Mix It Up: A Salad Boutique, White Plains

Though I had designs on having Thai today for lunch, that fell through, so I had to get something reliable from an established eatery. I ran some errands and popped into Mix It Up on Mamaroneck Avenue in the downtown area of White Plains to get a salad.

Normally there is a crowd/line right up to the door, but today, I lucked out and there were about six people ahead of me in line. Luckily at my "knit night" last night, my friend and I were discussing local eateries for lunch, and Mix It Up came up in conversation. So I already had a taste for their City Center salad (arugala, dry cranberries, goat cheese, grilled chicken). While I stood in line, I decided I wanted a few more add ins: candied walnuts, croutons, red onion, and their raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

I've been to Mix It Up more than one or two dozen times. They're consistently good salads with fresh ingredients.

Cost:
I'd put it on the higher end (for salads locally). My City Center salad with the extra add ins (3) and one peanut butter cookie cost me nearly $13. I don't have it in my budget as an every day expense, but it's nice that it's available.

Quality/Quantity:
They offer a good variety of "designer" salads (i.e., chef; "bistro"--which is a take on a traditional Nicoise; Calabrese, Cobb, and Greek, to name a few) or you can design your own with the assortment of greens and add ins and dressings. All delicious. Quantity, to me is a great selling point. I have often joked with friends and co-workers that these are some hefty salads. I've threatened to bring my kitchen scale into work one day just to WEIGH one of these salads. Easily I guess there's about 1-2 lbs of stuff in each salad. I could be wrong, but they are really hearty portions.

Offerings:
Salads are their primary focus, however, I do believe there are paninis and even soup on their menu. Some baked goods are offered up by the front register (i.e., choc chip, oatmeal or peanut butter cookies, as well as their chocolate cheesecake brownies, which I have on good authority are quite good). Today I ordered up a peanut butter cookie and it lived up to my expectations.

Location:
The "boutique" is conveniently located on Mamaroneck Avenue, easily accessible on foot for the many folks who work in the downtown area, and there's metered on street parking in front. The decor isn't much to speak of, but a nice attempt was made to make the interior cheerful and modern. There are about two tables located as soon as you enter the boutique, so needless to say their focus is heavily on take out customers.

Note:
This place is only open during the day, and appear to close up towards the late afternoon. So their focus is on the lunch rush.

Overall opinion:
Good solid, dependable, delicious, hearty. This is a place I have gone to many times in the past, and plan on continuing to keep it in my "lunchtime rotation."