The second San Diego location of Lemonade opened last Friday, located inside UTC mall, right across from the Dining Terrace. The location is open, spacious and includes a large outdoor patio section as well.
For those unfamiliar, Lemonade is a popular, fast-casual, cafeteria-style restaurant chain from Los Angeles.
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I know it was only last week when I posted about Lemonade Hillcrest, but I couldn’t resist going to the UTC one and it gave me a chance to try new items. I really enjoy the layout of this second location. More seating, an outdoor patio, more floor space as well. I didn’t feel nearly as cramped as I did when I visited the Hillcrest one.
The menu offerings were pretty much the same, though I noticed a few slight changes with some of the hot dishes and lemonade flavors.
The star of Lemonade continues to be the marketplace salads. I normally don’t enjoy salads, but these are salads worth getting excited over. I didn’t take pictures of them again, but you can see the photos from my first post.
I had initially planned on just trying two new ones, but somehow I ended up with a plate of five again. Everything just looked so good! We also decided to try a few more new hot items including the flatbread and brisket.
I was also really tempted by the strawberry lemonade cake, but I’ll get it next time. The mini cupcakes were adorable too.
My Plate: Avocado tomato salad, curry cauliflower, butternut squash, edamame and nectarine salads.
The only repeat is the cauliflower. I was already impressed with the salads last time, but found this plate to be even better. My brother recommended the edamame and the butternut squash ones.
The edamame beans were paired with crunchy snap peas and tossed in sesame oil, giving it a very Asian feel. I’ve always enjoyed the sesame flavor and found it went very well with the beans and peas.
The butternut squash had a little bit of a spicy kick and was mixed with both fresh corn and what appeared to be a dried or toasted corn kernels. This reminded me of something I’d enjoy during Thanksgiving.
The white nectarine salad was another new favorite. Mixed with English peas, cucumbers and watercress, this was light and summery.
Mr. K’s Plate: Pineapple Chicken and Green Beans, Southwest, BBQ brisket and Avocado Salmon Louie
We both really enjoyed the pineapple chicken and green beans. It actually seemed more like a hot item as it’s basically a stir fry but served cold. It was a little bit spicy but packed a lot of flavor.
We didn’t quite like the Southwest as much. I found the cheese a little overwhelming.
The BBQ brisket was probably the biggest miss we’ve had. Honestly, I couldn’t even tell it was brisket and the stringy texture made me think shortrib.
Avocado Salmon Louie
A twist on crab louie and served inside half a fresh avocado. I found the salmon a little bland, but Mr. K enjoyed it.
Wild Mushroom Onion Truffle Mini Flatbread
We both enjoyed the flatbread, but found it a little expensive at $4 for such a small amount.
Guava Limeade
We also ordered a guava limeade. So far we’ve been enjoying the lemonade creations, but I haven’t been blown away by any of them. I do like the unique flavor offerings though.
Overall, we had another really great meal at Lemonade. Having dined here twice now, I do feel that their strongest feature are those marketplace salads that you encounter at the beginning. The made-to-order sandwiches and hot dishes are okay but we prefer the hot items at Bushfire Kitchen. The salad here though, are really delicious and fresh and it’s a great way to load up on a lot of vegetable variations and enjoy doing so. We’ll definitely be returning for more salads.
Full menu:
LEMONADE
4525 LA JOLLA VILLAGE DRIVE
UNIVERSITY TOWN CENTER, UNIT D35
SAN DIEGO, CA 92122
https://www.lemonadela.com/locations/san-diego/UTC
it’s so pretty! i enjoyed having it at sawtelle.. though i didn’t spot the avocado tomato the few times i went. the sawtelle location is definitely smaller, but they have a lot of competition
I’m curious if the menu differs at all between sd and LA. the avo tomato is pretty simple but good
Darren and I are headed there tomorrow evening. I’ve been to the Pasadena location a couple times and enjoyed it. It’ll be interesting to see how they compare. I definitely enjoy their creative lemonades. Thanks for the early inside scoop!
Ive never been to the LA ones, so I’m curious how it compares too
Wow, you are quick! I’ll have to give this a try…at least parking is more plentiful at the mall than trying to find it at Hillcrest. Those salads….so much variety! I am excited!
Yes, there was a lot of parking. even with part of the utc parking lot under construction, you can find parking near Pirch which is right where the food court and Lemonade are.
I’m visiting this location later this week so this post was really helpful. I’m so mesmerized by their dessert options for some reason. I’d be curious about their roasted chicken. Do they have soups here too?
hmm i cant quite remember about the soups
I’m looking forward to trying Lemonade; I’ve only had their food once at LAX. How were the lines at the UTC location? I’ll bet the line at Tender Greens won’t be as long now!
The line was not long at all when I went, but it might also have been because it was late afternoon, so I probably beat the lunch and dinner crowd. I did feel like they were able to move faster than Hillcrest, with more employees working the line and trying to get things moving.