A nice salad bar and a fairly decent men's for a glorified Starbucks. Nice seating space. What I can't get over was the news that the smoothie, which appeared to have been sitting for hours and the components of which were long since separated, was priced at $14! There was an apple/kale, a cucumber-citrus, and an orange-carrot. All were pre-made "fresh", and put on a shelf to sit until a wealthy patron came to buy it. I have never seen such a pricing atrocity. Even the cashier, who warned me before he rang up my two that the tab would already be over $30.00, was mystified by the cost, and had obviously experienced the wrath of a customer who also couldn't believe that 8 ounces of an hours-old, separated smoothie could cost $14. read more

Ingredients - The most expensive hours-old, separated smoothies on the planet. - Salad Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

I love the salads at Ingredients! They have a huge selection of things to add to the base (spinach, romaine, or mixed greens) and the dressings are all delicious (my favorite is the garlic vinagrette). My only complaint is the long line (to be expected during the 11:30-12:30 rush hour - don't worry it moves quickly) and the lack of indoor seating. When it's nice I like to take the food across the street and eat in Fountain Square. It may be confusing as to how to pay - just order your salad, pizza, or sandwich and when you get it, grab the chips or drink and head to the register. It can get confusing when there are a lot of people (and a lot of lines)! read more

This places gets very crowded for weekday lunch, but they keep the lines moving quickly, so as long as you can find a table (or you're doing take-out), it doesn't really take longer than other comparable options. I've tried the grilled sandwiches, pizzas, and salads on different occasions and have been pleased with all of them. It can get a little pricey if you're comparing to other sandwich shops, but the quality is good. My lunch today was a make-your-own salad. Starting with the greens of your choice, you can add up to 5 veggie/cheese/nut options and a protein (chicken, ham, turkey, etc.) for $7.75, but it's all completely customizable so you can make it vegetarian for less or add more than five toppings for additional cost. Then they toss it in the dressing of your choice and pop it in a plastic container. There are mini-baguettes by the registers for $1 if you want some bread with your salad. If you want dessert, the cookies are really good too. Try the white chocolate chip and cranberry! In my experience, the people working there are both efficient and friendly, although you can't help but feel a bit rushed with the long lines when it finally is your turn. read more

Ingredients is my most frequented lunch destination. But if you value your time and don't want to wait in an incredibly long line, don't go to Ingredients between the 11:45am-12:30pm. You will regret it, unless you want to grab and go some of their pre-made items like wraps. However, if you DO have the time, Ingredients have deliciously HUGE made-to-order salads ($7.50-$9), awesome sandwiches (hot and cold) ($7.25) and crispy, brick-oven baked pizzas ($8). There are also specials like the soup, pizza and salad of the day which are usually not bad! My personal suggestions are: 1) try the blackened chicken 2) try their house made potato chips seasoned with some herbs and parm cheese ($1) 3) tell them one scoop of salad dressing if you don't want your salad soaked 4) try the balsamic vinaigrette dressing... oh my yum! read more

Great place for breakfast and lunch... Love all of the people who took care of me while I stayed at the Westin for 19 months!!! Entire staff were great!! read more

Ingredients is like the bar that you go to, not because you like it, but just because you go. It meets your expectations but the ladies (or men, dependent upon gender and preference) are never someone you'd be proud to say you took home. But, you still take 'em home. Ingredients is snuggled into the same building as the Westin hotel. They claim to offer healthy fare, which would be true in terms of the salads if you don't smother your salad in their dressings (which everyone does). They also have thin crust pizzas with lots of flour stuck to the bottom to keep 'em from sticking to the pizza tray they're cooked on and served on. Finally, there are the paninis. For dessert, you can have a little yogurt parfait with mixed berries. read more

