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The Hawaiian Crunch, with red, yellow, and green bell peppers; fresh basil, cilantro, and mint; toasted peanuts; crispy noodles; sweet Thai chili vinaigrette and a Thai basil peanut sauce (here shown with optional lemon pepper shrimp).
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Reclaimed wood tables illuminated by industrial pendant lights.
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The main menu board currently features 13 salads, served either "bowled or rolled."
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Sides, dressings, catering info, and Quick Fix meal details (coming soon).
St. Louis' newest dining concept is timely and also pings all the latest buzzwords: fast casual, chef-driven, health-conscious, grab-and-go, plus lightning-fast service and delivery.
Wicked Greenz opens softly in Clayton at 3 p.m. today. (Thursday and Friday hours this week are 3 p.m. - 8 p.m., with regular hours beginning on Saturday. Wicked Greenz will open daily from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.)
The restaurant takes the space of the former Bocci Wine Bar at 16 N. Central (the storefront with the nanowall-style door, the one that’s been papered up for the last several months).
The owners are chef Justin Haifley (formerly of The Tavern and Cucina Pazzo), Chris Sedlak, and Matt Ratz. Haifley created the menu, consisting of over a dozen salads (and almost that many salad dressings), plus half a dozen soups and chowders.
Sedlak and Ratz have extensive restaurant resumes as well; their expertise is in service speed and delivery. Wicked Greenz was conceived so that guests could negotiate the quick service line in five minutes or less, which is important, especially in Clayton (when the lunch “hour” is often less than that). The menu of cold salads and hot soups is easy to prepare and to serve (Sedlak says salads are assembled in as little as 18 seconds).
Want more speed? Wicked Greenz has two “make lines,” placed back to back, one for dine-in customers and the other for delivery, call-in, and online orders. Sedlak adds that the Wicked Greenz app (launching Monday) will be quicker and even more convenient…so why not avoid the line and save even more time?
Salad ingredient prep is done at Wicked Greenz’ commissary, which the partners say is necessary to maintain quality and consistency (note the 72 insert pans on the salad line). Sedlak says the commissary will pay for itself as additional stores get added (a second store will open on Highway K in O’Fallon early next year, a third is planned).
Just inside the door is a display case that will soon offer a selection of “Quick Fix, health conscious prepared meals” for carry-out or delivery (via bicycle in Clayton), an expansion of the product mix and the message. In contrast, these items are designed to be heated, Sedlak says, “not by us but by the customer at home or office.”
Next to the display case are three video menu boards (above), the middle one placed to attract attention and conversation: on it is a real-time display of the Wicked Greenz world—current Tweets, posts to Instagram, Facebook, and videos from the commissary kitchen, “anything that conveys the message of wholesome, handmade, healthy food,” says Haifley.
The shotgun space has 60 interior seats plus another 16 on the patio. The main wall features several installations of green and chalkboard art (above), plus an expanse of wood (below) reclaimed from a local building. Like most quick service establishments, Wicked Greenz was designed to be a fast-paced and high-energy environment, the sidewalk-facing, accordion-style nanowall serving as a welcoming beacon.
Beverages include sweet tea, iced tea, Nitro iced coffee, and both bottled and fountain sodas from Excel—but no alcohol. “We’re all about speed, convenience, and health," Haifley says. "Alcohol can clash with those goals, so we’re doing without.”
Chopstix Salad, with edamame, green onion, bell peppers, candied pecans, cilantro, basil, crispy wontons, and sesame soy vinaigrette (shown here with optional teriyaki chicken).
Salads come in two sizes, a small for $6.50 and the regular size for $8.50. An optional protein can be added to any salad for an additional charge: $2.00 for applewood smoked bacon; $2.75 for chicken (herb-roasted, teriyaki, or blackened); $4.25 for lemon pepper shrimp; and $4.75 for grilled marinated steak.
In addition, there are three protein-packed salads under the heading "Wicked AF" (an undefined acronym subject to interpretation) and priced from $11.85 to $13.50.
Salads are either served in a bowl or wrapped in a flour tortilla ("bowled or rolled"), but all boast "wicked good" flavors and seasonings, including fresh herbs and milled black pepper. There's a version of the popular "Pick Two" combination, called Fork & Spoon, that includes bowled or rolled small salad and cup of soup for $10.
The Mexicali, with Calypso black beans, red onion, fire grilled sweet corn, cilantro, pico de gallo, pepperjack cheese, crispy tortilla strips, avocado lime crema, and charred tomato vinaigrette, (here shown "rolled" with blackened grilled chicken).
Salads are numbered 1 through 14, but there’s no #13 because chef Justin (like many chefs) is superstitious. Ah, but that means Wicked Greenz' opening menu contains 13 salads! By the time you read this, we'll wager Haifley will have added at least one more.
