MONROE — There’s no bread here, to speak of and no freezers. But there is a good reason for that because there is also no sandwiches; and no frozen food.
What visitors find here is Sonya and Ricky, ready to welcome them with a smile and a bowl of something hot, healthy, and very good. They started their restaurant with a simple but potentially life-saving idea — that they could share what they discovered working in kitchens to serve healthy food, on the go, at a fair price.
“We want it to be good food, not fast food, but you are in an out in minutes,” said Sonya, as she fired up her steam tables and prepared a formidable vat of rice for a recent week day’s lunch service.
Amack’s Kitchen is tucked off 8th Street in the Highlander Mall near the Red Apple at 751 10th Ave Court. The kitchen is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday through Friday and is closed Saturday. It’s very much a local, family operation — their only employees now, besides themselves, are their kids, Life, 15, and Lillian, 19.
Everything is fresh at Amack’s Kitchen and the restaurant is building up a following, having been open here since last summer. The couple, who moved to Monroe from Chicago several years ago, offer their style of rice bowls or protein bowls — whatever you want to call them — that are an increasingly popular and healthy take-out option.
Bowls at Amack’s go for about $11 before tax. And that is something of a sweet deal, considering each bowl offers a generous portion of a protein like chicken, beef, or lamb. The rice is special too: It is a hearty basmati rice variety — a type that is filling and nicely compliments the sauces, flavors, and ingredients.
Without so much as an apology for the kitsch, the restaurant web site refers to their “bowlsome” meals.
“It’s very good, almost like a pasta in your mouth, maybe not what you’d normally find,” in a restaurant dish, said Sonya.
The restaurant makes rice bowls and salads with “a global flair,” Ricky said.
Yet the dishes are not unfamiliar — there is a take on gyros, that classic Greek street food featuring lamb; and a southwest-themed bowl with a kind of Tex-Mex vibe. For a kick on a cold day, there are two options for fans of curry — both a Thai and an Indian-fused curry bowl. Closer to home, though, a traditionalist might find a hearty meal in the Italian meatball and Chicken Bacon Ranch offerings.
“I mean, really, how can you go wrong with bacon right?” said Sonja.
The couple say they opened their kitchen inspired by a dual health scare of sorts in the family — a daughter’s diagnosis with type-one diabetes at the four; and Ricky’s father’s untimely death due to cirrhosis of the liver. Those events inspired their quest for learning how to prepare clean healthy food that did not break the bank.
Clean food became a priority in their lives, they say, even as they were having trouble finding the sort of protein-rich, simple ingredients in the area for takeout — although they know Monroe has a lively and enthusiastic foodie and bar culture that they fully embrace.
“We wanted to keep it simple, and take out works for what we are doing right now,” said Sonja.
