Saladworks Cafe tossed into business

The healthy national chain restaurant opens at 3728 Spruce Street tomorrow. After months of anticipation, health-conscious Penn students will finally have a new outlet for healthy food when Saladworks Cafe opens tomorrow at 3728 Spruce Street in the Stouffer Triangle complex. Saladworks Cafe is part of a national chain with locations in Syracuse, N.Y., Washington, D.C. and downtown Philadelphia, among others. The chain opened a branch recently on the University of Delaware campus in Newark. The success of that outlet led the chain to an interest in more college campus locations. "College students are more health-conscious," explained Edward Siegel, who owns the University City branch. "And our menu is based on fresh items." Although salads are the primary item on its menu, Saladworks cafes also serve gourmet sandwiches, fresh soup and hot pasta dishes. "It's a unique operation -- and that's why it's so successful," Siegel said. He emphasized the freshness of all the ingredients used at the cafe, noting that "we make fresh bread every morning, and we make all our dressings too." Salads range from traditional grilled chicken caesar to Saladworks specialties like the Tivoli, which includes lettuce, pasta, pepperoni, ham, turkey and provolone cheese. Samples are displayed in a glass case and then made individually for each customer depending on their personal requests. "It's entirely up to the individual," Siegel said. "People can make substitutions or even add things like shrimp or chicken." While most vegetable substitutions can be done free of charge, there is an added cost for adding meats to salads on the menu. Also, each salad is served with a multi-grain or white roll. Other menu items feature freshly roasted turkey, sliced daily in the store. Sandwiches like the turkey club or the Turkey Stuffer -- with stuffing and cranberry sauce -- are also among the options. Pasta sauces like marinara and alfredo are served over a variety of pasta types, such as penne and linguini. Saladworks will open at 6:30 a.m. every morning, with a breakfast menu of muffins, breads and coffee. Current plans are to close at 9 p.m., but as Siegel explained, "that might change if we're busy at that time. We might stay open later." Siegel said many students have already stopped by the cafe in the past few days, and he is expecting a large crowd tomorrow. Saladworks was originally hoping to open this past August, but construction complications delayed the opening. Because of the restaurant's location above the UTV13 studios, construction work was carefully planned to avoid disrupting the station. "The University has been very co-operative," Siegel said. Work was often done on the weekends or later at night to avoid problems. There has not been a salad-focused restaurant near campus since the popular Saladalley in the Warehouse at 40th and Locust streets closed three years ago. Following the bankruptcy of both Saladalley and Boccie Pizza in March of 1994, the two united and reopened to become the current Boccie Pizza and Salad. Depending on the success of the new Penn location, there are hopes of a future Saladworks at Princeton University, Siegel said.