Ponte Fresco

This restaurant is a more difficult version of Ingredient. The employees offered no assistance or advice. They basically just stared blackly at me while I read and reread the options, and then scolded me for not knowing how their weird restaurant works.
The person who prepared my food was incomprehensible. He spoke very softly with a thick accent. I tried to ask about salad dressing ingredients I might be allergic to, but no one seemed to know what was in them. He then totally drenched my salad in dressing. I told him to stop but it was too late. I have salad soup. And the dressing is the WORST I’ve ever had. I got balsamic vinaigrette (regular, not fat free) and it tastes like skittles blended with jelly bear juice. It’s probably a cheap, high fructose corn syrup dressing from the grocery store.
This place is such a waste of money. They give you only a tiny sprinkle of each topping and charge you for every single one. It’s misleading to say a salad is $ 4.45. Is anyone really going to order just a bowl of lettuce? Why is the price structure set up this way?
If you are going to setup your menu so the customer chooses every single ingredient, then you need to welcome picky customers. That’s your target! You need to know the ingredients in everything. You need a more detailed and logical menu. You need friendly, helpful employees. Ponte Fresco fails in every possible way. Bad value, bad service, bad food.

Great place to grab a quick bite of lunch at work. They’ve got their system down to an air — grab your lettuce, write your name on the top, add your ingredients, and then — best part — someone chops everything up for you and mixes it together. As someone who doesn’t much like lettuce, having everything chopped up makes eating salads a much more pleasurable experience.
All of the ingredients are fresh and delicious, and there’s a plentiful selection of both add ins and dressings. You can also get soup, frozen yogurt, chips, cookies, whatever else you might want for your lunch. It’s not too expensive and it’s decently fast when you’re trying to get in and out, even if it’s busy.

Clean. Quick. Friendly.
Excellent lunch spot. Upon arrival you choose from three types of greens for your custom made salad (the line sometimes looks intimidating but is not). As you approach the counter you see multiple FRESH toppings to choose from. You have the option to build your own salad/​wrap or choose from the signature ones they have on the menu. After all chosen ingredients are placed in you large plastic bowl w/​lid, it is handed off to the salad chopper. This is fun to watch, I have never seen a salad CHOPPED & TOSSED so well! :) After doing this they ask you if you would like parmesan cheese added to you dish along with the dressing. There are probably 40 dressings to choose from. After this is handed over to you proceed to the check-​out line, while waiting there are premade sandwiches, fruit and gourmet waters/​juices w/​fruit slices in them.
Definitely will be back. So far I recommend the South of the Boarder Salad (make sure to get the crispy chicken)!
I hear they have AWESOME SOUP too! Good thing to know for those long Fall/​Winter months in CHICAGO.

Definitely one of my favorite lunch spots in downtown Chicago. This place is still a novelty to me because we don’t have too many salad bars in Milwaukee. First you pick the type of greens you want (romaine & spinach, romaine lettuce, spinach, spring mix) and then you decide what toppings will go on it.
My salad
— spinach
— broccoli
— green peas
— onions
— cucumber
— shredded cheddar cheese
— grilled chicken
— cilantro
— parmesan cheese
— spa ranch dressing
Very very good. Wish we had something like this in Milwaukee. It can get a little pricey depending on what you get, but for the peace of mind I get for eating healthy it’s a premium that I’m wililng to pay. I also like the fact that they use biodegradable containers and utensils.

Hands down my favorite make-​your-​own salad place in the city. It caters to pretty much anyone’s tastes with the endless salad combinations possible.
First they have several varieties of lettuce (romaine, spring mix, spinach) and combination mixes of all the lettuces, perfect if you want some spinach leaves, but not ALL spinach leaves if you’re a finicky eater like me.
Yes the price tag is a little high, but if your like me and your toppings include feta, spicy chicken, bacon bits, etc. it would be a lot more to purchase the ingredients and make the salad individually. Also, I don’t think I could chop all of the ingredients as finely as they do, these employees are master-​choppers! The cilantro and fresh parmesan are also a nice touch. Finally, the dressing selection is impressive – pretty much anything you can think of in Regular, Fat-​Free, or Reduced Fat. Personally, I think the FF Sun-​dried tomato is phenomenal – tangy, but not too sour.
Other perks of Ponte: Variety of soups, Berry Chill Fro-​Yo, Intelligentsia Coffee, sandwhiches, Kettle Cooked Chips, FREE breadstick with every salad/​soup, good beverage variety
Sigh…I wish I still worked in the loop so that I could eat here all the time.

