The fast casual power rankings 📊

The reds explained

Why are sweetgreen & DIG higher? Gun to my head, this is where I’d eat seed oils for two reasons: DIG recently introduced some proteins cooked in EVOO, and sweetgreen uses organic high-oleic sunflower oil, which has about half the PUFA compared to rice bran or peanut oil used at chains like Chipotle.

Are the burgers clean at Five Guys / Shake Shack? Yes, you can get a plain burger patty at Five Guys, or a lettuce wrapped burger at Shake Shack.

No oils on the grill, but the buns being tainted puts them in the red based on our rating system.

I thought peanut oil was good? Refined peanut oil is indistinguishable from other seed oils. It is very high in PUFA and contains no antioxidants. Chick-fil-a and Five Guys should receive no special treatment for using it. 

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The greens, explained:

Ziki (Austin, Miami soon): Ziki is the only chain to cook in clarified grassfed butter, has us rooting for their national expansion.

Their deep fryers recently transitioned from beef tallow to Zero Acre farms, but it’s easy to avoid if you are hesitant.

True Food Kitchen (National): Recently became seed oil free despite some sesame oil drizzle on a few asian dishes.

Aubergine Kitchen (Utah): Healthy high-end bowls near Park City and Salt Lake. Confirmed seed oil free.

Impact Kitchen (Toronto): Seed oil free with great sourcing.

Picnik (Austin): Leaning a bit more sit-down, Picnik is plant forward, opting for avocado oil for most cooking. Any scout could find something to love at Picnik.

Kitava (SF, Houston, Denver): Kitava is owned by Jeff Nobbs, the founder of Zero Acre farms, so if you’re hesitant about cultured oil you may want to avoid. You can be sure there will not be any seed oils, though. 

Springbone (NYC): Springbone uses organic for dirty-dozen produce and sources grassfed beef, locally when possible. They cook with refined olive oil, and use EVOO for dressings. At SOS we’d prefer they cook with the EVOO as well, but you can’t have it all.

Pura Vida (Miami): Pura Vida is clean save for a few items like the dressings, check the app.

Naked Farmer (South Florida): About a year ago, Naked Farmer claimed to be seed oil free on their site. They have since removed that line. I DM’ed them about some users reporting grapeseed oil, here is their response.

Waiting to see if they come to their senses, sourcing is great otherwise but be careful.

Holey Grail (LA & Hawaii): Expensive all natural donuts fried in coconut oil, not really a meal but could be fun to try.

Conclusions

Vote with your dollars and help these seed oil free regional chains expand nationally.

Please reach out to us with any questions or inaccuracies. Dine fearlessly 🫡

View detailed reports for these chains and more on SOS

-Seed Oil Scout