My wife and I were driving across Pennsylvania and I had read that State College was a good place to stop. Found Roots Natural Kitchen on Yelp and knew it would be a good lunch place. The restaurant is modern, clean, and bright. The staff is professional and polite. The bowls are flavorful and the portions are ample. I've enjoyed this type of restaurant quite a bit, they deliver in the flavor department and do it promptly. I would certainly stop at Roots again! read more

Roots Natural Kitchen - Two excellent bowls! - Salad Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

Loved this restaurant option downtown since I was craving something nourishing. Was staring at the menu for some time and probably should have just built my own bowl since I didn't need the chicken and the avocado was kinda under ripe Lots of seating. Music was kinda loud. Would for sure come back though, love the concept read more

Roots Natural Kitchen - Seating area - Salad Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

See all

Build your own bowl style place style place. Staff was friendly and service quick. They have an allergen menu online. The food overall was really good. Steak had good flavor. Chicken was just okay. Seemed to lack in the seasoning department and was a little chewy. Sweet potatoes had good flavor. Worth a stop for a healthier meal when in town read more

A state college staple. The bowls have fresh veggies and proteins. They're large portions, and the bowls are quickly made-to-order. Little tables outside and seating inside too! read more

See all

Delicious. I come here like 3 times a week. I'm an addict. Every visit I become more and more intoxicated by their apollo bowl. I'd apply to work here but I'd look like James Bola after 3 weeks from the sheer amount of lemon zatar consumed. read more

This was an excellent restaurant that provided very healthy food, portions and flavors. Went here today with my wife and we both enjoyed our meals. The service was professional and kind. We got our meals to-go and they were warm and packaged great. Will DEFINITELY go back. Wish there were one of these quality healthy restaurants near my home. read more

I love having a lunch stop like the Roots for a quality and healthy food option. I've only ordered grain bowls, to date, and they've all been great. This place packs a lot of food into their bowls. The main base is typically a grain based rice, kale with an assortment of fresh veggies. You can choose from grilled chicken, or various vegan based options, and then they top it with dressing. I usually have plenty to take home for later. Pricing out the door is $12-14 w/o a drink. The ambience is simple and natural with cardboard based dishes and bamboo forks. The Roots is located on a busy area of Beaver Ave. in the "canyon". There is street parking nearby or a parking garage within a block. During peak times it can get crowded here so plan accordingly or use the App. The Roots is unique, tasty and worth trying! I'm so glad they've come to town. read more

Roots Natural Kitchen - El Jefe bowl - Salad Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

Stopped here while passing through State College for a quick and healthy dinner. It's a counter service build-your-own bowl place. They have set bowls on the menu which you can customize or you can create your own from scratch. Very vegan friendly - there are 3 vegan proteins to choose from plus all the variety you can get from choosing different veggie toppings and sauces for your bowl. The prices are pretty fair. I did a custom bowl with the red chili miso tofu. I was very happy with it! The tofu was really tasty and crispy and the salad/grain base also came out really good. I liked that a lot of the veggie ingredients are seasoned (for example, I could have just eaten the chickpeas and sweet potatoes on their own) unlike some salad places that only have plain raw veggies. They only have disposable takeout bowls/cutlery even if you're dining in, but the aesthetic of the place is kind of nice, and there's also some patio seating. read more

Roots Natural Kitchen - Red Chili Miso Tofu Bowl (Create Your Own) - Salad Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

I love Roots! My food is always well portioned and super fresh! The staff is awesome as well and it's super quick!

My go-to off-campus place! Although quite pricey for the amount they give you, I love how fresh the ingredients are and the large variety. I have ordered the same thing since freshman year: kale + bulgar mix, sweet potatoes, roasted broccoli, black beans, pickled onions, and avocado with BBQ tofu and cilantro lime dressing. The sweet potatoes, broccoli, and pickled onions are great. I will say that the BBQ tofu can sometimes be burnt with a hard exterior...but it's usually quite soft and smothered in a bbq sauce. The avocado is an additional $1.75 which is expensive, so I recommend just adding it yourself. Love love the cilantro lime dressing! Overall, I would recommend coming here for a quick and easy meal. Lots of options to choose from!! read more

Roots Natural Kitchen - Salad Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

Food is great, just on the more expensive side. Place is also clean and service is fast.

