Midtown Lunch » Chop’t

My God Midtown Really Loves Free Salad

Zach Brooks — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:30:23 +0000

Look at that freakin’ line! Lunch’er “Joe” was kind enough to snap a photo of the free salad madness at Chop’t today (on B’way btw. 41+42nd) and it makes me wonder if the huge response (this photo was taken at Noon!) is a testament to how much people love salads, or how freakin’ expensive a salad has become in Midtown! With a lin that long you’d think a salad cost $11 of something. (What’s that? They do? Wow.)

My fear of Chop’t (and salad in general) is well documented, but after seeing that line… should I be writing more about salad on Midtown Lunch? (*urgh* sorry, I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.)

Free Salad Alert

Zach Brooks — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:45:03 +0000

You know I don’t do salad, but for those of you who do… Chop’t is opening a new location on Broadway btw. 41+42nd, and as a training exercise for their staff will be giving away free food today from 11:30am to 1:30pm (or until food runs out.) [NYC Recession Diary]

Why Am I About to Defend Chop’t?

Zach Brooks — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:30:52 +0000

You wouldn’t expect me to stick up for a massive salad chain, but I’m a little perplexed by the photo Eater posted from a tipster on Friday claiming that they had found a bug in their salad from the Chop’t on 51st Street in Midtown. How did the bug not get “chopt” up? For that matter, the whole salad looks pretty intact. I’m guessing you can ask them not to chop your salad, but then what’s the point of eating at Chop’t right? The whole thing smells pretty fishy to me. Did the “tip” come from somebody with a “Just Salad” email address?

Chop’t Gets in on the Banh Mi Game

Zach Brooks — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:30:37 +0000

Remember how I said I didn’t understand the whole banh mi backlash? I take it back. Chop’t, the salad chain with 3 locations in Midtown, has now introduced a banh mi cobb, featuring “Niman Ranch Pork alongside a blend of mesclun and cabbage, jalapenos, pickled carrots, cucumbers and a homemade chili-lime dressing.” Ok, now I’ll admit that maybe this has gone a bit too far.

Chop’t is as Terrifying As You Would Think

Zach Brooks — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:23:52 +0000

I did a bad bad thing last week. After reading about Chop’t in the New York Post, I was compelled to go and check out their Po’boy Salad. Anybody who reads this blog with any frequency knows I have a special place in my heart for New Orleans- and even a generic salad chain like Chop’t can get me to pay attention to them by making something called a Po’boy Salad. What does that even mean? And quite frankly, how could I not?

Walking into Chop’t was a particularly terrifying experience. As described in the Post article, the place is packed, and very intimidating (the menu is very long and if you don’t know exactly what you want you’ll hold everything up), and while I find salad places to be scary enough on their own- imagine how much scarier it becomes when you put giant machetes in the hands of the people making these salads. It’s much harder to look at people with derision in your eyes when they’re holding giant salad cutting knives.

Despite being excited mildly interested, I should have known something was wrong immediately when I spotted the ingredient list of the Po’boy Salad. Fried chicken (that’s good), lettuce (sure), tomato (makes sense), and cheese (???). Cheese? I don’t seem to remember cheese on any Po’boy I’ve ever had. I do remember pickles. But there are no pickles on this salad. I don’t know what I was expecting, and I probably would have just turned and walked out right then, if I hadn’t spotted spotted something that actually stirred a bit of genuine excitement inside me. Something so grotesque (in a good way) that it could actually have a chance of redeeming this monstrosity of a lunch establishment.

General Tso’s Salad Dressing. You’re kidding me right? Chop’t has a general tso’s salad dressing?!? If there is one thing I love more than New Orleans, it is cheap and crappy Americanized Chinese food.

Up until now, in my eyes, the only thing that could redeem a salad (which I almost never eat, and when I do- it’s a pretty significant occasion) is fried chicken. Putting fried chicken in a salad is like a slap in the face to the salad itself- whose whole purpose to just to exist as a healthy alternative to a lunch that actually tastes good. Adding fried chicken also causes most salad eaters to utter words that I say all the time… “then why bother eating a salad.” Exactly. Why bother?

But this general tso’s thing… this takes it to another level. I could have left Chop’t that day… but why lose the opportunity to create something so amazing, it could actually elevate a salad place to Midtown Lunch status. Something so grotesque, that hard core Midtown Lunchers would eat it, but salad losers couldn’t denounce it- because it was created at one of their meccas. The Po’boy Salad with General Tso’s Dressing. How… could… I… not.

It doesn’t look like much, but you can see the fried chicken on top (and there was a ton of still unexplicable cheese) but all together it was Midtown Lunch worthy… sort of. Despite having fried chicken, and a general tso’s-ish taste created by the salad dressing- it was still a salad, only made great by the looks you can get when telling people you are eating a Po’boy salad with general tso’s dressing.

As I checked out, the lady at the cash register asked me if I wanted a frequent salad card. Um… nope. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to need it.

Chop’t (Multiple Locations)

60 E. 56th (btw. Madison & Park), 212-750-CHOP
165 E. 52nd (btw. Lex+3rd), 212-421-2300
145 W. 51st (btw. 6+7th), 212-974-8140