NEW YORK CITY – Chopped salads are turning up in the most unusual places these days, as more Northeasterners pick fresh greens as their lunch of choice, the New York Times reports. The Duane Reade drug store serves chopped salads at its Up Market food court, while fast-food restaurants such as Arby’s have also jumped on the chopped salad bandwagon. 

Even Subway will start offering any six-inch subs as chopped salads without the sub roll. “In other words, New Yorkers can now get a chopped salad just about any place except a gasoline station,” the article stated. 

Restaurant chains devoted to the chopped salad have sprouted up in the city lately, including Chop’t Creative Salad Company and Just Salad. Part of the appeal of chopped salads is the mind-boggling array of choices, giving consumers a way to easily customize their lunch.

“It’s about control, especially for millennials,” said Darren Tristano, an executive vice president of Technomic. “They want the ability to customize and control what’s happening to the food that’s being prepared. They want it the way they want it.”

It appears the interest in chopped salads is mainly in the Northeast, from Washington, D.C., to Boston. However, some restaurants are cutting back on its salad offerings, including McDonald’s. But Chick-fil-A recently added premium salads to its lineup.