READERS' PICK: Sprouted lentils! Crumbled bleu cheese! Tuna tarragon! These delights and many more await the salad-bar enthusiast at Sweet Tomatoes, an efficient purveyor of fruits, vegetables, pastas and greens, as well as an assortment of hot-food items. One could easily construct with edibles the face of Ray Kroc on one's plate, such is the variety here. Pile another plate with fresh breads, muffins, pizza and pasta. And don't stop there -- not with soft-serve yogurt and brownies calling. Gluttony is rewarded at this sweetest of vegetable patches: we haven't seen them lately, but basket-bearing waitstaff with warm chocolate-chip cookies randomly appear to dole out this final treat to booths stuffed with happy all-you-can-eat diners.
READERS' POLL RUNNER-UP: Native Café, 3073 N. Campbell Ave. We're talking about more than just salad at the Native Café; we're talking "salad bouquets," and the moniker seems just right. One popular item, the Planeta Azul, is piled high with crisp greens, carrots, tomatoes, avocados, red onion slices, sunflower sprouts, red bell peppers, cukes and toasted pumpkin seeds; another, the Pesto Rica, offers organic brown rice tossed with pesto, scallions and sun-dried tomatoes on a bed of greens and veggies; yet another, the Asian Influence, adds a tall mound of bean-thread noodles with peanut dressing to a cornucopia of garden goodies. It all adds up to a wonderful feast. The soups and sandwiches are first-rate, too. Bring it on! (For more on Native's charms, see page 76.)
