R-Are Drive-Thru Salads the Future?

Fast food and eating healthy just aren’t synonymous…right? Wrong. New waves of health kicks are revamping the way we eat out — and eat out quick. Menus at fast food restaurants like Wendy’s, boast their fresh salads paired with fruits and nuts but who are they fooling. If you’re eating at Wendy’s, you’re probably there for the 4 for $4 deal and a small frosty because you’re a baller on a budget (maybe that’s just me). If you’re ordering a salad at a fast food restaurant like Wendy’s or McDonald’s, realistically you’re saving yourself the mental bog of eating greasy fast food but not saving yourself the extra calories.

Okay, okay. There are some exceptions, I’ll call them the crossovers. I love Chik-Fil-A too, but anything dipped and fried in oil can’t scream healthy either. Chik-Fil-A counts as a crossover because of their grilled chicken options (not that I’ve ever strayed from my usual order) but at least the option is there. If you can look past the swooning customer service to their grilled chicken salads, it’s notably healthier than other fast food salad options. Wendy’s Strawberry Mango Chicken Salad comes in at 470 cal and 19g fat, including dressing. Chik-Fil-A’s Grilled Market Salad contains 330 cal and only 14g fat, not including dressing. Add an extra 25 cal and 1.5g fat to the salad and Chik-Fil-A still sweeps Wendy’s salad in being the healthier option. The point is, just because it’s a salad doesn’t mean you’re doing yourself any favors in terms of eating better. Another crossover that needs some attention is Chipotle. Chipotle has the infamous burrito bowl, but also offers a salad option. Chipotle flaunts their freshness, as they should. They want you to see how they prepare everything, always with the stove in clear view and the fresh guac mixing-show that is so captivating (again, maybe it’s just me). So let’s break down a Chipotle salad — a salad with the bare minimum of romaine lettuce base, chicken, black beans, fresh tomato salsa and roasted chili-corn salsa comes to a total of 425 cal and 10g fat and that’s without any extra fixins like cheese or rice. Better than Wendy’s but Chik-Fil-A still takes the cake on this one. Even the “healthier” options aren’t that healthy.

New wave restaurants that focus on quick healthy options first, your time is now. Restaurants like honeygrow, Green Soul, HipCityVeg, sweetgreen, Snap Kitchen and more are Philadelphia local food establishments that are known for their grab-and-go, quick ordering with your health at their top priority. Commonly featuring vegan or vegetarian options, meat lovers can still get their fix too. One of my favorites, Green Soul located in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, has the Mango Jerk Salmon Salad that fills me up but doesn’t make me feel guilty about what I’m eating. Albeit, most of these places don’t feature a drive thru window because they’re located in the heart of the city, but your order takes just as much time for take out as it would if you sat in a drive thru line anyway. However, I would not be surprised if soon enough we started seeing some of these inner city fast fixes for healthy options start branching out to the burbs to accommodate to a drive thru option being available. If, and when…you heard it here first.