Earlier in the year, I visited a sweetgreen in Orange County and had such an abysmal experience…read morethat I considered not visiting a sweetgreen anymore, even in Los Angeles County where I currently reside and had much better visits. Sweetgreen's customer experience team took my feedback so seriously, even mentioning they got the facilities team involved, that they basically wanted me to give them another try, promising that my next visit to any location, whether in Orange or LA County, would be way better.
Well, how about a visit to a San Diego County location instead? Wouldn't that be the ultimate test?! lol
Anytime I go to a sweetgreen, I won't know if the ordering process will be like the Long Beach location or like the other three locations I've visited, including this one. If you're in Long Beach and are curious why that location is different, I invite you to check them out at Long Beach Marketplace to find out how different (or just read my review lol), but here, it's the traditional setup similar to Chipotle, Subway, Blaze Pizza, etc. I personally do not like this setup because if you choose to add multiple toppings to your entree, you won't know how much extra you have to pay until you get to the register unless you're that nagging customer who asks about each and every topping upon building your entree.
In my case, I wanted to keep things simple.
I had just enough points in my account for a free entree, up to $18, but sometime in the last few months, sweetgreen added a new reward option for a free wrap, but only up to $15. It was 500 fewer points than the free entree, and with 500 points, you could get a Crispy Rice Treat, which would normally be $3.65. Mathematically, the free wrap would be a better reward than the free entree, so I wanted to use my points for a free wrap instead, plus the Crispy Rice Treat.
I came in and saw only one customer in front of a female employee. A couple minutes later, Brandon came out to assist me.
I had my eyes on the Molly's Big Dill Caesar Wrap since it was a nickel less than $15, but also an entree I hadn't seen before. Brandon mentioned it was new, like about a week or two, so I chose it, though I did want to ask about the "AYOH!" that was mentioned in the description. I thought it was an acronym, but it's more like a different type of mayo.
Since I didn't want to do any customizations, I ordered the wrap as is, especially if it made Brandon's job easier. He even allowed me a choice of a sauce besides the Caesar, which the Caesar wrap would come with. However, I don't know how Molly would feel about a non-Caesar sauce in her Caesar wrap, so I kept at it with Caesar. He did ask how much sauce I wanted: small, medium, or heavy? I just said between medium and heavy; he added a generous, but reasonable amount to my wrap.
I scanned my QR code at the register, and he was pleasantly surprised he didn't have to request payment; he was under the impression that I still would have had to pay the tax, which I was willing to do, but I kind of knew I didn't have to based on my Orange County visit.
I made sure to tell Brandon I wanted to redeem my points for the Crispy Rice Treat as well, so then he tried ringing me up for the Crispy Rice Treat, but for some reason was having trouble. After conferring with his female co-worker, he just decided to give it to me on the house since he wanted me to save my 500 points for a later visit?! Unheard of! Such a pleasant surprise that I immediately forgot about how frazzled my mind was when I first entered.
As his female co-worker was wrapping up my wrap, she found my receipt, which was on the other register, and I wasn't sure how that happened? Not only that, the receipt has "Lilly" as the employee helping me, but her name wasn't even Lilly lol. Anyways, I also asked for a bag, and she got a small paper bag for me, no hassle no problem.
I also made sure to grab a water cup and some water before heading out. I unfortunately didn't have time to eat inside, but I saw they only had two tables: one for two, and a long table that could seat about a half dozen.
When I finally got around to eating my wrap, I was pleasantly surprised at how everything tasted! Molly really did make such a great wrap! And all the ingredients tasted so fresh that I was willing to overlook one small ingredient in the wrap that I don't think was edible? Even the Dill Pickle AYOH! was great! Where else can I get a helping of this specialty sauce?!
I tried the Crispy Rice Treat later that day and loved it! It was like a healthier version of a Rice Krispies Treat. Maybe give those out instead of Rice Krispies Treats this Halloween season?!
Did I mention how great Brandon was? Impractical idea, but I wonder if sweetgreen would send him up to Orange County to train the team there on customer service? lol
So glad I gave sweetgreen another try albeit in a different county! Now I need to try another free Crispy Rice Treat before my points expire next month! :O