I had never been to Ingredients until I was invited by someone for a lunch meeting. As much as I love to explore Cinci food life, I'm guilty of staying up on my end of Downtown by Court Street, so I was excited when I had a reason to drag my lazy butt to the square. Although it was a little difficult to find--and I definitely would have had an even harder time had someone not told me it was inside the Westin building--it was worth the search! I loved all the options, and for someone who is eating gluten free (hey there Celiac!) it was great to have a salad option with SO MANY OPTIONS! Seriously! Edemame on my salad?!? Yes please! What is that about chickpeas? Add them on! IS THAT AVOCADO I SPY?!? Yum! And not only were the options endless, but the guy making my salad couldn't have been nicer or more helpful with my selections. And the homemade garlic Parmesan dressing--well I'm not sure what it would do to my skin but I would bathe in it if allowed. The downside, other than it being a hike from my office, is that is it pretty pricey. Sure, you get a ton of salad--but who can eat that much salad without it going bad? I sure can't and I love me some salad. I paid about $10 and all I got was the salad and a bottle of sparkling water and I ate about 1/3 of the salad and was stuffed. Sure I took it home but it only keeps about a day due to the freshness of the veggies combined with the dressing. But, it would be a GREAT thing to split with a friend for lunch. It's definitely worth the search! read more

I had a great ham and egg panini, muffin, and cup of coffee at ingredients. I highly recommend if you're looking for a quick, easy, well priced breakfast-especially if you're staying at the west-in up stairs read more

This place is totally sweet. It's in the perfect location for a downtown lunch spot. The people are always very friendly and understand the lunch rush crowd. Everything is custom made for you, fresh. I've never heard a bad word about it. Sandwiches, pizzas, and salads are great. The only thing they still need to figure out is the line situation. There's no clear delineation between the salad/pizza/sandwich lines or the area you wait for your food to cook. Just have to be proactive in figuring out the situation each time. But that certainly hasn't stopped me from visiting many times. Bottom Line: I'll definitely be back for a quick, delicious weekday lunch. read more

Great healthy downtown lunch spot! The inner workings of this place are a little confusing. If you want a made to order salad go to the line to the left. If you want a hot sandwich or pizza to the counter to the back right. Pre-made salads are in the cooler in the middle. Once you've got what you want in you hand then head towards the cash registers in the front of the store. Sound confusing? It is. But I promise that it's worth navigating! read more

So because of my upcoming NYC trip - I'm packing my lunch every day. Then today - my lovely fabulous coworker Marge says she'll buy my lunch (celebrating my upcoming doomsday birthday) if I'll forego the packed extravaganza of salad and a pink zinger. I reluctantly agree and Marge says she wants to go to Ingredients. That's coo - I like that place - especially when someone else is buying! So we each go for the pizza line - which frightened me a bit - as I've heard really bad things about their pizza. I got a meat lovers and Marge got a pepperoni. Super thin crust - lots of toppings - nice flavor to the sauce. I'd say there was a little too much cornmeal and the crust was a little uneven (huge on one side - nonexistant on the other) - but all in all for a quick pizza - pretty good! We also got a fruit cup which sucked! The fruit wasn't ripe and had absolutely no flavor. read more

Been traveling for three weeks in a row. Stayed at the Westin. This is by far the best breakfast I have had during my travels. Got a breakfast panini. Even with as good as it was, it was too big to even finish it. Went in for the Starbucks but would definitely go back for the food! read more

When I'm looking for a healthy but filling meal for lunch, I head to Ingredients downtown. Ingredients is located in the Westin downtown, and while the environment itself is a little hectic (the lines start to get crazy around 11:45-12), the options make it worth it. When you get there, you can get in one of several lines depending on what you're in the mood for. There's a salad line, a panini line and a pizza line, all of which offer numerous options. The paninis are freshly made and pressed right in front of you, so the cheese comes out very melty and gooey. The pizzas are also made to order, and baked in a wood-fired oven. The crust is thin enough that it cooks quickly, so the line goes pretty fast. I almost always go straight for the salad line, and order the Superfood salad. It's a Spinach base, topped with salmon, broccoli, edamame, asparagus, tomato, red onion, almonds, and a garlic vinaigrette (or any other dressing you choose). There are several salads listed on the menu, but you can also create your own from a huge line of ingredients. The chefs mix all of the ingredients together, put the salad in a plastic container, and you're good to go. The prices are fairly reasonable for a downtown quick-service place, especially since the ingredients are fresh and the meal is prepared to order. Just be prepared for a bit of a wait if you hit the lunch rush, and know that seating can be limited if you have a group of more than 2 or 3. read more

