Thriving in Marietta

A new eatery opened up in hometown hang Marietta, Ohio, but it was going to have to be something unique to get me to take a break from our beloved Cham's in Parkersburg and its stellar Lebanese cuisine.  I don't get in town as often as I would like, and yes I know, there are many options out there in the Parkersburg/Marietta area and have blogged about many of them; both classic and newer.  But when time is limited, I go with what I know I'll dig, unless I hear about something new and reportedly awesome...as was the case with Thrive Cafe. One look at the online menu and I was sold: Thrive Café was a must-try.

Thrive Café opened in its cozy downtown locale just recently and the raves going up about it rang all the way to me out here in KC. I loved everything I was reading not only from the various thumbs up but what I was reading from their website itself...the downtown charm of Thrive's location, the culinary background of their owners/creators and their dedication to organic, locally sourced food and of course, the description of the menu items themselves. I could not wait to check it out, and upon this last visit, visit it we did.

I took my sister down to meet friends Kristy and Joe and upon entering, was instantly taken by the stylish and colorful décor. The walls were decorated by what I would consider my favorite restaurant décor: works by local artists. The place was bustling and after a bit of time perusing the menu we ordered at the front counter. The wait was not long as my cohorts and I had much to catch up on and it helped that the stylish mix of college students and locals made for great people watching. I sipped on a Thrive tea while waiting and as I am not typically a tea fiend, I wasn't sure if I'd dig it, but indeed, the mix of Chai and green tea was very satisfying. Our food soon arrived, and soon those raves I'd heard previously were all echoing around our table. My sister thoroughly enjoyed her Thrive Harvest Salad with baby greens and artichoke hearts, goat cheese, strawberries, and toasted cashews and had a particular fondness for the roasted strawberry balsamic vinaigrette that accompanied it.  Joe dug his roasted turkey and Swiss sandwich and Kristy loved her salmon BLT with Alaskan keta seared salmon fillet with turkey bacon and herbed yogurt.

I have been a serious quinoa convert of late and I absolutely relished Thrive's quinoa bowl: hearty quinoa with black beans, roasted red peppers, caramelized onion, poblano peppers, cilantro and citrus. So, so good especially with some of that Alaskan keta salmon added to the mix.  We were a table of very happy and content customers after this meal.

Thrive is a thriving catering operation as well as café and also do box lunches to go. They also work with customers with special dietary needs in regards to gluten-free and/or food allergies. Freshness is clearly their goal and it shows in the careful preparation of their food.  How refreshing is that?  Check them out!