April 4, 2001
Not all buffets worth visiting are associated with Las Vegas resorts, especially if you are seeking something both different and healthful.
Sweet Tomatoes is a perfect example, provided you are willing to go just a bit
outside the tourist corridor. Sweet Tomatoes is an all-you-can-eat salad and
soup restaurant which currently has two area locations, one at 2080 North Rainbow
Boulevard northwest of the city, and the other at 375 North Stephanie Street
near Sunset Station in Henderson.
The owner/operator of Sweet Tomatoes and its sister chain, Souplantation, is
Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp., a San Diego company. Garden Fresh operates more
than 80 of these restaurants, mostly in the south and west. As described at
the company's Web site, the restaurants seek "to provide fresh wholesome
food with a strong emphasis on salads, which are featured on two 55-foot bars
that include a wide range of salad offerings...."
Everything offered at Sweet Tomatoes is prepared from scratch. The menu is built
around a wide variety of salad ingredients, but also includes muffins and breads,
soups and chilies, hot tossed pasta dishes, and fruits and desserts. Each day's
selection is chosen from a huge rotating list, which assures not only a slightly
different dining experience with each visit, but also allows the chefs to prepare
only those items for which the freshest ingredients are currently available.
This restaurant is perfect for those with special dietary requirements or health
issues that require them to be fully aware of what they are consuming. At Sweet
Tomatoes, customers can obtain a copy of the restaurant's huge Table of Nutritional
Contents, which lists not just virtually every item from which the daily offerings
are selected, but also contains the following nutritional information about
each item: calories; calories from fat; total fat; saturated fat; cholesterol;
sodium; total grams of carbohydrates; grams of fiber; grams of sugar; grams
of protein.
This is vital information for people who watch what they eat for health or medical
reasons, and I've never seen such information available anywhere else in such
a thorough and readily accessible format.
Here are the choices available at Sweet Tomatoes on a recent visit. From a list
of 16 Fresh Tossed Salads: antipasto salad; California cobb salad; classic Caesar;
country French salad with bacon; Mandarin spinach salad with caramelized walnuts;
roasted vegetables with feta and olives; Roma tomato, mozzarella and basil salad;
spinach and pasta with raspberry vinaigrette; traditional spinach salad; won
ton chicken salad; fresh California field greens and iceberg lettuce.
From a list of 48 Signature Prepared Salads: cucumber tomato with Chile lime
vinaigrette; marinated summer vegetables salad; Baja bean and cilantro salad;
carrot raisin salad; Gemelli pasta salad with chicken; Mandarin noodles salad
with broccoli; Moroccan marinated vegetables salad; Oriental ginger slaw with
Krab; southern dill potato salad; spicy southwestern pasta salad; Aunt Doris'
red pepper slaw; artichoke rice salad; carrot ginger salad with herb vinaigrette;
jalapeno potato salad; old-fashioned macaroni salad with ham; pesto pasta salad;
poppyseed coleslaw; tortellini salad with basil; tuna tarragon salad.
From a list of 17 Salad Dressings: honey mustard; zesty Italian; fat-free Italian;
ranch; garden-fresh French tomato; creamy cucumber; raspberry vinaigrette; roasted
garlic; thousand island; balsamic vinaigrette; blue cheese.
From a list of 29 Muffins and Breads: apple cinnamon muffin; cranberry orange
bran muffin; banana nut muffin; carrot pineapple muffin; sourdough bread; wild
Maine blueberry muffin; Indian grain bread; Georgia peach poppyseed muffin;
pizza focaccia; roasted potato focaccia.
From a list of 32 made-from-scratch Soups and Chilies: chicken noodle; house
chili; onion; chunky potato cheese with thyme; Manhattan clam chowder; jambalaya;
Oriental noodle with lime and cilantro; turkey cassoulet.
From a list of 12 Hot Tossed Pastas: broccoli Alfredo; garden vegetable with
Italian meatballs; smoked salmon and dill; vegetarian marinara with basil.
Desserts: fresh honeydew melon; fresh cantaloupe; seedless red grapes; Ghirardelli
chocolate frozen yogurt; soft-serve nonfat ice cream; various puddings, cookies
and Jellos.
Sweet Tomatoes offers a pleasant restaurant setting, and is a perfect choice
for online posters who frequently ask for advice on where they can find the
best selection of salads and other healthy foods. All you need is a vehicle
to get there. It is one of our personal favorites, as well as a constant fall-back
choice when we want to eat out but have no particular place in mind.
Dining at Sweet Tomatoes is also easy on the pocketbook. As of spring, 2001,
lunch is $6.69, dinner is $7.99, kids between 6 and 12 eat at all times for
$4.49, kids under 6 are free, and seniors age 60 and up always get 10 percent
off. In addition, there are coupons in the local newspapers almost every week,
offering $1.50 off on average or a free kid's meal.
If you have fond memories of chicken noodle soup "like mother used to make,"
the house-special chicken noodle soup is my top recommendation. Delicious broth,
wide chewy noodles, and huge pieces of white-meat chicken.
Meet you at Sweet Tomatoes?