I try not to blame places for my allergies, but sometimes... The ingredients aren't fresh. They put oil and stuff on some of them and guess what? I get horrible, painful, giant, red welts when I eat here. Even when I didn't get salad dressing, I had a reaction. Look, if you're going to have fresh salad ingredients, then why put shit on them beforehand? I didn't even think to ask, because it's not something I do when I make a salad at home. And the dressing is all like right out of a bottle. Give me a break. This place is typical Midwestern garbage dump style of healthy. No thanks, I'd rather lick an actual trash can. Ingredients makes me really angry. I think their salad is garbage food and not good ingredients. I do not recommend this place at all. If you want a good salad, one where they mix up the salad dressing right in front of you, go to the Mediterranean place just down the block. read more

I stopped in for a salad during lunch time and the experience started off pretty good. They have separate lines and stations for each type of food whether it is salads, sandwiches and pizza, and coffee and premade items. The salad line was short and moved relatively quickly. Instead of designing my own salad I picked one of theirs off the menu, the Super Foods Salad. The people behind the salad bar quickly put together my order although there was one weird thing that happened. When the woman compiling the vegetables into the bowl reached with her tongs for the broccoli she exclaimed something (maybe a curse word or something) and then caught herself and quickly glanced at me. It seemed a little strange since she also pulled her tongs away from the broccoli but she ended up reaching back and grabbing some of it and putting it into my salad. The next person put in the grilled salmon, dressed it, and tossed it before piling it into the to-go container. I moved to the register line and paid and then sat down to eat. A couple bites into my salad I noticed a bad taste. At first I thought it might be the salmon and started to speculate that maybe the grilled salmon was actually canned salmon and had a funky canned fish flavor. But after multiple more bites with me focusing on the salmon I realized that the salmon was quite good and some pieces even had the nice crispy surface on them from the cooking process. It was soon thereafter that I identified the culprit. It was the broccoli. The broccoli was coated in something and maybe had been soaking in some type of dressing or oil, some type of liquid. It tasted quite bad, almost like a funky rotten type taste. Every piece of broccoli tasted like this and it totally ruined the salad. All the other ingredients tasted good and fresh on their own but the broccoli was vile. And the worst part about this is that broccoli is one of my favorite vegetables. Once I confirmed that broccoli was the culprit I immediately thought back to the weird moment during the compiling of the ingredients. It seems as though the woman knew something was wrong with the broccoli but put it in my salad anyways. That's disappointing. read more

This place is great for lunch! They have custom-made salads that use premium ingredients such as blackened shrimp, salmon, as well as the usual grilled chicken, ham and turkey, etc. Accompanients include the usual, as well as seasonal and distinctive offerings such as mangos, and pear, hearts of palm, edamame, olives, mushrooms, pepper assortment. The selection is great! Sometimes the ingredients are not so fresh, however. The mangos I had on my salad today were frozen, for example. But the salads are under $8 and filling. They have a wide assortment of dressings (lemon avocado is a fave!) and lots of healthy options. Other offerings include paninis, sandwiches and individual-sized thin crust pizzas. This place closes around 3pm though so late lunchers/snackers might have to seek sustenance elsewhere. read more

Ingredients looks better than it actually is. The breakfast had no flavor although lunch was ok. Service is efficient but without any personality or connection at all. The food is reasonably priced for the most part. It's really all about convenience. read more

Dion and Miguel just made me the best custom salad ever!! Great service and fresh food!!

