<p style="text-align: center;"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4599" href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/2010/12/sproutz-restaurant-review/img_0614/"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-4599" style="border: 1px solid gray;" title="Sproutz" src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/IMG_0614-500x460.jpg" alt="Sproutz" width="500" height="460" /></a></p>
Sometimes you feel like a fried patty of beef between two buttered buns with a side of fried potatoes, all served up in the classic styrofoam packaging, double-sacked.

And sometimes you feel like lugging around a clunky DSLR camera into a restaurant and not allowing anyone to take a bite or touch their food until you've taken three dozen photos.

And then sometimes, you don't.

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Enter <a href="http://www.sproutztulsa.com/">Sproutz</a>, serving up a menu of breakfast, baked goodies, soups, salads and sandwiches and <a href="http://www.sproutztulsa.com/">the cutest logo ever</a> at 29th and Harvard.

Enter also my first attempt at iPhone photography.

<p style="text-align: center;"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4600" href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/2010/12/sproutz-restaurant-review/img_0625/"><img class="size-full wp-image-4600  aligncenter" title="Sproutz" src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/IMG_0625.jpg" alt="Sproutz" width="480" height="640" /></a></p>

Anyone who was jonesing for a green, centrally located, family-friendly deli, lunch counter and market in Tulsa was stoked earlier this year when Sproutz opened its doors.

<p style="text-align: center;"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4601" href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/2010/12/sproutz-restaurant-review/img_0633/"><img class="size-full wp-image-4601  aligncenter" title="Sproutz" src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/IMG_0633.jpg" alt="Sproutz" width="480" height="640" /></a></p>

But while I appreciate when a restaurant chucks the styrofoam in favor of renewable packaging and utensils, I'm not going back unless I'm impressed by the food.

Good thing Sproutz has a killer reuben sandwich. Here's the beef (literally): Baby swiss cheese, sauerkraut, 1000 Island dressing and corned beef on dark rye bread.

Oh, yeah. I live for reuben sandwiches.

<a rel="attachment wp-att-4602" href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/2010/12/sproutz-restaurant-review/img_0616/"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-4602" title="Sproutz" src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/IMG_0616-500x385.jpg" alt="Sproutz" width="500" height="385" /></a>

Look at this thing. It's ain't your average wimpy reuben sandwich from Arby's with its thinly sliced beef and crooked-ass cheese and its insipid sauerkraut, that's for sure.

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It's a monster.

It's...it's perfect.

*sniff* Anyone have a Kleenex? I have a little something in my eye.

<a rel="attachment wp-att-4602" href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/2010/12/sproutz-restaurant-review/img_0616/"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-4602" title="Sproutz" src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/IMG_0616-500x385.jpg" alt="Sproutz" width="500" height="385" /></a>

And what do you know - this iPhone photography stuff isn't as lame as it sounds.

Other things I've tried at Sproutz that are drool-worhty are the Neimann Marcus chicken salad ($7.50, roasted chicken, red sedless grapes, chopped celery and toasted almonds in a whipped cream dressing served with lettuce on honey wheat bread), the Pastrami sandwich ($8.50, eight ounces of house-smoked pastrami on rye bread with spicy mustard), and the Thai Cobb Salad ($7.50 - roasted chicken, romaine lettuce, water chestnuts, sesame sticks and sprouts with a spicy peanut dressing).

Yum. All of it. And I don't even like honey wheat bread. And I have this weird personal policy against ordering salad when dining out. Call it a vendetta against wimpy food reserved for when I'm dining out and paying 400 percent of the at-cost price, but I'm more than willing to make an exception for the Thai Cobb Salad at Spoutz.

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I can always appreciate a family-friendly restaurant, especially those that don't involve a giant mouse, cold pizza, flashing lights and buzzers going off every five seconds.

Kids are more than welcome at Sproutz, and my kid seemed to like it pretty well. He doesn't usually have much to say about food except the word no (if I hadn't been conscious during his birth and if he didn't look so much like his dad, I'd probably question whether or not this child is indeed of my loins), but he did eat his entire grilled cheese the day we visited.

So as much as one grilled cheese can differ from another, apparently Sproutz has it figured out.

They have something else figured out, too.

<a rel="attachment wp-att-4605" href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/2010/12/sproutz-restaurant-review/img_0630/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4605" title="Sproutz" src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/IMG_0630.jpg" alt="Sproutz" width="480" height="640" /></a>

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Kids menu + large selection of fresh-baked cookies = Helpless parents.

In more ways than one.

<a rel="attachment wp-att-4606" href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/2010/12/sproutz-restaurant-review/img_0628/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4606" title="Sproutz" src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/IMG_0628.jpg" alt="Sproutz" width="480" height="640" /></a>

Happy kids are another result of this equation.

The buckets of crayons and coloring sheets and cozy, playful-chic atmosphere of the dining room strengthens the lure of Sproutz to kids even more.

It becomes Hulk-like, really. Just look at this face.

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True to deli/sandwich counter tradition, there's not much elbow room at Sproutz. When a clean, green breakfast or lunch made from top-shelf ingredients sounds like it'd hit the spot, you might want to show up 15 or so minutes before the rush if you want a seat.

You don't have to get around early, though, for the <a href="http://www.sproutztulsa.com/index.php?id=21">Sproutz green tip of the day</a>.

<a rel="attachment wp-att-4601" href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/2010/12/sproutz-restaurant-review/img_0633/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4601" title="Sproutz" src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/IMG_0633.jpg" alt="Sproutz" width="480" height="640" /></a>

Much of what's available on the breakfast and lunch menu at Sproutz can also be purchased in crowd-friendly quantities from the market, but there's even more than that available there. We're talking breakfast casserole, lasagna, Allen Brothers rib eyes, Kosher whole chickens, tamales, knishes...the list goes on and on, and the variety is as impressive as the time my kid named every Thomas &amp; Friends character in the toy aisle at the grocery store.

And then proceeded to offer to take his dear ol' mom out and treat her to some beer and fried pickles.

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Just kidding about the beer.

The next time treading lightly on the earth makes you hungry, see what's on special at Sproutz. There's a new one daily, and the prospect of that your meal could include ingredients that are at once kosher, organic and artisan for under $10 a ticket is a thrill even those ambivalent about the word foodie (I am a foodie, but even I'm still pretty grossed out by that word) could understand.

And as for iPhone photography, if you have any tips on techniques or apps that could help me learn, leave 'em in the comments - help me! I think I've found my newest hobby. 

<strong>Sproutz</strong>
Monday-Saturday, 7am-7pm (closed Sunday)
(918) 508-2122
2602 S. Harvard Ave.
App used for photos: <a href="http://www.nevercenter.com/camerabag/">CameraBag</a>

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/58/1519755/restaurant/Midtown/Sproutz-Tulsa"><img alt="Sproutz on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1519755/minilink.gif" style="border:none;width:130px;height:36px" /></a>