Taste Tested: Tender Greens' House-made GoBars

Tender Greens recently launched a line of house-made energy bars and they sent some our way for a little taste test. Since the eatery is focused on providing patrons with sustainable eats served in an eco-friendly and fast-casual environment, creating whole-food bars that people can grab on the go is a pretty natural move for them. The GoBars were created by TG's Chef Fermin Arias, and have an ingredient base of toasted nuts, organic rolled oats, puffed rice, dates, flax seeds and almond butter, boosted by the addition of bites and bits that make their three flavors: Blueberry & White Chocolate, Chocolate Espresso Bean, and Tropical Fruit. The folks at Tender Greens sent over mini-samples of each flavor (pictured) for us to check out. We started with the Chocolate Espresso Bean, which was a bit of a letdown in terms of delivering the sweet punch of the two chief ingredients, although the dense texture was enjoyable, and there was no cloying sweetness or the chemical aftertaste that often comes part and parcel with a mass-manufactured bar. The Blueberry White Chocolate was similarly deceptive, and seemed to have a dominant toasted nut flavor. Lastly, however, the Tropical Fruit was a homerun hit--not too sweet, balanced flavors between the base and the addition of the dried fruit and coconut; this was the one that we decided we'd grab on the go, for sure.

The GoBars are $3 each, have no preservatives, and have about 250 calories each, and are available at all three Tender Greens locations (West Hollywood, Culver City and San Diego).