Vitaminas - inside Portugal's food courts

Portugal's food courts rival and better its US counterparts consistently. Several factors influencing this comment include cleanliness, lighting, consumers, welcoming atmosphere, but most importantly - the food choices. From your McDonald's and Pizza Huts (ehhhh.... the only US restaurants that I've seen infiltrate PT food courts) to H3 (gourmet burgers), Pans & Company (cheap good sandwiches), various churrascarias, and my current favorite Vitaminas.

Noted by its brightly lit green exterior, Vitaminas is a welcome sight. Their menu offers salads, pasta and sandwiches along with various beverages including fruit juices.

 

If you're like me and you choose pasta, you get to choose between two different pastas and then finally the dressing. My current favorite is the iogurte (yogurt). Just as their food images are warm and inviting, so is the displayed food.

The white tubs showcase the product quite well. The ingredients are measured and placed into your dish. If it's a hot dish, it will be briefly cooked. Don't worry, it's a short wait. And the result is tasty and filling.

If I lived closer to a Vitaminas, they could become my Chipotle equivalent. Frango (Chicken) e Legumes above. An Atum (tuna) pasta dish with fresh juice below.