A salad might be the easiest thing to prepare at home, but when you’re on the go, what options do you have for fast, healthy dining? US-based Saladworks has arrived in Canada, having recently opened their first store in Yaletown just over a month ago.
Earlier this week, I sat down for lunch with Saladworks’ Canadian Founder/Owner/CEO Paul Lalli, a former Squamish city councillor and family man. Paul is excited to bring this 27-year-old chain north of the border, and owns the Canadian rights to open more shops across the country (Langley will be the next location, with Alberta to follow).
Globally, Saladworks has 110 locations including Singapore and Dubai. It’s also currently the largest salad franchise in North America. Paul has “Canadianized” the menu concept for our palates, bringing multicultural items to the menu (Asian steak salad, Tandoori-marinated grilled shrimp, grilled maple-glazed salmon). What makes Saladworks stand out from the competition is the option to enjoy fresh grilled proteins made to order served in either a sandwich, wrap, or salad.
There’s also six soups on the menu including Chicken Orzo, Carrot & Ginger, and Broccoli & Canadian Cheddar, locally made, exclusively for Saladworks.
Carvery salads and sandwiches are available with a wealth of options (there’s 11 signature salads and sandwiches, with a whopping 60+ salad ingredients to choose from). You can either order a salad from the menu or build your own, with nine made-in-house dressing choices.
Saladworks caters to vegetarians and is gluten-friendly. The most expensive entrée will set you back $10.99 (price range is $7.99 to $10.99). I tucked into a Maple Glazed Grilled Salmon Salad, tossed with lettuce, almonds, dried cranberries, roasted yams, sliced green apple in a maple syrup glaze topped with grilled wild BC salmon. Pretty impressive portion size and quality for a salad chain!
[Maple Glazed Grilled Salmon Salad]
The fast/casual restaurant category is the only category that’s seen continual growth over the past few years, proving that people want healthy but fast service without the steep prices of the trendier neighbouring chains around town.
According to Paul, the Marinated Asian Steak and Roasted Porchetta are the two most popular sandwiches on the menu here.
Paul’s taken the time to build relationships with local farmers and producers, using Abbotsford’s Rossdown Farms to source their free-run chickens, Langley’s Sakura Farms for pork, a tomato cooperative (including Hazelmere Farms) for tomatoes, Pitt Meadows’ Fable Farms for lettuce, and Oliver’s Covert Farms for soup ingredients.
Saladworks has partnered with Boylans Soda: here you’ll find the first Boylans soda fountain in Canada. Boylans makes naturally-flavoured sodas sweetened with cane sugar. Go refill your cup; a Boylans drink order here is bottomless.
One of Paul’s loyal customers sums it up nicely: “It’s about time Vancouver got a concept like this, someplace I can get a high-quality meal quickly.” Saladworks’ patio will open in about three weeks; the restaurant is already licensed.
For meetings and events, catering is also available; check the catering menu online for details. Saladworks is located at 1025 Mainland Street in Yaletown, Vancouver.
