On a recent day, four Ingallina’s box lunches were delivered to The Herald.
We didn’t ask for them. They just showed up.
I had eaten an Ingallina’s lunch before, so I offered to write a review. The three other lunches were shared among my colleagues.
Ingallina’s Seattle lunch menu offers an array of sandwiches ($10.95), wraps ($10.95) and salads ($14.45). A half sandwich and half salad order is $12.95. Gluten free, vegetarian and vegan box lunches are available.
Each box comes with a bag of Tim’s chips, a house-baked cookie and a bottle of water. You can add a fresh fruit cup for $3. Salads come with a roll instead of potato chips. (They also have utensils, a pepper packet, wet wipe, napkin, toothpick and a mint.)
In Snohomish County, the catering company delivers box lunches to Everett, Mill Creek, Lynnwood, Edmonds and Bothell. In addition to lunches, Ingallina’s also offers party platters, gift baskets and fruit bouquets.
I tried the chipotle chicken sandwich, made with avocado and pepper jack cheese, chipotle mayonnaise, red and yellow peppers, tomato and red onion on a baguette. I shared my sandwich, but kept the sugar cookie with lemon icing for myself.
When I ate Ingallina’s before, I ordered the Caesar chicken wrap. It has lemon chicken breast, mixed greens, Parmesan cheese, tomato, Kalamata olives and Caesar dressing wrapped in a garlic tortilla. I chose the wrap because I was on a Caesar salad kick at the time.
Now that I’ve had both, however, I wish I had had the foresight to order the chipotle chicken sandwich. That chicken breast, pepper jack, chipotle mayo and avocado combo was surprisingly good. Or maybe lunch just tastes better when it’s a surprise.
Social media producer
Ben Watanabe had the chicken club, made with with avocado, cheddar, bacon, lettuce and tomato on ciabatta bread. His cookie? Chocolate chip.
“The bacon was crisp, the sliced chicken tender, the lettuce fresh,” Ben said. “The avocado was slimy, as it always is, and thus my great disdain for avocado. (An) enjoyable lunch, and for the purported price, seemed like a solid deal.
“I’d imagine it would make for a no-hassle way to feed a lot of people at a convention.”
Digital news producer
Sue Misao chose the roast turkey sandwich with cranberry-apple cream cheese and gourmet greens on whole wheat bread. It was served with whole-berry cranberry sauce. Hers also had a chocolate chip cookie. She liked her sandwich, too.
Digital news editor
Chuck Taylor had the turkey and Havarti sandwich, with pesto balsamic aioli, mixed greens and tomato on ciabatta bread. He made sure to pick a sandwich without avocado because, like Ben, he doesn’t care much for the green fruit. His box lunch came with a snickerdoodle.
“It was excellent,” Chuck said. “The ingredients were fresh, the bread was good.”
All of our lunches had the optional fruit cup. It was a small cup, so there was only room for one red grape and a slice each of strawberry, honeydew, cantaloupe and orange. It was topped with a mint leaf. I appreciated the variety, but I don’t think it’s worth $3.
All in all, I’m sold on the box lunches. The next time I need a meeting catered, I’m going to look up Ingallina’s.
Ingallina’s Box Lunch
The Seattle-based catering company serves box lunches in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties. Free same-day delivery. Minimum two box lunches.
Hours are 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Lunches are delivered between 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Same-day orders are accepted before 9:30 a.m. for Snohomish County.
Place an order by calling 206-766-9400 or go online to www.ingallina.net.
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