sweetgreen, inconsistentcy is not so sweet

The great thing about working in DC is the plethora of lunch options available, particularly healthy choices.  Within walking distance of my office are, off the top of my head, at least six custom-made salad places, four Subways (the sandwich shop, obviously, not the metro ) and four vegan restaurants.  My ex-favorite place to eat lunch was a custom-made local salad shop called "Sweetgreen."  It not only made delicious salads, but also has a eco-friendly corporate philosophy: They buy local and organic produce and have mostly biodegradable or recyclable materials.  So, not only could I get a delicious meal, but I also could feel like I was leaving a less heavy carbon-footprint behind.  It's very similar to "Chop't" but so far it's only in DC.  And, in my opinion, it might not be headed for much more. 

You see, about a year ago, I went to sweetgreen to order my standard salad, and found that for no obvious reason, they'd stopped carrying olives.  Just like that, olives (probably one of my top-ten favorite foods) was no longer an option for salad patrons who might crave some mid-day salty kalamata deliciousness!  I was distressed.  I was so distressed in fact that I wrote an email, something I rarely bother to do, to be honest.
Nevertheless, I still went to sweetgreen and ordered olive-less salads & salad wraps.  I found I really enjoyed their spinach-tortillas with which they'd make "salad wraps." (I love salad-wraps, because I feel like I'm having a hearty burrito instead of a light salad.)  Then, a few months later, they stopped the spinach tortillas. gasp! They still have regular tortillas, the same kind Chop't uses, but now nothing to differentiate from Chop't. (and, Chop't still has olives.)

Last fall, I tried something new at sweetgreen: their "crispy spicy kale," baked kale with sea salt and spice that adds the salty goodness my olive-less salads had been lacking.  Also, paired with their seasonal butternut squash, it was a great cold-weather salad. This past week, I went to sweetgreen, hoping to get a delicious kale-filled salad, only to find that now, the kale is only sold separately (as a side dish) for an extra $2.50. (ouch....$2.50 for greens? adding shrimp only costs $0.50 more than that!)  Also, you have to buy the entire container, which is a lot of salt and a lot of kale....too much for a salad.  I just want a bit thrown in my salad like the old days.  I was annoyed, because for the THIRD time now, Sweetgreen has taken something I loved away for no reason.

I know that when I go to Chop't and order the Palm Beach Shrimp Salad-Wrap, with olives, I get the same salad every single time.  Nothing different, nothing missing, always the same.  It got me thinking about restaurants in general.  Good food or bad food, consistency is the most important thing.   After all, there's a reason why millions and millions of people go to McDonald's every day.  It's not because their food is amazing, or the ambiance is fantastic.  It's certainly not a healthy or ecologically responsible choice.  No, people go to McDonald's because they know EXACTLY what they're going to get.  McDonald's Inc. practically invented the franchising of restaurants. It's a business that emphasizes consistency and predictability. Customers know precisely what they're going to get regardless of what particular McDonald's restaurant they visit.  The same is true for any successful restaurant, right?  Subway, Starbucks, Chop't...I know that when I go in, I can order exactly what I want and it will be the same regardless of whether I'm in DC or in Seattle or anywhere! I went to a Starbucks in Paris and it was the same menu as the one by my house. (And, they had sweet-&-low, try finding that anywhere else in Europe!)

So, as of right now, I'm fed up with sweetgreen.  They've disappointed a hungry salad-eater for the last time, at least for now, and there's two Chop't locations I can walk to at lunch...and Chop't so far has stayed tried and true for me, and all of my salady cravings.....