Salads are ok I guess... in truth, I've walked out of this place more often than not when I have tried to go here. Today, for example, I go in with one person on line in front of me... of course we stand there for 10 minutes while to go orders get priority. Finally, they start to take the order of the person in front, and suddenly a loud big lady pushes in and insists she was first. I clarify that in the time I was there, the only person I saw was the person ordering, not the nasty loud lady that's pushing in. I even offered to let the entitled customer to go ahead of me, but she seemed to back down. Then, inexplicably with the line now out the door, the staff decided it made sense to not only take that person's order but also her companion now exiting the bathroom, who clearly pushed in front of everybody. As I walked off the line and out of the store, most assuredly for the very last time, I made the point to say I hope it was worth it serving those other people. I will also say, one of my early experiences in this location was after having gotten out and trying to exit the lot, the valet took it upon himself to direct traffic and while stupidly listening to him instead of my better judgment, got into a fender bender with another vehicle he was directing, which cost me about $1,000 since it wasn't worth going through my insurance. At this point, I would say this place is entirely Less Than Zero from my perspective. Why I continued trying to come back here, I really have no idea. For the record, Belcampo next door also has salads, keto burgers and a number of selections which while perhaps more satisfying if not as healthy, the staff and smooth operation of the business makes it far more enjoyable if not rational during a workday lunch. No attitude, no bs, no unending frustration, unlike this god-forsaken place. And that's where I yet again took my...
Read moreI live right down the street from sweetgreen. Admittedly, I'm not a salad guy. Nonetheless, I looked forward to trying something fresh, organic, and hopefully tasty. I've been going there for a couple weeks now so I'll just leave you with my initial impressions. FIrst thing I noticed was a lot of back and forth activity behind the counter. The person making your salad goes back and forth between the various ingredient stations to assemble your salad, often squeezing in between two others doing the same thing. The consistency of the salad therefore varies on who prepares it and how busy they are. Yesterday I went there and noted 4 of these employees had long hair, but only one was wearing a hair net. I happen to like fruit, so I tried the fall special "Apples, Pears, and Cheddar" a few times. As I stated before, the quality of the salads was inconsistent, yummy the first time, not so much the next. I noted that the lettuce wasn't cold, and the chopped Apples and Pears in the bins really didn't look fresh, and lacked flavor. One time I ordered it along with another salad that was supposed to receive a different dressing, but the employee used the same dressing on both of our salads because they were out of the other one (without mention, until I asked) . I tried to order soup, which was on their chalkboard. The employee said "we're out of soup till Friday" When I asked why, she just said again "no soup till Friday" and pointed to the soup bins (which I presume were empty... Hard to know unless you're Superman). It looks like the food is fresh given all of the focus they give on letting you see the preparation, but somehow it didn't taste fresh for one reason or another and I was left questioning it's quality. Again, inconsistent is the word that comes to mind, and it looks as though the restaurant is poorly managed. I'd...
Read moreThere are days when I know I have to eat a salad. I don't like salads. All the effort of chewing and swallowing the awkward leaves would spend more energy than what I would be ingesting. But, because of other indulgences like pastry and burgers, my body starts saying “I’m really going to get sick if you keep this up.” Okay, okay, salad it is. We found SweetGreen. There was a lineup when arrived. Good sign. The salad seems to be made to order. Another good sign. There’s a person at the back washing and chopping up bunches of kale. The fact that they actually wash the leaves is a great sign. It took a while before I decided on a chicken salad – a warm salad – what a concept. My TCM doctor told me once that it is much better (for my body) if I act cooked greens instead of raw greens. It has to do with the nutrients and not stressing my body with having to digest raw food. That’s just after I watched the documentary on raw foods called Forks over Knives. I watched them put kale and other deep greens in a bowl, with chunks of steaming chicken and rices, and other things. Then they tossed the salad with salad tongs, vigorously. I mean, they do that for every salad. Quite the work out. The resulting salad was delicious. The salad was large enough – I guess you kind of need that when you replace carbs with greens. I am fan. When I am not in LA, I try to make it at home. But to make an equivalent salad with all the trimmings take a lot of ingredients and effort. I think you get great value...
Read more