Alexander Spatari/Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/BI
While everyone complains about the commute and annoying coworkers, a sneaky startling part of the return-to-office wave is how expensive slop bowls and sad salads have gotten. The colloquial name for the classic weekday lunch options would indicate a low price point, and yet, one can easily find themselves shelling out $25 on a random Wednesday afternoon for a dispiriting pile of vegetables, grains, and a protein or two, wondering if 37 is too old to get a sugar daddy and quit this stupid corporate life for good. At this price point, shouldn't you have the option of someone taking your order and bringing food to your table, preferably with a glass of wine?
The slop bowl scene — think Chipotle, Cava, Sweetgreen, and the litany of indistinguishable food places that have invaded urban office areas across America — had quite the surge in the 2010s. Now, the tide appears to be turning — I mean, for one thing, we're now calling them "slop." Traffic at Chipotle, Cava, and Sweetgreen locations has declined this year. Their stocks aren't doing too hot, either. People are starting to take notice and formulate theories about their fall from grace. Maybe it's a sign the economy is finally breaking. Maybe it's really about the troubles of Democratic cities and issues with international tourism and immigration. Maybe it's just that the guacamole scoops are too small.
The thing is, these bowls are just way too expensive for what they are, or, at least, what consumers perceive them to be. Among the low-cost, lousy options for lunch, the fancy ones carry a hefty price. If people are going to eat out, they may as well go somewhere they can sit down and be waited on. And the way things are going in casual dining, the price difference isn't that much — the lousy fancy places are looking increasingly affordable and attractive. See: Chili's. The restaurant industry is in the midst of a compression of sorts, and the fast-casual slop bowl guys are losing out.
"When consumers are looking to pinch pennies, they don't want to spend $20 for lunch, or if they are going to spend $20 for lunch, they want a better experience," says Zak Stambor, a senior retail and e-commerce analyst at eMarketer. "They are focused squarely on value."
Originally, these fast-casual restaurants' proposal was that you could get a meal that's healthier than a fast-food joint at a slightly higher, but not wallet-busting price point. It wasn't as nice as a full-fledged restaurant, but it also wouldn't get eye-rolls from judgmental coworkers as you rolled into the office with Burger King for the third day this week. Chipotle was a fancier, fresher, often giant-er version of Taco Bell. Sweetgreen was what all the Lululemon girlies were into, mainly to be consumed after a Flywheel class. Cava gave you a cool Mediterranean vibe before you returned to your very uncool, very un-Mediterranean desk.
The thing is, these bowls are just way too expensive for what they are, or, at least, what consumers perceive them to be.
We're moving on from a lot of that. Taco Bell is cool again. Flywheel is dead. And in an economy where consumers are extra focused on getting a bang for their buck, these food places' loss of their "It" factor combined with costs that are shrinking the price gap with full-service spots makes it tough for them to compete. It also doesn't help that there is a growing number of customer complaints about the chains skimping out on portion sizes, a problem which Chipotle and Sweetgreen have both acknowledged.
"Post-pandemic, you had that period of inflation where restaurants were increasing their prices up and above what their costs were, and it's not like they've been slashing prices. So consumers have really had to shoulder all of that inflation still," says Alex Fasciano, a senior equity research analyst at CFRA Research. "And at the same time, you have this portion thing going on where some consumers feel like the scoops are maybe less generous than they used to be as well."
The companies say they're doing better on portions, but the perception that they're short-changing people persists. Gripes about small servings at Chipotle have become a meme online. Recently, a host of a political podcast I listen to brought up order strategies at Chipotle to try to get extra meat. (If I remember correctly, you ask for a second helping at the very end.) It all adds to the idea that these places are giving you less bang for the buck.
"They aren't communicating their value very well," says Lisa Jennings, the executive editor of Restaurant Business Magazine. "So people are really kind of looking at their lunch receipts and going, 'Whoa, am I really going to be paying this for this burrito?'" Even though Chipotle still has a pretty decent value proposition, people don't see it that way.