Since I'm on my annual "look good in a bikini" kick, I decided check out Ingredients for lunch and I'm pretty glad I did. It was busy at 12:15 and there was a line but it moved quickly and wasn't a big deal. I dig salads and I especially like that you get to choose your own Ingredients (no pun intended) while someone else creates, tosses with dressing and pops it into the cute little plastic container that I can never seem to figure out how to close. Today my salad consisted of: mixed greens, asparagus, golden beats, tomatoes and croutons with white balsamic dressing. I added blackened shrimp (which I'll probably skip next time because they're cold and didn't add much flavor) for a total of $7.75. Not a bad deal for a darn tasty, and filling, lunch. I'll definitely go back again to create a new salad masterpiece. read more

This is a fantastic place for lunch. They offer brick oven-fired pizzas and paninis as well as cold sandwiches. I, however, go for the awesome salad bar. It's actually not easy to find a cheap salad downtown for lunch, but this place does it right. You choose 5 ingredients on whatever lettuce you fancy, they toss it with some dressing of your choice, and voila. They have your usual salad toppings, but they also have avocado, edamame, fresh mozzarella, asparagus, and bacon. And good news is, bacon is NOT considered an "add protein" ingredient, so it's not extra! I just wish they had goat cheese. Well, I for one have not found a better deal the a $6.50 salad that I can't even finish it's so filling. They certainly pile on the stuff! read more

I decided to leave my lunch in the freezer today when one of my coworkers said that she was going to pick up lunch from Ingredients. I had never picked up lunch here but when she mentioned the Turkey Club panini I was sold. Even after a cold walk back to the office this sandwich was absolutely perfect. The bread was perfectly grilled and the saltiness of the bacon was perfectly balanced by the avocado. I do believe I have found my new lunch staple! read more

Ingredients - Turkey Club panini - Salad Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

Overpriced and the worst quality food we've had in a while. My fiancé and I both had a stomach ache after we left. Food did not taste fresh at all but the staff was very friendly and seemed receptive to the feedback. Overall disappointed though. read more

whatbriscooking.tumblr.com Took a walk during lunch yesterday to get some fresh air and found myself on fountain square, wondering what to eat. Then I remembered Ingredients. Upon my arrival they had a couple of specials (I love being offered something special), one of which was a shrimp pizza. I've had sandwiches there before, I'm pretty fond of their chicken pesto, but never a pizza. Feeling froggie, I went for it. The toppings were blackened shrimp, chicken, basil, sun dried tomatoes, mozzarella and an Alfredo sauce. I watched the woman make it fresh & fire it up for me, which was pretty awesome. The pizza was 7 bucks, but once I saw how big it was I figured I'd probably eat half today & half for lunch the next day. This is always a plus, since I spend most days agonizing over what to eat for lunch. I took the pizza to go and zig zagged my way back through downtown to my office. This takes easily 15 minutes and I was a bit worried that the pizza wouldn't taste great once I got settle & ready to eat. The verdict: It was amazing! So fresh & delicious. Each of the ingredients was a standout on its own and together they played so well together. Such an interesting combo, executed well! I am pretty excited about getting to eat the second half again tomorrow, lol! I'd give this meal an A. read more

Had their chicken panini. Nothing special. Meat inside looked not much better than Subway meat, but tasted better. The bread was nicely toasted but soft at the same time, and the sandwich didn't fall apart, which is a plus. Overall nothing spectacular, but a solid place for a sandwich. May want to get a side of soup or a salad for a full lunch. The sandwich was just enough to hold me over. read more

my first time at Ingredients! I got there right around noon, the line seemed long but it didn't take long at all! the chicken pesto panini is awesome!! read more

Ingredients - chicken pesto panini - Salad Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

Although this place is good for a quick and healthy lunch, the salad prices have increased to the point that I won't consider going to it anymore. $12 for a salad at lunch in a plastic throw away container is about $4 too much to pay imo. There are more affordable places to get a salad for lunch close by. read more

Not impressed. Bacon was subpar. Eggs fair. Hash browns I didn't even eat. Overall I would equate it to a Dennys or below. The Westin really needs to step it up! read more

