With 16 locations in the Los Angeles area, Lemonade enters the San Diego market with the opening of its first restaurant on 5th Avenue in Hillcrest, where it shares a block with Snooze and D Bar. A second Lemonade is in the final stages at Westfield UTC, where it's slated to debut by the end of the month.
The fast-casual, 2,500-square-foot eatery is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9:05 p.m. with a cafeteria-style set up and multiple food stations. The food queue starts in the marketplace section, where you can choose up to six selections from a long list of fresh salads that range from curried cauliflower with golden raisins and almonds to Mission figs with arugula, blue cheese and sherry vinaigrette. Or, go straight to the Land & Sea menu, which ranges from seared ahi with orange-ginger ponzu to buttermilk-baked chicken breast and augment that with a flatbread topped with Asian pears and blue cheese or olives, onions and goat cheese; the Hillcrest and UTC stores are two of only three Lemonade locations to offer the hand-sized flatbreads.
There are also toasted-to-order sandwiches, from ham, cheese and quince in a croissant to tomato, basil and mozzarella on focaccia, plus braised meats, from miso short ribs to pulled pork with peach barbecue sauce, and hot sides that range from truffled mac and cheese to spaghetti squash with almonds and balsamic. Finally, you arrive at the housemade desserts— macarons, cookies, mini cupcakes, pies and cakes — and their namesake lemonade bar, whose flavors change seasonally like the rest of the menu; current offerings include watermelon rosemary, blood orange and cucumber mint.
