Engrained / E2

Last Updated February 21, 2019

Why We Love It: Aramark (yes, the cafeteria food folk) makes a successful pivot toward healthy, sustainable eating with Engrained. The menu of mostly soups, salads and pizzas offers an impressive number of vegan and gluten-free options. And partnerships with local purveyors ensures everything is fresh. This is definitely a welcome change from chicken fingers and pizza bites.

The maroon and gold of Arizona State University has turned green with the opening of Engrained, a campus restaurant committed to environmentally friendly practices and sustainable dining. The seasonal menu features products from local farms as well as food gathered by Campus Harvest, a program that encourages ASU students to harvest fruits and vegetables grown on campus for use in dining facilities. Engrained uses energy-efficient appliances and other eco-savvy techniques such as trayless dining and recycling.

Kristen Rasmussen, a former nutritionist at ASU Sun Devil Dining, says "the restaurant is a living/learning environment with a central campus location that provides us a great opportunity to interact with students, the university and the surrounding community in order to promote local food and sustainability, both on campus and beyond."