New fast food salad concept in NY

Just Salad has been open in Manhattan for a month. The healthy fast food restaurant concept is the creation of twenty-somethings Nick Kenner and Rob Crespi.

Just Salad has 29 dressings ranging from chilled avocado to sesame-roasted onion and 12 chef-designed salads with names such as Texas Two-Step and Immunity Bowl, attempting to bring a gourmet feel to the fast food industry. All salads are chopped so the tasty ingredients are blended to perfection.

In a profile in NY Magazine last week, their fast food salad joint was portrayed as a meat market... in the sense that: “There are always attractive girls and guys my age there,” said Michele Waldman, a 25-year-old Just Salad regular.

"They portrayed us as young and hip and Just Salad as the new 'in' place because of the healthy young professionals who eat and socialize here. It was flattering, but we want to stay focused on our mission of providing the best, freshest gourmet salads for the best price," said Kenner.

I can see this catching on in other urban areas as a lunch-time only fast food concept, but not as a suburban fast food staple.