Weekly Lunch Pick: fun, healthy takeout in the Financial District from I.Q. Food Co.
I.Q. Food Co. opened its modern spin on the classic cafeteria at the T.D. Centre food mall last March to provide busy Bay Streeters with a rare and valuable commodity: healthy lunchtime takeout made with whole grains, lean proteins and good fats (nothing fried). Their website even provides a nutritional breakdown of the wraps, salads and hot boxes on the menu—though there are also cookies and muffins if you’re not counting calories, but only at the Brookfield location.
I.Q. switches up one item on its menu every three to four months, to offer a new dish focused on a seasonal ingredient. Starting Monday, they’ll be serving the butternut squash hot box, an artfully arranged warm quinoa salad topped with meaty chunks of butternut squash, smoky roasted chicken, roasted yellow and green beans, creamy goat cheese and shredded beets and finished with pumpkin seeds and a tangy cider vinaigrette. At noon, expect to stand in a long line of suits for around 10 minutes—the smug sense of health-conscious satisfaction is worth the wait.
The cost: $15.50, including tax and a pineapple-mint juice ($3.50).
The time: Roughly 12 minutes for takeout.
I.Q. Food Co., 100 Wellington St. W., 647-352-7792.
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