Fresh Garden Deli

I really love this place. The service is great! I eat here almost everyday. My favorite is the Greek plate. I told them I wanted to limit my carbs so I asked to leave out the pita. They remembered the next time… now if I want the pita I have to ask. LOL I appreciate that they remember :)
The only CON is they only take cash. Also they are closed on Mondays, which forces me to eat somewhere else.

Fresh Garden Deli is located in downtown on Merchant Street. This place is a popular go to place for a lot of office workers in the area.
The Daily Specials:
Tuesday — Turkey and Roasted Garlic or Chicken Curry
Wednesday — Apple Tuna Salad, Chili or «OMG» Egg Salad
Thursday — Greek Platter, I Want It All, Ultimate Greek Platter
Friday — Fiesta Salad or Black Bean Burrito
The Grub.
[[ BLACK BEAN BURRITO W/​CHICKEN $ 9 ]]
This burrito is loaded with rice, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, guacamole and fresh salsa. You can get it with just the veggies for $ 8 or get it with chicken for $ 9 or if your feeling meaty go get it with beef for $ 11.
Overall — that was a messy but delish burrito. It was huge and I only could eat half of it.

Been going to this place for years now. Never had anything from here that was not tasty.
When you go there often, they even remember your usual order. Definitely recommend this place if you are interested in trying something «un-​ordinary».

Everyday is good here, but my favorite days are Thursdays and Fridays.
On Thursdays, they have Greek platters. I always get the «I Want it All» platter which has: 1) lentils with feta cheese and cilantro, 2) broccoli salad with apples and a mild curry dressing, 3) tossed salad with tomatoes and small cubes of fresh mozzarella and olives, 4) humus with wedges of pita bread, 5) tabbouleh and 6) olive tapenade. It is loaded with yummy, good for you, deliciousness! I am usually not a fan of tapenade but this one is really good.
On Fridays, they have massive burritos and a Nacho salad (or for those who are allergic to lettuce, just Nachos). The ladies who own this restaurant are pretty famous for their gruff, all business, no B.S. attitude but I have found them to be friendly and with a good sense of humor. When they asked my friend one time if he wanted jalepenos on his nachos, and he said yes, they asked if he wanted to «scream like a girl». So, although hey might come off as unfriendly, they definitely have their moments of light hearted fun.
When its not Thursday or Friday, I come here for a quick sandwich. The turkey sandwich is my fav. They make their sandwiches with Munster cheese, and I looooove Munster cheese. The bread choices are multi-​grain, Japanese white, and Japanese wheat.
Please be forewarned that this is a ***CASH ONLY*** establishment. There are maybe 4 or 5 seats inside at which you can eat — bar style facing the walkway so you can people watch. They have a selection of drinks in a help yourself refrigerator by the cashier, and no fountain drinks. They also have a small selection of chips. If you are in the downtown area be sure to check out the Fresh Garden Deli for healthy lunch choices!

$ 10 for one salad?! OUCH! My wallet cries every time I come here but their salads are so awesome! I used to tease my coworker about her needing to cut back on her $ 10 salads because she was going to need to save money for her daughter’s college education. Luckily for her, her daughter got a scholarship that fully covered tuition!
At first, both ladies were gruff and I couldn’t see why people came here. Expensive and grouchy women but all of a sudden, the Asian lady’s attitude flipped a switch and we have now bonded over our crazy Asian moms. She’s now really nice to me and I’m glad because I do enjoy their salads. I have gotten the fiesta salad (Friday only), apple tuna salad (not too curry-​y), and jicama salad. I think I ordered the curry once. I prefer the salads. My favorite salad is the half apple tuna and half jicama. Yes it might be pricey and only a salad and only lunch but you will probably pay $ 15 for a salad at cpk. While it doesn’t make the pain any less, it’s good for your health to eat salad. As the old saying goes, you are what you eat. I guess it is worth it in the long run to eat healthy.
Please try it out. If you’re afraid of the two ladies, they aren’t as bad as the bishop street nazi. He is (was) more scary. They do close a lot near any major holiday but I’m sure they’re doing well enough that it doesn’t matter that they close a few days at a time. Go early or your salad may be sold out!

Didn’t get to eat here, I got here at 1:35 and they had closed. Their hours say they close at 130 everyday so heads up!

