Here's Why Wendy's Got Rid Of Its Salad Bar
Wendy's is perhaps most famous for its friendly-looking logo and "fresh, never frozen" beef. With its signature square-shaped burgers, and the affordable 4 for $4 deal, the chain has a distinguishable menu that many repeat customers have come to know and love.
One feature of the restaurant you may have forgotten about is Wendy's salad bar. Introduced in 1979, according to The Columbus Dispatch, this beloved "healthy choice" wasn't just a simple salad bar with a few greens, cucumbers, and carrots with ranch dressing on the side. Per The Washington Post, Wendy's salad bars were chock full of different ingredients for practically unlimited combinations.
In 1987, the ingredients available at the bar clocked in at 35, and it even included chocolate pudding, per The Washington Post. The chain slowly began to incorporate so many ingredients, in fact, that Wendy's salad bar eventually evolved into the Superbar in the late 1980s. And it wasn't just the name that got an upgrade. The new additions to the Superbar changed things from a traditional salad station to something of an all-you-can-eat buffet with three separate stations for noodles, salad, and Mexican-inspired cuisine, says Food & Wine.
Wendy's had the first salad bar
Not only were Wendy's salad bars successful, but according to USA Today, they were also the first national fast-food chain to ever have one in stores. The offering was put into place after customers met Wendy's prepackaged salads with open arms, and the chain wanted to capitalize on the popularity, per AP News. By the early 2000s, the salad bar was phased out as interest waned, but it left lasting impressions on competitors. The salad bar may have failed, but portable greens were gaining popularity fast.
As other chains caught wind of Wendy's initial success in the salad market, some worked to add their own spin on more healthy fast food offerings. According to The Wall Street Journal, some of the first to do so were chains like McDonald's and Jack in the Box, with both chains pouring more money into the fast food salad market.
So while Wendy's has had its fair share of duds (like the unforgettable loss of the Superbar), it's inspired a whole lot of successes too. If its portable salad offerings caused such big changes for other chains, what exactly went wrong with its salad bars?
The death of Wendy's Superbar
Although Wendy's salad bar was initially popular with customers, changing times called for a changing menu. The Superbar was phased out by the late '90s as customers began to prefer portable salad options, with more and more customers opting for takeout over dine-in each year, says The Wall Street Journal.
One of the other reasons for the bar shutting down altogether was rumored that it was too labor-intensive for employees, per Fun 107. The Superbar offered a large smorgasbord of fixings and toppings. Not only could customers build any kind of salad they dreamed of, but Wendy's later added "Mexican Fiesta" and "Pasta Pasta" sections to choose from too (as seen via this retro Wendy's ad). Customers seemed to love this wide range of available foods, with some still rallying to get it back (from Facebook groups to endless rants in Reddit posts).
Although the salad bar has been gone for almost 20 years, the support for it remains. Whatever your opinion is on its loss, it's clear that Wendy's did what it had to do for its employees and for a changing world. Maybe we didn't need to have all-you-can-eat fettuccine from a burger chain anyway.