Roots is good. The bowls taste good (El Jefe and the Caesar Salad are my favorite, my wife likes the Tamari and the Balboa) and it's a fresh quick wholesome meal. The service is quick, and pretty consistent. The chunks of chicken can sometimes be almost too big and bland on their own. The music is usually too loud and dining area too echoey for meaningful conversations. Free food for kids under 8! read more

Was driving thru the area and wanted a healthy but delicious dinner option after a day on the road - Roots delivered! The Jefe bowl was fresh and super tasty. Very glad I found this spot! read more

Fast and delicious! Came to happy valley for a basketball tourney and while all the young kids wanted Raising canes, I opted for a healthier option. So happy to have had this salad, got myself the el jefe and the portions were big; the service was fast and I was in and out in no time! The place is fairly big and has several tables if you want to sit. Great place and would highly recommend if you sticking to more healthy meals! read more

As someone who is currently breastfeeding and dealing with crazy experimental elimination diets, places like Roots are a godsend because I can easily customize whatever I order without feeling like I'm a huge pain! Their prices are a little high but they do give you hefty portions so I ended up feeling like I got my money's worth. Their dressings are good and they have so many great options for your bowls that I had trouble choosing what NOT to get. The tahini lemon dressing was excellent, and while I did bulk my bowl up with rice it would've been great just full of greens. The chicken was good but I do wish they had some other meat varieties to add in... I didn't go inside, I had my friend order for me and bring it outside to eat but they have nice tables and chairs outside so if the weather is nice I highly recommend taking advantage of them! Only a little noisy on Beaver Ave but not the end of the world. If this were closer to my regular commute I'd go a lot more often but for now it will remain a special treat! read more

It's a good healthy food and we liked it. The downside is that the chicken was not that juicy and we felt it as little dry. The quantity was good and place is clean. Quick and friendly staff. read more

I've always typically ordered Roots from either Uber Eats or DoorDash and every time, they've knocked it out of the park! I always get the Apollo with no chickpeas, no red onions, extra lemon squeeze, and a dash of Franks - I can't seem to bring myself to try anything else because it's just too good! They are a little pricey for State College, but as a girl from Los Angeles, it's right within my budget - and it's incredibly worth it! Especially with how loaded the bowls are. One day I'll try something new, lol, but this is definitely one of my go-to places in town. read more

Roots Natural Kitchen - Apollo - Salad Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

Quick ordering, fast preparing, friendly staff, great value and healthy choices. Overall come back and would recommend when in the area.

Really good food. Inconsistent amount on the servings. The ambience is nice but nothing special. The service is also good. If they'd stop being inconsistent with their servings and stop diminishing the amount of food they give over time this would be a 5/5. Right now due to that and the small protein servings you get it's a 4/5 read more

Fresh and healthy option when in a rush and need something quickly. Set up like like the many other salad/bowl places. Can pick a pre made option or build your own. I built my own which was $9 for chicken and 5 toppings (lots to choose from). Definitely the standard price for this type of thing and I thought the portion was a great size which I appreciated! Pleasant and clean atmosphere. Would definitely return *Note I visited before quarantine read more

Roots Natural Kitchen - Build your own salad bowl - Salad Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

This place is a great place to grab food in a campus environment. Flavors are great, and the salads are light and refreshing. Will be stopping again on my way thru central PA. read more

Roots Natural Kitchen - The Southern - Salad Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

Went to Roots for takeout with a friend and I was not disappointed. I had a custom bowl ($10) which was loaded with greens, meat, and rice. It was well-made and tasted great with the sauce choices I selected. If you're looking for a healthy, but yummy options in State College, this is the place. read more

Roots Natural Kitchen - Salad Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

When I come back to State College, Roots is always a must get. I love Roots for their great flavors and pretty good prices! Plus I don't usually eat tofu but I will always get it here, it's crispy bbq flavor is so yum! If you like spice and flavor you have to do my personal favorite - Build Your Own Bowl w/: bbq tofu x2, broccoli, jalapeños, cheddar cheese, boiled egg, brown rice and other Chipotle Tabasco. You will be in for a great! 1/5 times I can save half for leftovers but it's too good to stop eating. read more

Roots Natural Kitchen - a bowl of food on a table - Salad Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

Food was delicious but I need more meat otherwise worth-it would come again. Really cool ambiance.

I love Roots and was a regular at the Newark Delaware location when I lived near there. This location drenches the salads in dressing, I've had tofu that's too crispy to eat, and the kale was full of stems yesterday. I'll be back because there are so few choices, but they could step up their game. read more

Roots Natural Kitchen - Inedible kale stems from one salad. - Salad Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

Very delicious and healthy alternative for lunch. I am visiting and I had this somewhere local! Service was speedy, place was clean.

