By Rachel Hasson and Lauren VanAtta

As we grow into teenagers and young adults, it seems as individuality is only on a downfall. Nowadays, we’ve noticed that we eat more of what we think is cool than what we find actually satisfying.

Don’t get us wrong, if you find a parfait laid flat on a smoothie with granola worth the price of a steak dinner, you are on the same page as everyone else. Just not us.

As we scrolled through instagram one day, we noticed a post about a new restaurant in the West Side that fit our idea of what a “food trend” is perfectly. The name, Upbeet, is what drew us in first. We have to admit, using an interesting vegetable in a perky, musical way is a clever way to draw in girls my age. As we looked closer at the picture, we noticed that the restaurant clearly aimed their menu, atmosphere, and location towards this group of people, so we decided to give it a try.

As we browsed the menu, we were taken aback as to how many options there were, as the menu had four main groups- grain bowls, smoothie bowls,  yogurt bowls, and specialized toast. Grain bowls are part of  the lunch menu, so we did not have that option. Some of the ingredients that were included in the bowls on the menu caught our attention like “blue majik.”

When we curiously asked what this was, the worker told us that blue majik is made up of sea “muck” which includes seaweed, algae, and other natural products on the ocean floor. Despite how tasty ocean fungus sounds, we both decided on trendy smoothie bowls, priced at $11.00. We got one “Berry Green” smoothie bowl with acai, bananas, granola, blue berries, mango, spinach, and almond milk, and one “Peanut Butter Bliss” smoothie bowl. This bowl contained ingredients such as acai, bananas, cashew milk, peanut butter, blueberries, strawberries, and granola. These so called “acai bowls” seem to be the biggest food trend that exists right now, as we noticed they are pleasing to both the eye and the iPhone 7 camera.

We have to admit; the layered smoothie bowls, despite their small size and large price, were pretty decent. You could taste the different natural flavors, and they suppressed our hunger for a couple of hours. Our opinion on this“trendy” restaurant improved a little after this. However, when we decided to go check out the bathrooms, we were caught off guard by the unique, yet annoying, restroom signs labeled “Hey Girl” and “Sup Bro”. We decided on washing our hands later at school, as we did not want to explore the other “trendy” signs that could have been inside the bathroom.

In the end, UpBeet provided a tasty meal and a giant lettuce wall to stare at. If you are looking to eat smoothies, fruit, or grains and leave with hole in your pocket, UpBeet is the restaurant for you. As acai bowls with unique ingredients dominate the food trends at this point in time, we are curious to see what other weird snacks and restaurants will become popular in the future.