Crisp who? Six reasons why Chopt is now the best salad place in town

But now there’s a new salad game in town and it looks like even our history won’t save Crisp from getting dumped. My heart now belongs to Chopt, which opened Saturday in Park Road Shopping Center. Here are the six reasons why Chopt has replaced Crisp as the best salad place in Charlotte:

(1) Lettuce

For me, the most important part of the salad is the lettuce. And that’s because I hate lettuce and want the kind that tastes like nothing. Chopt offers five types of lettuces including my second favorite: romaine. (Please note that neither restaurant offers my favorite lettuce: the nutritionally deprived iceberg.)

Crisp only offers four lettuces and their romaine is often mixed with some sort of dark, leafy green which I’m always sure to pick out and place to the side.

(2) Dressing selection

Chopt literally has an entire wall of dressings. Twenty-six to be exact.

Their dressings range from your classic “Creamy Caeser” to something called “A Drizzle of Mexican Chile Oil Crunch.” They also have Spa Dressings (all under 30 calories), which I would never order in a million years.

Another way that Chopt dominates the dressing category is by implementing the “Tell Me When” pour. Sure, it’s embarrassing to say, “keep going” to the guy pouring my dressing, but at least I don’t have to scrape the bottom of my bowl for just one more droplet of ranch.

Crisp has never asked me how much dressing I want. Usually they just pour and pass to get me out of the way for their next customer.

(3) Check-out process

Chopt has three, I repeat—THREE registers and the whole process only took four minutes even though I went right at noon.

The only way I can describe the checkout area at Crisp is “congested.”

There are constantly three to five people standing around the register either waiting to pay or waiting for their to-go order. You literally have to climb over people to get to the iced tea pitchers. Needless to say, it’s not an ideal situation.

(4) Caramels

Chopt has caramels. Crisp does not.

(5) Aesthetic

Chopt looks great.

They have a nice, open floor plan, cool art (the dressings wall is awesome) and live plants. Their toppings are laid out pretty and even the bathroom is a delight. (And you know I love a good bathroom.)

Sure, it’s easy to look great when you’re a brand new restaurant, but you can see that Chopt has really gone above and beyond. Besides its nice outdoor seating, Crisp could step it up on this front. A brighter look and cleaner tables would make a big difference.

(6) Salad

This one is simple. Chopt chops, Crisp doesn’t.

I don’t know what it is, but salad just tastes better when it’s cut into little pieces. Maybe it’s because the dressing is then able to cover more surface area? I don’t know. I’m not a scientist.

SALAD!!! @choptsalad team is prepping for their opening – 10:30am on Friday September 18th. Future hours of operation: 10:30am to 9:30pm, everyday.

A video posted by Axios Charlotte (@charlotteagenda) on

Chopt also makes ordering “just a salad” easier by offering a free, carby side: a delicious slice of bread. And I hear you say, “But, Mary! Crisp gives you bread too!” If you’re referring to the hard bread-like thing that I’ve never actually seen anyone eat, then yes, they give you bread. But I, for one, believe that bread should be enjoyed without having to worry that it’s going to crack your dental crowns. Seriously though, what is it? An oversized crouton?

If you’re mad at me for picking on Crisp, I do have one nice thing to say. They have delicious unsweetened iced tea. Chopt, on the other hand, only offers sweet and green tea. I was so upset by this that I brought it up to the Chopt manager and he assured me that they will look into this (HUGE) problem.

That means we’ll have unsweet tea by next week, right Chopt?

Update (11:07am on Tuesday), looks like Chopt corporate listens: