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 DeanAug 2, 2024, 15:47 IST

Cold toppings included spicy broccoli, pickled pink onion, and red cabbage.Grace Dean/Business Insider<ul class="summary-list"><li>I visited rival salad chains Cava and Sweetgreen to get build-your-own bowls.</li><li>Both restaurants offered an extensive choice of bases, vegetables, sauces, and toppings.</li></ul>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 <a target="_blank" class href="https://investor.cava.com/news/news-details/2024/CAVA-Group-Reports-First-Quarter-2024-Results/default.aspx">21 April, 2024</a>, Cava had 323 restaurants, while Sweetgreen had more than 225 as of <a target="_blank" class href="https://investor.sweetgreen.com/press/news-details/2024/Sweetgreen-Inc.-Announces-First-Quarter-2024-Financial-Results/default.aspx">May</a>.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 <a target="_blank" class href="https://investor.cava.com/news/news-details/2024/CAVA-Group-Reports-First-Quarter-2024-Results/default.aspx">37%</a> of sales at Cava and <a target="_blank" class href="https://investor.sweetgreen.com/press/news-details/2024/Sweetgreen-Inc.-Announces-First-Quarter-2024-Financial-Results/default.aspx">59%</a> 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 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 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 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.

The decor of the Sweetgreen I visited was airy, modern, and simple.Grace Dean/Business Insider

Sweetgreen sells bowls, salads, and protein plates.

Sweetgreen's menu boards advertised a number of bowls and plates designed to be ordered as is.Grace Dean/Business Insider

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.

Sweetgreen had a list of suppliers if you were curious about the origins of your ingredients.Grace Dean/Business Insider

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.

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

Cold toppings included spicy broccoli, pickled pink onion, and red cabbage.Grace Dean/Business Insider

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.

There was a range of meat and vegetarian hot toppings.Grace Dean/Business Insider

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.

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

Sweetgreen has an extensive list of "premium" toppings that you have to pay for.Sweetgreen

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

I topped my bowl with a range of vegetables and tofu.Grace Dean/Business Insider

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

Dressings on offer included a number of vinaigrettes, ranch, hot sauce, and Caesar.Grace Dean/Business Insider

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

Fortunately I got my dressing on the side.Grace Dean/Business Insider

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

The cabbage and tomatoes made my bowl bright and colorful.Grace Dean/Business Insider

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

I wished the avocado had been sliced.Grace Dean/Business Insider

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.

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.

It was expensive for a salad bowl.Grace Dean/Business Insider

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

I had to stand in line for an hour to get served at Cava.Grace Dean/Business Insider

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

Customized grain bowls, salads, and pitas make up roughly 85% of Cava's orders.Grace Dean/Business Insider

Cava's menu is focused on Mediterranean ingredients.

Dips included Harissa, red pepper hummus, and "Crazy Feta."Grace Dean/Business Insider

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

Many of the "mains" at Cava incurred extra charges.Grace Dean/Business Insider

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

Free toppings included falafel, grilled chicken, spicy broccoli, and feta.Cava

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

For my mains I chose 50/50 roasted white sweet potato and falafel.Grace Dean/Business Insider

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.

It was easy to avoid the paid-for extras.Grace Dean/Business Insider

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

I'm a big fan of build-your-own restaurants.Grace Dean/Business Insider

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

Most of the add-ons at Cava were free.Grace Dean/Business Insider

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

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

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

Sweetgreen sells bowls, salads, and protein plates.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

Cava's menu is focused on Mediterranean ingredients.

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

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

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

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.

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

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