Ingredients is hands down my favorite place to eat for lunch while at work. It's a great spot to grab a quick bite, the always have great customer service and while the line always looks really long (because people LOVE this place) it moves very quick thanks to their speed and assembly line style. They have delicious brick oven pizzas; made to order and sandwiches/soup but the best are the salads. I LIVE for taco salad day (buffalo chicken is a close second though). read more

Went at Noon on a Monday and there was a long line, half hour later there was nobody waiting. So first, next time we'll go closer to 12:30. And second, it shows how quick the pass-through rate is. My husband and I got salads, and it was perfect. Customize it however you want, and the staff puts it together and mixes it for you. Delicious, fresh ingredients. We did not get sandwiches but that line went just as quickly. We will definitely come back while we're still in town. read more

Hyper convenient if you're at the Westin and worth seeking out even if you're not. Ham & Brie panini was excellent. Also love the caprese to-go option (mozzarella balls + cherry tomatoes in a cream cheese tub like container = pretty much the perfect item for me). read more

I tried Ingredients for the first time today for lunch. After being overwhelmed by the extensive choices when building my own salad, I marvaled at the deliciousness that is Ingredients. I was pleased with the hearty portions and reasonable prices too! I also snuck a peek at the pizzas and paninis and they looked amazing. I'll definitely be back! read more

Ingredients is hidden in the lobby of the Westin on Fountain Square, but it's pretty clear people know where it is! Great lunch place if you'd like to be healthy, full, and have some variety. You can get a huge salad, with so many options to choose from, or get a hearty sized wood-fired personal pizza. read more

A great place for salad. They offer a variety of menu salads as well as the option of complete customization. Salads are made and tossed while you wait. Large portions - I had the southwest chicken salad and was unable to finish it. Price is reasonable. read more

Ordered a ham and cheese breakfast panini. The bread was nicely toasted, but the the cheese was not melted and the ham was ice cold. And there wasn't any eggs in there, just tomato. When I asked them to remake it, I watched as they burnt the bread on the 2nd attempt. Third time is a charm as it tasted great. The lady was rude when I told her about the cold sandwich, but a gentleman was very apologetic. The cranberry muffin was awesome!! read more

I've been wanting to try Ingredients for a while now, and I FINALLY got the chance! It was great! People there were so friendly, and I love the options you have. One downfall is the confusion first walking in with the different lines and where to go, but it is pretty simple to figure out. I was pretty disappointed because they only had one juice to choose and one smoothie, when I expected more variety. But overall, I was really happy with Ingredients! read more

I was in Cincinnati three days for work and ate at Ingredients twice! It is a great lunch spot. Salads are enormous with extremely fresh ingredients. The pizzas were also very tasty. There is a large outdoor seating outside of the restaurant which was a great place to eat since the weather was so nice. I highly recommend this place for a quick lunch! read more

I was in Cincinnati for 4 days and I ate here 4 times, the salads are super fresh and made to order. Egg sandwiches and coffee. Yum.

By far, my favorite lunch salad spot in Cincinnati. If the weather is cold, I drive over and park in the lot below the Westin. $1 for 1 hour = great deal. This reminds me of a typical Manhattan salad joint. Choose from a wide variety of ingredients and dressing and they custom blend the salad for you in front of your eyes. The line moves quickly and there's always plenty of seating. A great place to people-watch and central to everything downtown. They also have terrific thin-crust brick-oven pizzas. You can't miss with Ingredients! A salad will run you 7-9 bucks!! read more

Ingredients is nice as you can select what you want exactly on your salad and it is made right in front of you. During lunch hour it tends to get a little crazy during with the lines but they are pretty speedy at each of the stations. There is salad, pizza and sandwiches to choose from. I have gotten salads twice and were delicious each time and the pizza is nice thin and crispy. The seating is first come first serve but they have barstool height and and regular. It is great for meeting groups of people for lunch. read more

Love this place, but bummed they removed mandarin oranges from the salad bar -- please bring them back!!