I once had a dream of opening a salad bar that offered fresh ingredients and create-​your-​own salads and just like Seinfeld, someone’s gone and stolen my idea again.
I stumbled upon a salad bar in Boy’s Town once that looked promising but was a total disappointment. Ponte Fresco, with its tofu, edamame, and slew of fat/​cal. free spa dressings softened my disappointment.

One of my favorite lunch places downtown!
A little pricey, but the food is great.
The only thing that is bad is the ordering process which for new visitors can be a little difficult.

$ 10 salad.
$ 6 fro-​yo.
yum, but yikes.

I’ve come here a few times now, and every time I’ve come I’ve left happy! Great selection at a decently price, since I watch what I put on. Today I got peppers, chicken, carrots and onions and the total was under $ 8!!! If you want lots of toppings, it’ll easily add up. I’ve tried a different salad dressing each time, there was only one I didn’t like… can’t remember the name, but it was a FF one. Fat Free dressing aren’t all great, it was a risk, and I got over it. They have bread sticks behind the counter where they chop up the salads, which I was lucky enough to discover on my first visit. As far as I can tell, they’re free too! I always come here when I want a salad when I’m at work, def recommend it to anybody!

Super duper lunch spot… love their salads, soups and their formula of make your own chopped salads. Lemme break it down:
Step 1 /​Choose from your style of greens (romaine, mixed baby greens, spinach)
Step 2 /​Move on down and pick as many ingredients to add to the green salad base you’ve just chosen. Me? I’m an edamame, cilantro, diced chicken, cucumber, cherry tomato, chickpea, zucchini, black olive and feta cheese kind of gal. You? If you like it, they have it. Like Juno says, «whoa, think BIG».
Step 3 /​Select your dressing… love the selection here! Every dressing under the sun plus about 10 ‘spa’ varieties which are the low cal (sometimes NO cal), reduced fat, healthy choices. The spa blue cheese vinaigrette and spa sun dried vinaigrette both RAWK… none of that weird chemically, cardboard, boring taste typically derived from dressings void of the good fatty stuff.
Step 4 /​Watch while your salad and dressing are dumped on a large board to be chopped, diced and rock ‘n rolled into a fantastically abundant chopped salad.
Step 5 /​Don’t forget to ask for bread (it’s free), if you want it. This is also the point where you slide down the cafeteria style line and decide if you want to add one of their hearty and homemade soups to your order. Mushroom Brie? Tuscan Tomato Basil? Spicy Black Bean? You can’t go wrong.
Step 6 /​Sit down. Eat. Enjoy.

The best salad place. Everytime I order a salad from here each bite gets better and better. My favorite, diet un-​friendly, dressing has to be the parmesan/​peppercorn — hands down amazing! But I also love the fat free balsamic vinegrette. You really can’t go wrong when you order from this place.
Loved it so much the first time I tried it that I ate there an entire week!

I’ve read the reviews. I’ve been warned that it was very expensive to build your own salad. I work in the building. I get hungry. I don’t like to make decisions when I’m hungry. I end up getting salad.
Ponte Fresco is literally at the end of my elevator ride plus a few steps to the left and then another left.
I was intimidated at first, but I went during an off time, when it wasn’t as über-​crowded as I’ve seen it. The ordering went smoothly, the salad was chopped, I was happy. Yes, it WAS expensive. A little over $ 10 for a salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, chickpeas, carrots, tofu and giardinera. The reason I will probably keep going back is the fat-​free sesame dressing (and the tofu… why don’t more salad bars have tofu???). Somehow the combo of the dressing and the kick of the giardinera is what I imagine a crack addict faces… the shit’s expensive, but you pony up for it anyway because you REALLY REALLY WANT IT.

Salads are great and fresh with interesting ingredients — including fat free AND calorie free dressings (please tell me it’s not a lie!). Yes, it’s expensive, but if anyone else can find me a salad in the loop with such fresh and yummy things in it in the Loop for under $ 8, I’m all ears!
Plus, two words: berry chill. Nuff said.