I seriously cannot say enough about this place! I am so addicted that I feel a little lost when the shop is closed for vacations and holidays. This is one of the best places to pick-​up a delicious weekly special salad or sandwich.
You can spot the regulars here because they know the weekly specials menu by heart. I’m a Thursday-​goer for the Greek Platter and a Friday-​goer for the Fiesta Salad. I heard others rave about the Tuesday special, which is the Jicama Salad with Mandarin Oranges. They also serve a variety of deli sandwiches and a soup of the day. My favorite is the Turkey Sandwich with Muenster Cheese and Pesto. Yum!
This place is so popular, especially on Friday, that there is sometimes a line forming outside of the door at 11:00 am. So, come early if you want to be sure to get a weekly special salad! :o)

There is a reason Fresh Garden Deli the highest-​rated spot for salad in the Downtown Honolulu lunch scene — quick service, reasonably priced, and tasty salads. They don’t serve fancy hipster gourmet couture salads with local organic produce, but their food is solid and great for lunch.
Apple Tuna Curry (Monday and Wednesday) — This is by far my favorite salad in Downtown. At first, I was a little sheepish/​chang about paying $ 9.50 for a frickin salad, but it’s a very generous portion that comes with two baseball-​sized scoops of apple tuna curry salad on a small bed of broccoli atop a heaping pile of lettuce. It’s definitely enough for two meals. Oh, and the apple tuna curry salad is simple yet so delicious! I had scratched tuna salad off my diet a while ago because it’s boring and unhealthy, but this apple tuna curry salad has brought it back to the forefront. The bits of apple give it a nice refreshing crispness and the curry flavor adds a nice splash of sass to the tuna. High protein and low carb lunch? Yes! Healthy? Well, not really, especially with all that mayo and the balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
Turkey and Roasted Garlic Salad (Monday) — Very similar to the Apple Tuna Curry salad in presentation, except with cold turkey salad. It’s decently garlicky and very meaty. I prefer the Apple Tuna Curry, but this is still very pleasing and satisfying.
Chicken, Jicama, and Mandarin Orange Salad (Tuesday) — I love how this salad reminds me of a refreshing and cheerful version of Chinese chicken salad. It’s on the sweeter side and feels a lot lighter than the other salads.
Fiesta Salad (Friday) — It’s okay. I can see why others enjoy this salad (and the burritos), but it’s just not my thing.
OMG Sandwich — More like, «OMG-​WTF-​Why-​is-​it-​so-​big?» It’s the apple tuna curry salad with bacon and avocado in a sandwich form, and weighs 1lb 5oz, according to my office postage scale.
Cash only and remember to grab your own utensils!

get there early and beat the thursday (greek) and friday (mexican) lunch crowd… the best two days of the entire week!

I had a business lunch cancel and just wanted to grab a quick salad for lunch. I was in downtown Honolulu and just put salad in Unilocal.This was the highest rated salad place downtown. It is right off merchant street. I ordered the artichoke and chicken greens salad with vinaigrette. Pretty complex flavors despite its simplicity. Really tasty. Nice little gem in downtown Honolulu.

Another delish day! Eggplant curry with hapa rice and caesar salad. Curry is wonderful! My fav go-​to place for lunch. I can’t get enough of this place. Hopefully someday I will order a sandwich… but I doubt it!

This is the first year I have really been a regular at Fresh Garden Deli.
At first look, it looks like a boring, small, overpriced salad and sandwich place– and let’s face it: downtown Honolulu has so many soup/​salad /​sandwich shops to choose from. (Mix Café, Subway, Heidi’s, La Patisserie, San Francisco Salad Company, Great Harvest, Jack in the Box, even 7 – 11, are a few that come to mind.)
In light of this competition, Fresh Garden Deli stands out for its freshness and exciting daily specials (and characteristic unfriendliness – though sometimes the owners are friendly and smiling).
This is what I get:
— Apple Tuna Curry Salad Sandwich (WED): I’m not a tuna person but the apple chunks make this memorable. I prefer this as a salad on a bed of fresh greens, which is available. Comes with balsamic vinegar dressing
— Greek Platter (THURS): home-​made hummus, tabouli, lentil-​feta salad, broccoli-​curry salad (I think there’s apple chunks in it too – yum!) and pita bread.
— Burrito (FRI): They’ve made the burrito as healthy as can be. Packed with a lot of fresh goodies– add spicy chicken for protein – and brown rice. Their homemade hot salsa is so tasty on this. It’s a huge size, filling, perfect for splitting.
— Fiesta Salad or Nachos (FRI): Spiced chicken, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, chips and hot salsa. Try it on a bed of fresh greens as a guilt-​free salad. With a few chips, you don’t feel deprived.
— Their home-​made soups are not mentioned on their website but it is so good, like they have been cooking for hours in a slow-​cooker.
**********
Other pointers:
— They are generous with the portions, so it justifies the price. Everything tastes fresh/​homemade, seems healthy. You are really getting a lot of value for your money.
— They are so efficient; you are in and out ASAP. Check their menu online so you know what to get ahead of time.
— Cash only. Prices include tax.
— If you tell them you’re eating something for an early dinner, they are considerate and will pack it in a way that would help keep its freshness for a few hours. (Quality is very important to them.) :)

