegetables, sweet potato wedges, cauliflower couscous, and side salads.
Build your own salad
Most of the time when I go to restaurants I feel like I end up creating my own salad, because I ask for it without so many of the items. Often times this leaves me wondering why I paid $15 for some leaves, tomatoes, dressing, and chicken. So when I discovered that Agra Culture allowed you to build your own salad, I was beyond excited. I finally felt like I was ordering something and getting my money's worth. You can select everything down to the type of greens you would like. That's pretty cool if you ask me. I go through stages of what salads I prefer, but below are a few salads I've ordered that I have really loved.
some of My favorites
Pretty much anyone who is close to me has probably gone to Agra Culture with me. It truly is my go-to restaurant. When I go out to eat somewhere else, I almost always end up missing Agra Culture a little bit. My friends and I often joke about the number of times I've gone there. It definitely has to be upwards of 50 times. I'm not joking when I say this is my favorite restaurant. Given how many times I've dined there, I've gone through stages of my favorite things to order. Below I'll highlight a few of my favorites.
Salads
Bowls & Plates
Breakfast
Here is a link to their website with their fully menu and information on locations.