I ordered build-your-own bowls from Cava and Sweetgreen. Both tasted delicious, but the winner didn't charge for as many add-ons.

Grace Dean

2024-08-02T08:30:02Z

The order counter at the Sweetgreen on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, showing salad and vegetables — Cold toppings included spicy broccoli, pickled pink onion, and red cabbage. Grace Dean/Business Insider

I visited rival salad chains Cava and Sweetgreen to get build-your-own bowls.
Both restaurants offered an extensive choice of bases, vegetables, sauces, and toppings.
But Sweetgreen charged extra for many of its tastiest add-ons.

Salad-bowl chain Cava has ambitious expansion plans. It opened 72 net new restaurants in fiscal 2023 and expects to open at least 50 in 2024.

As of 21 April, 2024, Cava had 323 restaurants, while Sweetgreen had more than 225 as of May.

It's been a tough few years for salad chains, which have traditionally relied on city-center office workers for their peak lunchtime trade. But, like other fast-food and fast-casual chains, Cava and Sweetgreen found ways to adapt their business and are both reeling in digital orders: they make up 37% of sales at Cava and 59% at Sweetgreen.

I tried both chains for the first time when I was in need of a vitamin boost. Here's what I thought.

On a recent business trip to Chicago, I ate a lot of unhealthy food.

The Samarai McSpicy from the McDonald's global kitchen in Chicago — The chicken teriyaki burger at McDonald's Global Restaurant in Chicago tasted great but left me in need of some vitamins. Grace Dean/Business Insider

I attended a restaurant conference where I gorged on samples of vegan chicken, sushi, and brownies; I had a teriyaki burger and McPops at McDonald's Global Restaurant; I tried the massive portions at the Cheesecake Factory; and I sampled fine dining at a Michelin-starred restaurant.

I was urgently in need of some vegetables and grains to balance it out, so I headed to rival salad chains Sweetgreen and Cava to stock up on vitamins.

The exterior of the Cava restaurant in Chicago — The Cava I visited had recently opened in Chicago's Wicker Park. Grace Dean/Business Insider

The Sweetgreen restaurant was light, airy, and almost deserted. I did arrive at nearly 8 p.m. on a Sunday, after all.

A view through the window of the interior of the Sweetgreen on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago — The decor of the Sweetgreen I visited was airy, modern, and simple. Grace Dean/Business Insider

Sweetgreen sells bowls, salads, and protein plates.

Interior of the Sweetgreen on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, showing the counter and the menu — Sweetgreen's menu boards advertised a number of bowls and plates designed to be ordered as is. Grace Dean/Business Insider

A number of them were designed to be ordered as is, which started at $12.95, but you could also build your own in a walk-the-line format from $9.95. Mine ended up costing far more than this, though.

Five Guys stores say where that day's shipment of potatoes came from — but I was impressed to see a long list featuring many of Sweetgreen's suppliers. A lot of the ingredients were organic, too.

Interior of the Sweetgreen on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, showing a list of the ingredients and where they're supplied from — Sweetgreen had a list of suppliers if you were curious about the origins of your ingredients. Grace Dean/Business Insider

Sweetgreen has five leaf and three grain bases to choose from.

I started with a wild rice and herbed quinoa base — I liked that I could go 50/50 with them. There was a good choice of cold toppings, including different cheeses, nori sesame seasoning, spicy broccoli, crispy rice, and almonds.

There were hot toppings, too, including warm portobello mushrooms, roasted tofu, and caramelized garlic steak. It was a shame you couldn't get a better view of them, though.

The order counter at the Sweetgreen on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, showing the protein options — There was a range of meat and vegetarian hot toppings. Grace Dean/Business Insider

Nearly half of Sweetgreen's toppings are listed as "premium" — meaning they incur extra charges.

Two screenshots from Sweetgreen's website, showing its list of "toppings" and "premiums", with photos of each item — Sweetgreen has an extensive list of "premium" toppings that you have to pay for. Sweetgreen

The prices varied considerably at the restaurant I visited: it was $6.25 for steak, $5.95 for salmon, $2.10 for avocado, and $1.50 for blue cheese, goat's cheese, and shaved Parmesan. Keeping track of how much your meal will cost requires some quick maths.

I ended up going for what was, to be honest, quite an odd selection of toppings.

The order counter at the Sweetgreen on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, showing my grain and vegetable bowl with red cabbage, avocado, grains, mushrooms, and more — I topped my bowl with a range of vegetables and tofu. Grace Dean/Business Insider

These included kale, pickled onions, warm portobello mushrooms, roasted tofu, avocado, tomatoes, and breadcrumbs. I had to pay extra for the mushrooms, tofu, and avocado.

My bowl made it a bit tricky to choose a dressing, though.

The order counter at the Sweetgreen on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, showing the dressings on offer — Dressings on offer included a number of vinaigrettes, ranch, hot sauce, and Caesar. Grace Dean/Business Insider

I wasn't sure what would go with the odd array of ingredients I'd chosen. Olive oil would have worked but would have been a bit boring. I asked the staff member for recommendations, and they suggested the Green Goddess Ranch.

