Savor Scout › Food guides › Grain bowls
How to find a good grain bowl
The grain bowl is the modern lunch: a base of rice or grains, vegetables, a protein and a sauce. The good ones are seasoned at every layer; the bad ones are plain components in a box.
What separates a good one from a bad one
- Seasoned grains — Rice or grains cooked with stock, vinegar or herbs, not plain.
- Roasted and raw vegetables — Both, for texture.
- A protein with flavour — Marinated, grilled, well seasoned.
- A sauce that pulls it together — Tahini, miso, chimichurri, chilli crisp.
- Crunch — Seeds, nuts, crispy shallots.
What to order
- The house bowl — Usually the best combination.
- Extra vegetables — Usually cheap.
- Sauce on the side — If taking it away.
- Something pickled — For acidity.
- Warm, not cold — If available.
How Savor Scout looks for it
The search reads for bowls, fresh, healthy and house-made sauces, and lets you add a diet — vegan, high protein — to narrow it.
Looking in a particular city?
Each of these opens Savor Scout with the location already set, so you can say what you want and it searches from there. It covers 1,000 US cities in total — these are simply the largest.
- New York, NY
- Los Angeles, CA
- Chicago, IL
- Houston, TX
- Philadelphia, PA
- Phoenix, AZ
- San Antonio, TX
- San Diego, CA
- Dallas, TX
- San Jose, CA
- Austin, TX
- Indianapolis, IN
- Jacksonville, FL
- San Francisco, CA
- Columbus, OH
- Charlotte, NC
- Fort Worth, TX
- Detroit, MI
- El Paso, TX
- Memphis, TN
- Seattle, WA
- Denver, CO
- Washington, DC
- Boston, MA
- Nashville, TN
- Baltimore, MD
- Oklahoma City, OK
- Louisville, KY
- Portland, OR
- Las Vegas, NV
- Milwaukee, WI
- Albuquerque, NM
- Tucson, AZ
- Fresno, CA
- Sacramento, CA
- Long Beach, CA
- Kansas City, MO
- Mesa, AZ
- Virginia Beach, VA
- Atlanta, GA
- Colorado Springs, CO
- Omaha, NE
- Raleigh, NC
- Miami, FL
- Oakland, CA
- Minneapolis, MN
- Tulsa, OK
- Cleveland, OH
- Wichita, KS
- Arlington, TX
- New Orleans, LA
- Bakersfield, CA
- Tampa, FL
- Honolulu, HI
- Aurora, CO
- Anaheim, CA
- Santa Ana, CA
- St. Louis, MO
- Riverside, CA
- Corpus Christi, TX
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When you might want this
- Where to eat when you're trying to eat healthy
- Where to get a quick lunch
- What to eat after a workout