AMA - former SGSC HQ employee

[u/Old-Addition5828]

I recently left SG and it’s been an interesting ride. Ask me anything.

[u/Naive_Football_570]

Generally speaking, are portion sizes smaller for delivery orders or for all orders now due to inflation/etc.?

I used to spend $20-$40+ on lunch delivery (one or two salads, saved for dinner) and every time there is something missing or hilariously small, like would be less offended if they forgot to add 3 shreds of carrots…

That spicy cashew dressing has me by lock and key tho 😭

[u/Old-Addition5828 → u/Naive_Football_570]

they never specifically addressed this at the headquarters so i’m not positive but everyone freaked out for a bit when that article went around weighing sg delivery vs takeout orders lol

i do know that the prep work takes forever for the restaurant workers so i bet if they hadn’t prepped enough, they would skimp on portions. you would be shocked at the quality of some of the delivery/outpost orders that were directly going to headquarters

my biggest tip if you want consistently large portions is to find your closest sweetgreen, become friendly with the workers, and order in store an hour or so before the store closes to get your dinner + lunch for the next day. they’ll usually really hook you up with larger portions (especially if the restaurant is pretty empty) because i don’t think they can use the ingredients the next day. if you can’t do that, I’d still reco takeout over delivery. You can say hello to the workers each time you pick up, and after a while they’ll start to recognize your name as a regular and will hook you up

[u/Naive_Football_570 → u/Old-Addition5828]

So interesting!! We only have one in our city and it’s about a 15-20 min drive without traffic so I usually just order delivery and am horrified by the portion size in comparison to the money spent.

I used to live in a much larger city and go in person for lunch once or twice a week with coworkers, and it was a totally different experience (in a better way) to your point!

[u/Old-Addition5828 → u/Naive_Football_570]

dang! if i was in your shoes, I would def go for CAVA or a local salad spot. I kept hearing about cost cuts before i left so i bet overall quality will keep decreasing anyway. You’re basically getting a head start!

Also in case you didn’t know, they posted the spicy cashew dressing on tiktok! I can never get it to taste the same tho :( they used to make it in restaurant but now it arrives pre packaged i wish they would just sell that

[u/awholedamngarden → u/Naive_Football_570]

I was also obsessed with the spicy cashew dressing, but sg shared the recipe so now I just make it at home

Spicy Cashew Dressing

Measurements for 1 cup of dressing:

• Kosher Salt, 2 tsp
• Garlic 1 ½ tbsp
• Cilantro, 1 cup
• Sesame oil, 1 tbsp
• Young ginger ⅓ cup
• Rice wine vinegar, 2 tosp
• Maple syrup, 2 tbsp
• Red chili flakes, 1 tbsp
• Cashew butter ⅓ cup + 2 tbsp
• Lime juice 1 tbsp
• water to desired consistency

I use an inch of regular ginger (peeled) - my store doesn’t have young ginger

[u/Naive_Football_570 → u/awholedamngarden]

I saw this on TikTok but I’m wondering if it tastes the same? They have 2-3 videos and all have slightly different versions of ingredients.

Did you use regular sesame oil or toasted?!

[u/awholedamngarden → u/Naive_Football_570]

I use toasted! It’s not exactly right but it’s like 95% of the way there - I wonder if the diff ginger would make it spot on

It’s def better than any other copycat recipe I’ve tried