Sweetgreen or Crisp & Green establish themselves in Madison

In the battle of the salads, it may come down to which is closest when you want your greens

by

Salad and bowl restaurants have been rising in popularity for a while, but the national chains have been pretty quiet in Madison. That’s likely because our homegrown version, Forage Kitchen, got a firm foothold early, expanding from one location on State Street in 2015 to nine — five in the Madison area, plus Pewaukee, Whitefish Bay, Milwaukee and Champaign, Illinois. I guess it’s also a chain now.

Madison got its first Sweetgreen, the granddaddy of the national bowl chains, on State Street in fall 2023. Crisp & Green opened at the corner of Mineral Point and Gammon a few months later. And a new Sweetgreen opened at Hilldale at the end of March.

People like the idea of eating healthy, and fun salads say “health” without the bummer of “being on a diet.” Both Sweetgreen and Crisp & Green display the calories of entrees on the menu board, and more nutritional info is available online. I’m not going to get into the weeds on calories — diners can easily discover that Sweetgreen’s chicken avocado ranch bowl, to pull just one example, carries a nothing-to-sneeze-at 705 calories — 15 more calories than a Mooyah bacon cheeseburger. 

Crisp & Green, which started with a single outlet in Wayzata, Minnesota, in 2016, is expanding throughout the upper Midwest. I was impressed by Crisp & Green’s current seasonal bowl, the Wild Child. Its wild rice base blends well with the fresh arugula and radicchio. The roasted chicken was white meat that did, in fact, taste like chicken. And the sweet and perfectly roasted brussels sprouts were, remarkably, some of the best roasted brussels sprouts I have ever had. There were too many dried cranberries, and the goat cheese, which sits on top of the rest of the ingredients like a scoop of ice cream, was hard to parcel out, but that didn’t mar my enjoyment.

The seasonal #squashgoals salad was less fulfilling. The greens — here, kale and arugula — were undermined by wan kale. The shredded cheddar had little cheese flavor, and the maple roasted butternut squash tasted of its spice blend, but not of squash. I subbed buffalo chicken for roasted chicken, and that may have been the highlight of #squashgoals. (Tastes like buffalo chicken!) Its real downfall was an insipid apple cider pumpkin seed dressing that just tasted sweet.

Crisp & Green has plenty of signature bowls and salads, and many options for making your own custom creation. Crisp & Green also makes wraps, if that’s your thing. 

Sweetgreen heads more upscale. Its protein plates — more of a dinner option — spotlight its garlic steak, miso-glazed salmon and chicken. No wraps. But the heart of the menu is still salads and grain bowls.

The Crispy Rice Bowl is based on fresh spring mix and wild rice, with carrots, shredded purple cabbage, cucumbers, and blackened chicken, finished with cilantro sprigs and a fresh lime squeeze that really did perk it up. This comes with a genuinely impressive spicy cashew dressing. It’s nutty in a tahini-esque way, with a controlled burst of ginger. Other bright spots were accidental apple bits and chunks of roasted sweet potato that rightfully belong in the Harvest Bowl. On the down side, the blackened chicken seemed to be thigh meat without much flavor.

The Steak Chopped, a more traditional romaine-tomatoes-blue cheese salad, comes with a very good tart green goddess dressing. This was a good salad — but while the steak was more pleasing than the chicken, its utter uniformity started to trouble me. If picking a protein at Sweetgreen, I’d go for the salmon, or the tofu, which is mild, but not entirely dull.

Sweetgreen is currently promoting its ripple cut fries — cottage fries “air-fried in avocado oil and seasoned with sea salt and herbs.” These were okay; they’re best piping hot, like any fry. Cooling, they’re definitely potato-y, but dry. My question is, did anyone ask for this? Were people demanding ripple cut fries with their salads?

And the Oscar goes to…

In multiple visits to Crisp & Green and Sweetgreen over the past month, I flip-flopped. Some salads/bowls are better than others, but overall I can’t say that one chain bests the other. Crisp & Green has more protein choices, its chicken tops Sweetgreen’s, and I like the option of a wrap. Ultimately, nothing stuck like my decade-long affection for the Power Bowl at Forage Kitchen. Your choice may come down to what’s closer when you want a salad. 

Crisp & Green

7003 Sligo Drive; 608-497-0492

$12-$14

Sweetgreen

652 State St.; 608-571-1324

418 N. Midvale Blvd., Hilldale; 608-729-4366

$10-$16