I have been put on a strict diet for my inflammation so I cannot do most of the food shops. Has anyone ever run across shops at health food, vegan or vegetarian restaurants? If so, do you remember which mystery shopping company you performed the shop under?

I did a couple juice bar shops for Marketforce a couple months ago. I haven't seen them since, so I don't know if there was a limit as to how many I could do or if they aren't being shopped anymore. The menu had a few sandwiches made with organic ingredients and the juices had no added sugars. The sandwich was made with sprouted bread, which was delicious, and the juices tasted healthy (meaning I didn't really care for them!).

Coyle has had some in the past.

Those sound really good. I will keep an eye out. Thank you.

I shopped a vegetarian restaurant last month for RealityBasedReports - easy survey, very generous reimbursement, it was a very easy and profitable shop. They haven't posted for July yet - I hope they will!

I've seen sandwich shops where you can remove the bread and do salad or bowl. I've also seen juice and smoothie shops.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

Dig Inn, Pret a Manger, Fields Good Chicken, are some restaurants that come to mind. I was thinking that you could eat anti-inflammatory foods at other restaurants being shopped, but then I realized that you'd throw away money by having to throw away most of the foods you'd have to order to meet the guidelines. For example, you could get a simple veggie bowl at Five Guys--but then you have to order all those fries and fountain drinks.

I did a Mendocino Farms shop years ago and was disappointed that they seemed to only have one vegetarian option at the time which was underwhelming in taste so I never did another one. I think they still may be shopped but truly do not remember which msc it was. Veggie Grill has been shopped around here for at least a year but I have never ever been able to snag one. I know you want to know the msc but again I did not keep track of that. Yes there are several juice shops and healthier than ice cream frozen yogurt shops but where I live most of the restaurants that cater to healthy and vegan/vegetarian food are small chains with only a handful of locations so the more popular large msc do not usually have these and many of the small msc are gone now.
In Los Angeles many of the regular restaurants now have one veggie or vegan choice on the menu although they are generally not very interesting. The high end restaurants with a high end chef and creative cuisine where an entree is $26 and up often serve for a main dish a heated frozen veggie burger on a bun for a few dollars less than the creative wonderful sounding concoctions with seafood or meats in them. Other times they might have a simple pasta and plain tomato sauce that I can also make at home quite easily. I can make one at home for under a dollar so it is not worth it to me to do those shops or pay out of pocket. I have asked in many restaurants if they can make me a meal out of some of the items I see on the meat and seafood dishes. These would not require cooking from scratch for me but maybe adding an avocado or artichoke hearts to an expensive salad that is just lettuce and a tiny tomato if you remove the seafood. Usually they suggest I make a plate of three or four of their steamed or boiled veggies at $7 or $8 each which comes out more money than their fancy dishes. I am not interested in steamed broccoli and a serving of potato and another of rice and maybe some other plain veggie.
So even tho I would prefer to eat the veggie choices I often just order the least meat laden dish on the menu.

I guess I should have mentioned that I live in San Antonio, Texas, so we are definitely not known for healthy eating. I will keep a look out for all the places mentioned and looked them up to see if any are close to me. I had not really thought about the juice bars so again thank you to everyone who mentioned this.

Sentry has some in my area, but I think it's hard to stay under reimbursement.

Oh, And I'm not in Texas.

@Gram2020 wrote:

I guess I should have mentioned that I live in San Antonio, Texas, so we are definitely not known for healthy eating. I will keep a look out for all the places mentioned and looked them up to see if any are close to me. I had not really thought about the juice bars so again thank you to everyone who mentioned this.

Coyle has a nice restaurant on the Riverwalk. They have some vegetarian and vegan options.

Seasons 52 used to be shopped, but alas, no more. This was a branch of Darden restaurants where everything us under 500 calories per serving. It was the only shop where I never came home "stuffed". I told a co worker about it and he said his friend got hired there as a manager and lost 25 pounds from eating so much healthier than he had been eating.

Wow that sounds wonderful. Thank you for information.

Ugh, I did that shop a few times at 2 different locations. I thought that restaurant was a sham. I really loved their tiny desserts as it gave you a small taste of dessert which was plenty for me but for most of their meals they had a low calorie count because the portions were so small. If I was not on a mystery shop having to order an app, and entree and a dessert I would have had to order two entrees at 1000 calories in order to be full after eating dinner. And the cost for two entrees was very high. I only did it as the reimbursement covered my meal. Otherwise I could eat somewhere else for half the price and just take some home or not order the fried stuff. So that restaurant to me is for dieters only (people trying to eat less calories and are happy to do so in order to deny themselves to lose weight or to maintain an ideal weight) Where I live in So Cal most of the diners were the thin beautiful crowd that look like super models and brought their kids to eat only adult oriented food. I cannot imagine my kids when they were under 10 being happy with the food choices there. Looks like both of their Los Angeles area locations are gone.

@FrugalCat wrote:

Seasons 52 used to be shopped, but alas, no more. This was a branch of Darden restaurants where everything us under 500 calories per serving. It was the only shop where I never came home "stuffed". I told a co worker about it and he said his friend got hired there as a manager and lost 25 pounds from eating so much healthier than he had been eating.

True Food Kitchen is shopped (and they have restaurants in Texas). The reports are long and detailed if that gives you a hint on the company and because of that they are usually available but likely have a long rotation.

@jazzzyjd wrote:

True Food Kitchen is shopped (and they have restaurants in Texas). The reports are long and detailed if that gives you a hint on the company and because of that they are usually available but likely have a long rotation.

And whatever you do don't take leftovers home.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/2023 04:37PM by foodluvr.

I do a lot of Panda Express shops and usually order super greens (kale, cabbage) and chicken teriyaki with no extra sauce. No flour in this pretty clean meal.

The MSC that shops True Kitchen now generally allows you to bring home leftovers — although when I shopped it last month we went for lunch and devoured our delicious and modestly portioned meals so there was no need. I’m not sure what their rotation policy is but I’ve been assigned the same location twice within four months for two different clients.

When I go to 5Guys, I order a salad. My drink is water. I eat minimal fries.

How do you get away with ordering water? The shop's instructions say "You are required to order a meal (sandwich, fries, and fountain drink)". You are allowed to order a burger without a bun, and a meatless burger without a bun might be what you term a "salad", but I am surprised that you have been allowed by the MSC to order water rather than a fountain beverage.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

When I go to 5Guys, I order a salad. My drink is water. I eat minimal fries.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/2023 11:58AM by myst4au.

I was denied payment on a 5G shop for only ordering water. I always get a small soft drink.

@myst4au wrote:

How do you get away with ordering water? The shop's instructions say "You are required to order a meal (sandwich, fries, and fountain drink)". You are allowed to order a burger with a bun, and a meatless burger without a bun might be what you term a "salad", but I am surprised that you have been allowed by the MSC to order water rather than a fountain beverage.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

When I go to 5Guys, I order a salad. My drink is water. I eat minimal fries.

as long as you pay for a fountain soda cup you can fill it with whatever you like. I usually get Aha (sparkling water) but since you fill it yourself you could fill it with flat water or nothing at all. It is not like they ask you about the quality of the soda. It is speculated that this is to see if they are giving away cups without ringing them in.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/2023 10:59PM by jazzzyjd.