Is anyone else bothered by the fact that we have a word for that iffy time between breakfast and lunch, but not one for the gap between lunch and dinner? I am, and it’s something that I’ve been thinking about for a long time. However, I still can’t decide between linner and dunch. I use linner more often than dunch, but dunch has a really nice, powerful sound to it. If you don’t think I’m the most ridiculous person in the world for having strong opinions are linner/dunch, then you’ll probably enjoy this post about my lidunch (option 3?) at Agno Grill.
The process at Agno is fairly straightforward, you pick your base, which can either be Salad, Black Rice, or a gluten-free Wrap, and then you build up from there with a protein and veggie toppings. I tried all the bases at Agno, and I have to say the only one I could really stomach was the salad. I appreciate how the restaurant makes their food gluten-free and vegan-friendly, but I just did not like the gummy, waxy texture of the gluten-free wrap. Also, as a Persian girl, I can say that the owners may be promoting Mediterranean food, but their rice was worse than some of the American attempts I’ve tried. It was safer to stick to lettuce because, honestly, how can a restaurant screw that up?
While the bases made me crave a little more, some of the toppings that I tried were pretty good. The ones I enjoyed were the Marinated Artichokes, which added a nice mild lemony flavor to the salad, and the Salmon, which was served cold, but didn’t taste like it had been sitting around for hours. The one big issue I have with the place was that most of the other food was way too salty and left me craving a gallon jug of water. I tend not to salt anything post-cooking nor at a dinner table because every once in a blue moon I try to be health conscious. Due to that, I am pretty sensitive to salt even though I do eat some salty things, but Agno’s food was so overpowering that I hardly wanted to see salt ever again after leaving. Although the two toppings I mentioned above weren’t too bad on the salty scale, most of the other options were.
I didn’t hate Agno Grill, but I didn’t love it either. With a mix of a few yummy options and even more lackluster ones, as well as employees that were all over the spectrum of friendliness, Agno was decidedly better than its sister restaurant, Pure Fare, but still could use some tweaking before it’s a place that I would want to visit more than once.
A Famished Foodie 
Thanks for the heads up! I will stay away from this place next time I visit Philly. On a technical note, I thought originally “dinner” was supposed to be the between-lunch-and-supper meal and “supper” was supposed to be what we call “dinner” today? Or maybe I’m misremembering or just made that up lol. Plus, I quite like “linner” instead.
Haha! Yes, it definitely was breakfast, dinner, and supper before. I’m not quite sure when that all changed, but I think going back to that system now may be confusing!
There are definitely better places to go in Philly! There are too many good restaurants to waste your time with ‘okay.’
Very true. I love going to Budakkan when in Philly. It’s funny because I’ve tried that location, but have never tried Budakkan’s NYC location and I live here!
I haven’t been to Budakkan yet, but I hear great things! It’s one of the few Starr restaurants I haven’t checked out. And you’ll have to check out the NY location to compare!