Having turned his trendy chain of New York-based salad restaurants into a success, Chop’t CEO Nick Marsh is determined to go national.
The trick will be convincing middle America that salad is cool again. Salad consumption has declined steadily since the fitness-crazed 1980s, when model Elle Macpherson touted Burger King salad bars and Richard Simmons pitched spray-bottle dressing.
Only 4.8 percent of restaurant lunches include a main-dish salad, about half as many as in 1989, according to research firm NPD Group.
“We really had to change people’s perceptions of what a salad could be” when Chop’t opened its doors 12 years ago and “recruited” diners with a dish featuring steak, fried onions and blue cheese, Marsh told Bloomberg. “In the immediate future, Chop’t has the opportunity to be in a lot more places.” Chop’t hopes to ride the consumer wave toward fast-casual restaurants, typified by Chipotle Mexican Grill.