The Best Mendocino Farms Items: What to Order First
Mendocino Farms has built a cult following on a short menu done unusually well. If you are ordering for the first time - or you keep defaulting to the same thing - these are the items that built the reputation, in the order we would hand them to a first-timer.
1. “Not So Fried” Chicken - the signature sandwich
The name is the pitch: chicken coated in Mendo’s krispies for a fried-style crunch without the deep-fryer, with mustard pickle slaw, tomatoes, pickled red onions and herb aioli on toasted brioche. It is the sandwich people photograph, argue about and drive across town for.
One warning that matters: the krispies contain gluten, so this is the one famous item that can never be made gluten-free. Everyone else - order it as built. $15.90 typical - 900 calories
2. The Farm Club - the classic
The Farm Club is the deli sandwich perfected: roasted turkey, smashed avocado, applewood smoked bacon, tomatoes, pickled red onions, mixed greens and herb aioli on panini-pressed ciabatta. At 760 calories and 40g of protein it is also the most balanced big sandwich on the board - and it can be made gluten-free with the GF bread swap. $15.90 typical.
3. Avocado & Quinoa Superfood Ensalada - the signature salad
The Superfood Ensalada is the salad that made a sandwich shop famous for salads: chopped romaine, curly kale, quinoa and millet, housemade black-bean/corn/jicama succotash, red onions, cilantro, grape tomatoes, avocado and a chipotle-lime vinaigrette. It is gluten-free as served and substantial enough to be dinner. $15.66 typical - 690 calories.
4. Peruvian Steak - the splurge
The priciest regular sandwich earns it: spicy aji amarillo marinated steak with red onions, tomatoes, avocado, sprouts and panini-pressed ciabatta. It is also the protein heavyweight’s rival at 41g - and a sodium heavyweight at 2,340mg, so make it the main event, not a habit. $18.42 typical - 780 calories
5. The Modern Caesar - with one instruction
Romaine, Mendo’s krispies, shaved parmesan, pico de gallo, crispy jalapenos and a lemon wedge. The Caesar dressing is the whole story here: of the salad’s 680 calories, over 400 are the dressing. Order it dressed the first time for the full experience - then decide whether you join the dressing-on-the-side people. $14.10 typical
6. Thai Mango Salad - the sweet-heat one
Thai Mango surprises first-timers twice: first with how fresh the mango, cabbage, jicama and herb mix tastes against the Thai-cashew dressing, and second with the receipt - at $18.54 typical and 840 calories it is a full entree wearing a salad’s clothes. Split it, or commit.
7. November to Remember - if it is in season
The Chef’s Specials rotate, but when the November to Remember is on - warm carved turkey, melted gruyere, traditional stuffing, spicy cranberry sauce and arugula on cranberry-walnut bread - it outsells everything around it. At 1,120 calories it is Thanksgiving dinner in sandwich form, and it knows it. Seasonal pricing around $19.14.
And the cookie
End with the Chocolate Chunk Cookie - $3.90, 210 calories, and the correct ratio of crisp edge to soft middle. The Ginger Molasses is the connoisseur’s pick, but the Chocolate Chunk is the crowd’s.
Ordering strategy for two: one Not So Fried, one Superfood Ensalada, a shared Chocolate Chunk. You will understand the entire chain in one meal - and you will be back for the Farm Club.