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Light lunches and protein-packed snacks at Wow Wow Lemonade

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Sometimes, nothing sounds better than a chilled acai bowl topped with a rainbow of fresh fruit. Sometimes a vegetarian protein bowl layered with shredded carrots, a medley of lettuce and healthful quinoa is the best pick-me-up after a workout. When it comes to eating your rainbow, Wow Wow Lemonade is the go-to place for quick bites that satisfy you.

Avacado toast and eggs. Nora Tarte / This Is Reno.
Avacado toast and eggs. Nora Tarte / This Is Reno.

Wow Wow Lemonade debuted in Reno with one location on Mae Anne Avenue (5150 Mae Anne Ave., Suite 213). Then, a second location opened last year next door to the Damonte Ranch Safeway (1021 Steamboat Pkwy, Suite 190). With two spots to check out, it seemed it was finally time to give the fast-casual franchise a try.

I first noticed how colorful the food was at Wow Wow. Filled with fresh fruits and veggies, healthy grains and a slew of non-meat protein sources, the entire menu is a beauty to behold. 

Best for quick bites, a midday refreshment or that insatiable hankering for an acai bowl, the portions are not unusually large here. In fact, they can be on the smaller side. But the focus is on creating healthy meals that meet a lot of your daily dietary requirements. And the acai bowls may be the exception to this rule.

Among some of my first-try items was a superfruit pitaya, a hot pink, pitaya-based yogurt (a cactus species indigenous to southern Mexico and the Pacific coast of South America). Atop the base is a colorful collection of pineapples, blueberries, strawberries, coconut flakes, granola and honey. The bowl is rather large and plenty filling. 

If you need more protein in your meal, opt for the King’s, which includes a spoonful of peanut butter and cocoa nibs atop an acai mix, plus a couple of other minor substitutions.

While acai bowls are perhaps the main menu item here, they aren’t the only food available. A couple of grain bowls are good go-tos for protein-packed lunches. The Cobb grain bowl, for example, gets its name from the smattering of ingredients that resemble a Cobb salad. The base is made up of mixed greens and romaine before it’s topped with avocado, cucumber, tomato, red and white quinoa, a sliced hard-boiled egg and a lime vinaigrette. 

Similarly, the island berry grain bowl offers a base of mixed greens and red and white quinoa but adds blueberries, strawberries, hummus, coconut chips and hemp seeds before finishing with a blueberry pomegranate vinaigrette.

Colorful drinks at Wow Wow Lemonade. Nora Tarte / This Is Reno.
Colorful drinks at Wow Wow Lemonade. Nora Tarte / This Is Reno.

When it comes to breakfast, the toasts are an easy grab. Again, the focus is on real ingredients that will power you throughout the day. A slice of delicious, seeded bread topped with coconut peanut butter, slices of fresh banana, cocoa nibs, coconut flakes and a drizzle of honey is a sweet way to start the day. 

The more traditional egg and avocado toast features a crushed avocado spread finished with a sliced hard-boiled egg and everything seasoning. Other toasts include chili lime avocado, lilikoi (passion fruit) butter and microgreens avocado. 

While the food is undoubtedly light and delicious, you likely came for the lemonade. I noticed the taste is not overly sweet, the way some lemonade is made with too much sugar. Instead, you get a good balance of sour citrus that doesn’t come off as bitter. 

The fresh-pressed lemonade menu includes everything from a basic lemonade to a butterfly mojito, pressed lemonade mixed with mint, lime, and butterfly pea flower for a gradient purple and yellow masterpiece. 

Simple flavors such as mango are available, as are more complicated renditions, including the Lava Flow, a pressed pineapple and coconut lemonade with a strawberry float. Some concoctions are more saccharine. With a minimum of 14 different lemonades on the menu, there are plenty of concoctions to try.

The rest of the menu is rounded out by superfood smoothies, coffee, tea and flatbread sandwiches made with fresh fruits and veggies (no meat!). To try it for yourself, stop by 9 a.m.-6 p.m. any day of the week.

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Get more information: https://wowwowhawaiianlemonade.com/

Nora Tarte
Nora Tarte
Nora Heston Tarte is a long-time Reno resident living on the southside of town. In addition to food, her hobbies include wine, hiking, yoga and travel. She is also the managing editor of a regional, lifestyle publication and freelances for other publications most frequently in the travel space. Nora received her bachelor's in Journalism from California State University, Sacramento before graduating from University of Nebraska, Lincoln with a master’s in Professional Journalism. You can follow her travel adventures, and local exploits, on her Instagram account @wanderlust_n_wine.

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