It was surprisingly hectic when I walked into Chopt at 2:30 on a Friday, but I was greeted at the door with a menu and ushered into a line.
Basically you either pick a set salad (there are no sandwiches, even the confusingly-named "salad sandwiches" are just salads) or make your own a la carte. It's a big menu, with lots of options and add-on pricing. It seemed like pricing could get steep if you had lots of mix-ins.
It then got a little confusing from there. I picked a set salad and somehow the person working on my salad didn't get it right. She didn't really even make eye contact with me and she walked off (it was hard to keep track of her) She then handed me a slip with an incorrect salad listed, and before I could correct her she said "go to station 2" and walked away. There were no signs just lines of people. I looked for station two, and went to the second cash register (that was wrong), so then they pointed me to the right place...I think signs would be helpful for when it's really busy.
I would have just went with the salad they gave me at that point but I couldn't eat a main ingredient in this one so they re-made it for me quickly. After your salad is assembled they take it out and place it on a table where they chop it into tiny bits and add the dressing. The salad came with really good free bread and they had a nice selection of teas and infused water. My salad was under $10, but was huge and contained chicken so I felt like it was fairly reasonable.
I ended up with the Po-Boy Salad Sandwich (salad) Overall the flavor was good, I didn't love the panko-crusted chicken (it wasn't crispy and was cold) so I would choose grilled next time. I would say it was a good salad and a nice option for fast-casual.
Now that I understand what I'm getting myself into, I think the process will be easier next time... I hope!