Yes, overpriced everything (except sammiches I guess… sammiches in a box, mind you). No, I don’t go here for lunch ever, but I do get the coffee every morning. I may be exposing a secret here since no one has really mentioned the coffee much, but oh well, I’d rather make sure people know about it so they keep doing it.
SECRET: While 50 people are in line at the Starbucks next door, you can pop in this place and in under 2 minutes, get yourself a cup of Intelligentsia Coffee. FREE REFILLS ALL DAY. Yes, you can come back down from your office and fill up your cup ALL DAY. Also, you will be happy knowing you have better tasting coffee than those who went to Starbucks, you bought from a local company, AND you didn’t have to wait in any lines! PRO TIP: put your cup on a napkin as they tend to leak very slightly after the refills.
Now, I’ll just leave this right here and see if the lines start ballooning for the coffee.

I like the concept here, just not the ridiculous price for a salad. Everything is obviously fresh and the options are great, but I’ll probably stick to the sandwiches from now on…

So I’ve been going here quite a lot but obviously won’t update each time — decided to recap some of what I’ve tried…
I love their veggie marsala soup! And their bean soup isn’t bad — but something’s not right about their Veggie Bean soup???
Their hummus sandwich is good, but the avocado sandwich is just okay.
Again — keep your cost in mind when making salads here — before you know you could be paying $ 10 – 12 for it — the portions are large though!

Ponte Fresco is my default lunch place. You know, for those listless days when you don’t know WHAT you feel like eating, and you don’t wanna spend a ton of money.
Now, I must specify that I mean the SANDWICHES at Ponte Fresco. The sandwiches are all around $ 5. I think the salads are ridiculously expensive. Plus I hate waiting in line. I like to go in, grab a sammie and get out. The sandwiches are pre-​made, which I usually balk at. But these are good! No soggy bread here! I have tried almost all of them, and really, I like them all! I get the smoked salmon or the chicken salad most often.
The soups are also pretty good, and a cup is usually a good size for a light lunch for me — don’t forget to ask for a breadstick!
My co-​worker likes their crepes for dessert. Crepes with cream and fresh fruit, a nice little midday treat. They have them in the cooler with the sammies, and also near the drinks.
Speaking of drinks! I like to get their «spa water» sometimes. I know, it’s silly to buy WATER when it just had a couple slices of cucumber or mint leaves or whatever, but guess what – it’s still cheaper than the bottled water there! They also serve Intelligentsia coffee, yay!
The staff there always seem to be friendly and efficient, another plus when you just wanna run in and grab something real quick.
Reliably good, decent prices. Sure to be a fixture in IL Center!

Why is it that they offer free bread, but don’t actually *offer* it? You have to ask for it or else they don’t give it to you.
Same with the crackers with soup … & apparently, you can get crackers, you can bread, but you can’t get both.
Also, I heard today that my friend was offered toppings on his soup today. Funny, considering that I was right behind him & wasn’t offered any toppings. What gives, man?
The more I go here, the less good I enjoy it. That’s not a good sign.

I think the best description of Ponte Fresco is the Cold Stone of salad.
Step #1 you pick out your $ 3.95 lettuce and then you move over to station #2 and pick out your mix-​ins, depending on the mix-​in it cost $.50, $.75 or $ 1. Next is step #3 where the salad cutter /​mixer puts it all together.
Overall I really liked my salad, but I don’t think it was any better then Salad Spinners or Pockets. For the price I thought it was perfect for lunch. If you’re in the area and in the mood for salad give Ponte Fresco a go.

Judging from the mixed reviews for Ponte Fresco, I must have somewhat low expectations for Illinois Center fast food restaurants. Actually, this is probably one of the highest concept places around – you chose a salad, add ingredients a la carte, they toss it, dice it, add dressing, then check out. Sure, the salads are not Fox and Obel ingredient quality, but I love this place and think the value of it against the other fast food restaurants in the area is fair. They try hard to create an atmosphere of healthy eating, from having a good selection of salad choices, toppings and yummy seasonings like mojito oil and freshly grated Parmesan.
They also have a wonderful selection of fresh sandwiches, desserts, specialty fruit beverages and soups. Yes, Mac Kellys is close and probably cheaper, but 300 people haven’t breathed on Ponte Fresco’s salad bar and left their taint on the serving tongs either.