The quality of the food is just top notch, for work lunch plate standards. However, there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to go there because the servers/​owners are not the friendliest of people in town. I asked the main server if I could see the eggplant curry the other day and she kind of brusquely told me the picture is on the wall, duh (the picture was behind me). She didn’t say duh but she made me feel, uh, duh. The cashier lady barely talks unless spoken to.
I know it’s not personal. I think that’s just the way they are. I don’t know whether they are shy, aloof, introverted, whatever. I’m not saying it’s anything necessarily bad because I can be like that and one of my kids can be like that. But as for service at a busy lunch plate place in downtown, I would expect a little more warmth and friendliness.
That all said, it doesn’t overcome my desire to eat their tasty creations because it’s high quality, fresh ingredients and done very nicely, with style too. The food itself is always the thing, bottom line, isn’t it? Just prepare yourself for the notion that you will have to be the friendly person in this relationship, haha. Duh, right?

I was on my way to Sushi Kahuna when I ran into a coworker who said she got a Friday special burrito from this place. I had never really noticed this place since it is just small and plain looking from the outside. But her gigantic burrito sounded really good so I decided to try it. The service was fast and it seemed like everyone was getting the specials. They have different specials every day and they are all different types (e.g. burrito, greek platter, curry, ratatouille, etc.). They all sounded really good, especially the greek platter.
The price was ok ($ 6.75 for vegetarian, $ 7.75 with chicken) considering the huge portion, though my chicken burrito didn’t have all that much chicken in it. The spiced rice seemed to be a mix of brown and long rice? It tasted healthy which made me happy since burritos are generally pretty heavy. It was all very fresh too (she actually cut a bunch of lettuce in front of me… making me wonder how sanitary that is since it was the cashier who did the chopping D:?). The salsa was ok, but it was full of cilantro (which I hate… just personal preference). Except for the scarcity of the chicken, the different ingredients were well balanced. The best part was that you can get optional jalapenos, but instead of the sliced kind where you get a bite of no jalapenos and a bite of BURN, they dice their jalapenos so you get a little in every bite! It was so big I only ate half and I had to eat it with a fork.
Overall, it’s a little hard to judge from the burrito alone so I definitely have to go back and try other specials. Normally I like to review a place after more than one visit unless I have a strong impression, but I feel like this place has such different specials that my impression would be different each time! So I’ll probably update this as I slowly eat my way through their specials board :)

This one of my favorite spots for downtown lunch. I have been going here for years. Food is consistent and fresh.
My faves: the Wednesday tuna curry salad (has chunks of apple in it) and they place it on a bed of lettuce and broccoli, served with their housemade basalmic vinegar dressing. On Fridays, I opt for the Fiesta Salad. . so good! It has chicken, fresh lettuce, black beans, cheese, crushed tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole and sour cream. I always get extra salsa. Thursday’s Greek platter rules. Get there early for any of these specials, they go fast.
These two gals are a well oiled machine, they’ve been together for years (i’ve been going here since the late 90’s). I note some comments about how unfriendly and/​or abrupt they are. I find that the more often you come, the more friendlier they are. They are not big talkers, often work in silence and don’t seem to tolerate indecision (think Soup Nazi — Seinfeld). Don’t step up there if you don’t know what you want yet!
But, who cares if they aren’t chatty — the food is always good.

I absolutely love fresh garden deli.
Now, this tiny lunch café/​deli may look as if it’s not much, but don’t let size fool you! It’s quaint and tucked into a corridor near Alakea and Merchant.
I work near the deli and luckily, I am able to get lunch there quite often. Typically, once the lunch rush hits, FGD has a line that reaches around it’s door, so showing up early is the best advice I can offer.
It’s small and the service is quick, so I suggest to read the board or decide on your order ahead of time.
They also have a website with their menu and specials,
All of their salads are delicious, I particularly love the fiesta salad.
I love it with jalapeños and chicken, but you can opt out on meat!
The Chicken Jicama and Orange salad is also a favorite of mine!
Their Spicy Chicken and Two bean chilli over rice is pretty delicious too. I can usually fill up on just a small sized portion.
Definitely grab it to go. They serve some bottled drinks, but there are also a few shops around the corner that sell a larger variety of on-​the-​go beverages.

