Just Salad — Restaurant in New York

I’ll be honest the food got me hooked & I went back several times just because I love their salads. Love the kids bowl selection & love the variety of items you can buy!!! Now let’s get down to business!!!! They got to work on their customer service skills. You walk in and you have to pass the cashier if you want to place an order. I’m pretty sure the majority of people will go straight to the cashier to try and say they want to make an order if it’s their very 1st visit. A little sign or arrows may help to instruct customers on where to begin (they definitely don’t appear friendly enough to ask a question especially for a new customer that doesn’t know how it works). Smiling more may help!!! A few times I observed even with my own experience; I waited at the section where you begin your order and you have approximately 4 people behind the counter won’t even give you a little direction as to how to begin. The menu is written against the wall more than 6 feet away in fine print so you’re basically screwed if you wear glasses and forget them home. I asked for a menu and it couldn’t be provided ( they pointed at the wall behind them). Then I ask a question and they spoke as if they don’t want to help (got the impression as if I should just order quickly so they can relax). Definitely need to work on their friendliness seeing you are catering to customers. The biggest issue I observe is they speak to softly… remember music is playing in the background and I cannot hear clearly if you don’t speak up. I observed several people constantly repeating, “What did you say?”, “Huh?” or have to struggle showing which foods they want in their salad. The eating tables are laid out to perfection and I love the space provided between each table. Love the music playing in the background and it is actually perfect with volume (not too loud not too soft just right). Just salad needs to work on their customer service. They will make a lot more sales if they advertise a little more clearly, smile some more and inform customers especially at the end when ready to pay… for example, “Would you like to try one of our healthy drinks? They tend to give a greater uplifting satisfaction when you try it with our top preferred desserts and we do have quite a few you can select from.” A greeter may be a great idea to instruct new customers or anyone that needs a little assistance in terms of what dressings may be well with certain salads or even a sample of the dressing to taste the uplifting flavors. And definitely will be a bonus to have someone on the floor to answer questions about the health benefits of what we are about to order prior to starting the order instead of google. Not many people know the varieties of salad selections and the health benefits so having someone who may be willing to answer questions instead of holding up lines with one person that may be confused as to what selections to choose. The atmosphere is definitely welcoming especially for this location. A little coupons from time to time may also help a lot because remember competition is out there. I love that they are also clean!!!!...

Food is always fresh and everyone’s polite, Spanish manager not so much. She got upset at one of the boys for giving me a bigger bowl for the “pick 2 deal” and then tried to tell me “next time it won’t be this size” in the nastiest tone as if it was my fault, I’m just telling him my order I don’t know anything about bowl sizes. She started staring at my bowl when it was done, deciding if she should make him do it over again. 🤨 I’m looking like it’s not that serious and so I’m like “how is that my issue that he choose the wrong size?” She reiterated the same thing and I’m like “ok” like it’s food damn!! Than the other day my bowl was complete and he asked if I wanted something else and I said “yes can I have more cheese?” and he replied “no, I would have to charge you extra” and I just was like “ok.” I could’ve made a big deal about it because he never put enough cheese the first time which is why I wanted more! You’re already paying $15 - $20 for a salad if I asked for more of something I should just be accommodated. I don’t like the pricing system and it’s inconsistent - no reason why I should be paying $1.50 for extra sprinkles of cheese unless I’m obsessed with cheese and need tons of cheese which is never the case lol. One time my salad was $22 all because I got cheese which was $1.50 and chicken which was $3.80 because I “build my own salad” but I could’ve just picked a salad that’s featured on the menu that has the same ingredients (cheese, chicken etc) I just think that workers should explain the menu so people have an idea of what they’re getting for their money and what to know are all of your options as opposed to waiting until the end when the salad is made and now you have 5 extra charges. Not an ideal way to run a business or keep customers. Otherwise this will be my location, I feel welcomed and will be returning until I don’t see fit. Oh and then the other day too she forgot my cucumbers, I was pissed because what’s a salad without cucumbers! Tables and area is always clean...

I'll start with the basics here -- In terms of food quality, staff friendliness, building cleanliness etc, everything is great. I have no complaints about that at all and if you want good tasting salad from a clean establishment and staff that isn't rude, this place fits the bill.

The issue I have is the business model. It is SO expensive! The portion size is meh, and the ratio of lettuce (or whatever your salad base is) to all other ingredients is quite bad. They give you this giant (relative to the bowl size) portion of lettuce, and then they use the equivalent of what looks like a measuring teaspoon to dish out all the other ingredients. And you only get 4 ingredients before needing to pay extra.

I ordered a very basic salad -- lettuce, tomato, broccoli, cucumber, chicken, and some crisps. It was $15 for the equivalent of a very basic garden salad with chicken. And I had to pay extra for the chicken as it was a 5th ingredient (after the tomato, cucumber, broccoli, and crisps). If I also wanted cheese, it would have been even more.

If it was $15 with as many toppings as I want (and a better ratio of lettuce to all other ingredients), then OK. I could load up the salad for $15. But if I want to load up the salad, I could end up spending close to $25 or even $30. It's kind of insane. I can get the same salad at the local bodega for $9.

But the pricing structure is the reason for the 3 stars. If price wasn't a factor, everything else is...