Fresh, Fast and Fulfilling Veggies Take Center Stage
Originally from sunny California, Vince and Vanessa Gomez have been living in Lynchburg for over a decade. During this time, they noticed a void in healthy, fast casual options around town. This observation led to them to open The Leaf Creative Salads, a healthy and surprisingly fresh spin on fast food with fruits and vegetables as the main attraction. (They even wish their space in Cornerstone could have allowed for a drive-through window.)
Salads are the specialty at Leaf and Vanessa tells me the reason is simple. She says not only are they are a good way to work a couple of servings of fruits and vegetables into your meal, have many health benefits, and help you cut calories—they also just taste good and are fun to eat.
In a Leaf salad, you get a little bit of everything, including healthy fats like nuts, avocados and fresh proteins. Vanessa sources some of her ingredients locally and buys organic as much as possible. Plus, half of the salad dressings are made in house, specifically the vinaigrettes.
On a recent visit, I loaded up my organic greens with roasted sweet potatoes, sunflower seeds, feta and grilled chicken, all of it topped with the house-made lemon vinaigrette. Everything was delicious. (And I was excited to learn the sweet potatoes are here to stay as Vanessa says they are her husband’s favorite.) You can find just about anything you can think of to top your salads. And if you don’t see what you want, just ask—Vanessa will likely have it for you on your next visit.
Since they opened in February, the most popular menu items are the Fiesta Salad, the Popeye wrap, and the chicken salad sandwich, but customers love the experience of creating their own salad or wrap like I did. And while this is just the first location for Leaf, the couple hopes to expand as long as Lynchburg embraces this healthy and fast option.
The Leaf Creative Salads
112 Cornerstone St., Lynchburg, VA 24502
(434) 534-3119
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