They said that rather than pouring it on my salad, they could give it to me in a tub on the side.

The order counter at the Sweetgreen on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, showing the range of sauces — Fortunately I got my dressing on the side. Grace Dean/Business Insider

I'm so glad they did.

I'm a Brit who's rarely eaten ranch — and I didn't know what made the ranch green. Turns out it was cilantro and parsley, two of my least favorite herbs. After a few tastes, I had to throw the tub away.

The bowl looked really attractive with its vibrantly-colored vegetables.

I thought it tasted delicious, though the mushroom wasn't as flavorsome as I'd expected and it was a shame about the dressing.

My portion of avocado wasn't sliced, which I found a bit impractical because all the other components were in bite-sized chunks.

The quinoa was really clumpy, too, but this was probably because I visited late in the evening. Maybe the batch had been standing around for a while.

The order counter at the Sweetgreen on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, showing quinoa on a fork — My quinoa wasn't fluffy at all. Grace Dean/Business Insider

My bowl came to $18.89 including tax and without a drink, which I thought was quite expensive, though it was a generous portion.

I went to Cava at a similar time of day — around 8 p.m., but this time, on a Friday.

Customers lining up for food and other customers sat at tables eating their meals at the Cava restaurant in Chicago — I had to stand in line for an hour to get served at Cava. Grace Dean/Business Insider

Unlike the Sweetgreen I visited, the Cava was crammed full of customers. The restaurant — Chicago's first Cava — had only opened three weeks before, and residents of the Windy City were clearly eager to check out the buzz. It took me an hour to get to the front of the line.

Like Sweetgreen, Cava has a walk-the-line format and sales are dominated by custom dishes.

The interior of the Cava restaurant in Chicago, showing a customer paying at the counter — Customized grain bowls, salads, and pitas make up roughly 85% of Cava's orders. Grace Dean/Business Insider

Customized grain bowls, salads, and pitas make up roughly 85% of Cava's orders. Prices for its most basic "curated" bowls start at $12.05, the same as a custom bowl with no paid-for add-ons.

Cava's menu is focused on Mediterranean ingredients.

A range of sauces, salads and grains in trays at the Cava restaurant in Chicago — Dips included Harissa, red pepper hummus, and "Crazy Feta." Grace Dean/Business Insider

You can get harissa honey chicken, braised lamb, Persian cucumber, spiced feta, and red pepper hummus. Dressings include balsamic date vinaigrette, tahini Caesar, and skhug — a spicy, herby sauce from Yemen.

Like at Sweetgreen, you have to pay extra for some of the toppings.

A range of protein options in trays at the Cava restaurant in Chicago — Many of the "mains" at Cava incurred extra charges. Grace Dean/Business Insider

When I visited, three of the seven items described as "mains" — harissa honey chicken, braised lamb, and spicy lamb meatballs — incurred extra charges. Cava has now added grilled steak to this list, too.

But all the other toppings, apart from avocado, were free to add on.

Screenshot from Cava's website showing the salad toppings — Free toppings included falafel, grilled chicken, spicy broccoli, and feta. Cava

This included vegetable slaw, hummus, and cheese, all of which incur extra charges at Sweetgreen. Falafel, roasted white sweet potato, grilled chicken, and roasted vegetables were free, too.

Cava has five leaf and three grain bases to choose from.

A bowl containing tortilla chips, pink onion, black olives, sauce and salad from the Cava restaurant in Chicago — For my mains I chose 50/50 roasted white sweet potato and falafel. Grace Dean/Business Insider

I went for Cava's SuperGreen mix topped with roasted white sweet potato, falafel, hummus, roasted eggplant dip, black olives, pickled pink onion, cabbage slaw, and garlic dressing. I also added Cava's pita crisps for free. My bowl looked monstrous, but it tasted great.

The white sweet potato wasn't as soft as I'd expected, and the pita chips soon became very soggy from the dressing, but other than that I loved my bowl.

As I didn't get any of the paid-for extras, I was just charged the base price of $12.05 before tax. With a drink, it came to $17.22, including tax.

I love eating at restaurants where you can build your own plate or bowl, eyeing up the tastiest ingredients as you go.

The interior of the Cava restaurant in Chicago, showing the counter which is full of ingredients as well as a line of customers waiting to order — I'm a big fan of build-your-own restaurants. Grace Dean/Business Insider

I can avoid ingredients I don't like, such as cilantro, parsley, and raw carrot — as well as the embarrassment of having to ask a member of staff if the restaurant could make a set menu item without these ingredients.

Both restaurants offered an extensive choice of ingredients — but Cava was the winner for me.

The interior of the Cava restaurant in Chicago, showing a staff member making a bowl for a customer at the counter — Most of the add-ons at Cava were free. Grace Dean/Business Insider

Though Sweetgreen offered a cheaper basic bowl — $9.95 versus $12.05 — many more of the toppings incur extra costs. I loved that Cava's falafel and sweet potato didn't cost more. If you made a bowl at Sweetgreen without any of the add-ons, it would be tasty but lacking some oomph.

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