Chopt Creative Salad Co. — Restaurant in Raleigh

I wasn’t going to post a review, but felt the need to after my experience today. So about a month ago I online ordered a warm Mediterranean bowl with falafel sub for chicken, and wrote no chicken in the special instructions. I picked up the order and didn’t realize until I got home that it had chicken throughout and I was unable to eat it. I didn’t return to the store at that point as my boyfriend ended up eating it. However, I did reach out to the support team and they gave me a refund and a $10 store credit. I didn’t think too much about this first experience as sometimes people make mistakes and I was willing to overlook that. Now today I went back to the store and ordered the same thing. Again, my order requested no chicken. I picked it up during lunch and again, there was chicken in the bowl. This time I brought it back to the store and asked it to be remade without chicken, per my original instructions. The guy working said he would remake it, but really wasn’t apologetic. So then after he remade it, I didn’t bother checking it in the store before I left as no way he added chicken right in front of me, right? WRONG. I got home and discovered chicken inside the bowl, see attached picture. I legit thought I was being punked. This is unacceptable and I’m extremely disappointed with this service. This location used to be one of my go-to lunch spots, but I will no longer be a customer. I gave two stars instead of one due to the accommodating...

At first I was really excited to have a salad place. I'm trying to eat better, so we drove across town to try this. After eating, we're filled with a resounding sense of "meh".

GOOD THINGS There was a very wide selection of ingredients, some of which were not common. The salads were very big, definitely a meal size. The salads were chopped very well, and they came with a little slice of bread which was cool. Nice style and plenty of seating.

BAD THINGS -The glass between the salad makers and the customers was too thick, with the ambient noise they couldn't hear what we were saying or answer questions.

Even when asked for light dressing, there was so much of it that was hard to make it through the whole Bowl. Everything tasted good, but there's only so much dressing I can eat at once, and it's hard to tell when they show you the dressing in the bowl how much that's actually going to be on a salad.

-Teas were kind of bitter, like stale bitter not flavor bitter.

-The table was so light it moved if you bumped it, I had to put my foot on it to keep it in place.

FINAL VERDICT Noodles and Company across the way will probably be my go-to in this plaza. I might try again, but as excited as I was this was a middle of the...

Today I ate at the local salad curatory known as Chopt. Between the jovial faces of farmers on the wall, the quintessential made-for-service-industry reggae mix, and fresh complimentary bread that I regrettably, yet regularly, opt out of, you really get a comfortably hip-adjacent vibe. The kind of place that feels right-at-home in Cameron Village. The food... far exceeds the type of quality you would expect from a place that so explicitly seems like a chain, aesthetically. Their “destination” salads are culture-friendly and culture-forward. The staff... wonderful. They toss your salad (lol) like pros; unabashedly and with conviction. When I ask for “medium” dressing, it is an arbitrary unit of measurement... yet I get exactly what I want.

My only complaint: I believe their water is not sourced locally like their mantra entails. It couldn’t be? How could local water become so bad so fast? Room temp at best. Not warm enough to bathe in, not cool enough to refresh. The hints of lemon and cucumber only accentuate what is already a...