Sustainable Local Specials

When creating food at Big Bowl, we look to our cultural mantras to guide us; Local, natural, sustainable, organic, and eco-friendly.  Sometimes difficult to fully achieve, the current selection of specials embraces every aspect of our mantra.  Green beans, cherry tomatoes, and sweet corn have been sourced from local family farms.  Nichols farms in Chicago, Untied Family Farms in Minnesota, and the Herndon Farmers Market in Reston, have supplied us throughout the summer with the finest fruits and vegetables.  

Jude Becker from Becker Lane Organics and Compart Family Farms are supplying our restaurants with the finest heirloom pork for our Pork and Beans.  Both farms are located in the Midwest and raise pork the old-fashioned way on small family farms.  The hogs are fed an all vegetarian diet without antibiotics or growth hormones.  You can taste the difference in every bite of Pork and Beans.

Yellow perch, walleyed pike, and domestic tilapia are listed as top picks by the Monterey Bay Aquarium and The Shedd Aquarium seafood watch lists.  Click on the link to download a pocket size seafood watch list form either group. In Chicago, we are serving yellow perch for our Crispy Fish Lettuce Wraps and Thai Summer Fish with Sweet Corn.  Yellow perch, from Lake Erie, has a sweet delicate flesh. The tiny filets cook quickly, retaining its tender texture and fine flavor.  Walleyed pike, a Minnesota favorite, has beautiful white flesh and a mild, sweet flavor.  In Reston, we chose a domestic farm raised tilapia.  Grouper and cod were our first choices but both fish have been overfished and are on the “avoid” section of both aquarium’s watch list.  

We encourage our guests to embrace our mantras at home and when dining out. At Big Bowl, we feel good about what we do.  We are proud to support local business and value the relationships we have made with the friends and families responsible for supplying us with so much fine food.