TL;DR: Prices are skyrocketing and now people need to make their own lunch.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/06/business/chipotle-cava-sweetgreen-bowl-sales-prices.html
Free link: https://archive.ph/C2b73
3 Likes
I hate Sweetgreen. That is all.
2 Likes
Why?
Lessee, the ingredients are sub-par, it’s too expensive for what it is, they can’t get a delivery order right to save their life…
I definitely agree that it’s [far] too expensive. I haven’t had delivery from there so no comment. The salads I have had have been reasonably tasty and seemed fresh enough, and the Boston area ones at least have a list of their suppliers right on the wall so they seem to be kind of standing by their vendors/ingredients. (Not saying you should give it another shot.) I think there are various other reasons to dislike the place such as the overall annoying vibe…but hate seems like a lot of energy to expend for a salad chain 
I had a year-long full-time teaching gig a while back, and every Monday during the faculty meeting, we got Sweetgreen. There was never any discussion of other places to order from - just Sweetgreen, always Sweetgreen. I suffered through brown lettuce, mushy grape tomatoes, and the absolute worst sin: missing avocado.
I hate Sweetgreen.
4 Likes
hahaha that missing context is everything!
2 Likes
I hate the whole dumb “bowl” trend. It all started with poke bowls, and now everything is a “bowl.”
I blame low carb-ing.
I like poke bowls but a Sweet Green opened on our corner and after a while I went in to look, but found find the whole thing repellant and sterile, the antiseptic hands off food delivery system, the lack of apparent cooking, the coldness of the whole atmosphere, mediocre ingredients, lack of any tasty smells lack of soul. There seem to be a few folks dribbling in but with actual restos with tasty food around they will be the eat to live crowd, I believe.
1 Like
I used to eat Chipotle around once a month, because the kids want them from time to time. In the last year, they raised price quite a bit, to a similar level as mom and pop restaurants/ food trucks. They didn’t mention the quality, and by extension, value:
I can get in these restaurants/ trucks:
- cooked-to-order, crispy meat.
- consistently cooked food from the same people versus Chipotle whose food quality seems to veer from decent to atrocious dependent on whether the cook from last month quit.
And they already mentioned in the article that they are competing against the customer. In my case, I can properly cook a meal in around the same time it takes me to go get a Chipotle meal and come back, that is of higher quality than an indifferent Chipotle meal with oversalted meat, mushy rice with no salt and salsa that is unevenly applied, for 1/3 the price. Bowl or not, slop is the right term to describe some recent meals there. Price aside, if I can’t get a meal that meets a very baseline standard, I stop bothering. Even for the kids who enjoy the food there, they stop requesting to go.
At least for me, if they pay some attention to their QC, then I’d be more likely to go more often.
3 Likes
I haven’t eaten at Chipotle in close to a decade, after they ran into a problem with e coli or salmonella in their produce.
What I am noticing is how tight margins are right now. Fast Food and Take-out Food by independent business owners (fancy take-out Sandwiches, Bowls, at take-out/delivery places that have no seating) is priced very close to prices at full service restaurants.
Many breakfast sandwiches at sandwich shops and coffee shops in Toronto are running $10-$15, $16 -$18 at full service brunch restos, and $20 at a bougie spot like Sadelle’s.
A take-out Cobb Salad at Mandy’s (fast casual chain) costs around $25 (and adding chicken would cost a bit more) , whereas Sadelle’s Cobb costs $32 CAD. I suspect Sadelle’s is making their money more through the mimosas, caviar and $12 ice cream cones. Their sandwiches and coffee are set at a reasonable price when you consider labour, location, plates, cutlery, etc.
I think the chains such as Chipotle, Qdoba, McDs, etc are using their loyalty apps to keep customers tethered.
The full price for a Chipotle Bowl / Burrito and a drink is pretty close to the price for a lunch main and a drink at a full service family resto/ diner. Around $20 after tax and before tip in Canada.
