Intentional Foods
by: Ellie C
Address: 1837 W Guadalupe Rd Unit 103 Mesa, AZ 85202
Website: https://intentionalfoods.org/
Phone Number: 480-264-7002
Hours:
Tuesday-Saturday: 10AM - 8PM
Sunday-Monday: Closed
Amenities:
Indoor and outdoor seating
Takeout and delivery available
As a person with more than ten food allergies, it has been quite difficult for me to find a safe restaurant. Intentional Foods is one where I can eat, despite that long list. The head chef and co-owner, Chef Ned, told me:
“We have a mission and the mission started with our daughter’s life-threatening food allergies. We did not have a place to eat and we did not feel safe trusting other people’s handling of foods. Really our mission is to be as transparent as possible and to push for other restaurants to be transparent as well.“
Now they have a restaurant free of the top 9 allergens, where orders can be customized to fit other allergens, preferences, or special diets.
It is easy to order, either online or in person. Either way, you can customize your dish and choose substitutions. For example, you can substitute beef for pork, remove a sauce, or replace rice with potatoes! When I interviewed the head chef, they told me their most customizable dish is the Hacienda Hash Bowl. The staff are understanding and make sure my meals will be safe to eat.
Eating at Intentional Foods has not only been safe for me; the dishes are also delicious! My favorite dishes are the Hacienda Hash Bowl, Taco Plate Special, and SoCal Mexi Bowl (with a couple of adjustments for my allergies).
They also serve a wide variety of allergen-friendly desserts. One of the most popular of which is their lemon bar, which I find delectable.
Source: Intentional Foods
Source: Intentional Foods
Menu:
Interview with Chef:
What are the allergens your restaurant is free of?
Our restaurant is always free of the top 9 major allergens. Here in the US, that is peanuts, tree nuts, soy, dairy, egg, wheat, seafood, shellfish, and sesame. We do not let it in the doors and we are free of cross-contamination as well.
What steps do you take to accommodate people with other food allergies that wouldn't be part of the top 9?
Because we do so much of our cooking from scratch, we make it our mission to accommodate all sorts of sensitivities, dietary restrictions, or just preferences. So what we do is we make sure we have a very good understanding of what these other sensitivities are and if they’re in our kitchen. We make sure that we avoid cross-contact and build our meals from the ground up.
What would you say your most customizable dish or dishes are?
If I had to guess, I would say it is probably our Hacienda bowl. We make it with sweet potatoes on the bottom; however, some people change that for regular potatoes or even rice. We make our beans in-house; if people have legume sensitivities they may want to swap that for a spring mix possibly. We have grass-fed beef that comes with it, but that can be changed for either a turmeric chicken, grilled chicken, carnitas, or if it's vegan we have seasoned chickpeas as well. We have salsa that comes as a tomato salsa, however, we find that people come in that have tomato sensitivities, so we will make a cucumber salsa as well. We really make it our goal to accommodate the best we can for every customer.
What are your most popular dishes and desserts?
I would say the Hacienda Hash that we just talked about is probably our number-one seller for dinners. For Mama Lisa’s desserts, I would say it’s probably either the Lemon Bar or the Churro Donut, which is served warm. Those seem to go pretty quick.
Is there anything else you feel like people should know about your restaurant?
Yeah! That it’s all allergy friendly. We have a mission and the mission started with our daughter’s life-threatening food allergies. We did not have a place to eat and we did not feel safe trusting other people’s handling of foods. Really our mission is to be as transparent as possible and to push for other restaurants to be transparent as well. We’re okay if there is an allergy in your facility as long as you’re letting us know. As an allergy parent, we just want to have the option to make the right decision. I want everyone to know, allergies or not, we have food for you. Don’t let the fact that it’s free from things scare you if you don’t have allergies.
Have you been to International Foods? Planning to go? Feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comment section and/or ask questions about the restaurant, and we will try our best to answer!
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