Roots was easily the best to go healthy food option in state college UNTIL... This place has reached the sh*tter. The sweet potatoes used to be orgasmic but now they never even cook them all the way through. Don't even get me started on the chicken that has recently made me sick twice. The love and care that used to go into these bowls is clearly lost and I hope Roots looks to repair a broken heart. This is not just a few bad experiences, my other friends who love roots have made similar comments. Lucky for roots the food in state college blows chunks so these problems still have roots in a great ranking but I hope they look to fix these issues. #MRGA #MakeRootsGreatAgain :) read more

Consistently delicious salads! The produce is fresh, service is pretty quick, and the dressings are delicious. A salad doesn't usually fill me up but I love the Southern which is rice and kale based with broccoli, chickpeas, pickled onions, cheddar, corn, BBQ tofu, and lemon tahini dressing. Sometimes I add roasted sweet potatoes and double the tofu for some extra heartiness. I am not a vegetarian and I'll take this salad over any other any day. Delicious!!! Even though service is usually pretty quick, I order ahead on the app and skip the line. Enjoy! read more

Delicious, healthy food options. I come here for lunch often. I like that I can order ahead but even if I order at the counter, the service is quick. Love the Apollo and the Balboa!! Great seating to stay and enjoy your lunch too, both inside and outside. Love this place! read more

I prioritize cleanliness in the establishments that I frequent, and Roots does a great job of maintaining that standard. I also love the fact that my order tastes the same every time. Highly recommend read more

Vegetarians, vegans, lovers of meat; flock here for the freshest and most flavorful bowls around. The staff is kind. The interior fun. And the ingredients are poppin'. I ordered the Mad Bowl and it was LOADED with fresh ingredients. My favorite part was how delicious the mushrooms and the how tasty the broccoli was. Seriously I want to know how they make the broccoli because it was insane. Review made short... I'll be back. And I'll be back multiple times. It was that good. read more

Roots Natural Kitchen - Mad Bowl... HUGE and filling - Salad Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

Yowza! This place has some serious fresh food happening here & it's delicious! I am so glad that I was able to make my own bowl & have a really tasty & healthy meal that totally hit the spot. The staff are great & helpful, move the line right along cause this place can get busy. It's nice to be able to have veg*n options since that isn't always easy to get. So yeah get here to eat some pretty damn good tasty food that is good for you too. read more

The food is great as usual, but I have to say the service is very unpleasant in the summer months. I'm not sure if during school semesters, a different crew works, but so far everyone that I've encountered so far look about college student age? So I doubt there's a huge difference in staff. The 1 girl that works making your salad bowl is always nice and greets you as you walk in the door, but every other person, especially at the register does not smile - not even a fake customer service smile - and seems annoyed with every small question. Now that the pickup is not on the shelves and you actually have to go up to the counter for your order, it's so unpleasant walking in. It's not even busy, you can hear back of house staff cracking up, and a customer just asking: - Is that my order? Mine is [insert order#] - Could I get a bag for this? - Hi :) how are you? Is returned with the most annoyed look. Just very regular, interactions feel very unwanted. As much as I like their food, feeling unwelcome is not a great experience and I'll be reducing my visits until the semester starts again. Hopefully service gets better then. Not sure if this needs to be said but in case someone out there is wondering, I have worked in service and it really doesn't take much effort to throw in a customer service smile. read more

Stay away. I had food poisoning 4 different times from this place. People don't wash their hands enough!

A really solid salad/bowl establishment! I was not expecting much coming here because I am morally opposed to spending money on grass (salads), but came because my friend wanted to. I was pleasantly surprised! I got the Balboa bowl and it was fantastic. A HUGE amount of food (easily enough for two meals, although I ate it all right then and there) with lots of flavor. I especially liked the mixture of textures: rice/beans, creamy avocado, seared chicken, and crunchy pita. Lots of vegetarian options, so seems like a great place if you have a diverse group. Only suggestion I have is to add some red meats to their menu! read more

Nice food, enough amount to feed me Better than Chipotle in my opinion Ingredients are fresh Staff is kind Big bowls read more

Student at PSU here, I got recommended this place by my cousin who had Roots from another location at UVA. Ever since I took his recommendation I always started coming back to Roots, it's just too good. I always get "the Balboa" because it's just too good to pass up on. The combination of things sound interesting at first but all the bowls at Roots just work. The flavors all complement each other and make each meal here addicting. I could probably eat at Roots 5 times a week if I could. Also the bowls are pretty big so it's almost mandatory to eat half now and eat half later. The food is pretty bang for your buck as well. I highly recommend and would take Roots over Chipotle any day. read more

I was on a bit of a time crunch today, and there was no better place for me to grab a quick lunch than Roots! It's very filling and healthy, and the bowls are pretty substantial for the price! Some of my favorite bowls are the Southern, El Jefe, and the Mayweather! Unfortunately, Roots at times can be so inconsistent. The tofu was extremely hard the past 2 times I went, which was pretty disappointing. But overall, still a good place to eat! read more

Roots Natural Kitchen - The Southern - Salad Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

Amazing value for what you pay. Portions are massive. Takes surprisingly long to get your food but is very worth it.

In town for PSU NSO - great food! The Carlton was The Pesto Caesar was good too. Will definitely be back