Critic's Review
Despite the web site still saying "Coming Soon", Giardino is open. I needed some stuff at Trader Joe's, so I picked up a salad on the way home.
Inside, it's your typical cookie cutter quick serve restaurant. There's probably a site where you can buy this edgy, "upscale" furniture.
As is the case when a new franchise first opens, they're very enthusiastic. They yell greetings as you walk in, and the owner behind the line is very chatty. Let's see how long that lasts.
They have a soup of the day, but it's not listed on the wall menu. It didn't sound like anything I wanted to try. They don't have blue cheese dressing (strange for an Italian sounding Salad restaurant to not have gargonzola), so I decided to just go with the Greek Village. They have 2 sizes; I went with the piccolo, the small, for $7.75.
The big problem with this place is that their canned salads don't match the ingredients. There's no crunch in the Greek salad (usually green pepper are in it, or radishes if you're being edgy), but they don't even have green pepper so I couldn't even add it. Their "Cobb" is simply not a cobb, with deli turkey and no onions or avocado.
I wanted to try one of their deli salads, so I asked for a scoop on the side, so it wouldn't ruin the salad if I didnt like it.
I came straight home from the store, and took the salad out of the bag.
Not sure why anyone would want a salad larger than this. It didn't look much like a greek salad, frankly. I tasted the chicken salad, and there was kind of nothing to it. Probably a good thing, because "tropical" chicken salad usually means some unwanted ingredients like fruit.
I decided against putting it in the salad, I'd save it for a snack in the future. The fried pita "croutons" went in the garbage; no need risking breaking a tooth for that.
The "Olive Vinegrette" wasn't bad, but the salad was really just a load of lettuce. When there's so much lettuce with other measured ingredients, the salad doesn't balance properly. The feta didn't taste like Feta; it didn't have the tangy taste that makes a Greek Salad what it is.
All in all, a pretty nothing burger experience. Don't expect a revisit anytime soon.
Conclusion
About a month after Saladworks opened they discovered there was no way they'd be able to pay the rent selling salads, so they put the place up for sale. The franchisee here is very enthusiastic so we'll see how he feels when the summer doldrums set in. Hopefully they'll do better than Rubio's is doing at this location.