Fresh Garden Deli is located on Merchant Street in downtown offering healthy salads and sandwiches at affordable prices.
They have daily specials and fresh specialty salads every weekday all for under $ 10. Some of their daily specials include spicy chili, black bean burrito, chicken and eggplant curry, Greek platter and ratatouille.
My favorite at this place is the fiesta salad which is available only on Fridays. This salad, for $ 8.75, includes chicken, fresh lettuce, black beans, cheese, tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole and sour cream. It can be made spicy by ordering it with jalapenos or mild which is the way I like it.
The salad is so good when the sour cream and guacamole is all mixed together with the rest of the ingredients.
This place does get busy with the peak lunch time crowd so it is best to go early. There are no tables inside as it is a small place with only a counter and a few bar stools. In all it is a great place for a quick healthy lunch.

My new favorite downtown lunch pick up spot…
CHICKEN AND EGGPLANT CURRY (thursday): for $ 7 you get a nice portion of hearty, thick chicken and eggplant curry over brown rice and a small salad. It comes with Caesar but they let me do a garden salad instead. Yummy and eggplanty. Not a lot of chicken so if you’re in a meaty mode, you might need to sink your teeth into something else
GRILLED CHICKEN JICAMA MANDARIN ORANGE SALAD (tuesday) $ 8.50 for a large salad and boy is it good. Full of chicken and jicama and mandarin oranges. The combination of the crunchy jicama and the slightly sweet mandarin orange was so great with the tangy avocado lime dressing
FIESTA SALAD (friday) $ 8.50 gets you a whole lot of goodness. It comes piled and the jalapenos are optional, but I highly suggest getting some. I don’t normally like jalapenos but they added just the right amount of kick to the salad. Lettuce, chicken, black beans, guacamole (some of the best guac I’ve had – it’s not the thick chunky kind but more creamy and fresh), sour cream, cheese and homemade salsa. It comes with chips but they let me sub rice. To be honest, the rice was the least enjoyable part for me, which is shocking because I love rice! But the salad itself was the superstar – fresh, crunch, flavorful with an kick (the jalapenos). It’s not really what I’d call light, but it’s so refreshing because everything is so fresh.
ROASTED GARLIC AND TURKEY SALAD (monday) $ 8.50. I actually couldn’t finish this salad! It was so filling and so yummy. I’m not sure how healthy it is since it’s turkey salad (the kind with mayo) on top of the greens and such but I still think it’s healthier than what I was otherwise going to eat…
Next on my list of things to try is the RATATOUILLE (tuesday) and the GREEK PLATTER (thursday). Once I’ve tried all the specials I think I’ll try the sandwich combos. Yum.
Prices aren’t cheap, but food is really fresh and tastes fairly healthy. So if you’re willing to invest to eat well, this is your place. Otherwise just go to Jack in the Box…
Cash only
Read the menu before you get in line so you know what you want. Don’t hem and haw in line.
Come early or late (but you risk being out of food) to avoid the line. I haven’t waited too long. But be patient. I’m not the only one who loves this place and it’s really obvious that everyone knows that the fiesta salad is on fridays… that line gets a little crazy!
Pick up your utensils on the way out, don’t expect them to be in the bag.

My favorite dish here is Thursday special «Ultimate Greek» $ 8.50.
Two ladies are not the friendliest but I love their food.
I used to frequent visit this Deli 1996 – 1999, had Turkey Sandwich (now $ 7.00) almost every day. In my memory, it tasted even better.
Cash Only
Unilocal 365 — ⁵¹⁄₃₆₅

For years I passed by this place — visually just a normal eatery in Downtown Honolulu. But little did I know — this place has amazing salads and daily specials. Thank you to my MWC friends who recommended it!
Move over boring Caesar! Try the Tuesday special, sporting jicama, chicken, cilantro, mandarin oranges, tomato, onion (and more) over romaine. Wednesday is also very popular with the tuna curry salad with broccoli over romaine. The sandwiches are also stacked high and filling.
The décor isn’t fancy, the menu isn’t hugely long. But, you’ll get a mouthful of yummy goodness and you’ll be glad you tried it.