A Chipotle spokesperson says in an email that customers can get a chicken bowl or burrito "filled in abundance at a speed that they can't experience anywhere else" for around $10 before taxes and fees in most markets. "Our prices are a 20-30% discount compared to fast casual meals and often below comparable meals at many quick service restaurants," they add. Sweetgreen notes that it's increasing chicken and tofu portions by 25% and is addressing the price perception matter through a variety of strategies. Cava did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
MealPal, a subscription program that gives people access to discounted restaurant lunches and is a bit of a "slopbowl as a service" company, tells me its users are seeking out more savings. Last year, the average savings per meal was $3.84; now, it's $4.08.
Some of the novelty of these fast-casual places has worn off. Part of it is that this year, they haven't really put stuff on the menu to get customers hyped up. Last year, Chipotle did al pastor chicken (which it could also charge more for). Sweetgreen and Cava introduced steak. This year, thus far, they haven't had the same level of success with fresh stunts that are bringing people in.
"The companies are lacking some of these big product launches from last year," says R.J. Hottovy, Head of Analytical Research at Placer.ai, a location analytics platform.
Beyond the dollars and cents of it all, these places have simply lost their shine. As a city-dwelling corporate drone, I've had my moments with a bunch of fast-casual places, including the ones in question. Back when I was in college, a trip to Chipotle was An Event. I remember discovering Sweetgreen and imagining it would somehow make me fit. When I briefly moved to DC, coworkers were eager to fill me in about the magic that was Cava. I'm not saying I won't hit any of them up anymore, but I'm not feeling special about it when I do. Everything at Cava starts to taste the same after a while. The Sweetgreen salads are often warm, weird, and small when I get them home. And with Chipotle, I mean, just what is going on with the prices??? Is the burrito bowl made of gold???
I am not the only person reconsidering the slop bowls' place in my diet. When I put out a call on social media about this story, people expressed a lot of feelings about slop bowls. "THESE FOODS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE MIXED IN THIS WAY," one person emailed, signing the message #BanTheBowls. Another told me they love Sweetgreen and Chipotle so much they bought stock in both of them and sent tips to save money (and calories) — aka, no guac. One person told me they make their own slop bowls at home and at one point got so obsessed with recreating a Sweetgreen one they — gasp! — microwaved fish at the office. Another said they also do the homemade option, which they have dubbed the "craptacular." One told me they moved to upstate New York and deeply miss the slop bowl variety from the city; another bemoaned the dish as a "tech-efficiency-fueled" option and called for bringing back the two-martini lunch.
Of course, the solution to a lot of this is to make your food at home. If that $22 pile of various goops in a cardboard box is too much, buy the goops at the grocery store and put them together in your kitchen. But that is not always as fun as eating out, and everyone deserves a treat sometimes. For the slop bowl makers, what they're doing just isn't seen as a treat anymore, and other treat-ier seeming treats cost about the same.
"Value is front of mind for nearly every consumer right now, and I think these restaurants just don't have a sharp enough value proposition," Stambor says.
Why am I paying $25 for a burrito and chips and guac when I could pay maybe a little bit more and have full service?
Chili's has been doing a bang-up job lately and is seeing huge surges in sales thanks to eye-grabbing options such as its "3-for-Me" meal deals that start at $10.99. Fasciano notes that Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden, and The Cheesecake Factory have had a strong year as well.
"That could play into things where, why am I paying $25 for a burrito and chips and guac when I could pay maybe a little bit more and have full service?" he says.
Sophie Leveille, 29, who works at a nonprofit in Atlanta, has started to boycott whenever her friends suggest going to what she considers a slop place. She suggests going somewhere else or making food at home and chafes at the "illusion of novelty" some of these fast-casual restaurants give.
"The whole experience is kind of very conveyor-belt style. There's the cafeteria line here. 'What do you want on your plate?' Except I don't know how we've been able to pass for it being something a lot more remarkable than it is," she says. "I never felt a desire when I was in high school, having public school lunch, to bring that home. And for some reason, they've made that my experience. I'm bringing my cafeteria lunch home, and I'm supposed to be happy."
To be sure, the slop bowl era isn't completely over. Jennings says the price and quality still appeal to a lot of people. It's just that its moment is over. I'm not saying people are hitting up Red Lobster for a workweek lunch over Just Salad, but maybe they'll bring a sandwich from home and on Thursday night do it up at Chili's instead.
Emily Stewart is a senior correspondent at Business Insider, writing about business and the economy.